EMBRACING THE WINDS OF CHANGE

Welcome to the Summer edition of Well Connected, the quarterly publication for Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.

July 2024 may come to be viewed upon as a seismic moment in the modern history of the United Kingdom. After fourteen years of government leadership by the Conservative party, a new administration has now formed a new government. Amidst the tumultuous past decade, including previously generational incidents such as Brexit, Covid, global conflict inspired hyper-inflation, governmental scandals and disruption, the current sense of transition is palpable.

For businesses, the coming months will represent a similarly new start with a sense of both optimism and trepidation at what is to come.

Within much of our recent conversations with our businesses, the clamour for stability and consistency has been recurring within the discussions. Many of the business leaders we have spoken to have cited the challenges brought about by short-term policies, changing legislation and a lack of generational thinking as impediments to business confidence, investment and growth. The failure of initiatives like High Speed Rail – uncoupled from a generational investment plan to revolutionise northern connectivity – have created concerns and disquiet about our country’s ability to think and build big and be competitive on a global marketplace.

National political change is also occurring at a time when we are seeing big changes locally. Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram’s third term has commenced at a time of transformation within our City Region’s Combined Authority, now incorporating the functions of the Local Enterprise Partnership and the Growth Platform. Liverpool City

Council’s period subject to the oversight of government appointed Commissioners is at an end and a new set of economic and city plans is under development. The landscape for Chambers of Commerce locally has also changed with the sad closure of the Chamber of Commerce in St Helens.

As our Chamber approaches our landmark 175th year of business, we are ideally positioned to support business growth, promote and share best practice and identify and share the key business issues and trends through our representation activities.

Perhaps most enticingly, we now have the first instance of national and local government leadership being aligned to the same party since the 1970s.

Paul Cherpeau Chief Executive

This edition of the magazine features several exciting features from members across the Chamber’s business network. We look at the implications of the General Election upon a selection of our businesses, spotlight several examples of ‘Good business’ growth including B-Corp formation, and examine some of the best examples of sustainability, economic analysis and innovation.

As our Chamber approaches our landmark 175th year of business, we are ideally positioned to support business growth, promote and share best practice and identify and share the key business issues and trends through our representation activities.

Liverpool City Region must aspire to be one of the most exciting and enticing places to live, work and study in the UK. The Chamber’s business members are key to ensuring economic growth, employment and trade are fully capitalised upon and we collectively ensure that a Team: Liverpool City Region approach can yield the success we all desire. This edition showcases some of our fantastic talent, expertise and impact and I hope you enjoy the read.

Paul