LDP Business Monthy Magazine - May

M O N T H LY R E G I O N A L B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E

LDP BUSINESS

Sweet taste of success

We meet restaurant pioneer Tim Bacon

w w w . l d p b u s i n e s s . c o . u k June 2011

Super plans for city’s port F u t u re l o o k s b r i g h t f o r inter national trade links

●At the helm: Pro Liverpool CEO’s big plans ●Partners: Sefton looks south ●Potential: Industrial park to get new lease of life 1

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INSIDE 17

4 NEWS

6

bill.gleeson@liverpool.com

DAILY POST REGIONAL BUSINESS AWARDS

DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR Tony McDonough 0151 330 4918

The big event draws closer

9

tony.mcdonough @liverpool.com

BIG FEATURE

BUSINESS WRITERS Alistair Houghton

Potential of Superport

14

alistair.houghton @liverpool.com

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Peter Elson

Fruit of success

peter.elson @liverpool.com

9

16 PROFESSIONAL SECTORS

17

Neil Hodgson neil.hodgson @liverpool.com

Alex Turner

alex.turner@liverpool.com

16

HEAD OF IMAGES Barrie Mills

BIG INTERVIEW

barrie.mills@liverpool.com

Tm Bacon, Living Ventures

MARKETING EXECUTIVE Cath Reeves 0151 285 8428

23 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Focus on Sefton

ADVERTISEMENT DIRECTOR Debbie McGraw

26 COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

ADVERTISMENT MANAGER Jackie McMahon 0151 330 5077

Knowsley Industrial Park

28 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

AIMES gives a super-fast broadband boost to city region

30 HOW GREEN IS YOUR BUSINESS?

34

Burbo Bank expansion

32

ADVERTISMENT SALES Neil Johnson 0151 472 2705 Trudie Arlett 0151 472 2476 PHOTOGRAPHY Trinity Mirror PUBLISHED BY Trinity Mirror NW2, PO Box 48, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L69 3EB.

THE LIST

All the forthcoming events

34 BUSINESS LUNCH

TELEPHONE 0151 227 2000

Piccolino, in Liverpool

36

FAX 0151 330 4942

THE NETWORKER

Alistair Houghton gets on down at Liverpool Sound City

COPYRIGHT

38

LDP Business is printed monthly and distributed with the Liverpool Daily Post. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission of the publisher.

23

SOCIAL DIARY

Carolyn Hughes out on the town

I HAVE been, as you do, reflecting on the demise of Royal Liver, the Pier Head-based life assurer.

I can’t decide whether we should mourn the loss of the mutual, founded in the mid-Victorian period, or whether we should just shrug our shoulders and conclude that it was inevitable.

Is mutuality out of date, an idea with no relevance in the modernday savings and investment market, or do the principles on which it was founded still have an important role to play in the 21st century?

It doesn’t need saying that many consumers are deeply disillusioned with the greedy behaviour of the major high street

BUSINESS

EDITOR Bill Gleeson 0151 472 2319

Bankers back golf club

New man at Professional Liverpool

LDP

EDITOR’S LETTER banks in recent years. So much so, some consumers have switched allegiances to, for example, the Co-operative Bank. The belief behind such a switch is that an ethical culture should mean that, if ever there were a repeat of the banking crisis, their life savings would be safer with people who don’t gamble with their deposits.

Neither have the mainstream banks and investment businesses always outperformed mutuals.

While Standard Life is no longer one, it was a dominant player in the life assurance and pensions sector when it was a mutual.

LV= (Liverpool Victoria) and Royal London are examples of mutuals that continue to thrive.

LV= engages in an active customer recruitment campaign.

And yet an old-fashioned and outdated air surrounds the whole sector. It certainly does at Royal Liver, anyway.

The long drawn-out

annual meetings, the age profile of the membership, a failure to follow LV’s example and actively recruit savers and investors through mass media campaigns, relying instead on a relatively small network of IFAs, have all contributed to the problem.

Royal Liver blamed a number of unlucky factors that moved against it: increased regulation, tighter solvency rules, low market returns included. A more proactive business would have made some of its own luck by building its reserves and putting itself in a strong enough position to withstand the buffetings from

these external factors. Last month’s vote by Royal Liver’s representative delegates to merge with Royal London, thereby effectively winding up the society, was inevitable. For all of their painstaking analysis at annual meetings in the past, the organisation was in no condition to carry on.

A relatively small organisation by the modern-day standards of the financial services industry, the recent recession was the last straw.

So, next month, we bury the business that started life as a burial society.

BILL GLEESON 3

NEWS

CPL to launch academy for young people

The CPL Training e-learning team

THE e-learning arm of Birkenhead-based CPL Training has announced plans to launch an academy this summer, providing young people in the creative and digital sectors with experience, training and employment opportunities.

Launched just over a year ago, CPLelearning employs a range of creative specialists, including computer programmers, designers and animators, most of whom are under the age of 25. Several are graduates while others

have little experience, but bags of skills.

A high demand for the e-learning product and services has allowed the team to grow quickly and the business has already identified the need to double its e-learning workforce in the next 12 months.

David Dasher, group IT director and head of CPLe-learning, said: “We’ve had quite a recruitment drive over the past year and we have been fortunate enough to have taken on some exceptionally talented individuals.”

Wirral golf club wins backing from bankers ROMBOROUGH Golf Club has completed a £200,000 upgrade to its clubhouse facilities, after securing funding from NatWest’s commercial banking team in Liverpool.

The revamp includes a new entrance to the clubhouse, an additional function room overlooking the course, improved dining space, a lift to provide visitors with disabled access and additional toilets on the first floor.

Located on the Leverhulme Estate, the 108-year old club is regarded as one of the finest parkland courses in the North West and has hosted several prestigious tournaments including the English Men’s Seniors Championship in 2003, the English Amateur Championship in 2005 and the Cheshire Matchplay in 2010.

Alisdair Mackay, general manager of the club, said: “For many, many years, Bromborough has been renowned for the quality of its golf course.

“Now these new facilities significantly enhance the clubhouse and upgrade it to a level consistent with our status as a championship course.

“We are confident they will help improve the overall experience of members and visitors to the club and assist us in recruiting additional members to fill the 12 vacancies we have.

“It will also help us to attract business from local people who are looking to book a high-calibre venue with function space for meetings of up to 40 delegates.”

John Fillingham, NatWest relationship manager, said: “Bromborough is a modern and forward-thinking golf club which is committed to improving facilities.”

B

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Club chairman Terry Keenan, left, with John Fillingham, NatWest

Dr Nick Owen – says the hub will help start-ups

ACE wins grant for media hub WALLASEY-BASED Aspire Creative Enterprises (ACE) has received a business investment grant from Wirral Council for the establishment of a multi-purpose digital, creative and media hub to showcase local talent and promote business potential.

The ACE hub will be created through the redevelopment of the former caretaker’s lodge at the Oldershaw School.

It will provide hot desk facilities, a multimedia suite with video and music production and recording equipment, access to the internet and digital communication networks, and rehearsal and meeting space.

An online profile system will not only showcase Wirral’s creative talent but will create possibilities for

collaborations between ACE hub users and ACE partners. ACE will also offer advice to the hub’s users about available support from organisations such as Invest Wirral, Wirralbiz and the local Chambers of Commerce.

ACE director Dr Nick Owen said: “We’re hugely appreciative of the support of Invest Wirral in helping this new creative enterprise flourish at a time when the climate is very uncertain for new business start-ups.

“Their support means that we will be able to build an international platform and develop new market links for Wirral creative businesses into the future.”

ACE plans to have the hub up and running by September.

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5

REGIONAL BUSINESS AWARDS

BUSINESS MATTERS With Jason Leach, director in PwC’s audit practice in Liverpool The new lending landscape THE volume of loans being awarded to business appears to be returning to more normal levels and, in some cases, the amount of available funding has increased.

Despite this, there are still key differences in lender behaviour that businesses need to bear in mind.

Our latest Debt Market Update report, for the first quarter of 2011, reveals that loan volumes rose last year.

However, most of these loans were used to refinance existing debt rather than to support merger and acquisition activity.

The highest level of activity is in the area of corporate loans.

Such loans are still viewed by the majority of lenders as a low-risk option, compared to the leveraged loan market where the sums required are often much greater and come with a higher degree of risk.

In many cases, loans were granted based upon asset valuations that subsequently reduced sharply during the recession. Rebalancing is now required.

For well-run businesses with a strong performance track record, raising finance in the corporate arena is much easier than it has been for some time.

Lenders have been fulfilling demand for secured corporate loans for some time now, but they have been very much in the driving seat in terms of defining their own terms and pricing.

Things are changing, and we are now finding that borrowers are in a much stronger position to negotiate on their banking package.

In doing so, they are likely to approach a number of lenders. This increased competition is leading to better terms for borrowers.

By comparison, the leveraged loan market has been slow to rebound, and it is becoming clear that lender attitudes in this area have changed irrevocably.

Leveraged loans are still few and far between and, typically, the level of gearing available to companies in Liverpool is falling well short of those seen back in 2007.

Lenders have had plenty of time to rethink their approach to the higher risk end of the loan market.

They are also aware that, as the renewal dates for refinancing approach, demand for such loans is likely to be high and they will need to select the best opportunities and renegotiate terms on existing loans where they can.

For most businesses preparing to refinance in 2012, planning will already be under way.

In some cases, private equity investors will be required to make difficult decisions about how to restructure a business where the current level of debt is not refinanceable.

However, sustained interest in the Liverpool marketplace from trade buyers could still provide a timely means of realising their investment.

The more highly-leveraged companies will have to consider how they can reduce their debt to levels capable of being refinanced in the current market.

However, for some, there may also be an option to achieve a sale by attracting interest from a trade buyer.

‘Raising finance is much easier than it has been for some time’

Join the celebration

John Timpson to speak at glittering awards event THE chairman of shoe repair chain Timpson will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Liverpool Daily Post Regional Business Awards.

The awards ceremony, the most prestigious event in Merseyside’s business year, will be held at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral on Thursday, June 23.

John Timpson will be the event’s keynote speaker while the night will be compered by journalist-turnedcelebrity dancer John Sergeant.

Categories include the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce Exporter of the Year Award and the DLA Piper Business Person of the Year title.

This year, the KPMG Business of the Year award – which has previously been won by outstanding firms Cammell Laird and Princes Foods – will be fought out between logistics group Stobart, vouchers and gift card firm Park Group, and Skelmersdale-based Hotter Comfort Concept Shoes.

John Timpson has led Timpson since 1983, and has seen it grow into a £125m-turnover business.

Awards date: Timpson Group chairman, John Timpson He joined the original family footwear business, William Timpson, soon after graduating from Nottingham University, and in 1970 became the director responsible for buying.

The company was bought by the UDS Group in 1973, and Mr Timpson continued his rise through the ranks.

But, in 1983, he led a £42m management buyout of the company. And, in 1987, he sold its shoe shops and began concentrating on the shoe repair and key cutting business.

Timpson has since diversified into engraving, watch repairs, dry cleaning and photo processing.

In 1995, it bought the 120-shop Automagic chain, while in 2003 he bought Minit UK and its 200 repair shops. In June, 2008, it bought 40 Sainsbury’s concessions, and in December that year it bought 187 Klick and Max Spielmann photo processing stores.

Today, the Timpson chain has more than 800 branches nationwide.

Mr Timpson, who lives in Cheshire, has five

children. He and his wife, Alex, were foster carers for 29 years, during which time they fostered more than 80 children.

In 2000, he wrote a book, Dear James, in which he passes lessons on to his son. Last year, he published Upside Down Management: A Common Sense Guide to Better Business.

He was awarded a CBE in 2004.

■ TO BOOK places at this year’s event, please call 0151 472 2422.

Single places cost £95 plus VAT. A table of ten is £950, plus VAT.

LDP CREATIVE FOR the latest news from the creative sector

www. ldpcreative. co.uk

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Here we look at an exciting company helped by Stepclever.

MIKE LOWES and Lee Stewart know what it takes to turn up the heat during an economic recession.

Two years ago, after working together for five years, they created Renewable Solutions UK Ltd, a renewable energy specialist company, designing and installing solar panels, wind turbines and heat pumps.

Now based in Bootle, Mike and Lee work with a range of local, national and international clients which includes domestic homeowners, builders, farmers, developers, and architects, along with local authorities, commercial and non-profit organisations.

Mike said: “Setting up the business brought both excitement and fear! We decided from the outset that we would not burden the company with bank loans, so we used personal credit cards to buy stock and keep us going through the early stages.

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After asking around to see if any help was available, Stepclever was recommended.

Mike said: “Stepclever has a great business manager who could see our potential and secured the support we needed to help us grow.

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would help us expand our staff levels by five within the year – we ended up employing 12 people!”

The Government’s push on renewables and low-carbon incentives is making this a fairly stable industry at the moment.

Tariff Schemes allow an annual return of some 10% per annum on electricity-generating renewables, so the current low interest rates are making savers and investors turn to Renewable

Solutions for that elusive return – all of which helps make for a stable business.

Mike added: “We are in a privileged industry at the moment. We like to think of ourselves as fairly dynamic and, being government-certified across every product range in our industry will help us to diversify as and when we need to.

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8

THE BIG FEATURE

Making waves

▲ ▲

For centuries, the Port of Liverpool has been at the epicentre of the city region’s economy.

Now ambitious plans are being put forward to ensure this continues well into the future.

9

THE BIG FEATURE . . . SUPERPORT

By Peter Stoney, honorary senior fellow in economics at the University of Liverpool HE River Mersey is the largest natural asset of the Liverpool City Region (the five Merseyside boroughs plus Halton).

For centuries, its port has sustained economic and social activities both near and far, into the North West and beyond.

Moreover, the Port of Liverpool provides the city and its hinterland with a highly distinctive image that is recognised instantly throughout the world.

About 40 years ago, Liverpool University was awarded a research grant by the Leverhulme Trust to carry out a three-year study, whose objective was to estimate as accurately as possible the socio-economic impact of the Port’s operations throughout the UK, and especially in Merseyside and its hinterland. Companies whose business was connected to the port were classified in four ways: firms wholly dependent, predominantly those involved in stevedoring, pilotage, freight forwarding, and shipping agency functions; suppliers to the Port – machinery, victuals, etc; shippers and ships; and dockland zone firms not wholly dependent upon the port.

Employment, income (salaries/wages), and expenditure data from the study revealed that up to about 90,000 jobs throughout the UK, including 40,000 full-time equivalent jobs in Merseyside, were related to the Port of Liverpool; much of the remaining 50,000 jobs were concentrated in the North West. The income and expenditure effects were quite similar in their extent. It was clear that the socio-economic health of Liverpool and its hinterland was associated significantly with its port's business activities.

A subsequent smaller-scale study in 1990 by Liverpool University and a much more recent study by MDS Transmodal, in 2009, confirmed these findings.

Forty years on, the port has seen significant changes, especially in respect of the growth in container traffic and ship size.

A consequence of these developments has been a big reduction in direct dock labour, from over 10,000 in 1970 to just a few hundred today. This does not necessarily mean, however, that the overall employment and associated impacts have reduced commensurately because the volume of traffic passing through the port, while regressing slightly due to the recession, has been increasing apace to record levels of over 30m tonnes per annum.

This increase in tonnage implies corresponding increases in both indirect as well as induced (new) employment, income, and expenditure concentrated in Merseyside and the North West.

In the light of keen competition from continental European ports like Rotterdam, as well as UK ports like Felixstowe, in the South

T

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East, current levels of traffic reflect great credit on the Port of Liverpool’s management and its labour force.

Investment has been made in new dockside facilities, and new operations like the recently established Palm Oil terminal have diversified the port’s commercial profile.

It is still realistic, therefore, to assert that the Port of Liverpool is a major driving force in Liverpool’s and the City Region’s economy, contributing possibly up to as much as 10% of all employment, income, and expenditure. Consequently, it is realistic also to look to the port as having a key role in future economic development.

Shipping trends have included larger ship sizes, as well as increased containerisation and upgraded technology. Being an enclosed dock system that

necessitates the use of locks, the Port of Liverpool has become handicapped in handling these larger ships because Gladstone Dock’s entrance has quite severe capacity constraints.

It is great news, then, that the port’s new owners, Peel Holdings, have proposed investing in a completely new ship terminal to be built outside the enclosed dock system in the River Mersey. Such an in-river terminal would allow the docking of larger ships, including those of so-called PostPanamax size, which are ships that can pass through the Panama Canal but which are too big to dock in ports as restricted as Liverpool.

It is difficult to exaggerate the potential that the proposed Ocean Gateway concept, together with Peel’s other plans, have for the Liverpool City Region and beyond.

Ocean Gateway, a multi-billion pound development, is estimated

by Peel to have the potential to create up to 20,000 jobs by 2020. It encompasses the entire River Mersey system up to Salford Quays and Manchester, via the Manchester Ship Canal.

Included in the plans is the transformation of Wirral docklands into a European showcase for “Made in China” manufacturing.

An initial £25m deal was struck recently with a Chinese investment company for funding part of the first phase of a proposed “global trade centre”, which is a wholesaling complex allowing Asian manufacturers to market their products to retailers throughout Europe.

Peel envisages the construction of a “Canary Wharf of the North” as part of the Wirral Waters scheme, with the establishment of

a £200m version of the International Small Commodities Market in Yiwu, China.

The Wirral Waters scheme is mirrored on the other side of the river by the £5.5bn Liverpool Waters scheme, consisting of skyscrapers associated with thousands of jobs and over 10,000 apartments. This scheme takes in the extensive Central Docks area, which has been lying fallow for decades, ever since its use became minimal with the dominance of Royal Seaforth Docks.

Peel Holdings has been honest enough to acknowledge publicly that this area of Liverpool is a disgrace, containing as it does among other eyesores the Stanley Dock tobacco warehouse. Peel’s proposals are not the first for this area, the previous Mersey Docks and Harbour Company having tried valiantly to gain acceptance for a super-casino, which met

THE BIG FEATURE . . . SUPERPORT Liverpool’s world-famous docks now need to raise their game to compete in the 21st century and beyond

In the 1950s, the Port of Liverpool still provided work for thousands of people

An artist’s impression of Peel’s huge Liverpool Waters scheme with fierce opposition from within Liverpool City Council, notwithstanding its employmentcreating potential, as well as for an aquarium along similar lines to Blue Planet, at Ellesmere Port.

Central Docks was the focus also of a study of a shared Liverpool FC/Everton FC stadium

by Liverpool Research Group in Macro-economics, which concluded that the area would be ideal for such a facility: for example, it would be within easy walking distance of Liverpool city centre and public transport provision, with clear benefits for the inner urban deprived communities. Again, there was fierce local opposition.

Now, Peel have come up with a proposal which again makes eminent economic sense because it is designed to attract increased levels of inner-city living.

One of the main features of

Merseyside’s post-war decline was a fall of tens of thousands in its population, which had the effect of creating a geographical area that was simply too big for its people to sustain, leading to extensive areas of dereliction and pockets of severe socio-economic deprivation. Hence the good sense of Peel’s idea.

Yet again, however, Nimbys are crying foul, this time in the form of English Heritage objecting to too many skyscrapers. How myopic can one become? What would the likes of recent US visitor Nathan Deal, Governor of Georgia, or potential investors from China make of this blinkered vision? Bewilderment perhaps?

Peel is a private sector operator, risking capital with the aim of making a decent return on its investment, just like the port’s operators have done down the centuries. Why should we look a

gift horse in the mouth? Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters are among the largest regeneration schemes in the UK, which Peel foresees as helping to make the North West bridge the region’s large productivity gap, as measured by GVA per capita, compared to the UK average.

These plans on both sides of the river come at a timely moment because it is expected that the Coalition government’s austerity programme may lead to redundancies in the public sector, which is overweight in employment locally.

Peel’s plans should help the private sector to take up some of the slack, albeit in the medium and longer terms.

The Mersey Partnership, as well as other organisations such as Mersey Maritime, are supporting Peel Holdings in their endeavours. Their concept of a

Superport includes an action plan for upgrading physical infrastructure, as well as for engaging the Port of Liverpool in its entirety – carriers, importers, exporters, manufacturers, and retailers – with the objective of creating new markets as well as transforming those in existence.

The low-carbon economy currently in vogue could lead to the development of a local manufacturing base for associated technology like wind farms, possibly involving the resurgent Cammell Laird shipyard, in Birkenhead.

The importance of infrastructure is sometimes understated when, in reality, the cost savings well-targeted infrastructure can produce may make the difference. Roads and railways, for example, need to be upgraded to facilitate effective access to the port. This aspect will

be especially relevant if the Liverpool Pier Head Cruise Liner Terminal is upgraded to take liners in, like Southampton, on a long-stay basis, an eventuality that needs to happen sooner, rather than later.

The construction of the second bridge across the River Mersey, at Runcorn, will help businesses of all kinds survive and grow all along the Ocean Gateway corridor and beyond.

The prime resource of the River Mersey can be exploited intelligently for the benefit of all citizens living in the Liverpool city region and beyond, especially in the North West. Not to do so would mean ignoring the need to enable a sea change in the local economy that has the potential to help put an end once and for all to Liverpool and its hinterland constantly lagging behind the rest of the country’s prosperity levels.

11

THE BIG FEATURE . . . SUPERPORT

Can Port of Liverpool cargo

Promoters believe new developments around the RIver Mersey and the Manchester Ship PEEL Ports wants to turn the many thousands of acres of dockland assets it owns in the North West of England into a “superport”.

But what does it take to properly merit that title?

The word superport is normally applied only to the world’s biggest ports. These include Shanghai, currently the world’s largest port, Singapore, Rotterdam and Dubai.

To give an idea of the scale of a typical superport, Singapore handles 471m tonnes of cargo a year and Rotterdam 410m tonnes, making them more than ten times bigger than the Port of Liverpool and Manchester Ship Canal combined. Liverpool currently handles 29m tonnes of cargo a year, while the Manchester Ship Canal handles 8m.

The world’s biggest ports serve an entire continent. Rotterdam,

12

for example, doesn’t just handle Dutch trade, it also handles trade that originates from a hinterland that includes Germany and France, and acts as an international maritime hub to a number of feeder ports, including some in Britain. So, compared to these ports, Liverpool is hardly “super”.

One argument put forward by proponents of the Mersey superport idea is that the Port of Liverpool has a latent potential that has not been previously exploited.

The Mersey Partnership’s (TMP) director of investment, Mark Basnett, believes the scope exists to treble the volume of cargo passing through the port.

He said: “We are not of the scale of Dubai or Singapore, but we have expertise that is similar.

“The potential within the port

and 3MG and other projects that are looking to come forward, we can increase a huge amount . . . the port could increase by 200%.

“It’s not just about the port improving, it’s facilities. It’s about attracting retailers, manufacturers, to use the infrastructure that’s here. That’s why it’s an integrated process, so all of that infrastructure works together.”

The Port of Liverpool is at the heart of a huge hinterland that stretches from Birmingham up to and including Scotland. The belief is that Liverpool is the best-placed port to exploit this market within the UK. The ports in Asia are benefiting from the huge economic boom enjoyed by that part of the world, which has resulted in a rapid growth in trade. Much of this growth comes in the form of

regional trade, with the fastgrowing Asian nations trading with each other as well as places like Brazil and Russia.

China, in particular, imports a lot of raw materials from Brazil, Africa and Australia. In other words, the upturn in international trade on the other side of the globe isn’t necessarily going to benefit western European ports.

An example of this boom is a plan in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro to build a quayside capable of handling 10 of the world’s biggest vessels at a time.

It’s being built by Brazil’s richest man, Eike Batista, who will use it to ship vast quantities of iron ore to China.

While these ports may have genuine superport scale compared to the much smaller Liverpool, the real challenge for Peel Ports is

not from China or anywhere overseas.

Instead, Liverpool’s competitors are home-grown: from ports on the Clyde, Tees, Humber, Thames and Solent.

Liverpool is currently Britain’s seventh largest port. It handles just over half the cargo volumes that pass through the Humber ports of Immingham and Grimsby.

While Liverpool has ambitious plans that could help the port move up that league table, so do all of its rivals, the multi-billion pound DP World-owned London Gateway, currently under construction 25 miles to the east of the capital, being one example.

One big opportunity that could lead to the region’s ports winning market share arises from the drive to cut carbon emissions. It is more fuel-efficient to move goods by water than by road. Given the

THE BIG FEATURE . . . SUPERPORT

Gary Hodgson, managing director of Port of Liverpool operator Peel Ports, insists the demand for expansion is already there

volumes really treble?

Singapore handles 471m tonnes of cargo a year – more than 10 times the Port of Liverpool

Canal can increase port trade by around 200%. Bill Gleeson reports high level of fuel duties in Britain, it is therefore also more cost effective to move goods that way.

This is where the Mersey MultiModal Gateway comes into its own.

Known as 3MG, the scheme is based at the Widnes headquarters of Stobart Ports.

Large gantry cranes straddle roadway and railway tracks, allowing them to lift containers from trains onto lorries and vice versa. Stobart also aspires to integrate the service with the nearby Port of Weston, on the Manchester Ship Canal, which it owns.

3MG currently handles seven freight trains a day, bringing produce from ports in the south of the country or direct by rail from the south of Spain on a service that uses the Channel Tunnel.

Clothes, fruit and vegetables

and electrical goods are handled at Widnes. Many of these goods are destined for Tesco’s huge warehouse facility at the site.

Stobart Ports managing director Steve O’Connor said: “It’s really about road, rail and the water and air coming together. We are blessed with a fabulous road network in the North West.

Overlay that with the West Coast Main Line.

“We see the opportunity of all the modes of travel being connected so there’s a cohesive plan, which gives a competitive edge, particularly when we are trying to attract retailers.

“Tesco have been there just over a year now, that’s about 1,200 jobs.

“The retailers tend to cluster and when one retailer comes in, others follow. They see the whole supply chain is robust and

sustainable. We have had a massive downturn in volume [on the roads].

Three years ago, the road network was really creaky. As that volume comes back in, the idea of freight coming through the southern ports and clogging up the M1 – that’s when it makes more sense.

“There are some challenges there as the economy recovers to keep the cost of the supply chain down.”

As well as 3MG at Widnes, another key element of the superport plan includes a new £200m in-river berth capable of simultaneously handling two post-Panamax vessels (the world’s largest container ships).

At the moment, Liverpool’s locked docks make it impossible for these vessels to call at the port.

Gary Hodgson, managing director of Port of Liverpool operator Peel Ports, said: “It’s not about creating the demand, the demand is there. There will be seven calls per berth, two berths – 14 calls a week. That will take us up to 2m TEUs capability.”

In a report, TMP estimates that the region’s port and transport assets currently provide employment for 34,000 people and £1.1bn of economic output per annum.

Without the superport plan, TMP says the Liverpool city region would still be able to operate successful port and airport facilities. However, if the superport vision comes to full fruition, the impact on the local economy would be significant.

TMP estimates that the superport could mean: up to an additional 28,000 jobs for the

North West region; additional economic output of up to £900m per annum; an additional 73m tonnes of traffic per annum handled by facilities in the region, most of which would otherwise have been handled in other UK regions; an additional 1.24m tonnes of rail freight traffic per annum through the Port of Liverpool; an additional 9m tonnes per annum of rail freight through rail and waterbornelinked distribution parks.

However, some of the economic estimates in the TMP report have already been over taken by events, since one of the major schemes included has been cancelled, namely the Parkside transport hub near St Helens.

Nor is there any sign yet of the expected plan to lengthen Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s runway.

13

INTERNATIONAL TRADE Nationwide Produce’s chairman, Bernard O’Malley, flanked by his sons Patrick, left, who is managing director, and group director Anthony

Producing growth overseas Nationwide produce has been reaping the rewards of an international expansion strategy

A SOUTHPORT company which specialises in fresh produce is succeeding in growing in foreign soil.

Family-owned Nationwide Produce has trebled international sales in just two years, and now reaps £17m a year from overseas.

Chairman Bernard O’Malley founded the company in 1975 with his wife, Joan, and his son, Patrick, is now its managing director.

It has five offices in England, including its head office in Lord

Street, Southport, as well as a site in Belfast, two in Holland, one in Spain and one about to open in Sweden.

Patrick O’Malley said: “As a business, we adopted a strategy to develop our European business in sales and procurement, and that planning has really paid dividends.

“Our branches in Rotterdam and Almeria were originally set up solely to improve our procurement in these areas.

“However, having a wholly-

owned presence in these markets led to us generating sales as well.

The establishment of the Belfast and Emmen branches has also been a major factor in driving overseas sales growth.”

Now the company is looking to use this strong overseas performance as a springboard for further growth. In particular, its next target is the growing Russian market.

The company has appointed a sales manager for Russia, Will Cheyney, who has first-hand

experience of the market after working as a farm manager in the Stavropol Krai region.

Anthony O’Malley, group director, who is also a son of the founders, said: “Appointing somebody who understands and has worked in this market is a big step forward for us.

“We plan to open an office in St Petersburg in due course.

“However, our next new office will be in Helsingborg, Sweden.

This is the main entry port for fresh produce into Scandinavia,

and should give us new opportunities to build our business there.

“We also recently made our first shipment of UK potatoes and onions to the Caribbean, and we hope to develop business in that part of the world.”

The rapid growth of Nationwide Produce, which grows, grades, packs, buys and sells fresh produce, has not just been overseas. It has increased turnover from about £30m in 2004 to £80m this year.

International guests hear Liverpool’s pitch

Guests from more than 20 countries assembled at Liverpool’s London Embassy

14

THE Lithuanian Ambassador was among the guests at an international event at Liverpool’s Embassy in London.

His Excellency Oskaras Jusys was joined by Stephen Phillips, chief executive of the China Britain Business Council (CBBC), alongside senior representatives from more than 20 countries from three continents.

They were given a series of presentations on what Liverpool has to offer in business, culture and education and encouraged to think “Liverpool” when considering UK locations for trade and business links.

Cllr Nick Small, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for employment and skills, who hosted the event, said: “As the newest

member on the diplomatic block, we wanted to introduce ourselves and we used the event to cement existing international friendships and forge new friendships, many with emerging cultural and economic markets.

“We also wanted to make these influential people in the international community in London aware of the opportunities in

Liverpool and promote the fact that Liverpool is only just over two hours from London, that we are a cultural capital, frequently visited by a wide range of overseas delegations and a great place to work, invest, study and live.”

Liverpool’s Embassy, near to the financial district, has been open since January and is used to promote the city’s business offer.

15

PROFESSIONAL SECTORS

LEGALLY

SPEAKING

With Kerstie Skeaping, employment partner at Hill Dickinson

Q A

HOW can I limit the risk of age discrimination and unfair dismissal claims, now that retirement rules have changed?

WHEN age discrimination legislation came into force in 2006, employers were permitted to retire employees provided they had reached a certain age (currently 65) and also followed certain processes. This was known as the default retirement age (DRA).

So long as the employer complied with this process, they were not at risk of a claim of age discrimination or unfair dismissal.

The DRA was abolished on April 6, 2011, removing the automatic right to retire employees at 65.

Employers can now face claims for unfair dismissal and age discrimination if they forcibly retire employees.

However, the employer will be permitted to have an “employer justified retirement age” (EJRA) if it can establish an objectively justified reason for this.

Also, there are transitional provisions to deal with the phase-out of the DRA. An employer may complete a retirement where notice has been issued under the DRA provisions on or before April 5, 2011, provided that the employee reaches the age of 65 (or their normal retirement age, if this is greater) by September 30, 2011.

Care should be taken to ensure the DRA provisions are complied with in full.

A normal retirement notice under the DRA lasts between six and 12 months.

However, an employee may make a request to work beyond their retirement date.

If a 12-month notice was

served on April 5, 2011, the last date they could request to work beyond their retirement date will be January 4, 2012.

If the employer agrees, the retirement date can be extended by a further six months up to the beginning of October, 2012.

There are various technical arguments about exactly which date it can be extended to, but October 3, 2012, is the safest date to use.

Aside from the transitional provisions, from April 6, 2011, employers will need to show an employer justified retirement age (EJRA) to retire an employee.

Essentially, an employer must consider whether retaining a retirement age is necessary in its business, and, if so, what the retirement age should be and who it should apply to.

The employer must provide objective justification for the retention of a retirement age, for example, a particular legitimate aim such as health and safety reasons, or specific issues in regard to workforce planning.

If the employer can show an employment tribunal that these specific reasons made it necessary to retain the retirement age for that employee, and that there is no less discriminatory way of achieving this objective, they will be able to defend an age discrimination claim.

They will, however, still be exposed to a claim for unfair dismissal, so will have to follow a fair process, with the normal requirements of notice and consultation.

The Government has not provided specific guidance on what would amount to an EJRA, and we await the development of case law in this area.

‘Employers can face claims if employees are forcibly retired’

16

■ CONTACT Kerstie Skeaping, telephone: 0151 600 8498, email: kerstie. skeaping @hilldickinson.com

John Hall – aims to push PL membership numbers past the 100 mark

Picture: JAMES MALONEY

Pro Liverpool looks to make fresh start

New chief executive vows to increase membership

JOHN HALL is determined Professional Liverpool will be a strong independent voice for the city’s professional and financial services sector.

He has just been appointed chief executive of PL, and the organisation will hope the move draws a line under what has been a turbulent few months.

PL was thrown into crisis late last year when the cash-strapped Northwest Development Agency withdrew its grant, representing a catastrophic 80% fall in funding.

This eventually led to the departure of former chief executive Mark Chadwick.

In recent weeks, Mr Chadwick has set up his own rival organisation – Liverpool City Region: Business & Professionals.

He has also dismissed PL as a “part-time, pro bono gentlemen’s luncheon club run as a hobby”.

Mr Hall, the former managing partner of Liverpool law firm Bermans, is aiming to counter that perception.

He has signed a contract to work three days a week but says he is committed to doing whatever it takes to turn PL into a genuine force.

In order to fund his appointment, the organisation has had to go to around seven or eight of its biggest members and ask them to chip in with more funding – something they have agreed to do.

“I was asked to come in and talk to PL a while ago, and I did some pro bono stuff in order to find out a bit more,” he said.

“When we told the bigger members about the lack of funds, they opened their chequebooks straight away.”

As managing partner of Bermans, Mr Hall helped grow the firm from a turnover of £100,000 to more than £5m.

It now has offices in Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow, and recently advised Liverpool FC manager Kenny Dalglish in his contract negotiations with the club.

Before retiring from Bermans,

Mr Hall was a specialist in commercial litigation, acting for businesses including HSBC and Carlsberg Tetley.

Mr Hall will initially be based in Professional Liverpool’s office in the Foresight Centre at the University of Liverpool.

One of his initial key tasks is to persuade the current 70-strong membership of the importance of staying on board, and then he is looking to drive up numbers past the 100 mark.

He added: “The one thing Liverpool needs is a very clear focus as to which lobbying group looks after the interest of our professional services sector.

“Professional Liverpool has now been here for 10 years, is well accepted and regarded, and is now ready for its second decade with renewed vigour.

“The support of our key members and interest from prospective new members fuels my confidence for our future.”

Former Liverpool Vision chief executive Jim Gill is to become chairman of PL.

THE BIG INTERVIEW

Growing with Gusto

BY TONY MCDONOUGH

▲ ▲

Over the past 15 years, Tim Bacon has been a force for change in the North West’s bar & restaurant sector . . . and he’s not finished yet.

17

THE BIG INTERVIEW TIM BACON CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 IRTUALLY every story about bar and restaurant entrepreneur Tim Bacon in the Daily Post archives starts with the phrase “Living Room founder . . . ”.

But the 47-year-old isn’t complaining. He acknowledges the phenomenon he helped create, along with long-time business partner Jeremy Roberts.

And, anyway, he considers the reference an improvement on how the press used to describe him.

“The articles used to start with ‘Former Australian soap star ...’ in reference to my previous career as an actor.”

Bacon has indeed graced TV screens both here and in Australia in a short showbiz career, but more of that later.

Since the mid-1990s, Bacon and Roberts, along with a third businessman – Dave Hinds – have been redefining the North West bar and restaurant sector.

He and Roberts opened the first Living Rooms in Liverpool and Manchester, in 2000. Outlets appeared in other locations and eventually London, and they sold the chain for a cool £28m in 2007.

The pair are directors of Living Ventures, which operates 24 outlets across the region and beyond, trading under a number of brands.

They include the seafood and steakhouse chain, Blackhouse, Italian-flavoured Gusto – with outlets in Liverpool and Heswall – as well as Suburbia, Alchemist and a new bar launching this week in Manchester called Australasia.

And, in a separate venture with Dave Hinds, Bacon also operates two Red Door bars in Wirral and Chester.

Late last year, Living Ventures bought a number of restaurants previously owned by North West chef and Daily Post columnist , Paul Heathcote. They included the popular Olive Press, in Liverpool city centre.

Despite the dire economic climate, Living Ventures is enjoying a healthy growth in sales, and its expansion drive is set to continue.

“We have grown from 14 to 24 sites in the last 13 months,” said Bacon.

“Like-for-like sales are running at around +6%. Industry average at the moment is around -5%, so we are in a pretty healthy place.

“We want to develop the core brands – Blackhouse and Gusto – and we are looking to maybe open The Alchemist in Liverpool (there is currently an outlet in Manchester).

“We are also opening Australasia in Manchester this week in a blaze of glory.”

With his Australian twang, Bacon epitomises that particular brand of Antipodean likeable brashness and confidence.

However, his life journey actually began in Birkenhead and from there took him to the East End of London, Tasmania, London again and then, finally, back to the North West.

He said: “My father was a merchant seaman on the ‘apple run’ – taking apples from Birkenhead to Hobart in Tasmania.

“He met my mother in Hobart and brought her back to Birkenhead, where I was conceived.

V

18

Gusto, in Liverpool’s Albert Dock, is one of several Living Ventures’ brands – the firm operates 24 outlets “I was born in London and then when I was still a baby we moved over to Hobart where my family still is now.”

While growing up in Australia, the young Bacon found brief fame in the hit TV soap, Sons & Daughters.

He returned to the UK briefly in the early 80s before finally coming here for good in 1987.

He was then still intent on an acting career. It wasn’t long before he was on TV again – but it was not for his acting.

“I had started working at the TGI Fridays restaurant in Convent Garden in London as a bartender and management trainee.

“Around the same time, the Hollywood film Cocktail, with Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown, came out, so bar tending was suddenly high profile.

“I won a major competition and appeared on the Terry Wogan show – the phone went ballistic the next day.”

And there was a connection to

the movie. Bacon was trained by the man who trained the man who trained Tom Cruise for the part.

Showbiz then took a back seat in Bacon’s life as he launched his own business career.

He started his own bar trade consultancy – Bar Biz Training – and it was this that was to eventually lead him back to the North West of England.

“It started off being fun, but consultancy isn’t for me – you end up working on things you are not particularly passionate about,

doing it for the money not for the love, but it served its purpose,” he said.

“I ended up doing a bit of work up here and I found I quite liked it and came to live here in 1991.”

In 1993, Bacon took on his first bar – JW Johnson’s Bar & Restaurant, in the centre of Manchester.

He added: “I bought this place from the receivers with Dave Hinds in the middle of a recession.

“Johnson’s was a blast, a real

THE BIG INTERVIEW TIM BACON

institution in its day. Who will ever forget Ladies’ Night on a Wednesday. This is where I met my wife, Karine.

“She had just arrived from France and applied for a job to which I said no, but asked her out instead.

“She sensibly said ‘Non’, and it took a good month of begging before she took pity and said yes.

We have been together ever since.”

The duo sold the bar in 1996 and opened another Manchester

outlet – Via Vita Café Bar and Restaurant.

“Having sold JW’s, Dave and I decided to have another spin of the dice, but realised that neither of us were a great fan of hard work so invited Jez (Jeremy Roberts) to join the merry gang,” said Bacon.

“He thankfully said yes, despite warnings, and the duo became a trio. We opened seven Via Vitas around the country.

“This is where we uncovered the talents of John Branagan, Sue

Crimes, Tony Griffin and Steve Walter – all still with us.”

Bacon’s first foray into Liverpool came in 1998, when he opened what was arguably the first modern-day trendy bar in the city – the Life Café Bar and Restaurant, in Bold Street.

The city has always had a vibrant night life, but at that time it was a choice between the more traditional pubs, cheesy discos or naff wine bars of the sort frequented by Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses.

Life Cafe captured the beginnings of a new confidence around Liverpool – a sense that dark economic days were finally coming to an end.

The city’s student population was growing and a new type of customer was emerging.

Bacon describes Life Cafe as “a Liverpool institution”.

He added: “It was a big beast of an operation that made a big impact on the city and is where Paul Moran, Sarah Peet and Lee Lynch joined the party.

“We had already sold the brand by the time we opened the second unit in Manchester, on the day of my wedding, now there's commitment for you. It was a great wedding party, though.”

That was in 2000, and it was at this point that Dave Hinds decided to leave the bar game altogether and go full-time into property development.

That left Bacon and Roberts to launch what became the daddy of the cafe bars – Living Room.

On the Living Ventures website, Bacon describes it as a “fantastic brand”, something of an understatement.

Living Room, located in Victoria Street, took the philosophy of the Life Cafe brand and ran with it – a seemingly contradictory concept once called accessible exclusivity.

It’s an approach that is central to Living Ventures’ business model to this day.

Bacon explained: “You see bars open that target just wealthy celebrities, and they might do OK for a short time while they are the ‘in’ place to go, but it doesn’t last.

“I think to be a success, it has to be aspirational. Segregate at your peril – there needs to be accessibility for everyone.

“If celebrities like what we do, then that is great, but we don’t go out looking for it.

“There are probably not enough celebrities in the North West to make that sustainable.

“One of the things we have tried to do is simply to create nice places.

“Pricing is also very important.

You want to make sure that everyone can afford to go there.”

The Living Room certainly managed to achieve this balance.

It was undoubtedly popular with the local glitterati – footballers and minor TV soap stars.

But it was also a place where the ordinary Liverpudlian could go in for a drink or a bite to eat and still feel like they belonged.

Living Room certainly changed Bacon’s public profile.

He said: “All my early press was do to with my past as a TV soap actor – then it was all about the Living Room.

“That was a real game-changer for me.”

Over the next few years, Living Room outlets started appearing in other cities and eventually four were launched in London.

In all, the company opened 13 venues.

Living Ventures also started another bar brand – Prohibition – which also proved a hit.

Such success did not go unnoticed by the larger bar operators, who were keen to grab a slice of the kudos.

“Jez and I developed a fantastic brand and were the winner of many awards. We nearly sold it in 2005, but sold our souls instead, and brought 19 restaurants from TRG, who took a 38% stake in the business.

“We took Living Ventures from being a boutique operator to a 34unit multi-concept business with a turnover of £50m a year employing well over 1,500 people.”

In 2007, Bacon and Roberts finally gave in and sold Living Room for what he describes as “silly money” – £28m, to be precise. “A year before the crash – great timing and all planned, of course,” laughs Bacon.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

19

THE BIG INTERVIEW . . . TIM BACON CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 The buyer was the stock market-listed Premium Bars & Restaurants Group (PBR).

By the end of 2009, PBR was in trouble and Bacon was reportedly getting ready to swoop to buy back the Living Room outlets, although publicly he remained tight-lipped.

In August of that year, PBR collapsed into administration.

Bacon approached the administrators with a view to buying back the chain, but a deal could not be done.

A few months later, he told the Daily Post: “The administrators would only consider a deal for the whole of the estate, which totalled 43 bars and nightclubs, and they didn’t really interest me.”

He insists his bid to buy back Living Room was driven by business opportunism, not nostalgia.

He said: “I could have taken on the entire business but I wasn’t interested in that. It wasn’t my idea of fun.

“Had a deal been done, it would have been about the opportunity that it presented.”

Bacon rejects the premise that his focus in Living Ventures is to find the next Living Room – a brand that would have the same impact.

Having fun seems to be a key part of Bacon’s drive.

He has previously said it is important to have a variety of brands within Living Ventures to keep things interesting and avoid the dullness of uniformity.

“I think we have plenty of other things coming through now – things are going really well,” he said.

“The drive I had when I started is still there, but in a different way. I now have a very strong team so I don’t have to worry so much about the smaller day-today things.

“It frees me up to concentrate more on the concept, but my passion is as strong as it has ever been.

“Australasia is a real big effort for everyone involved because of the quality of everything we want in there.

“What we aim to do is create spaces that people can enjoy, and Gusto and Blackhouse are fantastic examples of that.

“If you also take a look at how Alchemist is being received in Manchester – it has been phenomenal.”

Living Ventures’ expansion drive over the next year will perhaps not move as quickly as over the past 12 months, but Bacon is determined not to stand still.

The Olive Press, in Liverpool’s Castle Street, is due to be rebranded – possibly by the end of this year.

Bacon added: “We are looking to acquire the upstairs of the building and convert it to either a Blackhouse or an Alchemist.

“We would like to sort that out in time for Christmas, but it depends on planning.

“It is a cracking location.

“Living Ventures has 39 units at one stage, and that was OK, but some of them weren’t really what we wanted.

“We have had an explosion in the past year, and as long as we make sure we keep control of the quality then we are happy to maybe add a few more.

“But we’ll probably open no

20

Bacon, right, with old friend Dave HInds – the pair have opened Red Door bars in Wirral and Chester more than two or three units in the next year or so.”

Bacon says maintaining the quality is key to Living Ventures bucking the downward trend in the bar and restaurant sector, but he admits the company is not totally immune to the tough economic climate.

He said: “What is happening in the market right now is that people don’t have as much money to spend as maybe they used to.

“They may go out twice a week, rather than three times.

“We are finding that spend is

down but footfall is up. Like other businesses, we are under a lot of pressure in terms of costs.

“After the VAT rise, we raised prices by 1%, but I don’t think we’ll go any higher than that.

“We also have the issue of the Government approach of taxing alcohol to solve social problems.

“That creates issues for us, but I’d rather not say more.

“Employing the right people is always an issue – it costs a lot to employ people now.

“We are big on training and at Australasia we are spending

£100,000 training 60 people – that is an incredible investment.

“You just have to live with these things – we have to do what we have to do.”

Bacon is clearly enjoying teaming up again with Dave Hinds.

The pair opened the Red Door bar in Wirral last year, and have opened a second outlet in Chester in the last few weeks.

“Dave obviously got bored with being a property developer,” he joked.

“We have been very good

friends for a long time. Red Door isn’t necessarily going to be a big roll-out, but we may open one in Liverpool.”

A question to Bacon about any hobbies and interests he might have outside of work yields a short reply.

He lives in Cheshire with Karine and their children May, seven, and Phoenix, four.

He said: “I’m either with my family or friends connected with my family – or I’m at work.

“I’ll have plenty of time to pick up a few hobbies when I retire.”

Tourism and Leisure at LJMU

Are you interested in a career in Tourism, Leisure or Hospitality?

At LJMU we have an extensive range of courses; ■ ■ ■ ■

Undergraduate Degree (BA Hons) Teacher Training (PGCE) Masters (MA) Research Degrees (MPhil/PhD)

You can also study with Liverpool Community College on the LJMU accredited Foundation Degree (FdA).

Contact us 0151 231 5340 or ecl-recruitment@ljmu.ac.uk For further information please visit us at www.ljmu.ac.uk/ecl/tef 21

22

ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT This artist’s impression of Liverpool Waters takes in much of south Sefton – and Sefton Council hopes the area will benefit from the economic impact of the Peel development

Shining a light on south Sefton A key regeneration report is highlighting investment plans across local authority borders THERE are no border posts dividing Liverpool from Sefton, and no massive waterway marking the divide from one administrative regime to another.

North Liverpool blurs into south Sefton amid homes and industry, with only the subtlest hints of change – a wheelie bin here, a council logo there.

Sefton communities such as Southport and Formby may stand proud, separated by swathes of countryside. But south Sefton is unashamedly part of the great conurbation of northern Liverpool.

And the great investments planned for the Mersey waterfront – Liverpool Waters and the expansion of the Port of Liverpool

– will affect both authorities.

South Sefton cannot be regenerated on its own. And that’s why the latest development strategy for the region is a proudly cross-border effort.

The North Liverpool and South Sefton Regeneration Framework (SRF) aims, ambitiously, to encourage economic growth while improving the lives of local residents. It wants to show potential investors that there are great opportunities in both areas.

It was put together by Sefton Council, Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Vision and the Homes and Communities Agency.

The report – whose executive summary is out this week – accepts that the area has many

challenges, including poor housing stock, high levels of deprivation and large amounts of underused land.

But, it says, it has an asset base that is the envy of other areas.

“These assets,” the report says, “include its relationship and proximity to the river – still a powerful source and driver for economic renewal – and the resilience and inventiveness of its people.

“It contains many of (the city region’s) most emblematic physical and cultural landmarks, while its people and communities embody the spirit, resilience and inventiveness that define the city’s character and personality.

“The SRF seeks to unlock the

potential of these assets and, for the first time, offer an overarching vision and integrated long-term strategy to deliver fundamental and sustainable change in north Liverpool and south Sefton.

“The SRF is recognition of the need to prioritise action and resources in an area of acute need and deprivation. It is also an area with a unique concentration of opportunities, including the SuperPort, Bootle Town Centre, Liverpool Waters and Project Jennifer.

“In addition, it is vital that the stimulation and development of the local housing market, initiated by New Heartlands, continues.

“All of these projects have the potential to transform not only this area, but also impact significantly on the economic fortunes of the wider city region.”

The report focuses on three areas – Prosperity, People and Places.

Under Prosperity, the report looks at projects to encourage economic growth in the area.

That includes Liverpool Waters, the redevelopment plans for Everton FC and Liverpool FC, and plans to expand the Port of Liverpool.

It also highlights the opportunities that will be created in the renewable energy sector –

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

23

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT . . . SEFTON CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 particularly in the offshore wind sector. Earlier this month, for example, Dong Energy unveiled £450m plans to quadruple the size of its Liverpool Bay wind farm.

The report also emphasises the need to ensure the region has a skilled workforce. Councils and regeneration agencies, it says, must ensure there are opportunities for local people to work on regeneration schemes, while employers should be encouraged to develop vocational learning programmes.

Under People, the report lists ways in which agencies could “address the wide range of social issues” in the region. That includes improving standards in the education system, creating a region-wide Health Plan and promoting the arts.

And, under Places, the report’s partners pledge to keep working to improve housing stock, strengthen local “district centres” such as Bootle town centre, and improve the transport infrastructure.

The report says: “We want to create a place with a thriving and prosperous economy where people can fulfil their potential and realise their ambitions – a place with flourishing and desirable neighbourhoods and with an attractive and sustainable environment.

“Above all, the SRF aims to transform north Liverpool and south Sefton so that its many assets, including its people, its river, and the very land it sits on, can once again become a vital source of prosperity, enterprise and creativity for the Liverpool city region and our nation.”

Alan Lunt, director of built environment at Sefton Council, wants the region to attract more private investment.

He is hopeful that this report will act as a sales brochure for the region showing that, despite its well-publicised social problems, it is ripe for investment.

He said: “It’s because of the fact that we knew that more difficult and challenging funding regimes were going to be coming in very soon.

“There’s so much going on. We felt that there were big opportunities to create synergy to help attract private sector investment. That investment is what’s going to drive regeneration in the foreseeable future.

“We wanted to define the offer that is north Liverpool and south Sefton.

“It’s a big area geographically, and there are some unused and underused areas of land. There are some big opportunities.

“There’s Liverpool Waters, and the Superport farther to the north. Put together, that’s massive private sector investment and massive amounts of new jobs.

“That will really change the perception of the area.”

Liverpool Waters is an ambitious project. The idea that the half-derelict landscape of the northern docks could soon sprout skyscrapers seems almost fanciful.

But developer Peel has a track record at just this sort of thing – as the massive MediaCity development, in Salford, proves.

And the Government has faith in the project – both it and its sister development in Wirral are to

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Bootle’s ‘office quarter’, including the Health and Safety Executive building, right become enterprise zones able to offer tax incentives to companies.

For Mr Lunt, the public sector can also play a key role in such developments by ensuring the infrastructure is in place for them to happen.

He said: “Twenty years ago, I worked in Salford Quays, and you would never have thought that it would ever have something like MediaCity there.

“But because of the changes they put in place some years ago when I was working at Salford, investment flowed in.”

While projects such as Wirral Waters grab the headlines, Mr Lunt believes improvements to the area’s housing stock are vitally important to the borough’s future.

“We will continue to make sure we ensure that the housing market has the infrastructure it needs in place,” he said.

“If the housing offer is attractive and the schools are well-performing, people will come to live close to their places of work.

“With Liverpool city centre nearby, and access to the motorway network, plus the job opportunities that will come from Liverpool Waters and the post-Panamax, we need to make sure the infrastructure is right so people can live on the doorstep of where they work.”

The housing market is a great example of an area in which the two authorities have to work together.

Mr Lunt said: “The housing market doesn’t recognise these boundaries. If you move from north Liverpool to south Sefton, nothing much changes.

“The world doesn’t change just because the colour of the logo is light blue, rather than purple.

“Even at a Merseyside level, the synergy between north Liverpool and south Sefton is recognised.”

The SRF could, says Mr Lunt, also help the area attract more government investment.

“We are working with private sector people on bids for the Regional Growth Fund part two,” he said.

“I see the SRF as the basis of what these bids are going to be.”

Steve Dickson, chief executive of Sefton Chamber of Commerce, agrees that the enterprise zone at Liverpool Waters could boost the south Sefton economy.

But, he says, policymakers must ensure that the zone does not simply suck businesses away from neighbouring areas.

“We must,” he says, “make sure we don’t have the displacement that we saw in the 1980s, where businesses relocated half a mile to take advantage of rate relief and

other bonuses. We need to make sure, with the introduction of enterprise zones, that we get a net gain.

“We need new companies coming to the area to create jobs, not just displaced companies.”

One of the recurring criticisms of Merseyside’s recent regeneration is that areas such as north Liverpool and south Sefton have been neglected. The organisations behind the SRF hope that this report will shine a light on the opportunities that are available in these areas to encourage investment.

“As the Liverpool city region seeks to maintain and accelerate its economic renewal,” the report says, “north Liverpool and south Sefton will no longer be seen as an area of challenge, but as the area that offers the greatest potential for new investment and transformational change.”

‘Business in Sefton is alive and kicking’

Chamber chief upbeat about borough’s prospects SEFTON Chamber’s chief executive, Steve Dickson, says the borough is well-placed for growth thanks to the determination of its businesses.

Mr Dickson is keen to highlight some of the borough’s success stories, such as Aintree packaging firm AE Direct Mail.

He said: “Business in Sefton is alive and kicking. We’ve done remarkably well in recent years.”

The renewables sector, says Mr Dickson, offers opportunities to Sefton firms. The chamber has launched a Green Team to bring together small firms in the area to pitch for contracts.

“There is clearly going to be a massive market in green and renewable technology in all facets of life,” he said.

“We’ve seen the major investment announcements about offshore wind farms. There are great opportunities for us, if we get the technology right.

“It would be great to manufacture these turbines here, rather than importing them complete from Denmark or Holland.”

Mr Dickson said that presented opportunities for construction firms who could adapt to install green technology. Companies such as Eco Environments, in Bootle, have, he said, taken advantage of that, teaming up with other local small firms to bid for contracts.

Steve Dickson, chief executive of Sefton Chamber of Commerce

Of the borough’s largest settlements, Southport remains a magnet for visitors, both for business and leisure.

Bootle may be a less obvious destination. But, insists Mr Dickson, its “office quarter” has great potential to attract investment.

The area, including Hugh Baird College and the Health and Safety Executive, has recently seen investment from property giant Bruntwood. The St Hugh’s building underwent a £3.6m refurbishment.

Mr Dickson says Bootle should sell itself as an alternative to Liverpool – but one that is still in easy reach of the city centre.

“It’s a fantastic area,” said Mr Dickson. “It’s only four miles from the city centre. There’s quite a strong office quarter proposition there.

“If you were talking in London terms, and you could be just four miles from the West End at great rates, you’d be laughing. We need to take that kind of holistic approach in the Liverpool city region.”

INSURER HELPS YOUNG PEOPLE BACK INTO THE WORLD OF WORK INSURANCE giant Paymentshield is looking to take on more staff as it continues its recovery from recession.

The company, Southport’s largest private sector employer, had to shed more than 50 jobs in 2009 as the downturn hit.

But Paymentshield chief executive Tim Johnson said the company has since taken on more than 70 staff, meaning employment levels are back to what they were before the downturn. And he says the company could recruit up to 20 more people as it continues its growth.

Last year, it decided to open a dedicated call centre to help it win back some of its former customers.

Mr Johnson said: “The team started

work in September, and now has 55 people. We’re on the look-out for another 20. We’re growing nicely.”

The company created 20 more jobs in another new division, which targets letting agents.

Paymentshield is also helping young people get back into work through the Government’s Get Britain Working scheme.

Customer operations director Paul Jarman said: “I’ve started working with some people from JobcentrePlus about a work experience scheme.

“The idea is to make sure that 18-year-olds who have never really worked before can come to an employer and get work experience for up to eight weeks.

Paymentshield chief executive Tim Johnson “It might or might not lead to work, but they get good experience they can learn from.”

The first recruit under the scheme joined Paymentshield this month.

“We’re trying to run these placements continuously, so there’s always

someone working here,” said Mr Jarman.

“There’s always work to be done here.”

Mr Jarman is keen that, as the company grows, it recruits local people who currently have to travel outside the borough to work.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT . . . SEFTON

CENTRAL VIEW With Ged Gibbons, chief executive of City Central BID “IT’S a marathon, not a sprint.”

This oft-repeated Shankly quote came to mind the other day while hearing reactions to the number of void units in the city centre, notably the Metquarter.

To hear some, you’d think it’s all over. But the retail world – like the business side of football – can be very complex.

Much as no-one likes to see an empty shop, it is important to bear in mind it can take over a year to fill that void.

It reminds me of the frustration when you buy your first home.

You have the money. You know what you want to buy.

But, and it’s a big but, the legal world takes over! In this regard, the long-term – or marathon – mentality really is a great virtue.

The most important thing to remember is that Liverpool city centre is hugely popular and attractive to investors – April was a record breaker for footfall – and will continue to be so, as long as we all keep working together.

Undoubtedly, there are battles ahead.

Despite having some voids, The Metquarter has a number of key proposals on the table at the moment, so it is fingers crossed with the legal people.

But, as one door closes . . . in the very same week we hear the tremendous news that Forever 21 are seeking to invest £25m at “Holy Corner” on Church Street and Whitechapel – a site identified as key in the City Centre Retail Strategy to assisting footfall to the Metquarter.

Currently, Forever 21 has only one store in the UK. They’ve chosen Liverpool as their second city, overlooking London, Manchester and Glasgow, the only other cities ahead of Liverpool in the UK Retail Rankings. Now that’s progress!

In fact, I think we are becoming a little blasé.

The Mere Park Central Village development, with Forever 21, will be open to the public in 2013. Liverpool One aside, this is the biggest retail development the city has ever seen.

It will be supported by a very strong leisure offer, all assisting Bold Street and Renshaw Street in creating first-class corridors and gateways into the city centre.

By the way, if you have not done so already, please vote for Bold Street in the Google Street View Awards as the UK’s “best shopping street”.

We know it, but we need to impress upon the judges and the wider public just how fantastic an offer we have in this most exceptional of Bohemian shopping destinations.

Outside of City Central BID, in Dale and Water Street, we will see later in the year Liverpool’s firstever five-star hotels.

Like our cathedrals, we were not satisfied with one, so we have had two built! And there’ll be probably more to come.

Another key part of the jigsaw could come in June, when we will hopefully see the second business improvement district established in the Commercial District.

There is a strong appetite from the private sector to work hard to improve our city centre, and I am sure, under the tutelage of Paul Rice, the Commercial District will have similar successes to those enjoyed by City Central.

As I have mentioned before, we cannot do this on our own. But, by working collaboratively with all key stakeholders, we will be able to implement many of the fine recommendations made in the City Centre Retail Strategy.

And, by keeping our eye on this long-term goal, we will ensure our future has a silver lining.

‘Remember that Liverpool is hugely attractive to investors’

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

A rough diamond with great

Knowsley Industrial Park is one of the biggest of its kind in the region, but a report claims it is Knowsley Industrial Park could boost the borough’s GVA with the right investment, experts say Picture: ANDREW TEEBAY

“OUT-DATED and weak in meeting investor and occupiers’ needs.”

That was the grim assessment of a report into Knowsley Industrial Park (KIP) and Knowsley Business Park (KBP).

However, the 110-page report, written by DTZ and commissioned by Knowsley Council and the Northwest Development Agency, identified a plan of action that could eventually boost Knowsley’s GVA (economic output) by £30m a year.

KIP, located close to Kirkby, comprises 1,000 acres and is one of the largest industrial parks in Europe.

It is home to 600 companies employing more than 10,000 people, including QVC and Dairy Crest.

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The 200-acre KPB nearby accommodates a range of businesses, including Telewest and News International.

One of the key recommendations of the report was that Knowsley Council, which holds the freehold to the site, seeks a private sector partner to redevelop the site.

KBP has seen some development in recent years, but KIB still largely comprises of older warehouse stock.

The main findings of the report were: ■ Knowsley Industrial Park (and Business Park) remains a positive asset for the borough and the Liverpool city region, but with some key gaps and weaknesses that need to be addressed; ■ Linkages to Kirkby town

centre in terms of physical, business and employment links need to be strengthened; ■ Branding and marketing – the KIP and KBP brands need to be simplified and strengthened, potentially under a single brand title; ■ Significant financial investment is required to modernise some key areas of the KIP and exploit existing and future development plots for increased business activity and employment. Private sector investment will play a key part in delivering the development opportunities and upgrading required; ■ Main physical gateways to KIP need to be strengthened, and the overall quality of place improved, including the “sense of arrival”;

■ Opportunities to attract growth sector businesses, including “green businesses”, must be pursued to enhance the breadth of businesses on KIP and broaden its appeal as an inward investment location.

As well as continuing to support the existing business base, Knowsley Council says it will now target businesses in growth sectors to build on its current base, including finance and business services, distribution and ancillary retail, transport and communications, manufacturing – including food and drink – advanced engineering and materials and green energy.

The authority believes the lowcarbon economy provides a “great opportunity” for Knowsley to build on its existing base of

businesses involved in the green sector.

Cllr Dave Lonergan, cabinet member for regeneration, economy and skills at Knowsley Council, said: “Knowsley Industrial Park has played a major role in the economy of the borough over the last 70 years.

“We want to build on its success and drive forward the economic prosperity and growth of the wider city region by providing an excellent base for businesses.

“We are particularly keen to attract green businesses to Knowsley and develop the park as a hub for the green sector, as part of the low-carbon economy.

“We want to develop this major asset to become one of the largest and most successful business parks in the Liverpool city region

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

potential to boost city region being held back by a lack of investment. Tony McDonough reports

Cllr Dave Lonergan, cabinet member for regeneration, economy and skills at Knowsley Council over the next few years.” Mark Coulthurst, at Liverpool commercial property agency, Mason Owen, says the quality of the transport links meant the industrial and business park had great potential.

But he added that finding a private sector partner in the current environment, with access to the necessary funds for investment, could prove challenging.

He said: “The business park has done pretty well since the turn of the century, and there has been some speculative development.

“That development catered for the market at the time, whereby company directors were wanting to buy commercial property and place it in their pension funds.

“Of course, at the time, there

was a lot of grant funding available.

“Now the environment has changed and the scrapping of empty rates relief is also now a deterrent to speculative development.

“The quality of the space in the business park is quite good – the oldest buildings only date back to the 1970s. But when you get into the industrial park you are looking at much older kit.

“There is no landscaping – it’s an old-fashioned industrial park that does what it says.

“It does fulfil a need. It is attractive to some occupiers who cannot afford a shiny new shed and the location and transport links are good.

“It does need new development if capital values are to be raised.

The local authority may be able to attract an investor if there is a large amount of land to throw in and they can see a profit at the end of it.

“We have always found that, if you build space speculatively, then the occupiers will come.”

The report included projections on the potential benefits of development of the parks.

It said: “If development within the identified opportunity areas is developed as envisaged, potential net additional jobs in Knowsley local authority will total more than 2,000. The contribution to annual GVA is also significant, at an additional £30m-plus per year.

“Development of the proposed opportunity areas will generate a significant amount of net additional floorspace at the Park,

at approximately 1,057,000 sq ft.

Moreover, converting this floorspace into employment land translates into a figure of around 25 hectares by 2027.

“This will make a positive contribution to meeting anticipated employment land requirements for the borough.

“Indicative costs have been provided for the area-wide projects such as green routes, gateways, accessibility, utility provision, and green energy.

“This section of the report identifies a range of funding sources, but recognises the challenging environment within which this strategic framework will be implemented, given the diminishing sources of public sector funding available.

“In light of the challenging

funding environment in which resources are finite and competition for available funds is likely to be high, Knowsley Council should consider focusing on private sector funding, including developer contributions and the use of loan and contributory fund-raising mechanisms.

“This highlights the importance of pursuing a market-led approach to financing the venture, and establishing a joint venture partnership is a key aspect of securing private sector finance. Other sources of funding with the potential scope to support the Park include the North West Urban Investment Fund (JESSICA), NWDA Single Pot, and developing a Business Improvement District (BID).”

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FOR years, Liverpool has failed to compete with Manchester in terms of its digital infrastructure.

Manchester has had the benefit of a superfast digital exchange and fibre cables since the mid1990s. The presence of this infrastructure has assisted all types of business in Manchester city centre with their communications, particularly when it comes to transmitting very large data files. It is also the reason that nearby Salford attracted the whole media city investment idea and the BBC. Albeit belatedly, Liverpool is beginning to fight back.

AIMES Grid Services is hosting Liverpool’s first digital exchange at its premises on the site of the former Marconi plant, in Edge Lane, now renamed Liverpool Innovation Park.

AIMES has teamed up with Virgin Media Business to launch a new super-fast broadband service for businesses and other organisations in Liverpool city centre.

The £1m scheme links Liverpool City Council’s existing fibre cable with new investment

by Virgin Media Business and Global Crossing.

Known as Fibrenet, the project to upgrade the city’s broadband infrastructure follows the publication of the Digital Britain report and has been made possible by a £400,000 grant from the Technology Strategy Board.

At the moment, London and Manchester are the only UK cities with digital exchanges.

AIMES has already signed up the BBC, Sony, UCI and Getty Images, who will all use the new system to provide their customers with content.

AIMES is also seeking local firms, hospitals, universities and other institutions which want to take part in an initial one-year trial starting this July.

Chief executive, Professor Dennis Kehoe, said: “Liverpool all of a sudden becomes a high-fibre connected city, not only enabling local businesses to benefit but attracting the trialling of new services, making Liverpool a digital destination, which it has not been previously. We will be able to compete with Manchester and on a national level.

“I have been arguing for a long time that every city needs an internet exchange. They are very much the 21st-century equivalent of airports – in the last century, every town in the country thought they needed an airport.

“The problem Liverpool has is its proximity to Manchester. It’s a bit how Manchester Airport competes with Liverpool Airport.

“Almost every US city has an internet exchange, and all the major UK cities will have one over the next five years.”

Fibrenet is one of a handful of digital test beds being created around the country being partly funded by the Technology Strategy Board.

Professor Kehoe added: “It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation.

Businesses won’t invest in the sorts of services that can use the fibre network because the fibre network doesn’t exist in the city.

“But there is no investment in fibre network because businesses won’t invest in the services that would use it.

“Our Fibrenet initiative aims to break that cycle.

Liverpool is one of five cities that were selected out of 30 that

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Digital age comes to city with new ‘super-fast’ broadband network

LIverpool’s businesses to be linked to ‘digital ring road’ as local firm clinches deal with Virgin Media

applied to take part in the test bed trials. The city council’s existing fibre is currently used principally for CCTV traffic control in the city centre.

“It’s a valuable investment and resource and there was an opportunity there to use that fibre to drive further investment in Liverpool,” he said.

Known as the Metropolitan Ring, the existing fibre network is managed by 2020 Liverpool on behalf of Liverpool City Council.

Prof Kehoe equates the current fibre network to an innercity ring road that links various key sites, such as the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, the universities and the business district around Old Hall Street.

Virgin Media are putting a 10 gigabyte per second switch into Liverpool Innovation Park.

“In the mid-90s, Manchester saw the first internet wave coming and invested in an internet exchange in the city centre. We are ready in Liverpool for the next wave,” said Prof Kehoe.

“Liverpool Innovation Park has a resilient energy supply. This is a legacy from the days when Marconi was here and the company built three sub-stations on its site. Digital technologies are hungry for power.

“London is running out of energy supply. This site enables us to build a cloud computing infrastructure so though we are 10

years late, what we have now is a tier one company into here.

“Tier one companies lay fibre across the Atlantic, the Pacific and Russia. They are all in Manchester, London, Paris, New York, now – for the first time – we are bringing a tier one company into Liverpool via Southport,” added Prof Kehoe.

Transatlantic fibre cable lands at Southport and currently runs to the centre of Manchester. This cable will now be linked to Liverpool’s fibrenet, massively improving broadband speeds and reducing the costs to business of sending vast quantities of data over the internet.

The cost of a 10mg synchronous connection is about £10,000 a year.

Buying through Fibrenet could bring that cost down to £500 a year.

“This will allow Liverpool to move to the utility and cloud computing models. From June, it will be available to take new digital services, for example, digital curating and archiving, from all over the country,” he said.

“Hospitals will be able to use the new service to make medical records easily accessible to all of the staff, including very large files such as X-Rays.

“Manchester’s digital community is about five times the size of Liverpool, and it has about 10 times the bandwidth capacity.

Manchester’s lawyers and tax

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Prof Dennis Kehoe, of AIMES – If Liverpool wants to compete in the digital economy, then it needs to invest in its infrastructure Picture: ANDREW TEEBAY

experts have better bandwidth than we do here. Digital consumption is growing at a rate of 27% a year. Now the North West is a viable second centre to London. Businesses in Liverpool are data locked if they’ve got more than a terabyte of data, they cannot move it at the moment.”

Superfast broadband is crucial to the economic future of the country, which is why the Government is committing £530m of public money to it over the next seven years.

Its importance for business competitiveness was reiterated in this year’s Budget when the Chancellor promised Government support to ensure that superfast broadband is rolled out in each of

the 21 urban Enterprise Zones it is creating, which include one at Liverpool and Wirral Waters.

Next-generation digital technology is as vital to Liverpool’s future competitiveness as a knowledge economy as the docks once were to trade in the city, insists Prof Kehoe.

He added: “If Liverpool wants to compete in the digital economy, then it needs to invest in its infrastructure so that it is perfectly positioned to exploit the commercial opportunities afforded by the next wave of the internet revolution, namely cloud based applications.”

Fibrenet will kick-start further investment in Liverpool’s digital

infrastructure, linking up strategic sites across the city centre to provide business with high-speed internet connectivity.

Prof Kehoe said: “In the mid90s, Manchester recognised the commercial significance of the internet as a direct response to the dotcom boom. Consequently, it invested significantly in its digital infrastructure. For example, Manchester has approx 300,000sq ft of data centre capacity compared to circa 30,000 sq ft in Liverpool. It has become a digital hub, attracting inward investment and drawing digital service providers to the city.

“It’s highly likely that Manchester’s digital infrastructure and its status as an

internet exchange will have had some bearing on the decision to build MediaCityUK in Salford.

“FibreNet will connect businesses to new data centre resources at Liverpool Innovation Park, eventually creating a new internet exchange point, with access to Tier 1 international carriers and on-bound access to other data centres.

“FibreNet’s intentionally disruptive pricing model will stimulate development and uptake of new applications and will vastly reduce the premium paid

by Liverpool businesses to directly connect to the internet exchanges located in Manchester and London.”

Business could gain up to 80%

reduction in internet bandwidth costs, with speeds up to 10Gbps due to direct access to a Tier 1 service provider (bringing the costs to Liverpool businesses in line with those currently available to Manchester and London businesses).

It will also bring practical access to digital services, including data storage, physical and virtual server hosting, managed services and new applications.

The project plans to reach to all the city’s major commercial areas, including the business district, the health and technology parks, the Baltic Triangle and Liverpool Science Park – creating an “inner city digital ring road”.

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IN ASSOCIATION WITH

HOW GREEN IS YOUR BUSINESS?

Wind power plans will give

Burbo Bank expansion bid and Irish Sea wind farm scheme could create thousands of LIVERPOOL city region’s bid to become a major UK hub for the offshore wind industry has received a major boost, with the announcement of a plan to treble the size of the Liverpool Bay wind farm.

In the last few weeks, Denmark-based Dong Energy has unveiled its plans for a massive expansion of the Burbo Bank wind farm, four miles off the Crosby and Wirral coastline.

It is estimated the project could lead to the creation of up to 2,000 extra jobs.

Merseyside is already looking to grab a major slice of the work involved in creating an immense wind farm farther out into the Irish Sea. The £15bn project would see the

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construction of 850 wind turbines, each one taller than London’s 623ft Gherkin skyscraper and spread across an area twice the size of the Isle of Man. Both projects bode well for maritime firms in Merseyside such as Cammell Laird and logistics companies like Stobart, which hope to win big contracts.

Investment agency The Mersey Partnership (TMP) said the Burbo Bank scheme was important in meeting the region’s target to create 3,000 jobs in the industry by 2015.

The farm currently has 25 turbines which generate around 90 megawatts (MW) of energy.

Dong wants to build enough wind-powered generators to produce an extra 250MW – enough

to power 170,000 more homes. The current wind farm covers about 10sq km, but once expanded 40sq km of seabed would be used.

If similar turbines to the current ones are used, it means another 65 propellers could be whirring off the Merseyside shoreline.

Dong is presenting three options at a number of public meetings which include varying numbers of turbines.

The option with the largest turbines will require fewer to be built, while the scenario with the most features smaller propellers.

The company does not expect to start work on the £450m project until 2014 at the earliest, and is now carrying out public consultation.

A year ago, the Crown Estate, which owns the British coastline, gave the firm permission to use the seabed.

Now the company needs planning permission from the Infrastructure Planning Commission.

A spokesman for Dong said: “The project is at an early stage at the moment, we are starting the first round of consultation.

“If we make the final investment decision, we will start construction in 2014 or 2015.”

The company is currently carrying out geological surveys, and the spokesman said a project like this would be expected to involve 2,000 workers from divers to engineers.

Once built, around 50 people

would be employed in ongoing maintenance.

TMP’s low-carbon economy manager, Mark Knowles, said: “Overall, the development of offshore wind capacity in the Irish Sea has the potential to create 3,000 jobs across the city region by 2015, and investments such as this are critical to reaching that target.”

The Government’s round three installations will dwarf the Burbo Bank wind farm with a mid-Irish Sea facility twice the size of the Isle of Man, located south of the island.

It will be developed by Centrica Energy Renewable Investments.

TMP aims is to bring together 17 businesses and sites to attract this investment to Merseyside and

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

HOW GREEN IS YOUR BUSINESS?

Dong Energy wants to make the Burbo Bank wind farm even bigger Picture: JASPER CARLBERG

Cammell Laird, in Birkenhead, is ready to take on major wind power projects

major boost to city region

jobs and benefit hundreds of firms in Merseyside in the drive for ‘green’ energy grab a slice of the project. For wind turbine manufacturing, joint ventures with established European wind power firms will be sought, rather than have local firms starting to get involved from scratch.

But there will still be plenty of construction work and assembly done on Merseyside, due to the sheer size of the components.

The round 3 Irish Sea Zone has the potential to generate 4.2 gigawatts (GW) of power from 850 turbines.

However, the proposed field is located 70km offshore and would not be visible from land.

TMP is leading the effort to make sure local companies get the maximum benefit from this development.

In November, it published a report that had been prepared by global consulting engineers Arup.

It identified many of the region’s existing port, manufacturing, warehousing and distribution assets, setting out how they can be combined to make a “compelling” case for the creation of a major supply chain.

Developing, building and maintaining the proposed Irish Sea installation will be a huge undertaking, requiring a wide range of engineering and manufacturing expertise.

A sophisticated support and logistics infrastructure will be required – providing the potential for the creation of a Liverpool city region-based supply chain, creating thousands of jobs.

TMP’s key partners in the venture already include Peel Ports and Birkenhead shipyard Cammell Laird, and they are looking for more firms to step up.

The report cites the city region’s extensive research and development and training and marine engineering skills as a major asset that will appeal to multi-national energy and engineering firms wanting to develop the Irish Sea Zone.

Plans have been drawn up for a major development of the Cammell Laird site, in Birkenhead, to create a vast service hub for the off-shore wind industry.

TMP’s director of investment, Mark Basnett, said earlier this year: “Liverpool city region has

an immensely strong asset base on which to build an integrated supply chain for Irish Sea offshore wind development.

“One of our biggest strengths is that the key sites identified need limited adaptation to service offshore wind industry requirements.

“There are established businesses and companies in the private sector – many of them TMP members – that can provide a flexible, reliable and low-carbon solution for the sector.

“Our primary task now is to market these assets to the players in this global industry.

“We aim to make a compelling business case for them to invest here in Liverpool city region, creating new jobs and new

opportunities, as they develop the shore side hub that will support their huge undertakings offshore.

“Liverpool city region can become west coast UK’s Aberdeen for the offshore wind industry.”

TMP, Cammell Laird and Peel Ports recently showcased the region’s potential at major trade shows in China, Germany and the UK. Liverpool will this year host one of the sector’s major events when the Renewable UK Offshore Wind Conference & Exhibition takes place at the BT Convention Centre at the end of June.

Mr Basnett added: “The benefits for businesses and the wider economy of the region, in terms of new investment and job opportunities, could be immense.”

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THE NETWORKER

SPONSORED BY MATCHDAY HOSPITALITY AT EVERTON 0151 530 5300

THE BUSINESS LIST Wednesday, June 1 A networking event for people in the charity and voluntary sector has been organised by Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services.

The free event, from 5.30pm-7.30pm, is being held at Barclays Corporate’s office, at 20 Chapel Street, and the bank will provide some insights into aspects of charity funding and finance. To book, call 0151 227 1234.

THURSDAY, JUNE 23/ LIVERPOOL DAILY POST REGIONAL BUSINESS AWARDS

Thursday, June 2 Merseyside’s self-proclaimed “geek community” will be gathering once again for the next Ignite Liverpool event. Ignite sees presenters given five minutes to talk about their passions.

Subjects for debate this time will include “record buying in a pre-internet age” and the importance of teaching software coding to children. For information, visit www. igniteliverpool.defnetmedia.com

Tuesday, June 7 QVC’s general manager, James Keegan, and its training and development consultant, Jenny Proctor, will present a two-hour course outlining the QVC approach to the customer experience.

The Knowsley Chamber of Commerce event is free to members and £12 for non-members. It starts at 4pm and is at QVC, South Boundary Road, Knowsley Industrial Park.

To book, visit www.knowsley chamber.org/events.php

Wednesday, June 8 Bruntwood chairman Michael Oglesby is the keynote speaker at the summer philanthropy lunch. It costs £20 for Liverpool Chamber members and £30 for non-memebrs and is at Radisson Blu, Old Hall Street. It is from 12pm-2.15pm – to book, call 0151 227 1234.

John Timpson is the keynote speaker at the 2011 Regional Business Awards THE 20th Liverpool Daily Post Regional Business Awards will highlight and reward those companies, large and small, which have prospered in the last 12 months.

The awards ceremony is being held

Thursday, June 9 A UK Trade and Investment roadshow on Financing the

at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, and Timpson chairman John Timpson, the keynote speaker, will be joined by journalistturned-celebrity dancer John Sergeant, who will compere the evening.

Liverpool Daily Post editor Mark Thomas said: “The Regional Business Awards are always a celebration of the excellence of the very best businesses and business people in our city region, and never has that been

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St Helens Chamber is holding its monthly business breakfast at its town centre headquarters. It gets under way from 7.45am, and costs £24.

Three businesses are invited

successful businesses, particularly in tough economic times.”

■ TO BOOK places at this year’s event, please call 0151 472 2422.

Single places cost £95 plus VAT. A table of ten is £950 plus VAT.

Friday, June 17

Future: Export Credits Guarantee is being held at Daresbury Laboratory.

It will explain more about new ECGD products that were announced in the recent white paper Trade and Investment for Growth and how they can help all businesses, particularly SMEs, to export with confidence.

The free event is from 1.30pm-4pm. For more details, call 01925 400194 or email harrysavage.ukti@nwda.co.uk.

Thursday, June 9

QVC’s Kirkby centre

more true than in 2011.

It is in difficult times that the bravest, the boldest and the most entrepreneurial people demonstrate their true mettle.

“Vision and dedication are crucial characteristics for

The monthly Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus Business breakfast network event brings together around 100 people working for hi-tech companies. The breakfast is at Daresbury Innovation Centre, starting from 8am. For more details, see www.daresbury sic.co.uk/events

Friday, June 24 Beverley Bell to give a short five-minute overview of their business and services they offer. To book, visit www.sthelens chamber.com/events

The Northwest Traffic Commissioner, Beverley Bell, will be answering questions at the St Helens Transport Forum. It is from 10.30am-12pm at St Helens Chamber. For more details, see www.sthelens chamber.com/events

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33

THE NETWORKER

SPONSORED BY MATCHDAY HOSPITALITY AT EVERTON 0151 530 5300

BUSINESS LUNCH Tony McDonough meets King Sturge partner Chris Prescott, at Piccolino, in Liverpool city centre N MY first day on the Daily Post business desk in 2002, the boss told me that one of my special areas of responsibility would be the city’s commercial property market.

My mood plummeted. Just a few weeks earlier, I had been working as a news producer in the relatively glamorous and sexy world of local television.

But the station was closed down and I was catapulted back into print media.

So I was having a little difficulty getting excited about the prospect of writing about the price per sq foot of warehouses in Kirkby and Speke.

However, it soon became clear how commercial property reached into so many areas of business.

For example, the price per sq ft of city centre Grade A office space in the city centre (Liverpool headline rent is £21 per sq ft, in case you’re wondering) was a key indicator of the state of the sub-regional economy.

The world of commercial property is a fascinating one and joining me for lunch this month at Piccolino, in Liverpool, is a stalwart of the North West market – Chris Prescott, of King Sturge.

The firm’s Liverpool-based commercial and residential teams share a city centre office in Castle Street, with Chris being responsible for the commercial property side.

Despite the current economic environment, Chris insists the last financial year has been a good one for the firm.

During his career, he has worked through three recessions and so has the air of a man who is not easily panicked by the current tough conditions.

“I recall back around 1992 when interest rates were much higher than they are today – around 14-15%, he said.

“So borrowing costs for commercial property projects would have been quite high.

“However, there was liquidity around then. The banks were prepared to lend so developments were going ahead.

“And that is the main difference with how things are now.

Interest rates are very low, but it is very hard now to get money out of

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the banks, particularly for property schemes.”

Following on from that, Chris identified one of the key challenges for Liverpool’s city centre office market that is of concern to commercial agents in the locality.

“There is going to be a lack of Grade A space quite soon,” he added.

“20 Chapel Street is not far off being fully let and when the final phase of St Paul’s Square is let, where is the new stock coming from? In the current market, the cost of development would exceed the end value of any scheme.”

Piccolino seems to have bee around forever. It actually opened in 2004, and since then has seen a number of quality restaurants open up within a few minutes’ walk.

However, it remains popular with the business crowd.

Last time I had been there, a couple of years ago, I hadn’t been overly impressed. I found the service over-bearing and felt we were being rushed, so I was hoping for an improvement on this occasion.

Within a few minutes of arriving and being sat at the table, the air of the place felt much more laid back than on that previous visit.

Service was friendly and attentive, but not intrusive.

For his starter, Chris ordered the calamari fritti – crispy fried squid with roast garlic mayonnaise and lemon.

It was a generous portion size – almost enough for a main course – and Chris was impressed.

He said: “Sometimes in restaurants, calamari can be a bit rubbery, but this one was very nicely cooked indeed.”

I went for a very simple starter of Parma ham and melon which, as you would expect, is a plate of Parma ham and melon.

Can’t complain about the

Piccolino, in Cook Street, Liverpool – offers a range of Italian dishes quality – I could eat Pama ham all day – but, at £7.7,5 it seemed a little over-priced.

For his main course, Chris went for the frutti di mare, a risotto with king prawns, mussels, squid and saffron.

He found the dish filling and tasty. However, a waitress had promised there would be shellfish on top, but there was little evidence of this when it arrived.

For my main course, I ordered another old favourite of mine – spaghetti con polpettine, which is pasta with pork and beef meatballs braised in tomato sauce.

It was hot, tasty and filling and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Chris and I discussed how the big blowout business lunches had largely become a thing of the past for many in the business and professional community, at a time when the quality of Liverpool’s restaurants was probably as good as they have ever been.

“It is certainly not as common as it used to be,” he said.

“Back in the good old days, if

Chris Prescott, of King Sturge, Liverpool

you finished a deal on the Friday morning, then you could just about write the rest of the day off.

People are often too busy now and many are much more health-conscious than they used to be.”

Throughout this discussion, I was taunted mercilessly by a bowl of delicious-looking crusty bread placed on our table.

I’m on a bit of a health kick at the moment and white bread is out. Chris, bless him, was very supportive and pledged not to touch it either.

One of his main areas of experience and expertise in the commercial property arena is in large regeneration projects.

King Sturge has been heavily involved in the development of the Speke Garston area of south Liverpool over the past decade.

For a time, he was seconded in-house to work directly with English Partnerships, and is very proud of the massive redevelopment that has taken place.

He added: “I have spent the last 15 years of my life doing work there, and we are now working on a new development plan for the area. For example, at Estuary

Picture: JASON ROBERTS

Commerce Park, there is around 25 acres left to develop there and probably a similar amount at the International Business Park.”

Chris is also working on a similar project out in North Wales.

He says he is proud to see how Liverpool city centre has been transformed over the past few years. There was a time when the central business district turned into a ghost town after 5pm – “that has all changed now,” he said.

“There is a very compelling argument now for companies to invest in the city.

“This is a very cost-effective place to be – not just in terms of property values but also the quality of the workforce and the quality of life.”

DETAILS Piccolino 14a, Cook Street Liverpool L2 9QU Tel: 0151 236 2555

www.piccolino restaurants.co.uk/liverpool

For more information call 0151 530 5300 or visit evertonfc.com/exec

New look for the Dixie Dean Suite

As part of the ongoing commitment to live up to our motto, we are pleased to announce a major refurbishment in the premium Executive Lounge at Goodison Park; the Dixie Dean Suite. No effort will be spared to produce a peerless matchday experience for our members.

And with package prices reduced for 2011/12, the ‘Dixie’ offers a compelling mix of an optimum venue, the highest levels of service and hospitality, and exceptional value for money.

For more information call 0151 530 5300 or visit evertonfc.com/exec

“The new Dixie Dean Suite will give us the platform to deliver an unsurpassed matchday hospitality experience.”

Gareth Billington Executive Head Chef 35

THE NETWORKER

SPONSORED BY MATCHDAY HOSPITALITY AT EVERTON 0151 530 5300

ALISTAIR HOUGHTON . . . in which we tour the music world, complete with a singing mayor, before pondering a trip to Lubberland UST for once, I felt what it must be like to be Simon Cowell.

“Are you from the Echo?” the woman said as she approached me. ”Yes”, said I. “Please have this CD”, she said. “It’s the new sound of Birmingham”.

And, politely ignoring my lack of cool, she handed me the I Am Ruby disc, complete with songs Sunday Love and – aptly – The Editor.

Welcome, one and all, to Liverpool Sound City.

Sound City is best-known for its music festival, where folks much trendier than I cram venues up and down the city to hear from the hottest new bands and compare haircuts.

But it also boasts a conference, focusing on all things musical and digital. A conference may not sound cool, but organiser Dave Pichilingi has always said it’s as vital as any gig.

In the music world, there are, for every person onstage, several people backstage and in offices around the world. Musicians may mock, but they need those backroom types to keep them on the road.

Bands still need labels, and websites, and apps. And that’s where Sound City conference could help.

J

URROUNDED by Sound City’s trendies as I was, I felt a little like the last cool person in the room, with my “yes, I’ve just come from a beige office” shirt and tie, amid crowds dressed as

S

though they could have come straight from the Zanzibar.

As I sat there on Friday, I ploughed through my notebook, reading about the North Liverpool and South Sefton Regeneration Framework. That made me almost certainly the only person in the room to be pondering infrastructure in Linacre.

I wonder, I thought as I sat there at the edge of the Hilton’s conference suite, if this is what a lawyer might feel backstage at Glastonbury.

And yet, to my surprise, two keynote speakers suggested lawyers were as necessary to musicians as any wah-wah pedal or hi-hat.

Simon Raymonde, former member of the Cocteau Twins and founder of ubercool record label Bella Union, said bands should always get their contracts checked out before signing them – no matter how cool the record boss handing them the papers.

Meanwhile, New Order and Joy Division bassist Peter Hook, a battle-scarred veteran of Factory Records who on another day would have waxed rhapsodic about his musical legacy, said his one piece of advice to any young musician would be “get a lawyer”.

Hooky himself shared his keynote speech with a fellow Mancunian, photographer Kevin Cummins. And they enjoyed a bout of gentlemanly verbal fisticuffs onstage about, not music, but the ins and outs of copyright.

Hook's beef is that he can’t make any money out of pictures of himself

as the copyright belongs to the photographer. It clearly still rankles, more than 30 years after Cummins’s iconic pictures of Joy Division were taken in the snow in Hulme.

“You took those pictures of me,” said Hook. “If I want to use those pictures, I have to pay you. I disagree.

“As artists, if we hadn’t done what we’d done over the course of our careers, you wouldn’t be able to sell anything now. For me, it should be give and take.”

But, Cummins insisted: “Photographs help to define how people see the band.” They had to agree to disagree.

T A music conference, there’s also the interesting issue of “fans”.

You don’t tend to get fans at your average convention, where Clive the accountant’s borderline risqué jokes about Cheryl Cole waft gently over the heads of a semi-conscious post-prandial audience.

But, at Sound City, you get musicians onstage. And while they may be talking, rather than performing, their fans still love them.

So they nod vigorously, occasionally muttering “yeah”, making clear to everyone that they are the biggest fan of that person in the room.

They’re the conference equivalent of the man at a concert – and it’s generally a man – who knows the words to even the most obscure B-side and wants everyone to know it.

I mock, but then if Morrissey ever turns up to give a 250-slide PowerPoint presentation on font sizes in rock, then I’ll be that man.

A

THER highlights? Well, seeing Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein – the man who signed Madonna – duetting on Petula Clark’s Sailor with Lord Mayor Hazel Williams in the Town Hall has to be up there.

And I particularly enjoyed Last.fm founder Michael Breidenbruecker’s whimsical talk on how the internet, where every song is available, is a modern equivalent of Lubberland – a legendary Germanic sensory paradise where the rivers were filled with milk and honey and “roast geese passed slowly down the street just asking to be eaten”.

And as for Ruby? Well, the sound of Birmingham I prefer is Roy Wood and the rest of The Move in their full psychedelic pomp, clad in facepaint and kaftans and setting sail on the great ship whimsy with the banners of preposterousness billowing in the wind under a yellow rainbow.

So, fine of singer-songwriterly voice as she is, I’ll pass her CD on to the office’s cool kids.

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Roy Wood, left, explaining the finer points of double-entry book-keeping to a crowd at The Cavern, in 1973

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37

SOCIAL DIARY THE NETWORKER

SPONSORED BY MATCHDAY HOSPITALITY AT EVERTON 0151 530 5300

Selina North, from Boodles, Lord Street, with Mikel and Lorena Arteta, at the Hilton Hotel charity event, the Light for Luca Appeal

Karla Lamb, Daniel Reilly, Kim Tiddy and Shaun Petafi join in the fun at the LFC end-of-season party

CAROLYN HUGHES Events organiser Julie Perry with celebrity stylist Lorraine McCulloch, at the Hilton Hotel, for the Light for Luca Appeal event

ANFIELD keeper Brad Jones and his stunning girlfriend, Dani Lawrence, hosted a Ball at the Hilton Hotel on Sunday for the Light for Luca Appeal, in aid of Anthony Nolan.

The Hilton Hotel was transformed into a sparkling showcase for the event by Julie Perry Events.

Everton star Mikel Arteta showed his romantic and generous sides by bidding for a fabulous Boodles Roulette pendant for his stunning wife, former Miss Spain, Lorena.

■ FORMER funeral parlour, the Red Door restaurant, West Kirby, hosted a Psychic Evening last week in aid of Age

Concern Wirral. Over 150 people came along for Psychic readings as well as a Psychic floor show,. featuring some of the best of the Radio City/City Talk Psychics & Mediums – Raymond, Wendy Messenger, Julie Ball, John Roberts, Clare Divine and John Conway.

■ LIVERPOOL One was buzzing with excited football fans as Pulse Agency, on behalf of Carlsberg, hosted an endof-season party for LFC at the Palm Sugar Lounge. LFC players past and present including Dirk Kuyt, Robbie Fowler, David Johnson and Phil Neal joined in the fun.

Dani Lawrence, with event organiser Julie Perry, and Anfield goalkeeper Brad Jones, at the Light for Luca charity event

Alison Hunter at the Red Door Psychic Evening with the host for the occasion, Radio City/City Talk presenter, Neal Atkinson

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TV drama star Sue Johnson presents Dirk Kuyt with a trophy, at the LFC party

Hayley and Heidi Range, at the Liverpool One LFC end-of-season party

Lynne Hamilton, of Age Concern Wirral, with Red Door operations director Lee Lynch, at the Psychic Evening

Paula Brown, with Lisa Baker, of the Hillbark Hotel, at the Red Door Psychic Evening

Do you have concerns about you, your family or your friends drinking levels? Then we are here to advise you!

NHS Wirral is relaunching a free confidential advice line which is now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can now ring day or night to talk to somebody on Freephone 0800 988 1421.

How much is too much?

Drinking alcohol is part and parcel of many people’s social life. However, some people start to find it leads to problems in their lives. This may be because they begin to drink too much, or maybe drink too often.

It is recommended that men should not regularly drink more than three to four units of alcohol per day and no more than 21 units a seek. (A pint or can of strong lager = 3 units) For women it is recommended that they should not regularly drink more than two to three units of alcohol per day and no more than 14 units per week. (A large glass of wine = 3 units) If units confuse you then give us a call and we can do a quick quiz which will help you assess how much is too much. Its easy and the results may even surprise you.

If you are concerned or even just want some information or advice then pick up the phone and ring Freephone 0800 988 1421 now or visit wirralalcohol.co.uk

0800 988 1421

www.wirralalcohol.co.uk 39

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