LDP Business, May/June - Liverpool Daily Post

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LDP BUSINESS MAY/JUNE 2008 ISSUE 02

P O S T

M A G A Z I N E

STYLE AGENDA Cutting a dash with Gieves & Hawkes

MEET THE CHAIRMAN

David Wade-Smith profiled

17 PAGE

COMMERCIAL

PROPERTY

GUIDE

SCIENCE PARK’S EXPANSION DINING: ZIBA AT THE RACQUET MOTORS: PORSCHE CAYENNE Who are the region’s Top 100 companies?

What’s in

store?

Liverpool One boss outlines city’s retail future

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Liverpool’s No.1 law firm has moved to the city’s No.1 spot...

Hill Dickinson is Liverpool’s largest law firm, and growth and development of our national and international offices continues to be driven from our main base here in Liverpool.

We are extremely proud of our local roots, and through our pioneering partnership as official lawyers and first official partner to Liverpool 08, we hope to create a formidable inheritance for Liverpool that is second to none.

We have committed our future in the city through investment in landmark new premises situated at the heart of the city’s new commercial district befitting a top UK law firm.

Liverpool’s No.1 law firm: now at No.1 St. Paul’s Square, Liverpool L3 9SJ Tel: 0151 600 8000 Fax: 0151 600 8001 Web: www.hilldickinson.com L I V E R P O O L

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Editor’s Comment

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News

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Profile

Bill Gleeson on the launch of Liverpool One The Heath unveils expansion plan David Wade-Smith

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Corporate Deals All the key transactions

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The Big Feature

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How I launched my own business

Liverpool’s retail sector enters new era Hotelier Paul Adams realises his dream

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International Trade Water Witch makes a splash in the Far East

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Legal Sector

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Commercial Property

Manslaughter warning for firms The benefits of the serviced office

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Top 100 We list Merseyside’s biggest companies

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Debate

May Jun.08

Is Merseyside attracting enough inward investment?

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Ask the Expert Creative Industries Mediacity offers opportunity to Liverpool

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Business and Life Coaching Andy Bounds on finding the perfect pitch

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The Networker Carolyn Hughes business social diary Keep fit Jane Woodhead puts you through your paces

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Corporate Entertainment Pimm’s anyone? Tennis stars flock to Liverpool

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The List Important dates for your diary

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Business lunch Dining in style at Ziba

And...

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FREE inside this edition of LDP Business, the latest newsletter from Liverpool Science Park on pages 43-48

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Top tipple Sample the Mocktails at Kingdom

WWW.LDPBUSINESS.CO.UK

Executive motors Road testing the new Porsche Cayenne

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Style agenda Look sharp in a custom-made suit

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Business Travel The benefits of a private jet

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Notworker Laura Doyle on business card ettiquette

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EDITOR’S LETTER

www.ldpbusiness.co.uk

LDP

BUSINESS EDITOR

Bill Gleeson billgleeson@dailypost.co.uk

“The tourists flocking to the city over the next few months for the city’s Capital of Culture year will provide a head start for the new development”

DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR

Tony McDonough tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk

BUSINESS FEATURES EDITOR

Barry Turnbull barry.turnbull@liverpool.com WRITERS

Alistair Houghton alistairhoughton@dailypost.co.uk

IT’S Grosvenor’s moment.

The Duke of Westminster’s family firm has risked £1bn on retail property in our city and the scheme is now coming towards fruition.

The first phase opens in just a few weeks time.

As the special feature in this edition makes clear, the region’s shoppers are about to bombarded with advertising and marketing campaigns by many players in the city’s retail market, whether that be the Metquarter, independent retailers in places like Bold Street, Lewis’s and the shops that are staying put in the city’s traditional retail core.

As well as the numerous districts and shopping centres competing against each other, the whole city will be in competition against other major locations such as Manchester city centre, the Trafford Centre, Warrington and Chester. Indeed Chester has been busy marketing itself with radio adverts in recent weeks.

Grosvenor’s Liverpool One development is clearly a competitive threat to all of these locations. The management there clearly don’t lack for ambition, saying they want it to knock Bluewater in Kent off its perch as the most successful shopping destination in the UK. To do that, the city will have to win back trade from its traditional hinterlands, such as North Wales, West Lancashire and even Liverpool. People who currently head east along the M56 and M62 will have to be persuaded to do a u-turn and come back west into Liverpool. It would be even better if Manchester’s shoppers could be lured into Liverpool.

Without doubt there will be an initial flurry of curiosity. And while the tourists flocking to the city over the next few months for the city’s Capital of Culture year will provide a head start for the new development, they won’t be here forever.

Alex Turner alex.turner@liverpool.com SENIOR ART EDITOR

Rick Cooke DESIGN

Colin Harrison Tracy Smith Charlie Hearnshaw Matthew Barnes PICTURE EDITOR

Richard Williams CONSUMER MARKETING

Judi Knight COMMERCIAL MARKETING

Litza Gorman ADVERTISEMENT DIRECTOR

Debbie McGraw SALES MANAGER

Frank Notton ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Richard Mingham 0151 472 2369 Trudie Arlett 0151 472 2476 PHOTOGRAPHY

Trinity Mirror DISTRIBUTION

0151 472 2803 PRINTED BY

Pensord Tram Road, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood NP12 2YA PUBLISHED BY

Culture year will come and go and tourist numbers will wane.

The question is can the new shoppers be retained for the long term?

Clean streets will be part of the equation for success, as will the right merchandise in stock and the standards of customer service. It’s all well and good having gleaming new buildings if what is housed inside them is not up to scratch.

The proof of the pudding . . . .

Trinity Mirror NW2, PO Box 48, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L69 3EB TELEPHONE

0151 227 2000 FAX

0151 330 4942 COPYRIGHT

LDPBusiness is printed Bimonthly and distributed free. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission of the publisher.

Bill Gleeson

billgleeson@dailypost.co.uk

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“ We have the potential to be one of the major provincial cities in the world”

QUOTE

DAVID WADE-SMITH, CHAIRMAN, LIVERPOOL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

OF THE MONTH

Booming science park to expand

BY BARRY TURNBULL

The region’s fastest-growing science park is to enter a second phase of expansion with the potential to generate 1,000 new jobs.

A 60-acre extension of The Heath at Runcorn will be developed to meet growing demand from cutting-edge private sector science and technology businesses.

Since re-opening eight years ago the former administrative headquarters for ICI Chlor has attracted 180 businesses employing around 2,000 people.

John Lewis, a director of site owner SOG, said: “It has been a remarkable success story and one that we are very proud of. We are almost at capacity now and have had the idea about expanding the site for some time.

“We have successfully negotiated the planning process and are now in a position to go forward with the new development.”

The scheme will be developed to order with pre-built units manufactured off-site and brought in as required. The extra capacity will run to 178,000 sq ft.

The Heath as it is now

A question of trust Independent directors (formerly non executive directors) at Merseyside plcs harbour concerns about the degree to which they trust executive board

LDP

members, according to a survey from accountants Ernst & Young. The report suggests that almost 40% of independent directors are worried about the

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The Heath, artists impression of development plans SOG specialises in creating tailor-made space for businesses requiring office and laboratory accommodation.

Mr Lewis added: “Most new projects are property led, in that buildings are put up and then people look at filling them. We do it the other way round, asking people exactly what they require and then providing something to suit.

“That means for instance that we don’t have uniform sized laboratories but create them to match whatever the requirement is.”

The Heath was formerly the research and development headquarters of ICI’s chloryl vinyl site, but wasn’t paying, so the chemical giant decided to close it to save £1m a week. At the same time, the chlorine manufacturing plant, also at the same site, was put up for sale.

The news initially brought a deep sense of doom and gloom to the borough of Halton.

Almost 10 years later the renaissance of the site, adjacent to the village of Weston, has been a true success story.

Ineos Chlor continues to operate the chemical manufacturing plant while the laboratories have been transformed into a modern, bustling technical and science park.

The Heath is like a self-contained business village with gymnasiums, shops, restaurant, lecture hall and meeting rooms.

honesty and integrity of boardroom colleagues when dealing with risks to the company. The report – Risk management: what do independent directors do? examines the views of more than 60 independent

directors at FTSE 350 companies. Barry Flynn, senior partner at Ernst & Young’s Liverpool office said: “It is essential that independent directors are able to trust the executive board members.”

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GRAND PLAN

India conglomerate Tata is considering the way forward for Jaguar and Land Rover after a £1.15bn acquisition from Ford.

There are high hopes that Halewood’s future will be secured under the new ownership with plans to boost production of Land Rover with a new sports concept model called LRX.

New jobs at transport hub

Another successful Grand National meeting has set the bar even higher for Aintree Racecourse.

The company is to work with The Mersey Partnership and Northwest Development Agency to attract punters from the Middle East.

Already around £40,000 is spent marketing the three day event which is worth £20m to the local economy.

The plan is to sell the racing festival as a three day break to wealthy citizens from places like Dubai.

Transport and logistics group Eddie Stobart believes up to 2,000 direct jobs will be created by the Merseyside multi-modal gateway. The road and rail terminal in Halton is being created in partnership with Halton Council and the Northwest Development Agency.

Meanwhile the group has been embroiled in a planning row over its development plans at Carlisle Airport and is threatening to shift hundreds of jobs to its Widnes base if the dispute is not settled.

UP, UP AND AWAY

New peg for former clothes boss

Liverpool John Lennon Airport is ready to return its first profit, say owners Peel Holdings. The fast growing regional hub made losses of £1.7m last year but is ready to unveil its maiden success.

www.ldpbusiness.co.uk

IN BRIEF

Tata buys Jaguar

SHEDDING NEW LIGHT

Former Matalan finance chief Ian Smith (right) has returned to the business fray by leading a buyout of Pontins holiday camps from Lancashire businessman Trevor Hemmings. The £46m deal will see Smith and partners in Ocean Parcs attempt to revive the fortunes of the business which has a holiday park in Southport.

The £180m Central Village scheme is underway in the heart of Liverpool. The leisure and residential scheme will also include improvements for Central Station such as new escalators and glass canopies.

Sweeter smell for Steve

Sefton site hampered

Liverpool-based perfume chain The Fragrance Shop has appointed former Music Zone boss Steve Oliver as chief executive. The music store business was forced into administration in January 2007. The Fragrance Shop with over 100 stores was founded by Liverpool stockbroker Bill Currie who sold to Peacock’s and then bought it back again.

Economic uncertainty in the commercial property market is hampering progress on a major regeneration scheme in south Sefton. Royal London Asset Management, owner of Atlantic Park near Bootle, says it will not build any new speculative office space until accommodation currently under construction was fully let.

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LDP

NEWS

BUSINESS

Business partners Jeremy Roberts and Tim Bacon

Changing with Gusto DOCK RESTAURANT GETS A MAKEOVER DITCHING a successful brand is one of the trickiest exercises in business. Tim Bacon hopes he’s got it right following the disappearance of the Est Est Est name from the Living Ventures group’s flagship eaterie at Albert Dock.

All the Est outlets are undergoing a name change to Gusto in a £10m rebranding campaign but Mr Bacon admits the Albert Dock venue is the only one that has given him a headache.

He said: “This is a fantastic business, our flagship unit and one that regularly shifts over 4,000 meals a week. Although it’s a new brand, I want to emphasis that it’s the same team in the kitchen and the same management although there has been a refurbishment and new additons to the menu.

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and I’m just hoping that it turns out to be a smooth transition. We’ve done this at several other locations and had no problems but it important to get this one right as it’s so well loved and has a loyal customer base.

“We want to make sure it is our brand. A name change of this scale is phenomenal, but we are confident that the new concept will go down well. We didn’t need to do much with the interiors at Albert Dock because it was already a very sexy and atmospheric venue, but Est can’t exist for us as a format going forward so we’ve made sure we have kept all of the best bits in Gusto. This is an evolution not a revolution.”

Mr Bacon and partner Jeremy Roberts decided on refocusing the business as a third party also has rights to the Est Est Est name and the duo

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wanted a clean break.

“We get calls occasionally about outlets at the Trafford Centre and Gatwick that have nothing to do with us so decided it was time to move things on,” said Mr Bacon.

“The same philosophy remains. We have a commitment to fresh produce and providing a great environment.

Time will tell whether we have done the right thing but I’ve every confidence this unit will continue to be extremely successful.”

The partners last year sold their Living Room business to concentrate on the Gusto and Blackhouse brands.

All the remaining former Est Est Est branches will be converted by September 2008. Upon completion of the conversions, Living Ventures will then look to roll out the new concept throughout the UK.

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Investment Management

Inheritance Tax Planning Seminar

Why let Inheritance Tax cut your wealth?

How will your children remember you? As a shrewd investor who passed down their hard earned wealth to the next generation or as someone who pointlessly left the lion’s share to the Chancellor of the Exchequer?

Inheritance tax has become a major part of financial planning in recent years. Few can avoid it but steps can be taken to lessen its impact.

To find out how we can advise you on Inheritance Tax Planning, why not attend our seminar at:

Arley Hall, Cheshire on May 15th If you would like to attend this seminar then please contact Sarah Wilson on 0151 227 2030 or email sarah.wilson@rensburgsheppards.co.uk.

Or alternatively, register your interest via our website

www.rensburgsheppards.co.uk Rensburg Sheppards Investment Management The Plaza, 100 Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L3 9AB Member firm of the London Stock Exchange. Member of LIFFE. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Rensburg Sheppards Investment Management Limited is registered in England.

Registered No. 2122340. Registered Office: Quayside House Canal Wharf Leeds LS11 5PU. Offices at: Belfast Cheltenham Edinburgh Farnham Glasgow Leeds Liverpool London Manchester Reigate Sheffield.

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LDP

NEWS

BUSINESS

Liverpool to host new business festival

BY ALISTAIR HOUGHTON

Above: Daily Post editor Mark Thomas

Below: The festival will take place at the city’s new Echo Arena

LIVERPOOL is getting its very own festival of business this June with the first-ever LDP Business HUB. The event, which will take place at the Echo Arena on June 17 and 18, will include distinguished keynote speakers, entrepreneurial seminars, networking opportunities, live debate and a business exhibition.

It is being organised by the Liverpool Daily Post and editor Mark Thomas says it will be one of the most dynamic business events in the north.

He said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Merseyside’s businesses to get together and discover and learn best practice from their peers in the industry.

“The event has been designed for owners, directors and entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized companies, but there will be something for everyone.

“I know it will be a great success and I’d encourage all LDP Business readers to come along.”

THE PRESENTATION THEATRE will be the place to hear keynote speakers and industry experts delivering informative and inspirational speeches. Speaker times and details will be published in the Daily Post’s LDP Business pages and on www.ldpbusinesshub.co.uk

THE LEARNING ZONE will be an Inspirational area where successful industry professionals will deliver a series of seminars and workshops focusing on key business issues and practices.

The seminar programme includes presentations from Davide de Maestri, master coach at Businesssquared, John Haynes of Liverpool’s International Coaching Academy, and Diane Earles of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Visit www.ldpbusinesshub.co.uk for a full list of seminar programmes and timings.

THE DEBATE ZONE is where local business figures will debate key issues affecting businesses regionally and nationally. If there is a burning issue you want to see debated, call the LDP Business HUB team on 0151 472 2711.

THE MARK YOUR MARK SPEED NETWORKING area will help hundreds of business owners and entrepreneurs generate business and build brand awareness.

A BUSINESS TO BUSINESS exhibition will run both days to give company owners, directors and decision makers the opportunity to keep up to date with everything their business needs and to meet potential business clients or partners face-to-face.

THE HUB will also see the final of the Business Booster competition, a contest for start-up companies to win a variety of business services for one year.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON LDP BUSINESS HUB PLEASE VISIT WWW.LDPBUSINESSHUB.CO.UK OR CALL 0151 330 4974 / 0151 472 2706.

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Introducing OUR NEW

Business Lunchtime menu

THE MENU

Starter Sweet cherry tomato soup Pressed duck terrine with fig relish Baby leek and char-grilled asparagus salad

Blakes, which has a separate entrance for non-residents, occupies a light and airy space within the Hotel and offers organic, seasonal and classic cuisine to

Main Course Gloucester Old Spot sausage, creamy mashed potato, savoy cabbage, red onion gravy

Blakes Fish Pie

diners in a contemporary and stylish setting. The walls of the restaurant feature images influenced by the cover of the Sergeant Pepper's album designed by Sir Peter Blake. The finest cuisine and ultimate service ensure a memorable dining experience.

Smoked haddock, salmon, king prawns and peas topped with mashed potato

Goosenargh Farm corn-fed chicken, sauteed potatoes, seasonal vegetables

Dessert Rhubarb crumble Traditional spotted dick Bramley apple and blackberry pie All served with homemade custard, double cream or ice cream

2 courses £12.50 • 3 courses £15.50

Hard Days Night Hotel, Central Buildings, North John Street, Liverpool L2 6RR. t. 0151 236 1964 f. 0151 243 2158 www.harddaysnighthotel.com Pictures courtesy of Ellie Laycock

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LDP INTERVIEW

Top Man from Topshop in the top job FROM DESIGNER FASHIONS TO SMART CARDS, DAVID WADE-SMITH IS THE CHAMBER CHIEF WITH THE BIG IDEAS INTERVIEW TONY MCDONOUGH HERE is a list containing names synonymous with Liverpool - Lennon, McCartney, Braddock, Hatton, Shankly, Moores, Rathbone, Dodd.

Wade-Smith is rightly on the same list.

Locally, it’s synonymous with two brothers David and Robert - who hail from Bingley in West Yorkshire.

Throughout the 1990s their Wade Smith designer and sportswear store in Liverpool’s Mathew Street was a retailing icon.

Setting up such a store (Robert originally started it as a designer trainer shop in Slater Street) in a city that was at that time an economic disaster zone, was viewed with both astonishment and amusement by the brothers’ peers in the retail sector.

But their energy and know-how quickly proved the doubters wrong and for a time Wade Smith became, says David, the number one outlet for famous brands such as Reebok, Timberland and Rockport.

It was only the second outlet in the UK, behind Harvey Nichols, to sign an agreement to stock Calvin Klein goods.

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Sadly, the Wade Smith store is no more, but the name remains hugely influential in Merseyside thanks to David - or should that be Mr Chairman.

The father-of-two is chairman of his own company Livesmart, chairman of Merseyside Tourism and chairman of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce. He was also for a time Mathew Street rat-shoveller, but more of that later.

Wade-Smith, the youngest of four brothers, is a genuine business high flyer but his early ambitions to literally reach for the skies were swiftly dashed.

“The RAF was something I really wanted to get into,” he said. “I had ambitions to be a pilot but I didn’t get good enough grades so I went into retailing instead.

“Retail was already in my family’s blood. My father was in mail order and my grandfather was a grocer. I hadn’t done very well in my O Levels and so I went and studied for resits in Stockport College (following his parents’ divorce he moved to the town to be near his father) and I took on a Christmas temping job in Top Man in December 1980.

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“During the Capital of Culture bid process everyone pulled together.

Luckily, the judges looked under the bonnet and found a city with fantastic arts, sport and musical assets as well as an amazing architectural history. The crescendo of support was mindblowing and testament to perhaps our greatest asset the people.”

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“Soon after starting I realised I had found my vocation in life.”

The TopMan/Topshop philosophy, he said, was to take very young people and throw them in at the deep end. If they swam, promotion could be swift.

He added: “I was quickly taken in by the whole experience - the products, the fashion, the music - we had DJs - and the energy.

“I worked all the hours there they would allow me and by 1981 I was working there fulltime. Later that year I became a supervisor at the age of 17.”

Clearly the company saw potential in the young Wade-Smith as he found himself fasttracked through the ranks. In 1982, at the age of just 18, has was appointed deputy manager and was transferred east to the chain’s new Grimsby store.

“Working for the company taught me so much about the advantages of energy and enthusiasm over experience,” he said.

“Topshop had, and still has, the philosophy of giving young people a lot of responsibility and I consider myself lucky to have started out early in that environment.

“It was a very positive energy and it was a place where you were allowed to make mistakes and learn from them - I think the best companies do that.”

Just a year later and still a teenager, WadeSmith became the youngest store manager in the country at the Lincoln branch - the smallest one in the group.

“I asked my boss’s advice about whether it was better to be the manager of a small store or the deputy at a larger one and I was told to always take the top job. It was good advice because I then got to attend the managers’ conference and rub shoulders with the top brass. I was overawed at first but it gave me the opportunity to see the bigger picture.

“I later returned to Grimsby where I lived on fish and chips - some of the fish were like whales. We worked long hours and my life was basically work, pub, chip shop, bed.”

The Topshop empire was growing fast at that time. Despite the early 1980s recession, young people still had more disposable income than previous generations and they were keen to spend it on the latest fashions.

Wade-Smith prospered too. He worked in other stores around the north of England including Bradford. There he met Jane, the T H E

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woman who within a year would become his wife.

In 1986 he was offered the opportunity to work in the Topshop store in Oxford Street in London - the biggest fashion store in the world.

“It was an amazing place,” he said. “The original megastore. I ran one of the floors which had a turnover of more than £5m and it was like working in a cauldron - we were under so much pressure.

“Retail is bloody hard anyway but because we were in the same building as the head office we were under the gaze of the top people in the company and it was like being in a goldfish bowl.”

He later managed the Brent Cross store, enduring two-hour commutes, before returning to Oxford Street to work in the group’s buying and merchandising department - looking after concessions across the UK in an atmosphere he described as “highly aggressive”.

In 1988 he and Jane moved back to Leeds and he began discussions with brother Robert about joining the business in Liverpool, then already established.

By 1989 the brothers and their business partners had set out their blueprint for success and set up a shop selling designer wear in Mathew Street.

Topshop executive Peter Ridsdale, who later became chairman of Leeds United Football Club, was one of a number of people who tried to talk Wade-Smith out of getting involved.

“Liverpool was perceived to be a hard city,” he said. “People felt the days of the independent retailer were over and we would get crushed by the bigger players like Olympus and Champion Sports.

“But I had a determination to work for myself and between us I believed my brother and I had the skills to succeed - we had a real passion for what we were doing. I knew Liverpool was a city that loved its brands and I saw so much potential here.

“We were aware of our wider responsibility to the city and would make sure we kept the area around the store clean and free of litter. I even used to shovel rats off the floor. The staff though I was a bit mad but I think they were also impressed at my willingness to muck in.”

At its height as an independent during the late 1990s, Wade Smith was turning over £20m.

That worked out at around £800 per sq ft. This

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LDP INTERVIEW was at a time when the most successful multiples were achieving no more than £600 per sq ft.

In 1998 Wade-Smith’s former employer Topshop came calling, initially looking for help to break into the branded menswear market.

But within a short time a deal was struck for them to buy the business lock, stock and barrel.

At first the partnership proved a success, but as the new century dawned the retail environment suddenly changed with budget retailers like Matalan and George fast gaining market share. Europe was also suddenly flooded with cheap goods from the Far East.

The Topshop group, which had then become Arcadia, started focusing solely on its main stores and the then expanding Wade Smith found itself out of favour.

“Any spare money Arcadia had was going into Topshop,” added Wade-Smith.

Robert bought back the business but David decided it was time to depart. The company collapsed in 2005 and Robert’s efforts to revive it shortly afterwards proved unsuccessful.

After his departure, David Wade-Smith and his wife combined their talents for retail and interior design and set up the Room Store shop in the Albert Dock, a business that continues to trade well to the commercial sector, but no longer from retail premises.

Wade-Smith’s key business interest, Livesmart, was started in July 2004 and specialises in digital membership, loyalty and ticketing products using smartcards and the internet which are used to allow people to access and acquire goods and services.

The company is involved in a number of projects in Liverpool and is behind a number of new products and has developed strategic relationships in tourism, transport, business and local government. Since 2005 Livesmart has launched several products including ‘Your Ticket for Liverpool’, LiveONE20 and the 08 card, of which 80,000 have been issued.

As chairman of Merseyside Tourism and Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, Wade-Smith plays a pivotal role in the city s region’s continued economic renaissance and his passion for the city is as strong as that of any scouser.

“I am sometimes accused of being too optimistic about Liverpool,” he said. “But I believe we have some of the best natural assets of any city in the world in the waterfront and

we are now at last exploiting its full potential.

“My biggest fear a few years ago was that the European funding would not be well spent but we now have the cruise liner terminal, the arena and convention centre, the soon-to-befinished Liverpool Museum, new public realms and the Big Dig - we have used the money to create a visible legacy.

“During the Capital of Culture bid process everyone pulled together. Luckily, the judges looked under the bonnet and found a city with fantastic arts, sport and musical assets as well as an amazing architectural history. The crescendo of support was mindblowing and testament to perhaps our greatest asset - the people.

“The biggest challenge we now have is to get the whole city region - some 2m people functioning as a unit. We have the potential to be one of the major provincial cities in the world.

“We should be spending between £20-40m marketing the city region but the actual figure is only £1-2m. How can you possibly expect to attract the billions of pounds of investment we would like when we are tinkering around with the sort of budget we have been working with in the past.

“If we can bring that effort together in a cohesive way then we can start to look at realising our true potential. The years 20032008 have been transformational but what is needed is more big plans.” tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk M A G A Z I N E

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SPONSORED BY

CORPORATE DEALS

Deals on Wheels STOBART GROUP UNVEILS STRING OF TRANSACTIONS

Stobart ‘s lorry fleet

Mark Boler

IRLAM BUYOUT WARRINGTON-based haulage and logistics group Stobart unveiled a package of deals potentially worth up to £85m.

The group, which includes the haulier Eddie Stobart, spent £59.9m on rival transport firm Irlam Group, £10m in a related party transaction for WA Developments and said it could still spend up to £15m on buying the share capital of Carlisle Airport.

The Cheshire-based Irlam Group includes haulier James Irlam and Sons and Irlam Storage and made a pre-tax profit of £1.2m on a £50m turnover in the year to April 2007.

Irlam’s 263 trucks will retain their red branding.

The acquisition will bring Stobart blue-chip customers including Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Britvic, Tesco, and Johnson & Johnson.

Engineering firm WA Developments was founded in 1993 and has predominantly worked with Network Rail.

The company was owned by Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart, who are Stobart Group’s chief executive officer and chief operating officer respectively.

Liverpool law firm Halliwells advised Stobart Group, while James Irlam and Sons received corporate finance advice from Grant Thornton and legal advice from DLA Piper.

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US INVESTMENT HAYDOCK-based price comparison website MoneyExpert is looking to take on the market leader in its sector after securing a £25m investment from an American venture capital firm.

Silicon Valley-based Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) has invested in MoneyExpert to help fund its aggressive expansion plans.

Part of the funding has been used to acquire SimplySwitch.com, the leading aggregator site for home services such as utilities.

The business had focused on banking products but, after buying Simply Switch and with an insurance proposition in development, now aims to take market share from competitors such as Chester-based moneysupermarket.com.

TCV has more than £3.8bn under management. Its previous successful internet investments include leading travel website Expedia.

CATERER SAVED

Tim Wright of Maelor

SWISS DEAL CHESTER pharmaceutical company Maelor bought a Swiss drug supplier Speciality European Pharma International (SEPI) in a deal worth up to £14.25m.

The group, which supplies medicines to hospitals, is also set to be renamed IS Pharma (International Speciality Pharmaceuticals) to reflect its expanded business.

Maelor is buying SEPI for an initial cash payout of £9.25m, with a further fee of up to £5m dependent on sales targets.

SEPI’s key product is Haemopressin, used to stop oesophageal bleeding and in the treatment of liver disease.

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CHESHIRE hotels entrepreneur Mark Boler has acquired catering recruitment company Gilds from its administrator.

Mr Boler, owner of Mere Golf and Country Club, near Knutsford, teamed up with his long-time friend and fivestar hotel chef Mathew Barrett to buy the business as a going concern.

Gilds, which went into administration in March, had been owned by Scott Cordner, who founded it 13 years ago, and Xebiar Aziz.

Mr Boler will be managing director of Gilds, while Mr Cordner will take on the role of sales director.

Gilds has bases in Manchester and Leeds as well as Liverpool’s Anson Street, and has blue-chip clients including Liverpool and Manchester City Football Clubs.

Mr Boler, 37, last year sold Hawkstone Park Hotel, in Shropshire, to the Principal-Hayley Hotel Group. Last year, he sold his 19% stake in Manchester City to former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

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One step

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THE HUGE LIVERPOOL ONE DEVELOPMENT IS SET TO HAVE A HUGE IMPACT ON THE CITY’S RETAIL TRADE IMPACT... CHALLENGES... OPINION...

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RETAIL

Showtime for Liverpool One GROSVENOR PROJECT TO OPEN ITS DOORS

BY BILL GLEESON

MAY’S grand opening, to be marked by an outdoor fashion show, means the end of construction work on the first phase of the Liverpool One retail development. A second phase will be completed later in the year, around autumn. Further work on other parts of the project will continue into next year. The whole scheme should be completed by the end of 2009.

Once complete, the new development, the retail element of which is currently 80% let, is expected to attract 6m extra shopping visits into Liverpool every year.

These shoppers are expected to spend another £500m in the city’s tills.

Clearly it’s big business for those shops coming to Liverpool for the first time, which include Debenhams.

The new development, Europe’s largest retail property development currently under construction, also represents the latest in thinking about the best way to design new shopping schemes. It differs from many others in the past because it is not housed under one roof like a shopping mall.

Instead it makes use of the existing street plan, and many of the existing road names, such as Paradise Street, will be retained.

Liverpool One chief executive Joanne Jennings said it will draw heavily on the fact that it coincides with the city’s Capital of Culture year.

She said: “Its not just a fashion show, it will be so much more too.

“There will be art from local schools.

There will also be UK designers and performance.

“Our feedback is this is something the local population is waiting for.

There is still a lot of work to be done, even though there is just a few weeks to go.”

It is Ms Jennings’ job to market the scheme to shoppers around the region.

To assist with that, Grosvenor has given her a budget reported to be in the region of £1.8m. Liverpool One has engaged the services of a battery of advertising and public relations firms.

Ms Jennings said: “We will be using outdoor advertising with big poster

“Our mission is to make Liverpool one of the most successful city centre destinations in the whole of the UK. We will be benchmarking Liverpool One’s performance against some of the best shopping destinations in the country.”

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sites throughout Liverpool and the North West.

“There will be ads in taxis and on television, because we feel our message is so important. We will shortly be unveiling our creatives for the adverts.

“We need to stimulate demand and bring more and more people into Liverpool.”

Agencies commissioned by Liverpool One include Cheatham Bell, based in Manchester, London based JWT and on the public relations side, Ms Jennings has commissioned the services of London and Manchester-based Mason Williams and a local outfit called Factory Communications.

“This is a significant budget in Liverpool at the moment.

“It’s important that we get brand loyalty from the people of Liverpool for Liverpool One.

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Top: Chief executive Joanne Jennings visits the site Bottom: How the Hanover Street area will look once finished Left: Liverpool One will bring millions of pounds of consumer spending to the city as well as creating thousands of jobs

JOANN JENNINE G

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“But as well as that, to be commercially successful, we need to attract in people who are currently not coming to Liverpool - those who go to Chester and Manchester.”

Nor is the marketing onslaught that we are about to witness just about matching rival destinations, it’s about overtaking them to become the dominant retail centre in the whole of the North West.

Ms Jennings said: “We also want to attract the tourists.

“We are delighted it’s Capital of Culture year with so many tourists coming to the city. That’s a huge opportunity to show the scheme to the whole of the country.

“Our mission is to make Liverpool One of the most successful city centre destinations in the whole of the UK. We will be benchmarking Liverpool One’s performance against some of the best shopping destinations in the country.

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“We will measuring performance against Bluewater in Kent and the Trafford Centre. Bluewater was considered the best in the country for some time by the industry. We need Liverpool to be seen in the same way.

“We want it to supercede Bluewater.”

While the opening of Grosvenor is spoken about by the city’s authorities as a straightforward good news story for the city, there are many retailers who see it as a threat.

One such is Dick Mawdsley, the owner of the Utility chain of shops in Liverpool and Preston, as well as an online store.

Mr Mawdsley fears that his two Liverpool stores, both in Bold Street, could suffer a 20% dip in trade once Liverpool One opens for business.

“That’s what could happen based on what happened in Birmingham when the Bull Ring opened a few years ago,” he said.

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“It had a massive impact and some the BID to include Bold Street, Mr streets have not yet recovered all these Mawdsley said: “Not everybody here years on. is in favour of it, but I think we have “Whether that will happen in to do it.

Liverpool is another thing.

“Myself and a couple of other “The thing is Liverpool is not as retailers are trying to put together a affluent at Birmingham, so we are all detailed list of all the things we think pitching at a smaller base. are wrong with Bold Street.

“When Grosvenor opens there will “We need to market ourselves as a be more spending in Liverpool, but district, as a shopping centre in our whether it reaches Bold Street is own right. another matter.”

“We are going to need the help of The problem faced by independent the landlords and people like retailers like Mr Mawdsley is that they Liverpool Vision to effectively do can’t possibly match the marketing what Grosvenor is doing for Liverpool budget for Liverpool One on their One. own. Instead, if they are to make any “We are trying to put together a impression at all, they will need to document that we can present to the band together to pool resources and relevant bodies. ideas to take on the well funded “A major problem for us is that campaigns run by the big out-of-town Grosvenor is in single ownership. agencies.

Bold Street isn’t and that’s where On the upside, the it gets tricky to get North West consensus, but it can Development be done.”

Agency has Mr Mawdsley agreed to fund draws parallels £1.5m of with what has repair work happened in to street Bristol, where furniture the city’s and paving smaller stones in retailers are the Bold faced with a Street and similar threat Ropewalks from the Cabot area. Mr Circus Mawdsley is part of development which a steering group opens there in a few looking at how best to months time. The £500m DICK DSLEY spend that money. There has scheme will result in the MAW also been an increase in the construcion of 100 new shops. number of visitors to Utility’s “Traders in the surrounding streets shops from tourists due to Capital of in Bristol are doing what we hope to Culture year. Also the Liverpool do.

Business Improvement District (BID) “They are branding themselves as concept, currently active in most of their own district centre in Liverpool’s traditional retail core, conjunction with Bristol Council. could be extended to include Bold “That shows it can be done. We can Street. work together,” explained Mr The BID scheme provides improved Mawdsley.” public realm maintenance, security One thing Bold Street has going in and marketing for shops, but comes at its favour is the huge investment the price of higher business rates. planned at the adjoining Central Commenting on the plan to extend Village development by Merepark.

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RETAIL The scheme will see tens of millions of pounds pumped into the construction of new flats, bars, pubs and shops, as well as the renovation and refurbishment of many of the area’s existing buildings. Furthermore Merepark has built up a property bank that extends further north to include the Lewis’s building and the Rapid Hardware stores in Renshaw Street.

The company has already bought one of the two Rapid buildings and is in talks to acquire the other. Merepark has also acquired the Lewis’s building in Ranelagh Street.

Mr Mawdsley sees Merepark’s Central Village scheme as a counterweight to Liverpool One. He added: “One of their key focuses is restaurants. Liverpool’s restaurant trade is underdeveloped. There are some restaurants in Grosvenor, but not that much.

“If you go to any other large city, they already have these things and that will help here. Just so long as it isn’t bar led. We do have enough bars.

“We aren’t able to match Grosvenor’s marketing spend. We don’t have that kind of money, but we can be creative in what we do.

“We can be more imaginative than Grosvenor. We can plan more imaginative events than Liverpool One can hold.

“We need to come up with a creative angle and focus on the fact

that a lot of creative people are based around Bold Street. We have PR agencies, recording studios and many others.

“Bold Street has the added advantage of its architecture.

Liverpool One in contrast is a lot of new boxes. Grosvenor’s architecture is not as good as I thought it would be.”

Mr Mawdsley says Bold Street needs to build on its inherent attractiveness and produce a design guide for shop signs and frontages.

“It’s meant to be a conservation area regulated by the city council, but they don’t do that. You are meant to get permission to make alterations to the front of a shop, but many don’t bother.

“As a result, for example, you get Upvc window frames where there should be wooden ones. It can look a mess. We need to have this better regulated and if the council won’t do it, then we need self-regulation.

“Our other advantage is that among the public of Liverpool there is a tremendous will for Bold Street to succeed. We can capitalise on that if everybody pulls together in the right direction.”

Another shop which has the long standing affection of local shoppers is Lewis’s department store.

The store has been through some hard times recently, going into administration last year. The owner, retail entrepreneur David Thompson, blamed the city’s Big Dig for those problems. Certainly it was true that the pavements and roads outside the store were fenced off by contractors for many months.

Mr Thompson bought the business back from the adminstrator, but he now faces new challenges.

As the construction work in town comes to an end and the new Liverpool One shops are close to opening for business, the retailer is faced with the prospect of fresh competition that is bound to cause many shoppers to head NG DI towards the river and away from IL BU THE CITY the streets around Lewis’s.

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Mr Thompson said: “As for a dialogue that was promised, there has been nothing.

“There is still this us and them in the city.

“What we need now is for the local authority to support the balance of the retail trade.

“Not that the city council can dictate to shoppers. We have to persuade them and target our own market segment. For us it could be the older end of the population.

“The best thing is that come May the roadworks will have come to an end.

“If that happens it will put a different complexion on Liverpool and hopefully more people will choose to come into town.”

Mr Thompson believes the authorities can help.

“They can do some one-offs for example.

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“They could encourage more shopppers to come into town by offering free or cheap transport.

“That may encourage more people to come and take a look at the city after the road and building works have finished.

“They could also do discounts on parking.

“If 1.6m sq ft of new shops open in Liverpool in the next few months it will pose problems for many retailers, not just me. It will cause problems until such time as Liverpool as a shopping destination builds up, which is something it will do.”

Despite the threat posed by Grosvenor, Mr Thompson has no plans at present to form any alliances with other retailers in the city to counter the new competition.

He said: “We have talked about it, but there are too many different views out there.

“Lewis’s is big enough to do its own thing. For example, we have our pensioner day on Wednesday.”

As for Merepark’s plans to redevelop the immediate environs around his store, Mr Thompson said: “If they get it right, with the right mix of shops, restaurants, casinos, cinemas etc, it could be perfect for Lewis’s.

“The danger is who they will let the space around us to. If there is enough of a retail element, it will be great.”

Ian Jones, a director of Merepark, says his development will have about 35,000 sq ft of retail.

He also acknowledges that his firm’s development could be a counterweight to Grosvenor, but is careful to insist that it won’t be offering direct rivalry.

CHANGIN SKYLINE G

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RETAIL He said: “We recognise that there is a lot of retail around already and it has to be doubtful that there is room for much more.

“We have designed something that is leisure led. We are looking at hotels, casinos, cinemas and there is some office use. Grosvenor in contrast doesn’t have much leisure.”

Merepark’s Central Village scheme, which will occupy currently unused land behind Central Station, will also include two large residential towers.

As for Lewis’s department store, Mr Jones said: “We have made it clear to them that should they wish to stay we have the space for them.

will be located high up in the building, while the retail will be on the lower floors.

Mr Jones, however, doesn’t see his scheme as a direct challenge to Liverpool One. Instead, he says the schemes are more complementary than competitive.

“Liverpool city centre needs to expand in a variety of directions.

“Liverpool One will expand it down towards the river, while ours will expand its boundaries in this part of town.

“In that sense it is a city centre counterweight to Grosvenor, but that doesn’t make it a rival.”

“From our point of view we have an existing tenant in that building, it’s a winning formula for us.”

He says that Lewis’s building is huge and currently massively under-used. It will, he says, take “clever” planning to make the best use of it. The cinema

Another retail landlord that is looking at fresh investment in its property is Land Securities, the owner of both St Johns and Clayton Square shopping centres.

Tom Venner, retail development manager at Land Securities, says its

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properties enjoy the advantage of being already very well established in the city.

“St Johns is established at the value end of the TER market and we know QUAR MET Liverpool very well. St Johns is not another Liverpool One, with its higher end shops.”

Notwithstanding that assertion, Mr Venner and his colleagues at Land Securities have been sparked into action to redevelop their property with a £100m refurbishment and extension, and the timing can’t be completely coincidental to the opening of Grosvenor.

However, he insisted: “It is something we have been looking at for many years.

“St Johns is a 1960s shopping centre and it needs a new look.”

Mr Venner says that the opening of the Metquarter on Whitechapel was more of a spur to action than Grosvenor.

“The Metquarter has opened the eyes of many Liverpudlians. It has raised standards and highlighted the faults of older shopping centres.

“But that doesn’t mean it was the main driver to our redevelopment,” he said.

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St Johns is planning to add 115,000 sq ft of fresh shop space to its existing 360,000 sq ft. This will in part be created by moving the indoor market stalls to new premises in Williamson Square and also by extending the floor space of the building.

“The market is moving out to purpose built premises across the taxi rank in Williamson Square. This is absolutely not a direct competitor to Grosvenor.

“Grosvenor is good for Liverpool. It will bring more people to Liverpool and strengthen the city. It won’t detract from St John’s at all.

“They may help us a bit. However wealthly a shopper is, they are still always looking for good value goods.

“That’s what we can offer.

“Its also important to note the importance of St Johns for the independent and embryonic retailers.

“St Johns has been an incubator for new businesses. It brings with it a sense of excitement and innovation.”

Mr Venner says that by continuing to offer value retailing, St Johns is contributing to the collective competitiveness of Liverpool because it means the city will have a wider range of goods to offer consumers.

“You can get the whole range here in one expedition. Alone we fall, together we conquer,” he said.

At the Metquarter, they are keeping a wary eye on the marketing activities of Liverpool One. The shopping centre, now in its third year, has run its own media campaign in recent weeks which will keep going until just before Liverpool One’s own campaign begins.

Jennina O’Neill, marketing manager at the Metquarter said: “The campaign has been very much focused on the city centre.

“We had put things out into the wider region in the past couple of years.”

“Now we want to be high profile in the city centre so our campaign will be seen when people come into the city.”

However the current campaign is scheduled to end on May 18. That’s

because Grosvenor is about to begin its campaign in the run up to its grand opening 10 days later. Metquarter sees little point in competing with the big marketing spend that Grosvenor has committed to promoting its first few weeks of trading.

Metquarter is using Essex based agency Blue Tiger for its advertising campaign and local PR firm Factory Communications - the same firm employed by Grosvenor.

“Blue Tiger has an expertise in shopping centre campaigns,” explains Ms O’Neill.

She says: “I would be very hopeful we will benefit from the upturn in footfall once Grosvenor is open.”

Ms O’Neill says other retailers may be wise to worry about the effect of Grosvenor on their trade, but she adds: “We are very close to them and we also have an offer that complements their’s.

There is room for both of us.”

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“The brands in Metquarter are not being duplicated in Liverpool One. So we have to work together to make the shopping experience as good as possible in Liverpool.”

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MARKS & Spencer is not one of those retailers relocating to Liverpool One but is instead going to undertake a multi-million pound refurbishment of its city centre store.

The store will move out of its current home in Church Street for around two years while the work is carried out, but it won’t be going far - just next door.

Just weeks after John Lewis vacates its home in the former George Henry Lee building to move to Liverpool One, Marks & Spencer will move in.

John Lewis will move into Grosvenor’s £1bn development in the spring and M&S will move in around six weeks to two months later.

The new temporary store will be open in time for Christmas, 2008, and will remain open until the end of 2010.

M&S currently occupies 85,000 sq ft covering most of the ground floor and around 50% of the second and third floors in its existing site.

The refurbishment will mean gutting the entire store to create a new retail space of around 150,000 sq ft.

The shop will be expanded across the entire three floors of the former hotel, including two ground-floor units formerly occupied by a jewellers and a women’s clothing store which M&S already owns.

The fit-out will include more spacious changing rooms with solid doors, art works, modern escalators and a free-flowing open floor plan, with no rigid walkways between displays.

The company said it would allow for the creation of a flagship store that will be among the company’s top 10 in the UK by 2010.

“When the chance came to move in next door it seemed the best solution”

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A spokeswoman said: “Normally we would refurbish a store bit by bit while remaining open but the Liverpool store is going to prove quite complicated to do so, when the chance came to move in next door it seemed the best solution.”

She added there would be a short period when the chain would trade from both sites.

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DEBENHAMS has plenty up its sleeve for the opening of its store at Liverpool One, where it will be one of the two anchor stores for the scheme.

Debenhams’ 185,000 sq ft store occupies a corner block facing Lord Street and South John Street and has been undergoing the fitting-out process since last July.

The staff at the flagship outlet will have around six weeks to prepare for customers once the tradesmen have handed over the keys ready to open the doors when the £1bn Liverpool One development opens at the end of May. And the retailer is looking forward to having a presence in the city for the first time as currently shoppers

have to travel to Southport, Warrington or Chester for their nearest Debenhams.

A Debenhams spokeswomen said: “We’ve never been in the city before but the new store in Liverpool is massively important to us. It will be our flagship store in the north and will be our biggest outside London.

“It will have a male personal shopper dedicated to menswear, which is our biggest menswear department outside of London.

“We’ve got lots of things planned for the launch of Liverpool One, which we are keeping under wraps for now, but we are really looking forward to opening.

“Our marketing will be about letting

“We’ve never been in the city before but the new store in Liverpool is massively important to us. It will be our flagship store in the north” DEBENH BUILD AMS

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people know where we are and about the brand.”

The store will have 130,000 sq ft over four floors open to shoppers and 55,000 sq ft set aside for storage and offices.

Around 550 people will work there, of which half will be full-time employees.

The Liverpool store is the latest addition to the Debenhams network, and part of 1.8m sq ft of new floorspace that the chain expects to add by 2011 to take its overall space to more than 12m sq ft. There are 142 department stores in the UK and Ireland with a further 40 international franchise stores in 16 countries.

BID to extend its reach As well as extending its writ to Bold Street, Liverpool BID, the umbrella body that helps market the traditional city centre shooping RITA ERS street such as WAT Church Street and Whitechapel, is planning a series of marketing intiatives to counter the impact of Liverpool One. BID chief executive Rita Waters says street cleaning and maintenance are crucial to the shops she represents. Referring to the points were the city's traditional streets meet Grosvenor's gleaming new development, she says: "It is important that there are no tide marks."

Much of what BID is planning to do focusses on cleaning. New hand held cleaning equipment and motorised carts have been bought, which should allow the place to kept cleaner. A campaign on Radio City will allow the BID and individual member shops to get across their messages. Merseytravel has agreed to run a free bus service from the cruise liner berth to the city's shops. Visitors will be given shopping vouchers and chewing gum wraps will be distributed free in the city centre.

The only agency that has been retained is Factory Communications, which seems to be the biggest winner, handling as it does the public relations accounts of BID, Grosvenor and the Metquarter.

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Paul Ad ams ou tside h is new hotel

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Hotel t n e c n i V The new

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More european success for Liverpool WITH the aid of European Funding, buildsefton has now been operating for more than two years and will soon be joining forces with Liverpool’s People Pool Construction Team to deliver support to construction companies across North Liverpool and South Sefton as part of the StepClever programme.

Anthony Dever, Director of Sefton-based Anthony Dever Construction Ltd, said: “Without the European Social Fund assistance to enable the buildsefton support programme our business would not be in the position it is today.

“With buildsefton assistance, we have qualified on the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS) and have achieved ISO 9000/2 accreditation. We have also successfully registered on Constructionline and are working towards ISO 14000 and Investors in People status. buildsefton has opened a lot of doors for us and significantly improved our competitiveness. Their support has enabled us to develop a good local supply chain that leads to better quality of work and a successful outcome for other Merseyside businesses.

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SARAH MAHER

Sarah is a Bright Spark

ANTHONY DEVER “Before their involvement our annual turnover was around £140,000 but now we have succeeded in winning contracts all over the North West and North Wales. This year we are confidently expecting turn over more than £1million.

“The buildsefton directory of companies has proved invaluable to us in terms of finding good subcontractors, while the regular construction forums have given us the opportunity to meet a number of business contacts, including the big contractors and material producers.

“We will continue to work with the new StepClever programme to build on the success we have already achieved. All in all you could say that both buildsefton and Liverpool Football Club are a European success story.”

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SARAH Maher, a 24 year old trainee electrician and Bootle resident, is another buildsefton/StepClever success story. Sarah is a perfect example of what the programmes are achieving for people living in the target area, by accessing employment opportunities with businesses outside the area.

White Building Services are registered on the programme’s website, however, their main office is in Newton le Willows. They contacted the construction business support team to recruit a trainee electrician, as Sarah was registered with the team they arranged an interview and she was appointed to the position.

In Sarah’s own words: “After struggling to find an electrical apprenticeship for nearly a year I tried becoming self employed which, in my circumstances, was not ideal. I heard about buildsefton through a friend and signed up with them straight away, they were brilliant offering me advice, helping me to sort out my CV and making sure it was sent to the right people. Within a couple of weeks they found me a fantastic job at Whites Building Services, with great training and career opportunities.”

Andrew Foster, electrical qualifying manager of White’s said: “We are very pleased with Sarah. She has settled in well and gets on with everyone. She has done a very good job in carrying out all her work and keeping a record of all the results and it’s clear proof that the construction trade should pay more attention to women in the workplace.”

Jean Hartley buildsefton / StepClever construction business support added: “This shows businesses that there is a wealth of talent in the area and all they need is an opportunity. Sarah is a young woman who is constantly seeking to improve her existing skills and last year won Hugh Baird Colleges Apprentice of the Year.”

Charlie Green, team manager, commented: “By registering with our programmes businesses and local residents are presented with a “win win” situation.

Businesses identifying new suitable employees and residents winning jobs, but crucially the wage packets are ending up boosting our local economy.”

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

Think Clever – StepClever A new business support initiative is to target some of the most deprived areas of the UK in North Liverpool and South Sefton. The StepClever programme will be funded under the central government’s Local Enterprise Growth Initiative. The plan is to create a vibrant growing business economy while instilling in residents and young people both the desire and skills to create an entrepreneurial attitude.

One strand of the support on offer is the StepClever Construction Business Support team whose role is to set up a link between local businesses and Merseyside’s regeneration construction programmes and deliver ‘real jobs for local people’. The initiative is a joint venture from the buildsefton programme and the Liverpool City People Pool Construction Team.

The project will address the demands of the Housing Market

Renewal Initiative - Project Jennifer - the massive renewal of the Great Homer Street area, and the new Liverpool Football Club stadium development. It will involve working with local construction businesses and assisting them to meet the relevant prequalification requirements for tendering for new work. At the same time StepClever residents will be targeted to encourage the creation of self employment opportunities and to access employment in the construction trades.

It will create a dual customer service to employers and residents. Firstly identifying individuals wishing to work in construction and enabling them to obtain work. Opportunities for locals will include training to achieve a Diploma in Small Business Financial Management including CIS Card and Support Package. Businesses will be

offered financial assistance to gain quality qualifications and signposted to other funding to enable business growth.

The construction team represents just one of the strands of support on offer to all of the StepClever businesses, residents and young people in North Liverpool and South Sefton and will involve a £22m investment over the next three years.

Register your business online at www.buildsefton.com or www.stepintoconstruction.co.uk.

For more information email: build@investsefton.com or call Jean Hartley on 0151 934 3414.

O’Brien Trades Sole for £1million Less than two years ago Sefton based O’Brien Waterproofing were operating as a Sole Trader but next year with the help of buildsefton they are looking to exceed the £1 million pound turnover mark.

Buildsefton has been able to assist them via the interactive buildsefton website by giving them notification of group events such as “Meet the Buyer” days, information on new tender opportunities, changes in legislation and direct contact details of major developers and contractors.

Manager Michael O’Brien said: “Since registering with buildsefton the business has gone from Sole Trader status to a company with contracts in the pipeline worth over £1m. We have been involved in the regular forums “Meet the Buyer” events, been given assistance to create a purpose-built website and seen turnover rocket.”

Buildsefton has assisted the company’s development based on it’s own philosophy of excellent service, quality products and well-trained installers providing quality assured workmanship.

Michael is determined that the business will continue to work with the buildsefton succession vehicle StepClever and it’s his belief that, while business support by the public sector is often given a bad press, this programme on Merseyside is a model of excellence.

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INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Cracking the Chinese high street VIEW FROM SHANGHAI WITH OLIVER HAYAKAWA, LIVERPOOL-SHANGHAI PARTNERSHIP’S REPRESENTATIVE IN CHINA EARLIER this year I was approached by the 2008 International Sourcing Fair in Shanghai.

This massive business event, held in September, offers big opportunities for Merseyside firms.

Crucially its organisers, national and regional Chinese government bodies, want Liverpool as Shanghai’s sister city to get involved.

In March the organisers went to the lengths of sending a representative to Liverpool to bang the drum for the fair. If you missed the presentation, it really is worth considering, whether you are looking to sell or buy from China.

Essentially the fair aims to encourage communication between Chinese and UK small and medium sized firms. The organisers set up matchmaking meetings for firms wanting to meet suppliers fitting their requirements. In the past the sourcing fair has focused on international buyers meeting Chinese suppliers. However, China is increasingly keen to

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encourage imports. Imports to Shanghai alone rose by a quarter to $139bn in 2007.

So exporting to China is becoming big business and the sourcing fair is an excellent chance to get a foot in the door. Up to 40 Chinese buyers are expected at the event. Key areas of export opportunity for UK firms include high-end luxury consumer goods to feed China’s new affluent middle class such as jewellery and precious metals. More generally, the export market is looking for raw materials, advanced manufacturing technology and construction machinery.

In terms of import opportunities, the fair will help UK buyers find suppliers of labour-intensive goods including electrical products, home appliances and industrial machinery.

For further information on the event visit www.sourcing.org.cn It is vital that we keep abreast of the speed of China’s transformation.

Yes, China can claim to be the workshop of the world.

But the opportunities here are no longer based on lowcost manufacturing for export back to the West.

China is now a colossal market itself. One businessman with local connections who is cracking the China market is Southport-born Alan Halsall chairman of Silver Cross, the British pram company.

Halsall bought Silver Cross out of administration in 2002 and moved its manufacturing operation to China in an effort to revive the brand. Six years on,

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Shanghai Tower, China

Silver Cross is one of the UK’s fastestgrowing firms and Halsall has struck a deal to sell its prams, push chairs and baby seats in China-tapping into the booming Chinese middle-class desire for heritage brands.

The deal with Goodbaby, the world’s largest manufacturer of prams and pushchairs, should see Silver Cross products sold in Goodbaby’s chain of shops in major Chinese cities. Halsall says breaking into the retail market is not easy and advises that joint ventures are the most effective method of getting onto China’s high streets.

More generally, he says, the attraction of Shanghai is in the quality of its infrastructure. He has found considerable expertise in hi-tech and low-tech sectors, to such an extent that the Chinese are now involved in the design of Silver Cross products as well as their manufacture.

So China is changing at a terrific pace. The latest estimates are that it will overtake the USA as the world’s biggest economy by 2025. Pertinently its trade fairs are an excellent way to keep abreast of that change and the opportunities waiting to be grasped.

And it is vital to remember that Liverpool, through its twinning with Shanghai, is in a position of considerable strength to forge closer trade links. As Nick Earlam, the managing director of Plexus Cotton has said, the value of the twinning is in how seriously it is taken in Shanghai and that makes Liverpool the envy of the UK.

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SPONSORED BY

Mike Holding of Contract Chemicals (right) meets General Colin Powell

Chemical trio go Stateside THREE chemical companies got down to business at a large trade fair at an American trade show.

Contract Chemicals from Prescot, Runcorn-based Syntor Fine Chemicals, and Pentagon Chemicals in Halebank exhibited at InformexUSA, an exhibition for the fine, custom and

speciality chemical manufacturing industry.

Attendees came from all over the world and represented a broad range of specialisms including adhesives, electronics, agrochemicals, biopharmaceuticals, plastics and paints.

The keynote speaker was General Colin Powell, who met with some of the UK delegates at a reception sponsored by UK Trade & Industry.

Tricia Francis, UKTI North West’s international trade adviser for the chemical sector, said: “If companies are serious about growing their international business, it is essential to visit influential trade shows such as Informex, which allows UK companies to meet all their customers and the industry’s key decision makers under one roof.

“As well as assisting individual companies in making trade links overseas, UKTI’s attendance at the show has helped to promote the UK as an ideal place for inward investment. Almost 60% of the world’s top 50 chemical companies already have a presence in the North West, and we hope to continue to build on our success in the sector.”

GT B invests to capture Euro Market A £560,000 investment will allow a St Helens manufacturing firm to seek out new European markets.

Gt B Components, which employs 53 people, manufactures 105m metal parts every year for the automotive, aerospace and building industries.

It also produces components by its patented process used in central heating systems.

The company, which has a turnover of more than £4m, has raised a funding package of £558,000 which includes the directors’ investment and a £150,000 loan from Merseyside Special Investment Fund.

Alan Birkett (MSIF) with James and Terry Corcoran of GTB Components

Managing director and founder Terry Corcoran said: “This is a big investment for us and will enable us to further strengthen our position as the market leader in the manufacture and supply of a range of sintered components.

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“Currently around 60% of our business is abroad and this is an area we are particularly looking to grow. The funding will enable us to penetrate new markets in Europe and also grow our sales in Turkey.”

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INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Nichols’ range of drinks

Ramadan demand boosts sales OVERSEAS SALES GIVE VIM TO NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS FIRM THE old and the new have combined to cause a sharp increase in the global sales of soft drink Vimto.

In the Middle East, Vimto cordial is predominantly sold during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast during daylight hours. Last year, around 20m bottles were sold compared with 15m the previous year.

And hugely-popular adverts on Arab satellite television became hits on videosharing websites You Tube and its Middle East-equivalent, ikbis.com.

Overseas sales are becoming increasingly important to Newtonle-Willows-based Nichols.

Although it grew its share of the UK market in 2007, domestic revenues have been falling steadily in recent years.

In 2003, its sales in the Middle East accounted for 5% of the company’s total which had risen to 8.5% in 2006. African sales trebled over 36 M A G A Z I N E

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the same period from 1.3% to 3.9%.

The uplift in 2007 further increased the importance of overseas markets as international revenues reached £8.9m.

Nichols chief executive Brendan Hynes said: “Our overseas sales rose by 30%, because of our growing and substantial business in the Middle East.”

“It’s especially strong Vimto and not the same drink you get in the UK. It is sometimes combined with dates to give you a quick energy boost.

“Ramadan drives the market. It’s a bit like Christmas puddings in the UK. You can buy them all year round, but 80% of the volume is consumed in a certain part of the year.”

It does bring the product full circle.

It was sold for the first time 100 years ago in Manchester as a tonic to give the drinker ‘vim’ - hence the name.

Hynes said: “Vimto has been in the Middle East for about 90 years and it works so well because it’s perceived as

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a local product. It has the Vimto name and logo on the bottle but everything else is in Arabic. It’s produced in the Middle East and distributed in the Middle East.”

And despite the flagging sales in the UK, its continuing popularity in the Middle East and Africa is maintaining its strong showing.

More than 340m litres of Vimto are sold each year and the international market is continuing to grow.

In 2006 there was a 30% increase in consumption in Australia and 20% growth in Cyprus, while the company hopes a major launch in Senegal at the end of 2007 and the expansion of a carbonated form of the drink, will provide a new vim to the African market.

Future plans are focused on China and Turkey as the company seeks to establish Vimto as a global brand.

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SPONSORED BY

Firm’s buoyant future WATER WITCH BENEFITS FROM MIDDLE EAST MARINAS LIVERPOOL and Dubai have been inextricably linked over the last couple of years as the multi-million pound on-off football club takeover deals have rumbled on, been resurrected and rumbled on again.

During that time one company, Liverpool Water Witch, has looked the other way, exporting its waterway maintenance craft to Dubai and the Middle East.

The marina developments in the Emirates present a great opportunity for the company, which was set up to deal with the problem of floating debris in the Port of Liverpool more than 40 years ago.

The original pollution control workboat was invented by Francis Caddick, a barge operator who specialised in the transport of solid waste, and the company remains a family business under the guidance of Francis’s son, Joe. Its first craft was sold to the American port of Baltimore in 1966 and export continues to be an important part of the business.

The current export director, Jackie Caddick, said: “We went in at the deep end exporting our first craft to the USA.” Now it is the Emirates that present the big opportunity to the family firm.

“It’s not just Dubai that is building these developments, it’s happening all over the Emirates, for example The Pearl in Qatar is enormous.”

“We first sent one out to Dubai two years ago to the first marina there. We followed up with another one last year and we are doing a third this year.

“It’s mostly smaller floatables they are having to deal with and a lot of construction debris like plastic sheeting. They are not getting shopping trollies and things like that.”

This suits the smaller craft in the Water Witch range and also makes it much easier to export.

Mrs Caddick said: “These boats go in a 20-foot container, it makes it so much easier. The shipping is really cheap which is important.”

Last year around half of the craft left Liverpool’s Lightbody Street for foreign waterways, with USA, Pakistan and Ireland adding to the Middle East as destinations.

There are already Water Witch boats working worldwide including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa and throughout Europe.

Despite the basic idea of the Water Witch remaining relatively unchanged, there have been changes within the market and in consumer demands.

Two years ago the company shifted to using aluminium rather than steel.

Now around 70% of the aluminium used in building the crafts is from recycled sources, making it

environmentally-friendly.

And the smaller craft operate from a simple four-board outboard motor.

As well as clearing debris, whether it is floating or submerged, the workboats can also do weed clearance and marine civil support.

But it is the ubiquitous plastic bottle that is causing the biggest change in the workload.

Mrs Caddick said: “It’s the smaller plastics that are increasing, like plastic bottles. Its changed from big pallets to smaller floatables.”

But, unfortunately for Liverpool Water Witch, not all floating litter is being dealt with.

“There are places in the North Pacific that has debris the size of Texas,” she said.

“People only do something about it when it’s in the public eye. When it’s out of sight, nobody’s bothered.”

However it is likely that Dubai will remain firmly at the centre of attention for a while longer yet.

A water witch craft at work in Sharjah, UAE.0

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INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Setting the standard LIVERPOOL FIRM ENSURES HIGH STANDARDS IN CYPRIOT CUISINE - WITH HELP FROM UKTI ENVIRONMENTAL Health Trainer Christine Clark of CPC Workplace Training is helping holidaymakers and local residents enjoy fine dining in Cyprus, having recently delivered comprehensive food safety training to a range of local businesses from restaurants to cake makers.

Maghull based Christine, a CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) accredited trainer, was inspired to take her training programme overseas following the change in food safety regulations in 2006 which essentially raised standards across the board and imposed the same regulations across Europe.

And her first venture overseas was so successful that she is now planning a return trip to deliver the course to large employers in hotels and holiday complexes – and is urging other British food hygiene trainers to wake up to the burgeoning market abroad.

Christine was helped in her venture by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), and says they gave her the impetus to tackle overseas markets for the first time. International Trade Adviser Mike Connor enrolled Christine on the Passport to Export Programme, UKTI’s flagship scheme for new and inexperienced exporters, and was constantly on hand to offer advice and reassurance.

The course gave Christine the general information that she needed in order to assess the feasibility of European trade and part funded a fact-finding trip to her preferred destinations.

Christine is a member of Sefton Women’s Business Network and was able to enlist the support of fellow Merseyside member Barbara Wray, now an expatriate restauranteur and trainer in Phapos. Barbara wanted her restaurant, Gastronomie, to become a centre of excellence for food and planned to offer food safety training to other caterers on the island.

Last summer, thanks to her collaboration with Christine, Gastronomie became the first registered CIEH centre for level 2 and 3 food safety awards, with the first candidates graduating in November.

Officials from the Cyprus Tourism Organisation in Phapos, who licence food premises, attended the launch event and were very positive about future training opportunities.

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Successful candidates Janna Vetter, Anita Spicer, Frances Heywood and Maureen Dummer

Christine says: “I had taught City and Guilds courses in food preparation in Liverpool and Knowsley, and have been delivering nine different courses across the health and safety spectrum on a freelance basis for many years, but had never even considered taking my expertise to overseas markets.

“Under the new law – which is the biggest change in food safety legislation for decades – all catering and food retail businesses in the EU are now required to hold a recognised food safety management document, and while that doesn’t represent a significant change for UK businesses who have always been aware of food safety issues, it has been a much bigger issue in some EU countries where they do not have the help and guidance to ensure that they comply with the new rules.

“The training courses in Cyprus went extremely well and I am confident that our collaboration with the Cypriot catering trade will continue to grow and develop. I have been supported all along by UKTI and Mike Connor who has been brilliant, and inspired me to see that it is a big world out there with many opportunities. In future I am going to continue to explore possibilities in Cyprus and also research other EU markets to take my training business to the next stage.”

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I would strongly advise other companies who are looking to develop their overseas trade potential to sign up for the Passport to Export programme and find out for themselves how it can help them.”

Mike Connor, International Trade Adviser for UKTI North West, says: “Christine has been extremely quick to recognise potential new markets for her training courses but, as a novice exporter, needed that extra bit of help and encouragement in taking her first steps. Her first ventures in Cyprus have proved a great success and we have every confidence that she will continue to grow her overseas business and promote food safety throughout the EU. “Passport to Export is an excellent and varied scheme that offers comprehensive support to new and inexperienced exporters. We very much hope that other Merseyside companies who would like similar success in reaching their export goals will contact the North West regional trade team to see how we can help.”

For further information on UK Trade & Investment services, contact the North West International Trade Team. Tel: 0845 603 7053.

If you would like to contact Christine at CPC Workplace Training, e-mail: christineannclark@btinternet.com

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ADVERTISING FEATURE 9AM-5PM JUNE 2008

WHAT’S ON OFFER?

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

A unique opportunity to meet and hear international port developers, governments, and port authorities talk about their supplier needs for local port projects or expansion plans.

Any UK-based company who provides products or services to the ports sector: • Management • Equipment • Maritime security • Financial • Legal and insurance services

GROWING GLOBAL DEMAND International speakers are from high growth regions where substantial investment is being allocated to port upgrades for growing container and passenger traffic demand, this includes:

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• Design • Planning • Training • Education • Logistics

EXPORT HELP Expert staff from UK Trade & Investment will be available for one-to-one meetings to advise on the practicalities of exporting, as well as advise on other opportunities that exist in these high growth markets.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

REGISTER NOW

High level representatives from Shanghai International Port Group, Vinamarine (Vietnam), Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Saudi Port Authority, Libyan Ports and Maritime Authority, Port Administration of Altamira (Mexico), and the Egyptian Ministry of Transportation, have confirmed their attendance.

To find out more or to register, visit www.globalportsseminar.co.uk or call +44 (0)1275 850910.

+44 (0) 1275 850910 WWW.GLOBALPORTSSEMINAR.CO.UK

GROW YOUR BUSINESS INTERNATIONALLY

TWO LOCATIONS TO CHOOSE FROM: 3 JUNE: WESTMINSTER, LONDON 5 JUNE: MARITIME MUSEUM, LIVERPOOL

Supported by:

The Queen’s awards for enterprise UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is holding a special promotional event for the Queen’s Awards in the conference facilities at the Daresbury Science & Innovation Campus from 5.30 to 7.30 pm on Thursday, June 26, 2008.

The event will provide details of the Awards, which are highly sought-after and provide tangible benefits for companies who receive one. The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is recognised in the UK and overseas and is respected as a mark of quality and success by the business community.

Companies may apply for the business award in one, two, or all of the three award categories of International Trade, Innovation and Sustainable Development. There is nothing to lose by applying, and much to gain.

The competition is free to enter and every unsuccessful applicant will receive detailed feedback about the strengths and weaknesses of their case, so it is a useful benchmarking exercise and a good investment of a company’s time.

In July 2004 an Award for individuals - The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion (QAEP) - was introduced to recognise and reward people who have promoted business enterprise and entrepreneurial skills and attitudes in others.

Thus, if someone has played an outstanding and significant role in promoting enterprise in various ways, such as working with young people, inspiring young entrepreneurs, or providing much needed mentoring, investment, M A G A Z I N E

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skills training and encouraging innovation, they may be nominated within the QAEP category.

To attend the Daresbury event contact Rodolphe Soulard at the UKTI North West International Trade Team on 0845 603 7053 or by e-mail on info@uktinorthwest.co.uk.

You can find further information on the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise website at www.queensawards.org.uk and you will also be able to make a business Award application or Individual Award nomination on-line right up until the midnight deadline on October 31, 2008. Alternatively, application/nomination forms can be obtained by calling 08705 13 44 86.

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LEGAL

Manslaughter law change could hit firms LAWYERS ISSUE HEALTH & SAFETY WARNING CHANGES to the law of corporate manslaughter could see large firms fined a percentage of their turnover.

Merseyside lawyers are warning companies to get their health and safety procedures in order following the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, which came into effect on April 6.

Corporate manslaughter legislation was previously common law, not statutory.

The law has been changed in order to stop large companies from “slipping through the net” and avoiding culpability charges.

Weightmans head of regulatory services David Lewis said the change will have a number of implications for businesses, both positive and negative.

He said: “It is going to make it much easier – it is going to make it possible in the first place – to bring big organisations before the courts. We expect to be advising clients directly on this by the end of the year.”

In the UK, more than 40,000 people have been killed in commercially-related circumstances in the last 40 years.

But under the old common law of manslaughter, only 34 companies were prosecuted and only seven resulted in convictions.

These include circumstances where a company has been responsible for causing the contracting of a condition, such as asbestosis, whose development takes many years to cause death.

Until now, for companies to be convicted of corporate manslaughter, a jury has had to be satisfied that an individual who can be identified as “directing the mind and will” of the company is personally guilty, under what is known as the identification principle.

It has been almost impossible for any large company to be convicted.

Now the law has changed, it will be unnecessary to identify a single person, and responsibility instead turns to whoever had a care of duty to the deceased – such as a senior manager or department head – and whether a jury agree that the fatal accident constituted a gross breach of the law.

The seriousness of the breach will be determined by a jury who must decide to what degree the company fell short of health and safety legislation. The Sentencing Advisory Council has put forward its recommendations for penalties, which should be finalised by the summer.

On average it is expected it to agree that companies be fined somewhere in the region of 5% of their annual turnover – possibly as much as 10%.

GOODMANS GET THEIR TEETH INTO CONTRACT CHANGES

Ray Goodman, senior partner at Goodmans Solicitors 40 M A G A Z I N E

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CHANGES in employment contracts of NHS dentists could have far-reaching implications for other professions, a legal specialist has warned.

Ray Goodman, senior partner at Goodmans Solicitors, specialises in the sale and purchase of dental and other professional practices, is a member of the ASPD (Association of Specialist Providers for Dentists), and is a recommended lawyer of the British Dental Association.

He has more than 40 dental clients from around the country currently seeking his specialist advice as changes to NHS contracts have made it increasingly difficult for retiring professionals to sell their practices.

Mr Goodman said: “Every day I am having the same conversations over and over with dentists having difficulty transferring their NHS contracts.

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“They are seeking out legal advice when they are coming to sell, because many haven’t realised the difficulties of selling practices. They can sell their equipment, but with no goodwill and if the PCT put the contract out to tender, the seller won’t receive anything for it. In many cases we have found a way round it, but there have been a few where we just can’t.”

The recent changes to Capital Gains Tax which came in earlier this month were also expected to have a knock-on effect on the market of dental practice sales as sellers rushed to beat the deadline.

“Many who are selling wanted out before then,” Mr Goodman added.

Two types of NHS contract, personal dental services (PDS) and general dental services (GDS) came in 2006.

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David Lewis of Weightmans

Both are non-assigned.

Mr Gordon said: “It was basically a situation where the were told sign, or you’re not doing NHS dentistry. There was not much choice and few, if any, understood what they were signing or took legal advice. What has happened is the value of goodwill in dental practices has increased dramatically over two years.

“There is a very buoyant market for people wishing to buy dental practices. First the law changed recently to allow dentists to practice as limited companies and have non-dentists as investors. Prior to that, it wasn’t allowed.”

Since the change in the law any dentist can form a limited company but the majority of company directors have to be dentally qualified to some level.

Mr Lewis said: “Already there was the possibility of receiving an unlimited fine. The difference is that fines for this offence are going to be higher.

“This is not 5% of profit but of actual turnover – and that is just the starting point, if there have been no previous convictions.

“This could be massive for industry. There is an awful lot of companies whose profit margin is less than their turnover – in effect, this could wipe out their turnover. In the UK there could be great encouragement for people to take their work abroad – in terms of the financial risk to management, there is a real danger of this driving businesses overseas. They could see that the penalties that are being imposed are so disproportionate that it no longer makes commercial sense.”

The new act also gives judges the power to make publicity orders, with the possible outcome of forcing companies to take out newspaper or even television advertising explaining the outcome of the case.

Mr Lewis added: “This is really scaring people, as this could do a potentially enormous amount of damage to a company’s reputation.

“Trading business to business is not such a concern, but if your direct customers are members of the public, and they see that in the press, we have no idea how that will play out.

“The damage to reputations, and to bank balances, will be a new area of risk. So there will be an increase in pressure on organisations to take stock of their health and safety procedures.

“There will be an awful lot to be said for bringing in an independent auditor at this point, before something goes wrong.

“The act is there to encourage people to recognise the importance of this and try to get things right in the first place – to act as a deterrent as well as a punishment.

“There will be a greater incentive for the boards of large organisations to appoint non-executive directors with a particular interest in health and safety legislation.”

It is expected something like a dozen cases on this scale will be heard nationally per year.

The situation now is that new companies formed by dentists and accountants or other investors can look to create a group of practices as a business, rather than the old-fashioned model.

Mr Gordon said: “The other thing that there is an added impetus with the admission of professionals from eastern Europe that opens the gates to a lot of Eastern European dentists.”

Before that, there had been a shortage of professionals in the UK, but while the influx has filled the demand, eastern European dentists are prepared to work for less then home-trained professionals. In turn, it can make operating the groups in which they work more profitable.

Mr Goodman said: “What is happening is M A G A Z I N E

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that there is no uniformity in the approach across the country between various PCTs. “Some will co-operate and allow the transfer of contracts, but others are saying a blanket no and taking the view that if dentists don’t wish to take the NHS contracts then they must be put out to tender.

There was not much consultation and not much notice. The outcome is disarray.

“There is a disincentive for dentists to go into or remain in the NHS if they can’t sell the goodwill of their practices. Already there is a shortage of NHS dentists we’ve all heard stories about people pulling out their own teeth because they can’t find one.”

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

New immigration system THE biggest shake up of the immigration system in 45 years got underway on February 29, 2008. Rules introduced and to be policed by the UK Border Agency will initially apply to highly skilled foreign workers currently working in the UK who want to extend their stay under a new Australian-style points based immigration system (PBS).

Underpinning the new system will be a five-tier framework - see www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/mananagingimigratio n/apointsbasedsystem/howitworks The PBS is being introduced gradually, with the new rules that apply to those in tier 1 - highly skilled workers - having commenced on 29 February 2008.

From April 2008, the new system is to be rolled out overseas when anyone from India who wants to work in the UK as a highly skilled migrant must apply under the PBS. By summer 2008, the new highly skilled system will operate worldwide. The rules apply to migrants who are not nationals of the European Economic Area or Swiss nationals.

The aim of the PBS is to ensure that only those migrants whose skills are needed can come to the UK. For further information on the highly skilled migrant programme, see www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk

Agency Staff are not employees

Why you need to know

Whilst this is a positive result, an employer should continue to ensure that any ‘agency agreement’ entered into makes it crystal clear that it is not assuming the role of an employer and all contract documentation, job specification and the like refer specifically to the worker as being ‘an agency worker’ and that an employer has the right to substitute labour at any time. Failure to do so may still see an employer before a Tribunal, notwithstanding the outcome in Ms James’s case.

Every employer will be expected to ensure that they are licensed if they want to employ a migrant worker. Failure to do so will have drastic consequences with civil penalties of up to £10,000 per illegal worker and if an employer has knowingly hired an illegal worker they could incur an unlimited fine and the prospect of a custodial sentence!

At long last the issue of whether or not agency workers have the same rights as employees has finally been resolved. This will be good news for employers but not for agency workers. In the case of James -vLondon Borough of Greenwich, 2008, the Court of Appeal refused to find that an agency worker could be classed as an employee of the end user (the employer).

Ms James brought a claim against the Council for unfair dismissal on the basis that she was really an employee. She argued that she had been engaged by it for three years through two different agencies until she went off sick. Ms James argued that she was effectively ‘employed’ under an implied ‘contract of service’ which was evident by the length of time that she had spent on her job.

However, this did not wash with the Court who held that there were no facts from which it could identify the existence of any implied contract of employment and, more importantly, the passage of time was not sufficient to establish any mutual undertaking of legal obligations between the worker and the end user.

What this means to an employer

For HR and Employment Law Advice contact: Clive Mackintosh, Managing Director, Mackintosh Solicitors Ltd, 21 Cheapside, L2 2DY. Tel: (0151) 236 8070. E-mail: enquiries@mackintoshlaw.co.uk. Web: www.mackintoshlaw.co.uk 42 M A G A Z I N E

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43_48 SCIENCE PARK

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Liverpool Science Park Newsletter Issue one: spring 2008

Professor Michael Brown CBE DL An interview with the Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of Liverpool John Moores University

What can an innovation centre do for you?

Dr Sarah Tasker discusses the advantages of business incubators

Meet LSP tenants Case studies of a few of our tenants

ic2: new green facility An update on the second phase of development

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A prominent mixed use business environment suitable for Laboratory & Pharmaceutical, Data Centre, Offices, Trade Counter, Manufacturing, Storage, Call Centre

To Let

3,000 - 100,000 sq ft (279 - 9,290 sq m)

Speke Boulevard, Liverpool

NL

ME

Woolton

Halewood Station

WO

UE

22 monitored CCTV cameras

Allerton

OL B51 TO 71 N RO AD

VEN RA

24 hour on-site security guards

E NU

E ATH

M 180

62 VE B5 E A OV

B5

Close to Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Sensor fencing

Liverpool South Parkway

Secure proximity card reader access system Landscaped environment set within 16.89 acres (6.83 ha) On site car parking

Hunt’s Cross Station

TO LIVERPOOL CITY CENTRE Allerton Station

A532 Hunt’s Cross

A561 New Mersey Retail Park

Garston

Jaguar Plant

A561 S

TO LIVERPOOL CITY CENTRE

PEKE B

OULEVA

RD

Speke Speke Hall

RIVER MERSEY

Post Code: L24 9HZ

All Enquiries

A development by

Chartered Surveyors

01925 822112

NEW CAPITAL DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED

www.merseysideindustrial.com

vincesandwell@begroup.uk.com

andrew.owen@masonowen.com

robert.diggle@edwardsymmons.com

01932 821616

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brand new distribution facility

To Let (May sell)

Northern

148,000 sq ft

Gateway

(13,749 sq m)

Knowsley, Merseyside

Located close to M57/A580 junction 12 metres to underside of haunch 9 dock loading doors with the facility to add 4 surface level doors at the opposite end of the building 172 car spaces Cycle compound with stands for 30 cycles Self-contained fenced site Substantial yard and lorry park

Post Code: L33 7XL

All Enquiries

A development by

Chartered Surveyors

01925 822112

0161 831 3300

www.merseysideindustrial.com

collierscre.com

vincesandwell@begroup.uk.com

Julien.Kenny-Levick@collierscre.co.uk

NEW CAPITAL DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED robert.diggle@edwardsymmons.com

01932 821616

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At your service MANAGED OFFICE SPACE IS GROWING TREND THE traditional business model of renting an office and moving in your own furniture and other essentials is being challenged by the serviced office sector, which seems to be expanding rapidly in Liverpool at the moment.

More enterprises are opting for flexible deals, taking a ready made office for fixed periods of time.

In some cases the deals on offer are very attractive and can include free broadband and bills paid or a choice of desks and furniture.

In 2007 the number of serviced workstations in the UK rose by 4% to a five year peak of 170,000.

That trend is expected to escalate.

Comm ercial property AN IN DEPTH LOOK AT THE COMMERCIAL PROPERTY SECTOR ENCOMPASSING OFFICE, INDUSTRIAL AND RETAIL

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Serviced offices sector BARRY TURNBULL LOOKS AT THE GROWTH IN DEMAND FOR MANAGED ACCOMMODATION BUSINESS fads can be just like shoals of fish, darting this way and that.

Underlying trends are a little less volatile and usually more reliable in the long run. The serviced office sector comes into the latter category with most commentators believing its continuing growth will maintain itself for the forseeable future.

So what is serviced and managed accommodation? Essentially, it is office space that is run by a provider the user moves in for a period that is convenient, whether it be short, mid or long-term.

Big brands such as Regus will lease a block of space - as they have at Exchange Flags in Liverpool - and then market units of varying shapes and sizes to the market. Other operators, like Bruntwood, already own their buildings, and offer space to users that can be empty or furnished.

The key advantage of the methods is that managed space offers flexibility the customer is not tied into lengthy lease. This might suit a start-up that is uncertain about the future or alternatively a blue chip client looking to service a particular operation for a few months.

The managed accommodation market is currently less than 1% of the total office market, but experts at Business Centres Capital believe it could grow to 25% over the next decade.

Spokesman Jonathon Price said: “Our view is quite clear. Business centres, serviced offices and managed offices are in a long-term structural growth trend. This growth is accelerating as more and more

52 M A G A Z I N E

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Serviced office space will attract more investors and increase capital growth individuals and businesses become aware of the advantages of flexible offices.

“As the operating companies expand they are able to advertise more widely, stimulating further demand so the demand side is self – reinforcing.

“The same virtuous circle can be seen in the investment field as well.

As more institutional investments are made, more investors will become interested in the sector, which will have the effect of increasing capital values and of bringing more capital

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into the industry for further growth.

“This process is bound to result in the sector becoming large enough to be considered at the very least a recognised sub-sector of the office market.

“We see flexible offices in their various forms becoming as much as 25% of total office space within the decade, totally at the expense of leased offices.

“For the sake of completeness, we should add that this growth trend can be seen in every market in the world.

Business centres are available to occupy or to invest in anywhere in the world.”

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

on the march BRUNTWOOD TO OFFER MORE DESKS TO ORDER IN the past 12 months Bruntwood has grown its service office business to almost 200 serviced desks in Liverpool city centre and 1,500 desks throughout the North West region. By early 2009 it expects to have a total of more than 2,200 serviced office desks.

Bruntwood has experienced strong demand for its serviced offices which are housed in many of the 85 office buildings it owns and manages in these markets.

Bruntwood’s David Guest said: “Our serviced offices form an integral part of the office buildings that we own. This allows us to offer highly competitive prices as, unlike most other serviced office providers, we don’t have to rent the space because we already own it.”

The serviced office market is a very competitive, retail-style business with many of the large national and international providers offering price-led promotions.

For potential serviced office customers these can be seductive but they mask the true occupational cost and often confuse customers.

Presenting unpackaged prices and then selling necessary services including voice and data significantly increases the advertised price and ultimately leaves the customer out of pocket.

Guest added: “Bruntwood’s serviced office customers enjoy transparent pricing. Our desk

rates start from £350 and include many services which other providers charge extra for.

“While in marketing terms these discount airline-style price promotions seem attractive, it’s ultimately the customer who is confused and we’re not prepared to do that.”

By early 2009 Bruntwood will have more than 400 serviced desks in Liverpool city centre and 2,200 in total throughout Birmingham, Cheshire, Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester.

These will run side by side with and complement the 5.5m sq ft of office space Bruntwood already owns and manages throughout the north of England.

Guest said: “We often hear from serviced office customers that they dislike being anonymous within their office building.

“They like having a prestigious address but in the case of the national and international provider rather than their visitors seeing their name in reception, all that appears is ‘such and such business centre.’

“Essentially they are customers of a customer.

Because Bruntwood own their office buildings’ we give all our customers a named presence in the buildings main reception, so there is no distinction between a small start up company and a PLC.” Bruntwood’s serviced offices run seamlessly alongside its conventional offices. The

David Guest, who heads up Bruntwood's operation in Liverpool

reception area at ground floor is the heart of the building, not only functioning as a guest welcome point but also the hub from where all administrative services are accessed and meeting rooms booked.

The company trumpets a promise that the customer enjoys a relationship with the company, not the office suite.

Guest added: “Each year we help dozens of our customers expand and contract throughout our portfolio. Often our serviced office customers

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grow into larger serviced offices, expand into other cities or even move into our conventional offices.

“Every year around 50% of our lettings and licence agreements are with existing customers who need to expand, contract or grow into new cities. The combination of our owning so many office buildings and our customer focus is invaluable to our serviced customers who one day may decide to move into conventional offices.”

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY SERVICED OFFICES SECTOR

Global provider ready for business in city IT may have taken a decade but serviced office provider Regus has finally arrived in Liverpool.

Since the late 1990s there were reports that the company was interested in taking up space but nothing came of it.

Now the company has more than 23,000 sq ft of accommodation at Horton House in Exchange Flags, which has been refurbished by development partners UK Land and Property and Pochin.

Other tenants include Knight Frank, Deloitte and Brabners.

Simon Parker, managing director of UK Land and Property, said: “These deals demonstrate that Exchange Flags has the necessary criteria to attract global organisations and blue-chip companies.

“The Regus deal, in particular, marks a significant inward investment success for Liverpool, as it is the first time that Regus

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has had a presence in the city.

“Having secured over 74,000 sq ft office accommodation at Horton House, clearly the demand for the right product in the right place is still there, at this level.”

A spokesman for Regus said: “This business centre is located in the heart of the city’s flourishing business district at Exchange Flags. This landmark 11-storey Grade II listed building is situated within the city’s World Heritage Site, renowned as a focus of commerce.

“Clients can enjoy the use of an on-site business lounge and modern reception area with satellite television.

“The building also provides fully serviced offices on flexible terms, with air conditioning, reception staff and support teams, kitchen areas, state-of-the-art technology and five meeting rooms that can cater from two to 12 delegates.”

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The planned new reception area for Horton House

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY SERVICED OFFICES SECTOR

The former banking hall at 7 Water Street in Liverpool, now converted into a service office complex called Il Palazzo

Five star service FAST-moving office firm YourSpace specialises in providing deluxe commercial accommodation such as Il Palazzo in Water Street.

The former bank lay disused for a long period until the company targeted it as a model for one of its ‘five star’ refurbishments.

Now the Grade II listed structure has a mix of period features like mahogany panelling alongside modern technology such as intelligent lighting and free internet access.

Director Steve Turton said: “We have a unique business model converting buildings of character into five-star commercial accommodation. The combination of acquiring this building and coming to Liverpool was too good to miss.

“The building has been totally

56 M A G A Z I N E

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gutted and refurbished and although it is Grade II listed we worked closely with English Heritage with whom we have a very good relationship.

“We focus on providing top quality for our customers and that’s what sets us apart from the rest. The market for serviced accommodation is now waking up and there is a growing demand for a bespoke service.”

He also revealed that the company listed on AIM, the junior stock market - is planning to move its corporate headquarters to the city from Manchester. Liverpudlian chief executive Shaun Mealey added: “We believe in doing things the right way. We believe in delivering vibrant, exciting, focused locations that allow businesses to flourish.

“We were established in 2000 and

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currently boast 45 staff covering five locations throughout the country.

Our client list runs into the hundreds. That’s hundreds of people who share the same vision we do.

“Our business is about creating environments and about marrying the skills of our people, the development opportunity of our investments and the entrepreneurial adventure of those businesses we help to flourish.

“We’re a young company, young in the areas that count. We have the outlook of a young company, the gusto that a young company has and an unshakable belief in what we do.

The average age of the board is 40.

“The average age of our employees is 30. That says a lot about the drive and ambition we have and about how our success is built on the vital energy of our people.”

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Malmaison chain to delay sale THE Malmaison Hotel chain may be among the most successful in the company but no-one wants to buy.

MWB say attempts to offload the group have been severely hampered by the prevailing market conditions.

The forecast now is that a sale is unlikely before 2010.

At last year’s prices the chain was valued at £533m although that figure continues to rise - on paper at least - due to an expansion programme.

Five more outlets are planned this year as business continues to grow at the designer chain which includes a hotel at Princes Dock, Liverpool.

A spokesman for MWB, headed by entrepreneur Richard Balfour-Lynn, said: “Malmaison group opened five hotels last year that are already delivering stabilised and mature income and profit streams.

“Despite this continued growth the board recognises that the current economic climate and credit crunch makes their sale by the end of 2008 less likely to be achieved at prices reflecting their current

Malmaison at Princes Dock

financial success and strong brand values.

“It remains the clear intention of the board to sell the business as soon as market conditions recover sufficiently.

“The nature and timing of the realisation programme will continue to be kept under review.”

The company looked at brokering a deal last year but the £700m pricetag scared off potential investors.

Malmaisons are primarily located in city centres operating in the boutique market. Hotel Du Vin has 10 outlets and focuses on bistro dining and an extensive wine list.

The sale postponement is just another example of how the economy and the credit crunch in particular is having a detrimental effect on the commercial property market.

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"% ! 0!24 /& 4(% .%7 ,)6%20//,

SQ FT SQ M OF QUALITY REFURBISHED OF¯CE ACCOMMODATION !MPLE SECURE PARKING SPACES ON SITE &LEXIBLE SPACE PLANNING OPTIONS AVAILABLE HOUR ACCESS AND FULL SECURITY

SQ FT SQ M OF QUALITY REFURBISHED OF¯CE ACCOMMODATION ON FOUR °OORS 0OTENTIAL SELF CONTAINED (1 BUILDING /N SITE SECURE CAR PARKING SPACES &LEXIBLE OPEN PLAN ENVIRONMENT WITH EXCELLENT NATURAL LIGHT

!LL ENQUIRIES CONTACT THE JOINT AGENTS (ITCHCOCK 7RIGHT 0ARTNERS OR -ATTHEWS 'OODMAN FOR MORE INFORMATION "RIAN 2ICKETTS BRIANRICKETTS@HWANDP CO UK +AREEM 'HANI KGHANI@MATTHEWS GOODMAN CO UK

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Private sector to the fore TONY MCDONOUGH LOOKS AT LIVERPOOL’S OFFICE MARKET LIVERPOOL’S city centre office market is slowly weaning itself off its reliance on the public sector for major lettings, according to new data.

The latest annual Liverpool Commercial Office Market Review, just published by Liverpool Vision, reveals the private sector is becoming a dominant force in the central business district (CBD) once again.

During 2007, total city centre office take-up was 462,875 sq ft which represents a 14% increase on 2006.

Since 2005 the take-up of space by the financial services sector has increased by 39% and now accounts for 17% of all office space sold or let in Liverpool’s CBD. In 2006, financial services accounted for 50,620 sq ft of new lettings. This increased to 56,952 in 2006 and to 70,446 in 2007.

The report also reveals that much of this space is now being occupied by workers at the senior end of the financial services spectrum - real decision makers rather than clerical staff.

English Cities Fund’s St Paul’s Square development, which has a significant frontage onto Old Hall Street, saw Grade A lettings to two banks - HBoS and Allied Irish (11,430 sq ft and 6,638 sq ft, respectively).

Stockbrokers Panmure Gordon also took 6,338 sq ft of Grade A space at Rumford Development’s 20 Chapel Street scheme. It joined other tenants at the site including Bank of Ireland, architects Broadway Malyan, Barclays and accountants Ernst & Young.

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The private sector now accounts for 68% of all take-up in the CBD, although in 2007 the public sector still accounted for 32% of lettings.

This was largely due to a 70,000 sq ft pre-let to the Ministry of Defence at the newly-rejuvenated Exchange Flags complex.

Professional firms, including those in financial services, accounted for 28.6% of floorspace let in 2007 in the city.

But despite new space being created at St Paul’s Square and 20 Chapel Street, a continued shortage

TAKE UP BY OCCUPIER SECTOR (%) PROFESSIONAL 132,302 sq ft PUBLIC SECTOR 147,863 sq ft OTHER 87,042 sq ft FINANCIAL/BANKING 70,446 sq ft CREATIVE/IT/MEDIA 16,175 sq ft TRAINING 9,917 sq ft TOTAL TAKE-UP

462,875 sq ft

TAKE UP BY OCCUPIER SECTOR (%)

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A 89,698 sq ft B 370,527 sq ft C 2,650 sq ft

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of new build space meant that 81% of lettings were in older buildings with almost half in properties dating from before 1939.

This shortage of Grade A space is an issue for the city, particularly in terms of attracting professional firms from other parts of the UK or abroad.

But the slack is being taken up by owners of secondary, or Grade B, space, who in some cases have invested millions of pounds in upgrading existing stock to a very high standard.

Downing and Bruntwood are the biggest local players in this market and between them control around 2m sq ft of office space.

Downing is investing tens of millions of pounds upgrading the former Royal & SunAlliance headquarters in Old Hall Street, which it has renamed the Capital.

The company acquired the 300,000 sq ft site in 2006 for £51m a record for the Liverpool market and is busy refurbishing it to a standard it claims will be as good as Grade A space locally.

Bruntwood has also been busy over the past year. Its refurbishment of the former Littlewoods headquarters in Old Hall Street, now renamed the Plaza, is one of the biggest projects of its kind the city has seen.

But the company is not resting on its laurels. In the past year it has also paid around £20m for the nearby Cotton Exchange complex on which it intends to spend more millions.

Another landlord, UK Land & Property, has also made a big splash over the past couple of years.

It succeeded where Bruntwood had previously failed by prising the

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY Exchange Flags

TAKE UP BY OCCUPIER SECTOR (%)

20 Chapel Street

PROFESSIONAL 8,533 sq ft PUBLIC SECTOR 27,566 sq ft OTHER 14,177 sq ft FINANCIAL/BANKING 111sq ft CREATIVE/IT/MEDIA 46,588 sq ft TRAINING NONE TOTAL TAKE-UP

96,975 sq ft

TAKE UP BY OCCUPIER SECTOR (%) PROFESSIONAL 26,882 sq ft PUBLIC SECTOR 37,018 sq ft OTHER 150,815 sq ft FINANCIAL/BANKING NONE CREATIVE/IT/MEDIA 66,441 sq ft TRAINING 5,189 TOTAL TAKE-UP

286,345 sq ft

magnificent Exchange Flags complex out of the hands of city property legend and former Aintree racecourse owner Bill Davies. For more than 15 years Mr Davies had left the site largely empty.

Since acquiring both Horton House and Walker House, which make up Exchange Flags, UK Land, along with its development partner Pochin, has embarked on an ambitious refurbishment of the complex.

Its efforts have been rewarded with a number of significant deals which include lettings to law firm Brabners Chaffe Street and the Ministry of Defence.

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY Liverpool Vision chief executive Jim Gill

Liverpool Vision chief executive Jim Gill said: “If a major international corporation was looking to set up a headquarters in the city then you would think they would only want to look at Grade A space. But if that same company was looking for space for back office staff then it may be happier to look at refurbished accommodation.

“Because the quality of Grade B space is now so high some fairly big occupiers from within the city have been happy to move into it - for example Brabners at Exchange Flags.”

The Liverpool Vision report says that around 133,000 sq ft of Grade A space will be completed in the city during 2008 of which about 47% has been pre-let. Construction on a further 283,000 sq ft is also scheduled to begin.

The report also highlights a significant shift in the expectations of would-be occupiers and the material impact this is having on Liverpool’s CBD. When Vision conducted its census of office space in October last year it identified around 1.46m sq ft available and ready for occupation.

This represents just over 20% of the total stock of 7.088m sq ft.

However, almost half of the

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available space - 609,608 sq ft - was classified as Grade C standard, with just 15% available in buildings constructed since 1999.

The report states: “The disconnection between the demand for Liverpool office space and its supply has never been more starkly demonstrated than in 2007.

“While grade C office space account for lettings of just 2,650 sq ft (0.6% of take-up), it accounted for 41.6% of the office space available to let.

“While in 2004 and 2005 it accounted for around one-sixth of total Liverpool take-up, its share halved to 7.4% in 2006 – and has dwindled to barely measurable size in 2007 as occupiers upgrade their expectations about central Liverpool office accommodation.

“These figures would seem to indicate that there may, effectively, no longer be any market for much grade C space.”

Mr Gill added: “If it is true that occupiers no longer want Grade C space then the owners of those properties are going to either have to look at upgrading them or find alternative uses.”

CITY CENTRE OFFICE TAKE UP 1997-2007 NEW SPACE

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Grade A rents - often viewed as a measure of economic progress - have seen sustained growth since 2000 and have now reached £22 per sq ft.

Grade B rents are around the £16 per sq ft mark.

Prime investment yields have continued to harden to 4.6% at the beginning of the year as institutional investors competed with private buyers for city centre office properties before moving out in the second half of 2007 to 5.6%.

In the Liverpool city region out-oftown market, which includes the business parks of South Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton, total office take-up was 286,345 sq ft.

The largest sub-market is to be found among Knowsley’s business parks, generating take-up in 2007 of 182,675 sq ft. South Liverpool contributed take-up of 93,285 sq ft.

• Statistics in the report are based on research by the Merseyside Property Forum supported by Liverpool Vision with the co-operation of agents Irving Rice, Hitchcock Wright & Partners, Keppie Massie and Mason Owen & Partners. tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk

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TO LET QUALITY OFFICE SPACE

NOW AVAILABLE

SEVERAL SUITES NOW UNDER OFFER FULLY REFURBISHED ELEGANT OFFICE SPACE IN THE HEART OF LIVERPOOL BUSINESS DISTRICT SUITES AVAILABLE FROM

882SQ.FT TO 3,343SQ.FT 7 FLOORS INCLUDING NEW PENTHOUSE OFFICE UNDERGROUND CAR PARKING 24 HOUR ACCESS COMFORT COOLING

Contact: Andrew Owen

Contact: Mark Worthington

CHAPEL STREET • LIVERPOOL

TO LET - UNIT 2 SKYPARK QUALITY MODERN WAREHOUSE WITH OFFICES AND YARD CLOSE TO LIVERPOOL AIRPORT UNIT 2, SKYPARK INTERNATIONAL SPEKE HALL AVENUE L24 1YH

12,490 SQ FT

(1160.3 SQ M) APPROX

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For Sale/To Let

New Industrial Units

New Industrial Units

Self Contained Offices

Brookfield Business Park, Aintree

Vesty Business Park, Bootle

Turnstone Business Park, Widnes Waterfront

A joint venture between

www.prioritysites.co.uk A different kind of property development company_

WILLIAMS ESTATE MANAGEMENT 17 HATTON GARDEN LIVERPOOL L3 2HA Tel: 0151 227 3935 Fax: 0151 227 3936 email: williams@cybase.co.uk www.williamsmanagement.co.uk

Midland Chambers, Everton Rd, L6 Landmark former bank building in prominent location, 3,400 approx including basement storage. Onsite parking, available with early occupation.

City Centre, close to Leeds Street at Pumpfields. A variety of units available from 2,000 sqft up to 30,000 for lease or sale.

Will suit owner/occupiers or investors.

Bromborough – Dock Road South.

Potential Development site of 1/4 acre approx with existing workshop at 2739sqft approx.

The entire complex is for sale with a price

Liverpool City Centre, site with planning potential for major office development scheme, circa 54,000 sqft most of which will enjoy river/Wirral views. Full information and planning position available from agents.

guide of £120,000.

City Centre Industrial building or Trade Counter with office accommodation to upper floor, 5189 sq ft approx situated Pumpfields Road off

Liverpool L5 – Great Howard Street.

Development site of 1.67 acres, suitable for a mixed use opportunity. Enjoys aspect over Leeds Liverpool canal.

Vauxhall Road close to Liverpool City

New Office Development Liverpool

Chandlers Wharf, Cornhills – fringe of City.

Centre. This property has the benefit of its own entrance and onsite parking, available for lease.

A selection of new ground floor offices/studios from 539 sqft. Available at £10,000 per service charge, fully fitted ready for immediate occupation.

Carruthers Street, off Vauxhall Road.

An industrial building available for a temporary let up to 6 months, ideal for storage or workshop, 4761 sqft approx.

Edge of City, Lightbody Street.

Storage compound of 0.7 acre plus 2 railway arches to let, short term £2,000 per month.

Hatton Garden L3 Ground floor retail/office premises at 1134 sqft approx. Available at a reduced rental of £18,000 per annum.

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY Exterior of Martins Bank building .

Interior of Martins Bank building .

Grand designs going to waste WHAT now for one of the most splendid banking halls in the country? The art deco jewel in Martins Building has lain empty since Barclays vacated last year and there sees no prospect soon of anyone taking up the space.

Barclays is also carrying the burden of a seven year lease at £300,000 a year and is naturally keen to divest itself of that commitment. Agents have been hoping to attract another banking institution but this spacious, ornate location belonging to a bygone age is not an easy sell.

Owners Castlewood Property Management have spent £1m in refreshing the exterior of the structure.

Stuart Keppie, a director of Castlewood’s property agent Keppie Massie, said: “This is a fantastic facility but it is a big challenge to find an occupier. It’s a unique type

of space and because it is listed it means you are very restricted in terms of what you can actually do with the building.

“However this is a great building in a prime location so we are looking at the prestige end of the market. In the meantime, we are looking at the possibility of using the hall as exhibition space. It would be a pity if this wonderful facility was closed indefinitely to the public.”

One of the finest banking premises in the country belonged to Martins Bank. It had a splendid head office on Water Street, highly praised for its fine architecture and decoration.

Throughout the bank there are images of the sea, the source of Liverpool’s wealth.

From 1918-1969, Martins Bank was the largest bank in the Liverpool area. Its headquarters were in Liverpool although it originated in

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London and dated back to the 16th century. Its symbol was the grasshopper.

This creature was the crest of Sir Thomas Gresham, the famous Elizabethan banker who is said to have founded the bank.

Its importance in Liverpool began in the 20th century, when Martins joined with the long-established Bank of Liverpool in 1918. Martins was the only major bank with headquarters outside London.

It was at the forefront of banking advances and in 1967 unveiled the first automatic cashier in the north of England, in Church Street, Liverpool.

In 1969 Martins Bank, with 700 branches around the country, merged with Barclays Bank.

It only closed down as a banking hall last July when Barclays moved to new premises in Lord Street.

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Bringing polluted land back to life MERSEYSIDE’S A CONTAMINATION HOTSPOT

DEVELOPING brownfield sites lies at the heart of the government’s regeneration strategy but in Merseyside this often comes at a price. The Mersey Basin has 12 times the amount of contaminated land than regions of a similar size.The industrial legacy means that huge tracts of land remain unusable unless they are treated - a costly business.

It’s a particular headache around Widnes and Runcorn where there are around 400 acres of land that need reclaiming in an area that has huge regeneration potential.

Halton Council is currently assessing the amount of work needed to be done and the potential hazards facing some residents.

Elsewhere the former garden festival site in Liverpool has recently come under scrutiny due to Langtree McLean’s plans for a housing estate on 56 acres of land.

Dave Allen, at environmental specialists Royal Haskoning, said: “This is a big problem. The North West has vacant or derelict land equivalent to the size of 4,250 64 M A G A Z I N E

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football pitches while Merseyside itself has the highest concentration of such land, but this is no suprise given the industrial heritage.

“Recycling previously used land can mean the clean up of contaminated sites reducing the potential of pollution and health risk. It can also assist in the environmental, social and economic regeneration of an area and also reduce the pressure on greenfield land.

“As pressure grows for brownfield development these sites will become more and more important.”

In Halton, there are big plans for Widnes Waterfront, 3MG the multimodal gateway and the second Mersey river crossing. The Forward Partnership is also developing 80 acres of land while Venture Fields will provide a leisure attraction including a cinema, ice rink and bowling alley.

The area was a hotspot for pollution due to chemical works and various other industrial processes.

The council’s urban renewal board

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is to assess an action plan between now and 2013. A report has been compiled on contaminated land which states: “Contaminated land was highlighted in the recently commissioned study into factors affecting health in Halton as a potential cause of ill health for residents in certain wards.”

“The main problem sites in the borough are clustered around the banks of the River Mersey.

“These were the sites that the Victorians chose for their chemical factories, being close to the river to dispose of untreated effluent and close to the low lying marshes to dispose of chemical waste.

“The council is promoting the redevelopment of most of these areas, including the Widnes Waterfront EDZ, 3MG strategic rail freight facility and the Mersey Gateway.

“These are all key redevelopment catalysts for Halton that have potential to bring large areas of contaminated land back into productive use.”

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New roll for carpet centre FOR over 40 years Woolton Carpets has dominated its corner of the market in Merseyside, by delivering a level of service and satisfaction which its customers would agree is practically unrivalled in the area.

The family-owned company, which is run by joint owners Tony Griffin and Amanda Parker, has

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successfully competed for and won a series of major domestic and commercial contracts throughout the North West.

Woolton Carpets can count large hotels, local celebrities, sports people and many other businesses and organisations in its client base.

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However, its most important customer is the general public and, as a proud family business, Woolton Carpets can feel particularly pleased to be supplying carpets to the third generations of families they helped to decorate their homes back in the 1960s and 70s.

It is also an award-winning company, having picked up the title of Best Individual Flooring Retailer in the UK at the National Flooring Industry Awards. It certainly is a real honour to be recognised as the best for carpet and floor covering in the business.

Recently, the company has also been rewarded with prestigious approval from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

One of the only carpet companies in Liverpool to receive the OFT’s stamp of approval, this fantastic achievement not

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

only recognises the outstanding service Woolton Carpets provides but also enforces a stringent code of conduct for the company to operate under, providing further peace of mind to the customer.

The business’s reputation is second to none throughout the industry and the company’s results can be seen in the amount of repeat business and recommendations it receives.

All top UK and European manufacturers are represented in the huge showroom at the Speke Road site.

The company has long been synonymous with quality and excellence in the industry, and with more than 1,000 rolls of carpet in stock, next day delivery, a professional fitting service, over 200 choices in laminate flooring and a great selection in plush rugs and vinyl flooring, it’s easy to see why thousands of people have relied on and continue to trust Woolton Carpets.

But it’s not only the public who put their faith in Woolton Carpets. The business is often approached by carpet and flooring design teams, looking for involvement from Woolton carpets in an advisory capacity. These are top UK manufacturers, putting new ideas on the table and asking the company’s opinion on them.

Woolton Carpets is also a member of the UK’s biggest flooring buying group.

The group, called Greendale, has over 250 members. Through so many

companies working together to secure large deals with manufacturers, the costs of buying carpets and flooring materials can be brought down dramatically and the discount passed on to customers.

The team at Woolton Carpets always aims to work hard for its customers, offering fantastic levels of service, and an exceptional choice too.

Having undergone recent refurbishments, the show room now includes a massive clearance centre, where all forms of carpet, laminates and vinyl flooring can be found at less than half price. So the business can offer a

great deal along with first rate service.

The extensive showroom boasts a massive range of luxury carpets. The company stocks carpet and flooring from major manufacturers in the UK, Europe, America and Poland. And due to some big buying, it can also offer the best prices for miles around.

In addition, the company also offers a buy now, pay later option with six months’ interest-free credit for orders over £200, or 12 months’ interest-free credit for orders over £1,000.

The business was set up to act as a kind of one-stop-shop for a customer’s every flooring need, and, it has to be said, it has certainly succeeded.

Everyone at Woolton Carpets is extremely pleased with where the company is now and the goals and targets that have been reached and even exceeded on the way to becoming the largest privately owned carpet company in the North West.

The Woolton Carpets showroom is open seven days a week, with late openings on a Thursday night.

If you’d like further information about the business or the services offered by Woolton Carpets, call 0151 427 9095. Alternatively, visit the new website: www.wooltoncarpets.co.uk or drop by the showroom on Speke Road in Garston Village.

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Top

LDP

BUSINESS

UNITED UTILITIES POSITION 1 TURNOVER £2.3BN

100

Businesses

The top companies ranked by turnover within the Daily Post circulation area are a diverse bunch.Utilities companies, engineering groups and builders rub shoulders with football clubs and gambling groups.

Heading the Top 100 is water company United Utilities with £2.3bn in sales while at the lower end trendy jeweller Boodle & Dunthorne weighs in with a more modest £33m.

Data has been provided by Experian based on the last set of verified accounts filed at Companies House. The data has been subject to interpretation by the Daily Post editorial team.

Here are snapshots of the leading five organisations. .

LITTLEWOODS SHOP DIRECT POSITION 2 TURNOVER: £1.76BN Sales at Littlewoods dipped below £2bn last year as the business lurched into the red.

The company made a loss before interest and tax of £24.2m, down from a profit of £12.4m the year before. The retained loss for the year worsened to £50.7m, down from a retained loss of £20.3m in the previous year.

Executives says the decline can be attributed to the downward spiral of printed catalogues trade but say that situation is about to be halted.

The company has previously said it expects 50% of its total sales to come from online orders by the end of 2008. It expects that proportion to rise to 70% by the 2011.

The Barclay family, which owns Littlewoods, injected £282m of fresh capital into the mail order and internet shopping group during the 2006/07 year as the business seeks to reposition itself.

EUROPEAN METAL RECYCLING POSITION: 3 TURNOVER: £1.7BN European Metal Recycling is a global leader in recycled products and environmental services, managing over 8.5m tonnes a year of materials from consumers, industry and demolition works.

The company employs 1,400 people and operates at 65 locations, with liaison offices all around the world. Its a far cry from the late 1980s when the company set up a scrap shearing operation in Seaforh which triggered a long running row with residents.

The core business involves the accumulation and recycling of metal-based consumer products, metal offcuts from factories and demolition materials. More growth could be on the horizon as the business moves into plastics recyling too. EMR is planning to invest millions in creating a planetsaving plastics recycling plant with American specialist MBA.

The Warrington-based group caters for 2.9m water, wastewater and electricity customers.

As well as the provision of utility services, the group has been instrumental in the long term clean up of the River Mersey. It also offers infrastructure services to other utility firms through its Utility Solutions business.

In a recent trading update, chief executive Philip Green declared that the group was on track to deliver results in line with expectations for the year ending March 31.

He said: “We are focused on building on the operational and customer service improvements already achieved and I am pleased to report that we remain on course to meet the tougher leakage target set by Ofwat for 2007/08.

“The regulated business is expected to deliver good underlying operating profit growth for the year ending 31 March 2008.

This growth is primarily a result of allowed price rises to fund major investment in the company’s assets on behalf of its customers and the environment.”

PRINCES FOODS POSITION: 4 TURNOVER £1.1BN

MATALAN POSITION 5 TURNOVER: £1.03BN

Liverpool food and drink group Princes Foods breached the £1bn sales barrier last year, pushing it to fourth place in the Top 100.

Healthy sales of products like tinned tuna and corned beef were boosted by TV advertising plus a link up with fellow Merseyside company Edible Oils. Sales were ahead 25% whilst profits moved marginally by 2.2% to £26m.

The administrative head of the group’s groceries and beverages operation is at the Royal Liver Building where 400 out of a total roll call of 3,295 staff are based.

Princes is owned by Mitsubishi corporation and due to Japanese inscrutability invariably lets its brands do the talking.

For instance, last year it launched a £4m TV commercial campaign to champion the Princes brands.

The group is split into six strategic business units and holds a clear philosophy about its modus operandi.

It’s all a bit quiet at Matalan these days. The company is chugging along with sales of £1bn a year but gone is the intense scrutiny that used to accompany its status as a listed stock. At one time it was hailed as one of the great successes of the market but the retail clothing sector rarely allows a particular business to bowl along unhindered year after year. Former market trader and Matalan founder John Hargreaves took the business back into private hands in a £800m deal in 2006 saying it would be better for the family to be in control during a difficult and challenging period.

However he resigned as chairman last year citing personal reasons.

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THE FULL TOP 100 LIST IS FEATURES ON THE FOLLOWING TWO PAGES

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LDP

TOP 100 BUSINESSES

BUSINESS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Sales (000) £2.3bn £1.7bn £1.69bn £1.1bn £1.03bn £985m £841m £696m £536m £429m £415m £370m £357m £337m £335m £333m £322m £315m £310m £248m £248m £240m £239m £229m £225m £220m £219m £177m £168m £168m £158m £158m £150m £147m £147m £142m £141m £130m £128m £121m £119m

42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

£114m £109m £109m £106m £106m £104m £103m £93m £92m

Company Name UNITED UTILITIES PLC LITTLEWOODS SHOP DIRECT GROUP LIMITED EUROPEAN METAL RECYCLING LIMITED PRINCES LIMITED MATALAN RETAIL LTD. PHOENIX HEALTHCARE DISTRIBUTION LIMITED BRITISH NUCLEAR FUELS PLC OPAL TELECOM LIMITED PILKINGTON AUTOMOTIVE LIMITED L.ROWLAND & COMPANY (RETAIL) LIMITED VERTEX DATA SCIENCE LIMITED INEOS CHLOR LIMITED HOLIDAYBREAK PLC. BIBBY LINE GROUP LIMITED SPEEDY HIRE PLC JAMES HALL AND C0MPANY (HOLDINGS) LIMITED T. J. MORRIS LIMITED HOME DELIVERY NETWORK LIMITED PARK GROUP PLC PARASOL LIMITED DE VERE HOTELS & LEISURE LIMITED BRUNNER MOND GROUP LIMITED T J HUGHES (HOLDINGS) COMPANY LIMITED HALEWOOD INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS PLC PLEXUS COTTON LIMITED BORREGAARD INDUSTRIES LIMITED BALL PACKAGING EUROPE UK LTD. V.I.P. COMPUTER CENTRE LIMITED EDDIE STOBART LIMITED HANDLEMAN UK LIMITED GLEN DIMPLEX HOME APPLIANCES LIMITED *ETHEL AUSTIN LIMITED EDWARD BILLINGTON AND SON LIMITED DANIEL CONTRACTORS LIMITED S. NORTON & CO LIMITED JOHN WEST FOODS LIMITED W.A. DEVELOPMENTS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED STANLEY CASINOS LIMITED DE POEL MANAGED SERVICES LIMITED CLARKE ENERGY HOLDINGS LIMITED THE LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB & ATHLETIC GROUNDS LIMITED BAKEMARK UK LIMITED MERSEYRAIL ELECTRICS 2002 LIMITED ALFRED JONES (WARRINGTON) LIMITED JAMES EDWARDS (CHESTER) LIMITED MERIDIAN BUSINESS SUPPORT LIMITED MONEYSUPERMARKET.COM FINANCIAL GROUP SHS INTERNATIONAL LTD SGL LIMITED THOMAS HARDIE COMMERCIALS LIMITED

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Location Warrington Speke Warrington Liverpool Skem Runcorn Risley Warrington St. Helens Warrington Knowsley Runcorn Cheshire Liverpool Newton-le-Willows Southport Liverpool Speke Birkenhead Warrington Warrington Cheshire Liverpool Knowsley Birkenhead Warrington Cheshire Warrington Warrington Warrington Knowsley Knowsley Liverpool Warrington Liverpool Liverpool Warrington Liverpool Warrington Knowsley

Product.

Water, wastewater Mail order retail Recycling of metal waste and scrap Non-specialised wholesale food, etc.

Retail sale of clothing Wholesale of pharmaceutical goods Energy Telecoms Manufacture of Flat Glass Dispensing chemists Secretarial and translation Manufacture of Industrial Gases Leisure Shipping Rent other machinery and equipment Food transport Retail Freight transport by road Finance Payroll Hotels and motels, with restaurant Chemicals Retail Drinks Cotton trading Manufacture of Pulp Manufacture of Light Metal Packaging Computers Freight transport by road Wholesale electric household goods Manufacture of electronic domestic appliances Retail sale of clothing Food General construction and civil engineering Wholesale of waste and scrap Food Retail of footwear and leather goods Gambling and Betting Activities Business and management consultancy Production, distribution electric

Acc/Date 1 31/03/07 30/04/07 31/12/06 31/03/07 24/02/07 31/01/07 31/03/07 31/03/07 31/03/07 31/01/07 31/03/06 31/12/06 30/09/07 31/12/06 31/03/07 24/03/07 30/06/07 30/04/07 31/03/07 05/04/07 24/09/06 31/03/07 27/01/07 24/06/06 31/12/06 31/12/06 31/12/06 30/06/07 28/02/07 28/04/07 31/03/07 02/09/06 31/08/06 30/09/06 31/12/06 31/03/07 28/02/06 31/12/06 31/12/06 31/10/07

Liverpool Wirral Liverpool Warrington Chester Warrington Chester Liverpool Birkenhead Knowsley

Operation of Sports Arenas and Stadiums Food Transport Retail non-special stores food, etc.

Sale of motor vehicles Labour recruitment Finance Manufacture of Pharmaceutical Preparations Management activities holding comps Sale of motor vehicles

31/07/06 31/12/06 06/01/07 29/04/07 28/02/07 31/12/06 31/12/06 31/12/06 31/03/07 31/12/06

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TOP 100 BUSINESSES 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Sales (000) £85m £84m £83m £76m £71m £68m £64m £62m £60m £59m £59m £57m £56m £55m £54m £53m £51m £50m £50m £50m £48m £48m £47m £47m £47m £46m £46m £46m £46m £43m £42m £42m £41m £41m £39m £38m £38m £38m £37m £37m £37m £37m £37m £36m £35m £34m £34.8m £33m £33m £33m

Company Name MERSEY DOCKS AND HARBOUR COMPANY (THE) THOMAS CRADLEY HOLDINGS LIMITED ANGLO DESIGN HOLDINGS PLC CARLTON FUELS LIMITED TYPHOO TEA LIMITED HILL DICKINSON LLP AMERICAN GOLF DISCOUNT CENTRE LIMITED NUKEM LIMITED SPORTECH PLC ELEGANT RESORTS LIMITED COTTON TRADERS HOLDINGS LIMITED HENTY OIL LIMITED JOHN HOLT GROUP LIMITED NICHOLS PLC HALLIWELL JONES (CHESTER) LIMITED BOULTING GROUP PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY EVERTON FOOTBALL CLUB COMPANY LIMITED WEIL BROTHERS & STERN LIMITED HENRY BATH & SON LIMITED CLASSIC DRINKS LIMITED ISLE OF MAN STEAM PACKET COMPANY LIMITED WARRANT HOLDINGS LIMITED DAMS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED CALDWELLS LIMITED PETER GILDING & CO. LIMITED MANN ISLAND FINANCE LIMITED VISTORM HOLDINGS LIMITED JOSEPH PARR GROUP LIMITED ESSEX UK LIMITED CAINS BEER COMPANY PLC AIMIA FOODS GROUP LIMITED SURVITEC GROUP LIMITED INEOS CHLOR LIMITED ELIAS ENTERPRISES LIMITED TILNEY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HAYDOCK COMMERCIAL VEHICLES LIMITED MILLGRAIN LIMITED ALFRED PRICE & SONS LIMITED ADVANCED LIQUID FEEDS LLP ROAD RANGE LIMITED GREENBERG GROUP LIMITED HAULFRYN GROUP LIMITED FRANK ARMITT & SON LIMITED MILLBANK HOLDINGS LIMITED MILLFORD GRAIN LIMITED SAMUEL BANNER & CO. LIMITED THE FRAGRANCE SHOP BOODLE AND DUNTHORNE MJ QUINN HI-TECH STEEL SERVICES

Location Liverpool Widnes Warrington Warrington Moreton Liverpool Warrington Warrington Liverpool Cheshire Warrington Liverpool Liverpool Newton-le-Willows Chester Warrington Liverpool Birkenhead Liverpool Warrington Liverpool Liverpool Knowsley Warrington Knowsley Liverpool Warrington Liverpool Liverpool Liverpool Warrington Birkenhead Runcorn Warrington Liverpool Haydock Liverpool Knowsley Liverpool Liverpool Liverpool Liverpool Warrington Warrington Liverpool Warrington Liverpool Liverpool Liverpool Warrington

Product.

Inland water transport Transport Management activities holding comps Wholesale fuels and related products Processing of Tea and Coffee Legal activities Retail General Mechanical Engineering Gaming Leisure travel Retail sale via mail order houses Wholesale fuels and related products Overseas trade Produce Mineral Water, Soft Drinks Sale of motor vehicles Installation electrical wiring etc.

Operation of Sports Arenas and Stadiums Cotton trading Storage and warehousing Drinks Sea and coastal water transport Storage and warehousing Manufacture of other furniture Wholesale hardware, plumbing etc.

Wholesale of fruit and vegetables Finance Information technology Timber merchant Other business activities Drinks Food Survival clothing/equipment Chemicals Wholesale of textiles Security broking and fund management Sale of motor vehicles Management activities holding comps Wholesale of fruit and vegetables Wholesale dairy produce, oils etc.

Sale of motor vehicles Painting and glazing Camp sites, including caravan sites Water transport Project management Other wholesale Chemicals Retail toiletries Jewellers Building Services Building Services

Acc/Date 1 31/03/07 30/04/07 30/06/06 31/03/07 31/03/07 30/04/07 29/01/06 31/12/06 31/12/06 31/12/06 31/01/07 30/04/07 30/09/06 31/12/06 31/12/06 31/10/06 31/05/07 31/07/06 31/12/06 24/06/06 31/12/06 31/07/06 30/09/06 31/03/07 30/09/07 31/12/06 30/06/07 31/12/06 31/12/06 30/04/06 31/12/06 31/03/07 31/03/07 30/06/06 28/02/07 31/12/06 31/12/06 31/08/06 31/10/06 31/12/06 31/03/07 31/10/06 31/12/06 30/09/06 31/12/06 31/12/06 31/03/06 28/02/07 31/05/06 31/05/06

* At the time of going press this company was placed into administration"

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BUSINESS DEBATE

Is the region winning its fair share of inward investment?

JIM GILL, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF LIVERPOOL VISION SAYS IT IS, WHILE THE MERSEY PARTNERSHIP’S DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS MARK BURNETT ARGUES THAT WE MUST CONFIDENTLY STRIVE FOR MUCH MORE.

YES LIVERPOOL can’t have too much inward investment. The city needs to grow investment and jobs at a faster rate and inward investment should be a major contribution to that growth.

The city has already secured massive inward investment in the physical infrastructure of growth. Grosvenor and its investment partners in Liverpool One have committed more than £1bn, which was a huge show of confidence in the steps the city was already making to reposition itself and make the most of its key assets. And other institutional investors have put their faith in the city with Standard Life, Warburg Henderson and Close Brothers making significant investments in the commercial district.

Other recent investments from organisations looking for premises in the city include Panmure Gordon and Barclays Wealth in the growing commercial district and Prinovis out in Speke (pictured). But we must remember that this is a highly competitive market and investors have many options.

Rightly, Liverpool is changing its image as well as its appearance and is taking positive advantage of its European Capital of Culture status. Liverpool, these days, is increasingly seen as a potential location for businesses and tourists, as a creative hub, a knowledge centre and most importantly, in terms of attracting further and greater investment, as a place with a ‘can do’ mentality.

The physical environment has changed. The city centre is undergoing a massive transformation mirroring regeneration elsewhere - in Speke, Wavertree and Edge Lane, for example. And the waterfront, clearly a critical area for the city as a whole, is a particular focus of attention because it will generate benefits the economy of Liverpool and the city region for generations to come.

Now we have to sell Liverpool as a place where business can thrive. We have to do more than provide offices and business units. Businesses interested in investing in the city will want to be sure that they can recruit the right level of skills and experience, that they 72 M A G A Z I N E

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can communicate effectively with their suppliers and customers and that the business support networks in the city – public and private – can meet their long term needs.

Selling the city requires more than inviting businesses to come and see the new Liverpool. It means getting under the skin of the potential investor, understanding the needs of the ‘target’ business and the key to securing a ‘yes’ to Liverpool at the location. That is a resource intensive process.

In recent years the city region has done fairly well in securing inward investment - relatively speaking, as well as anywhere else in the North West. That performance has been achieved on a shoestring budget.

It is only recently that The Mersey Partnership has been able to secure additional resources to deliver what is expected of it, although in comparison with every other area we are still significantly under-resourced.

Liverpool has come a long way in a short space of time and demonstrated the strength to be found in public and private sector partnerships, but we must do even better.

Below: Richard Gray of Prinovis printers, Speke

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Above: Mark Burnett suggests that a city as strong as Liverpool deserves more investment

NO INWARD investment is fiercely competitive and increasingly is played out on a global stage.

The footloose inward investor has a plethora of attractive and improving locations to choose from in the UK and overseas, and a raft of well-resourced and professional investment agencies courting their investment.

In such an environment, there is no such thing as a “fair share”. Investment success is determined by how effectively you compete.

To compete effectively in this global market place requires a highly-regarded city region, world-class value propositions and an effectively resourced investment team to promote the location, sell the propositions and convert opportunities into completed investments.

With the resources we have had at our disposal, we have done a good job. The sights and sounds of our region’s renaissance are unmistakable, and Liverpool, and its surrounding city region, has attracted significant levels of inward investment in the last decade bringing new jobs and new opportunities.

Since 2000, The Mersey Partnerhip (TMP) has helped to create or safeguard over 11,000 jobs and £456.55m of capital investment. In 2006/07 alone, the TMP team has generated 328 inward investment enquiries, handled 109 inward investment projects and completed 12, creating or safeguarding a total of 1,218 jobs. In addition, capital investment in Liverpool city region resulting from TMPassisted projects in the period totals £77.3m We are witnessing substantial levels of private sector led investment, though often in lower paid sectors – underpinned by a new confidence in what Liverpool can offer and deliver.

But we must strive for more.

Other UK regions may have achieved more – but they have had far more money to spend and resources at their disposal.

In Manchester, for example our colleagues at MIDAS have around 30 staff and an annual budget of £3m-plus.

Marketing Manchester has an annual budget of £5.7m for corporate and tourism marketing. And in Birmingham, as another example, there is an annual budget for corporate marketing of approximately £7m.

With greater resources, we will be better equipped to attract the inward investment this city region is now capable of sustaining.

An enhanced role and responsibility for increasing inward investment in the Liverpool city region vested in The Mersey Partnership (TMP) by the region’s six local authorities and our partners at the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is a critically important start.

The six local authority members of TMP have signed a groundbreaking agreement to increase their support for our inward investment role with a new, three-year funding agreement and operating protocol.

This protocol underlines TMP’s pivotal role as the body with lead responsibility for inward investment, economic development and tourism across the city region.

TMP is now the official Liverpool city region investment agency, endorsed by NWDA and the six local authorities.

TMP is responsible for developing an economic vision for Liverpool city region and delivering a coherent city region brand strategy; we are responsible for UK promotion of the city region and work with NWDA on international promotion. We are also responsible for generating new investment leads; managing a new sales force and developing networks across the region.

TMP handles all inward investment enquiries where a Liverpool city region option is being considered and manages inward investment enquiries until a preferred local authority area is identified. We involve NWDA and local authorities in this process and once a preferred area is identified, the project is passed to the relevant local authority.

The new agreement for financial support from the local authority areas of Halton; Knowsley; Liverpool; St.Helens; Sefton and Wirral will allow TMP to plan and drive forward a three year inward investment programme.

The agreement will see almost £1.8m allocated to inward investment activity in the region.

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ASK THE EXPERT

SPONSORED BY

Support to help your business WE ADVISE BUSINESSES ON GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN THE MERSEYSIDE AREA

Paul Mannix, Objective One Programme Manager for Business Link Northwest.

Q: I have had a business in Merseyside for the last 5 years and I am looking to grow and develop. I know I need to look at new opportunities that would help my business become more competitive in today’s market. Is there any support available to help me do this?

A: “Research has shown that people who look for help in starting or running a business actually achieve their aspirations more quickly and are generally more successful.

Since 2004, the Objective One Growing Business Development Programme has supported over 1,400 businesses across Merseyside, giving them the very best business advice in order to improve competitiveness, create jobs and increase productivity.

Total funds committed have now reached over the £20.6m mark and there is European money still available. However the doors to accessing this benefit will

FOR DETAILS OF HOW TO GET FREE MEMBERSHIP OF OUR BUSINESS CLUB LOG ON NOW WWW.LDPBUSINESS.CO.UK

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close finally on September 30, 2008.

Whilst there may be other initiatives to take its place, it is arguable whether Merseyside will again secure European funding to the scale provided by Objective One. We still have massive capacity to give more businesses help with future growth. We have a database of the best quality assured professional consultants available both regionally and nationally covering a range of disciplines including finance, IT, sales and marketing, health and safety, environmental, operations - the list goes on. And if a business needs a specialist consultant then we will find the right one for them.

Business Link has worked with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic over the last four years. Thirteen projects have been completed with Objective One support totalling approximately £200,000.

They are always looking to the future which is illustrated by the projects which have been supported by the Objective One Programme. These have covered ICT development, communication and a number of specific one off marketing campaigns.

The support was also largely responsible for its website, launched in 2006, which has won a number of awards.

We want to ensure we give every opportunity for a business to succeed,

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

and the effective use of the funding which is left is our goal. It doesn’t really make good business sense to just hand it back, which is effectively what will happen at the end of September.

Objective One has clearly been essential to the growth of Merseyside’s GDP. Employment has increased, turnover has increased, productivity has increased - more evidence is needed to encourage more businesses to want to get a part of something that is there for them.

To find out more and to see if your business is eligible to take advantage of the Objective One Programme call Business Link today on 0845 00 66 888.

The LDP Business Club will be completely free to join and members will be able to take advantage from the following exclusive benefits: • Daily ‘e’ newsletters with all the latest business news from The Liverpool Daily Post • A monthly ‘e’ edition of our business magazine delivered directly to your mail box • Exclusive VIP access to online discussion and business forums • Networking sections • Video masterclasses and online business seminars • Access to archive material and research tools T H E

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SPONSORED BY Barry Roberts, regional corporate director and Bill Doherty, director of commercial banking at The Royal Bank of Scotland in Liverpool.

Q: I own a successful business and following many decades of hard work I would now like to pursue different opportunities away from the company. What’s the best way to exit the business and how can I ensure the best solution for all parties?

A: “The key to a successful exit from a business lies within a detailed planning framework and investing the time to make sure you have the right structure and motives for the move. Factoring in the period of transition is important, business owners need to plan their exit well in advance. It is not unusual for 12 to 36 months to elapse between the commencement and completion of an exit.

Once a decision has been made to exit a business it is important to begin to talk to the company funders and advisors. Early engagement is always an advantage to a business owner, not just for securing support but also for structuring transactions. This will

help with the image and perception of the business. Remember when exiting a business you are placing it in the shop window and reputation is key to a successful completion.

Negotiating a sale can be a complex transaction and it is too easy for the business owner to become distracted.

A business needs to ensure that the management team is significantly well resourced to ensure that the business continues to operate in a profitable and professional manner during the sale period.

In deliberating whether a viable management buyout opportunity exists, an incumbent operational

team should consider a number of factors.

It is important not to overpay and overgear either themselves or the operational cash flow. The business being bought should ideally have stable profitability and cash flow attributes, and should be well invested. It is important to factor in any major capital expenditure that will be required to enable them to fulfill their business plan and this should be factored into the price negotiations with the vendors.

A clear understanding of the key relationships is critical to ensure the smooth running of the business post completion.

To respond to growing demand in this sector of the market, here at RBS we have created a dedicated team to assist both the owner managed business and SME market in funding such opportunities as management buy-ins, buy-outs, and realisations of investments, as well as providing funding for acquisitions. Our Structured Debt Solutions team works exclusively within the OMB and SME market and builds upon the bank’s traditional expertise within the leveraged market.

Careful planning is essential to a successful transaction, when looking at an exit or realisation of assets and it is never too early to start planning.

Indeed a management team needs to enter into a deal understanding how they will exit the business and realise the value of their investment.”

WWW.LDPBUSINESS.CO.UK

• Discounted rates for ‘exclusive’ products and services • Priority (pre sale) and discounted invitations to high profile events • Exclusive LDP Business club events held throughout the year including key guest speakers • Exclusive access to ‘member only’ news stories and articles • Discounted advertisement rates across the whole of the LDP portfolio and related products To become a member, all you have to do is log on to www.ldpbusiness.co.uk M A G A Z I N E

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The Liverpool Daily Post’s new business website - www.LDPBusiness.co.uk - is the place to find extensive and up-tothe-minute coverage of local, regional, national and international business news and the financial markets.

There will also be audio and video content featuring news and views from Merseyside’s key business movers and shakers.

It contains a wide range of useful links, archive material plus a special section for members of the free LDP Business Club.

Log on today and check out www.LDPBusiness.co.uk.

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

BUSINESS LINK NORTHWEST

Support for business growth Business Link helping support businesses to develop and progress BUSINESS Link is an easy to use business support, advice and information service, dedicated to helping your business develop and progress by ensuring that you can quickly and easily access the advice, information and skills needed to succeed.

The dedicated team focuses on assisting businesses with ambitions to grow to reach their full potential. Specifically, specialist Brokers can assist you to: ■ Make explicit your ambitions and objectives.

■ Measure your businesses performance against your ambitions and objectives.

■ Identify barriers to growth which may prevent your business fulfilling its potential ■ Build an action plan to assist in moving your business from where it is, to where you want it to be.

Experienced Brokers are able to introduce specialist consultants to assist with the implementation of your action plan. Each action plan is designed specifically to assist with the needs of your business but typical areas where specialist expertise may be

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introduced include: ■ Marketing ■ Financial Management ■ Human Resource Management ■ ITC ■ Environment ■ Health and Safety ■ Operations Management ■ General Management ■ New Product Development If your business is based in Greater Merseyside you can take advantage of the Objective One Programme, which could give you up to 40% off the total cost of a project. However, this is only available until the end of this year, so contact Business Link today to see how you can benefit.

No matter what stage of development you are at, Business Link is there to provide help. Call the team today on 0845 00 66 888 or log on to www.businesslink.gov.uk/northwest.

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LDP

CREATIVE

THE NEW Mediacity:uk development in Salford Quays could be a great opportunity for Merseyside’s creative firms – that’s the view of developer Peel Holdings and regeneration officials.

The Mediacity project will include a new base for the BBC in the North and homes for other creative businesses.

Regeneration officials say the scheme need not be a threat to Liverpool’s creative firms but should instead be seen as a place where they can sell their wares.

And one Liverpool creative director says the wider region could also benefit as firms look to relocate in the North West to do business with the BBC and other Mediacity-based firms.

Ed Burrows, property director at Peel Media, said Mediacity would have the biggest concentration of studios in the UK catering for the latest digital and high-definition technology.

He said: “It will become an exemplar for broadcast media not just in this country but in Europe.

“If you are located nearby you will be able to take advantage of it. The BBC’s relevant departments will be here and there will be commissioning editors here.”

Creative quay to success ALISTAIR HOUGHTON SAYS THE REGION’S NEW MEDIACITY IS GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR MERSEYSIDE’S CREATIVE TALENT Liverpool City Council chief executive Colin Hilton said creative talent, traditionally based in small firms, should take advantage of the BBC’s need to recruit North West creative talent.

He said: “We’ve got a lot of talent and there are huge opportunities for our small firms.”

The council’s executive director of regeneration John Kelly said: “The economy in which Liverpool creative businesses will operate isn’t just Liverpool. It can be worldwide – and even as far as the other end of the M62.

“Just as Capital of Culture has spinoff benefits for Manchester, what’s happening in Salford will have spinoff benefits here.”

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Jon Corner, creative director at Liverpool’s River Media, said: “Mediacity will be a talent magnet for the whole of Europe and the world.

People will want to relocate to the North West and Liverpool is the most beautiful city in the region. It’s a place where people want to be.

“If you’re somebody from Los Angeles moving all the way to the North West of England, then the 30 miles from Salford to Liverpool is no distance at all.

“The only issue is we need to get our transport links sorted. It can’t just be the motorway or the deadwood stage from Liverpool Lime Street – there need to be better links.” alistairhoughton@dailypost.co.uk

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78_83CHAMBER

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

The Ultimate Business Network YOU can only grow your business by making the right contacts.

Networking is the modern way to do business with over 90 events each year, Liverpool Chamber’s networking is second to none in the city.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner, you can choose the best platform to showcase your business to new contacts or take the opportunity to strengthen old ties.

Adrian Waine of Photography for Industry says: “I’ve developed relationships worth over £20,000 as a direct result of attending Chamber networking events.”

In addition to superb networking opportunities, the Chamber makes three commitments to its members: To help promote and grow their business; to mitigate business risk; to reduce business costs.

It exists to help and advise businesses through each stage of business growth, whether it’s promoting products and services to members, helping with access to grants and support, or successfully bidding for tender opportunities.

Dave Thomas, DNA Diagnostics Ltd says: “Through using organisations such as Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, over the past 19 months we have increased turnover by 200% and were able to employ an additional eight highly skilled people from within Merseyside.”

Through an excellent network of contacts both public and private sector tenders are advertised on the dedicated website: www.liverpooltenders.com. Large and small contracts are posted and training is offered to help small companies move into this potentially lucrative area.

Whether you are already trading overseas or just thinking about it, the

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Liverpool Chamber of Commerce is about meeting people and making new relationships

Chamber’s International Trade Services team, can help you make the most of trade missions, plus provide information on importing, exporting and financial support from the EU ERDF programme.

Joloda International explained: “The Chamber assisted us with grants and support at American trade shows and it’s developed in to $3m worth of business.”

If you are specifically interested in the emerging Chinese market, the Chamber’s specialist Chinalink team can give you hands on experience and expert advice offering independent consultancy, international facilitation and promotion. Peter Broxton of The Consultancy Company says he has

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found these services invaluable, saying: “Attending Chinalink seminars has led to some excellent sales leads.”

To mitigate your business risk a range of services are offered exclusively for members, such as free access to a comprehensive legal expenses insurance package offering cover of up to £65,000. Also provided is a comprehensive Chamber Human Resource solution. It‘s part of your membership, not an extra.

These are just a few examples of the range of services offered. If you would like further information on how Liverpool Chamber can support your company visit www.liverpoolchamber.org.uk or call, for an informal chat on 0151 227 1234.

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In the

British Business

Chamber TONY MCDONOUGH REPORTS ON THE BCC CONFERENCE COMING TO LIVERPOOL FOR THE FIRST TIME

OR the first time ever this year the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is holding its annual conference outside London and it takes place right here in Liverpool.

On April 28 hundreds of delegates from across the UK will gather at the waterfront BT Convention Centre for the one day event.

In the last few weeks the BCC has said that moving the conference outside the capital for the first time has given it a new impetus.

Interest in the conference is such that the BCC is now considering holding the event outside the capital on a bi-annual basis.

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>

SPONSORED BY

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SPONSORED BY

In an interview with LDP > Business, BCC director-general David Frost said Liverpool’s Capital of Culture status meant there was only one place to take the event in 2008.

“Liverpool had to be the location,” he said.

“We normally hold the event in London over a day-and-a-half but we are a grassroots organisation and we feel it is now important to take it out into the regions.

“We have already had a great response to this year’s location, particularly from our members across the north of England.”

Although the BCC represents businesses of all sizes, Mr Frost said it was vital the organisation gave a voice to the thousands of small and medium enterprises across the country who he said were the “backbone of the economy”.

“The success of the SME sector is

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BCC director-general David Frost vital to the UK economy,” he said.

“What we need is an enterprise culture that is supportive of their efforts. “British Chamber of Commerce Conference will give business people from different sectors the opportunity to ask hard questions of key business leaders.

“The conference also offers an excellent opportunity to network.”

Despite only lasting one day conference organisers have packed in a busy schedule of seminars and keynote speakers include Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy, Government Minister, Lord Jones of Birmingham and Conservative Shadow Chancellor,

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George Osborne.

Mr Frost thanked the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce for its help and support with the conference.

He added: “We have a very good relationship with the people here.

Liverpool is one of our premier league chambers.

“It is clear there is a real selfconfidence about the city now which I think people will be able to see for themselves when they come for the conference.”

“We are now hoping to take the conference out of London on a biannual basis.

Jack Stopforth, chief executive of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, said: “We were keen to maximise the benefits of 2008 events, not just for tourism but for inward investment and to promote the city as an attractive conference destination in its own right and it has proved to be a very good move.”

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BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE CONFERENCE

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS SIR TERRY LEAHY:

GEORGE OSBORNE MP:

Liverpool-born Sir Terry is chief executive of Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, Tesco.

He took up his role at the helm of the grocery giant in March 1997 and since then has grown the company to a point where it now controls more than 30% of the UK market - more than double that of its closest rival Asda.

He joined Tesco as an executive trainee in 1979 and rose through the ranks, taking on roles such as marketing director.

Under Leahy’s leadership Tesco adopted two new store formats during the early 1990s, Tesco Metro and Tesco Express.

The Metro small-store concept, with locations on busy streets and in urban neighbourhoods, emphasised fresh and prepared foods in about 10,000 sq ft of retail space.

He retains strong links with his home city. He has played an active role in its regeneration and he also sits on the board of his beloved Everton Football Club.

He is the Conservative Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.

He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Tatton, Cheshire, in June 2001.

He replaced Martin Bell and became the youngest Conservative MP in the House of Commons. He was re-elected in May 2005 with a majority of 11,731.

Since May 2005 Mr Osbourne has served as the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, shadowing Gordon Brown until June 2007, and now shadowing Alastair Darling.

He is in charge of coordinating the Conservative Party’s General Election campaign. He was responsible for managing David Cameron’s successful campaign for leadership of the Conservative Party.

He has also served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Shadow Work and Pensions Minister, Shadow Economic Secretary and as an Opposition Whip.

He has also been a member of the Public Accounts Select Committee and the Transport Select Committee.

DIGBY, LORD JONES OF BIRMINGHAM: He is currently Minister of State for Trade and Investment, DBERR and Foreign and Commonwealth Office and was until recently the director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

His ministerial portfolio comprises overall responsibility for UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the Government organisation that helps UK-based companies succeed in international markets and overseas companies to bring high quality investment to the UK. He also holds responsibility for the defence sector and defence export support.

He served as director-general of the CBI from 2000 to 2006, where he regularly visited businesses in the UK and worldwide – taking their views back to those who make the rules.

During his appointment he took the British business message to 70 different countries. He met on a regular basis political, business and media figures in the United Kingdom and around the world.

From 2006-2007 he advised Deloitte, Jaguar, JCB, Barclays Capital and CSC. In addition he was a private adviser to HRH The Duke of York and was the UK Government’s Skills Envoy.

STEVEN PATEMAN: He is currently the chief executive of UK Business Banking, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Mr Pateman joined NatWest, now part of RBS in 1980 and has spent more than 15 years in a variety of corporate banking and finance roles including a five year spell within the investment banking business of NatWest Markets.

Prior to joining business banking, he managed commercial banking and the mid-market corporate banking business in the UK, including RBSI in the Channel Islands.

Mr Pateman is 44 and lives in West Wickham, Kent. He has four daughters and one son and his interests include cricket and football - he is an avid Everton supporter. He also enjoys music and theatre.

SIR MICHAEL RAKE: He is chairman of BT and was appointed to the board of the telecommunications giant in September 2007.

He was chairman of KPMG International from 2002 until September 2007. Prior to his appointment as chairman of KPMG International he was chairman of KPMG in Europe and senior partner of KPMG in the UK. Sir Michael is qualified as a UK chartered accountant, a Luxembourg Reviseur D’Enterprise and a Belgian Experts-Comptable.

He joined KPMG in 1974 and worked in Continental Europe before transferring to the Middle East in 1986 to run the practice.

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SPONSORED BY

BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE CONFERENCE BCC CONFERENCE AGENDA: SESSION ONE: From Local Creativity to Global Competitiveness 9.30am: Introduction from conference chairman Andrew Neil, magazine publisher and BBC broadcaster.

9:35am: Welcome to Liverpool. Phil Redmond, founder, Mersey Television and deputy chairman, Liverpool Culture Company.

Jack Stopforth, chief executive, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.

9.40am: Welcome and introduction from David Frost, director general, British Chambers of Commerce.

10.15am: Response and discussion with panel of business leaders.

10.55am: Is Credit Getting Tighter? Challenges of the Current Economy.

11.10am: Refreshments and exhibition.

SESSION TWO: The Future of Innovation and Creativity in Business 11.40am: Keynote address - George Osborne MP, Shadow Chancellor.

11.55am: Inspiring Innovation - Providing a Workforce for a Creative and Innovative UK. 12.10pm: Embedding Creativity and Innovation in Business.

12.25pm: Future Trends in Business.

12.50pm: Questions and discussion.

1.00pm: Buffet lunch and exhibition.

1.15pm: Lunchtime fringe meeting hosted

by Young Chamber UK. SESSION THREE: Business Solutions Forums. 2pm-3pm.

1. International Trade.

2. Environment and Business.

3. Innovation.

4. Competitiveness.

5. Skills.

SESSION FOUR: Business Solution Forums. 3.30pm-4.30pm.

6. International Trade.

7. Environment and Business.

8. Innovation.

9. Competitiveness.

10. Skills.

7.30pm-11pm: Gala Dinner Guest Speaker: Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham, KT, Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

Records Broken at Sefton Chamber THERE has been distinct optimism and determination coming from the offices of Sefton Chamber of Commerce in the last 18 months.

Without doubt many of the partners across Merseyside have recognised the significant change of emphasis within this organisation which has fostered a 30% increase in membership since 2005.

Business engagement is at an all time high as chief executive Steve Dickson explains: “When evaluating the business mix and the gearing of the organisation three years ago, it appeared evident to me that the only way to initiate significant organic growth was to jump in, and take the lead in one of the most competitive arenas for business organisations – networking, marketing and promotion for local business. Many do it... but few do it well, however any measurement of success can only be tangible with incremental sales”.

As 2007 came to a close, the team and the Board were thrilled that they

had achieved 4,000 business and guest attendances at Sefton Chamber events across the year in networking meetings, seminars, breakfasts and corporate entertaining, and at the same time been able to raise the average yield in membership subscriptions by some margin.

CEO Steve Dickson 2nd from left, with some members who formed the first management team of the new Business Sales Breakfast group in Bootle

Sefton Chamber is supporting StepClever (SLEGI) investment and committed to growing those areas of Sefton and North Liverpool which have been identified for specialist support and programmes. They are involved with Procurement and Business Neighbourhoods projects.

Sefton Chamber Digital is forming a key plank in their strategy for growth... This incorporates the Sefton Business Digital Directory and Sales Brochure which was launched in August last year and has just last

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month been complimented with a new range of digital communication products including V-Mail, video conferencing, and advanced pod casting and live broadcasting options.

It’s a great testimony to the Sefton Businesses who have engaged in products, networking, internal investment and supporting and getting involved in Chamber activities.

All this is driven by the strap line:

“opportunity is everywhere.”

So check it out at:

www.seftonchamber.com.

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LDP

BUSINESS AND LIFE COACHING

BUSINESS

What to say to make people buy HAS this ever happened to you?

You pitch to a customer. They tell you they love what you say and you feel sure they’ll buy.

But then you don’t hear another word.

Or you make a follow-up call - and they say you came “a close second”.

Isn’t it maddening? And you can spend days trying to decide where it went wrong. Why does the traditional approach to selling often fail?

Too often people start a sales pitch with a Powerpoint slide that tells the potential customer all about how many offices their company has around the country.

Most companies do.

But look at it from the customer’s point of view. Look at each point on your slide and ask: “Would I really care about that?”

You won’t. Why would you - or indeed anybody - care how old my company is, or how many offices I have.

Wouldn’t you expect a seller to have “strong technical expertise”? After all, they would be in a mess if they didn’t.

And this is an example of arguably the biggest traditional problem with sales pitches: sellers saying too much about themselves.

Customers are only ultimately interested in themselves and their future, not your history.

So, they’re interested in the absolute, total opposite of what you’re saying. They care about themselves, not you; about the future, not the past.

Given this traditional approach doesn’t work too well, how should you start?

The best way to sell is to focus on a technique I’ve developed. I call it “The 84 M A G A Z I N E

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Andy Bounds advice on how to sell more AFTERs” technique.

But what are AFTERs, and why are they so important?

The answer comes in one devastating sentence: “Customers don’t care what you do; they only care what they’re left with AFTER you’ve done it”.

When you buy a newspaper, you don’t buy it because you want a newspaper. You buy it because of the news you’ll know AFTER getting it.

Bought a lamp? You wanted light.

If you buy toothpaste, its because you want clean teeth.

A pair of glasses? Better vision.

In fact, every single product including yours - is bought because of what customers are left with AFTER they’ve bought it (even though they don’t realise it necessarily). As US Professor Theodore Levitt said: “People don’t want quarter-inch drills.

They want quarter-inch holes”.

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Knowing a customer’s AFTERs is essential to your chances of winning business. After all, a computer company is going to sell more by focusing on the time and money they save you, rather than the intricacies of the computer itself.

So instead start a pitch with what they do want to hear about - their AFTERs. So, assuming their AFTERs are to reduce both costs and lead time, you should start with: “When we met recently, you told us you want to reduce your operational costs by £10m and slash your lead times by 8%. We know we can help you achieve both these aims, and our presentation will show you how we’ll do just that.”

Straight away, you’ve focused on them and their future.

The rest of your sale will follow this AFTERs-rich agenda.

The first section will prove you can cut operational costs by £10m, using case studies, demos, testimonials, etc.

You’ll then prove your ability to reduce their lead times.

How do you think the customer will feel AFTER you’ve spoken? It’s pretty convincing isn’t it?

You’ve found out where they want to be AFTER, and proved you can get there.

And, if they’re convinced you can help them, they’re very likely to buy.

Or, of course, you could start with “Founded in 1922…”!

Andy Bounds is a leading consultant, speaker and author in showing organisations how to increase their sales.

Visit www.andybounds.com for exclusive advice on using the AFTERs to sell more.

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NETWORKER

Jung frog buys house BARRY TURNBULL IS MADE JUMPY BY MEANINGFUL COINCIDENCES T’S a funny old world at times. There I was in front of the TV late at night, eyes drooping, as Edward Woodwood’s doughty policeman rooted around a remote Scottish island in search of a lost girl in cult classic movie ‘The Wicker Man’.

In one scene there is an attempt to cure a young girl’s sore throat by popping a frog inside her mouth. A few minutes after this I was aware of a sudden movement in the darkened recesses of the lounge and after I’d shifted the standing lamp beside me to illuminate the area in question, I sat bolt upright; there in the middle of the floor was a frog. A real, live frog, staring at me and blinking languidly.

I froze for a few seconds, not quite believing what I was seeing, and then moved smartly to throw a cloth over it and put it in the garden.

It turned out the kitchen door was open, providing a reasonable explanation for its appearance, although I have to say I had never previously seen any amphibians lurking around the garden.

Carl Jung would have seen this as synchronicity or meaningful coincidence.

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, although I

I

certainly didn’t conclude that I needed to liberate myself from excessive rationalism, as he may have deduced.

We come across strange incidents and creatures in all sorts of ways as I found at a recent seminar on effective communications and networking.

The speaker was somewhat manic, a shrill voice accompanied by whirling arms á la Dr Magnus Pyke, an eccentric 1980s nutty professor who became a familiar figure on television.

Our speaker seemed to be asserting that any room full of strangers could be exploited by using certain techniques; although bouncing up to someone and haranguing them boistrously is not my idea of successful communicating.

At the end of the session he suddenly barked out an instruction, ordering those present to start networking.

There was a nervous babble as individuals pounced on someone to talk to so as not to be left out.

I quietly slipped out of the door and into the night.

Someone equally unimpressed fell into step with me and remarked as such. After a couple of minutes’ chat it turned out that I’d once bought a house from his mother that was his family home at the time.

Work that one out.

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THE NETWORKER

THE EVENT TOP JEWELLER SHOWCASES COLLECTION JEWELLER David M Robinson held a drinks reception at the new Panoramic Restaurant on the 34th floor of West Tower, to showcase two new collections.

They were: Lunar, heavenly intertwining strands of 18ct gold set with diamonds, and Symphony, 18ct gold with diamonds in a distinctive swirl setting.

David M Robinson is celebrating 40 years in business this year and it displayed various pieces from the Yellow Box Collection.

Its in-house designer, Vix Smith, was on hand to talk people through the designs from conception through to the finished article.

Radio City’s Becky Davis looking stunning in diamonds

Showcase from David M Robinson

Suzanne Robinson (David M Robinson), Phil Easton (David M Robinson), Jo Harvey (David M Robinson), Paul Adams (Vincent Hotel, Southport)

Justine Mills (Cricket Clothing), Becky Davis (Radio City), Lorraine McCulloch (Stylist)

Phil Harris, Jayne Harris, Roger Jonas (Downtown Liverpool in Business)

David Lloyd (Liverpool.com), John Robinson (David M Robinson), Roger Phillips (Radio Merseyside)

LIVING ROOM UNVEILS NEW MENU THE Living Room in Victoria Street has launched a new menu.

It consists of some of the old favourites and incorporates some fabulous new dishes. Guests were encouraged to sample as many different dishes as possible, with the new chocolate fondue sweet proving to be the clear winner.

The Living Room changes the menu at least three times a year, but this change is by far the biggest one to date. The evening proved to be a huge success and the new menu proved to be extremely popular.

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Georgia Joseph (Cavern Hair Boutique) Darren Suarez (HOS Dance Company) Chantelle Joseph (St. Helens Theatre Bryan Foy (Zoo Salon) Royal), Mandy Bird

Cllr Berni Turner, Cllr Robbie Quinn

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THE NETWORKER

FASHION SHOW AT METQUARTER

CHARTERED ACCOLADE FOR CITY FIRMS

GUESS store at the Metquarter held an instore event to showcase its new spring/summer collections - with an Aintree-inspired fashion show.

Fashion and free flowing champagne plus inspiring new collections ensured an enjoyable evening for everyone.

TWO Liverpool financial management firms received their Chartered Certificates from Ken Moore President of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).

Pavis Financial Management and Fraser Wealth Management were granted Chartered Status in July last year, and are still the only firms in the city to have attained that status.

The CII was recently empowered by the Privy Council to award Chartered status. While Chartered titles are steeped in history, they remain the benchmark of professional excellence and integrity. Only the UK’s premier financial planning firms qualify for chartered status and only 210 firms in the UK have so far met this standard. The two firms are advisors to over £150m of clients’ personal investments and pension funds.

Kenneth Moore (standing), the new president of the insurance institute of Liverpool with Charles Hurst (retiring president) with Tom Harrison (secretary of the institute)

Kate and Jodie from Amethyst designer women’s clothing

Mike Melville, owner of Guess Liverpool and partner Kathryn Eccles

Paul Bocking and Kevin Gillibrand from Fraser Wealth managment and Kenneth Moore receiving their charter

Kenneth Moore presents the charter to Jane Calvert and Bob Newton from Pavis Financial Management

(L-R) Malek , Hayley Stockdale , Chris Stockdale (owner of Guess Liverpool), Olivia Woollam

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HOW I KEEP MYSELF FIT

Keep fit to win rat race EXERCISE-OBSESSED JANE WOODHEAD DOESN’T WANT TO HEAR EXCUSES

DOES the saying: “I’m too busy to exercise. I just do not have the time with work,” sound familiar?

It is something which I hear said over and over again and something which I find to be increasingly irritating.

An exercise routine should be built into the daily diary as an essential part of the working day.

To say you just do not have the time is nothing but an excuse.

It really is just as important as that early morning briefing or your one-to-one meeting with the boss.

And I do not make these comments lightly. Yes, I admit, I may be an exercise-obsessed woman - but believe me it does have its benefits and can actually enhance your performance in work and help you to climb up the career ladder.

Exercise releases endorphins - the feel-good happy hormones - so if you feel happier you are far more likely to arrive in work in a positive frame of mind, ready for the tasks which face you during the day ahead.

Exercise also helps to keep you fit and healthy, meaning you are less likely to be forced to take time off work ill. And research shows that exercise also helps to keep your mind active and focussed throughout the working day.

The good news is, unlike me, you do not have to be exercise obsessive and train virtually every day of the week for one hour plus.

Just 30 minutes of exercise, three to four times a week is plenty. I personally love to run. This is one of the best calorie burning exercises you can do and it also helps to strengthen your bones.

No matter how cold it is outside and how much of an effort it may appear to be - I can guarantee, as soon as you are out there running you will feel so much better. And as strange as it may seem, even if you are feeling too tired to 88 M A G A Z I N E

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venture out, as soon as you start to exercise you will be filled with re-newed energy and vigour - ready to take on any challenge which may face you during the day ahead.

But it does not have to be running - and if you are not used to exercise I wouldn’t suggest you go straight out on the road pounding the streets. Power walking can be just as effective and from this brisk walk you can gradually build up to a slow jog.

So it is not all about expensive gym memberships getting out in the fresh air can be just as effective, if not even more effective. It helps to keep you healthy and does wonders for your complexion.

So with all of this in mind, now is the time to make these changes, and if you are not exercising already ensure you find space for exercise on your ‘to do’ list and enter it into your daily diary alongside those crucial business meetings.

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CORPORATE ENTERTAINMENT Liverpool International Tennis Tournament at Calderstones Park.

(Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Tennis serving up a treat BARRY TURNBULL LOOKS AHEAD TO LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL BLUE skies, the thwack of tennis balls, strawberries and the clinking of champagne glasses - the perfect way to unwind on a summer’s afternoon.

The mix of corporate hospitality and tennis is becoming ever more popular these days, as TFS-ICAP Liverpool International Tennis Tournament continues to prove.

Now in its sixth year, the annual event at Calderstones Park is expected to cater for around 2,000 corporate guests in the hospitality marquee.

At the same time, jeweller Boodles is hosting its annual tennis challenge at Stoke Park country house in Buckinghamshire where a table for 20 will set you back a cool £250,000.

That’s big business by any measure, but Boodles aims at the well-heeled elite whilst the Liverpool event is an informal, relaxed affair for the local business community.

Of course weather is key to the success of such an occasion, but even

grey skies and drizzle can’t prevent visitors enjoying the hospitality in the marquee.

Organiser Carl Bradshaw said: “It’s an ideal event for businesses wanting to bring guests. Because it is over a whole day there is plenty of opportunity for socialising with various people or to do some serious networking if people feel the inclination.”

This year the Liverpool International is stepping up its game with sit-down dining for all, as well as a champagne reception, free bar until 3pm and an icebox in the corporate seating areas.

Bradshaw added: “Having listened to what people want and taken stock of the situation we have endeavoured to upgrade the offer and that includes catering.

“I think what is also unique is that guests have the opportunity to mingle with players and have photographs taken which is not the sort of thing M A G A Z I N E

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you find happening at something like a football match.”

Star turns this year include Martina Hingis, who is sure to prove a popular addition to the line up.

There are 46 tables being used over six days with an average cost at £125 a head representing decent value. The big corporate days of Thursday and Friday are sold out.

Michael Hanlon, a director of Maghull Developments, one of the tournament’s sponsors, said: “The Liverpool International is like no other corporate event in the region; great tennis, a fantastic venue and a huge dose of Liverpool charm.”

Frank McKenna, chairman of business lobby group Downtown Liverpool in Business, added: “It has established itself as a must-attend event for the city’s business community. The quality of the tennis and hospitality improves year on year.”

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We love to serve. Good food brings people together…

St Petersburg Russian Restaurant & Dining Club

One of Liverpool’s most intriguing restaurants BUSINESS LUNCHES AND EVENTS CATERED FOR: SEPARATE ROOM AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE FUNCTIONS, CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS SEATING 60-150 PEOPLE

7a York Street (off Duke St), Liverpool, 0151 709 6676 email: rurestaurant@gmail.com website: www.russiancuisine.co.uk also at 68 Sackville Street, Central, Manchester, M1 3NJ Tel/Fax: 0161 236 6333

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THE NETWORKER THE LIST - DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Thursday, June 5

FEATURED EVENT

Sefton Chamber’s monthly networking meeting is at the Royal Clifton Hotel, Southport, from 12pm-2pm.

Call 01704 531710 for more information.

THE BT CONVENTION CENTRE EVENTS Friday, May 2 Sunday, May 4 About 600 school leaders will attend the three-day National Association of Head Teachers’ annual conference. The conference usually attracts significant media interest and this year has the theme, “Dare to be Creative”.

Echo Arena is hosting LDP Business Hub

Tuesday, June 17 - Wednesday, June 18 The LDP Business Hub 2008 will be an informative, imaginative, exciting b2b event with distinguished keynote speakers, entrepreneurial lead seminars, networking opportunities, a business booster, live debate and an exhibition.

The two-day event at the Liverpool Echo Arena is aimed at owners, directors and entrepreneurs running small and mediumsized businesses but there will be something for every business person.

The exhibition will house a range of business sectors under one roof, giving time-poor company owners, directors and decision makers everything their business needs. It will give them the opportunity to keep up to date with new products and services – see the products in action and meet potential business clients or partners face-to-face.

Thursday, May 1 Sefton Chamber’s monthly networking meeting is at the Vincent Hotel, Southport, from 12pm-2pm. Call 01704 531710 for more information.

Wednesday, May 14 Tom Venner, development manager of Land Securities, is the guest speaker at Liverpool Chamber’s construction and development lunch, starting at 12.15pm. The event at Liverpool’s Marriott Hotel costs £25 for members/£30 non-members.

Call 0151 227 1234 to book.

Wednesday, May 14

Marriott Hotel

The Institute of Chartered Accountants is holding a halfday course which will cover changes and proposed changes in tax legislation, together with relevant HMRC statements and consultation documents. For more information on the event at LACE Conference Centre, Sefton Park, call Alex Terry on 07876 035943.

Riverside MP Louise Ellman

Friday, June 6 Liverpool Chamber is holding a briefing for Riverside MP Louise Ellman under Chatham House rules to raise the issues the city’s businesses face.

Cost is £15 for members.

Contact Nicky Lunt on 0151 227 1234 ext 2237 to book.

Thursday, June 12 Knowsley ICT Club is holding a free networking event.

For more information call 0151 477 1356.

Thursday, June 26 Knowsley Human Resources Forum is holding a networking event, ‘Team building need not be expensive’, from 4pm to 6pm. For more information, contact Keith Lynch at Knowsley Chamber on 0151 477 1356.

To get details of your July and August events in the next issue of LDP Business, e-mail details to alex.turner@liverpool.com

by May 13.

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Tuesday, May 20 Thursday, May 22 The Royal College of Ophthalmologists is holding its 20th anniversary annual congress at the Convention Centre.

Sunday, June 8 Friday, June 13 The 13th annual meeting of the Communication Workers Union will bring together over 1,000 representatives, guests and visitors for the six-day event.

Monday, June 16 Thursday, June 19 Research administrators from across the globe will meet at the second congress of the International Network of Research Management Societies.

Friday, June 27 The Riverside Group conference will bring together the staff of one of the country’s largest national social housing organisations as it celebrates its 80th anniversary.

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Business L UNCH

THE NETWORKER

ZIBA RESTAURANT BARRY TURNBULL LUNCHES WITH DAVID DALY, CHAIRMAN OF LIVERPOOL HOTELIERS ASSOCIATION

Bit of a din before lunch Ziba Racquet Club, Chapel St 0151 236 6676 Lunch £18.00 Special set three course lunch Two set meals, two glasses of wine, an apple juice, bottle of water and two coffees

Total: £46.10

A FUNNY thing happened on the way to lunch. At first it was the faint echoes of a strange squawking and banging; was this some sort of new species of city wildlife perhaps?

Then, as I got nearer and the din grew louder, it became apparent it was in fact the chaotic urban symphony that is youth gone wild.

The gang was intent on demolishing a bus shelter by way of vicious karate kicks, the reverberations of the shrieking structure resembling a sort of bizarre cacophonic counterpoint to the squeals of accompanying laughter.

I say squeals because this particular band of misunderstood souls were mainly young ladies.

It reminded me of a nature documentary I once saw about animals in a far flung place leaving behind suburban foothills to wreak havoc in built-up environments. Nearby, a group of tourists looked on at the mayhem with the bewilderment of the uninformed.

Appropriately I was on my way to the

TopTIPPLE

SHAKEN NOT STIRRED...

Is it last orders for the traditional lunchtime pint? It is according to one trendy city bar.

Kingdom in Harrington Street reckons its mocktails - non alcoholic cocktails - are all the rage with thirsty business types.

For £3 a shot you can enjoy a fusion of soft drinks and zappy flavours without worrying about your waistline.

Bar manager Mark Quinlan created the menu of mocktails to meet the demand of customers visiting the Harrington Street venue day and night.

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Racquet Club. And in contrast its restaurant, Ziba, was an oasis of tranquility. My dining companion David Daly, chairman of Liverpool Hoteliers Association, was taking a breather from overseeing preparations for Grand National week at the Atlantic Tower Thistle Hotel.

He said there were big development plans for the hotel including a bid to gain an AA Rosette for the restaurant: “You can have the best facilities in the world and wonderful customer service but if you don’t get the food right you can be sure it’s the one thing that guests will remember”.

Ziba offers a set lunch menu of three courses for £18 in an airy, light dining room that forms part of a building constructed along the lines of a Venetian palazzo.

It was a bright but chilly day which is maybe why we both opted for soup to start with. Both dishes, one carrot, one curried sweet potato, were substantial and warming accompanied by what appeared to be bread infused with sundried tomatoes.

David explained that the glut of new hotels in the city meant existing operators had to raise their game.

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His mocktails include a Bloody Shame, Spring in your Step, Pineapple Smoothie and Berry Nice.

Mark said: “It is amazing how popular these drinks have become. I believe it has something to do with all of the fresh ingredients that we use from local fruit suppliers.”

He also does a house special straightforward cocktail called The Three Graces with 42 Below vodka, fresh mint, cucumber, pressed apple juice and vanilla gomme.

Priced £6.50.

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Interior of Ziba Restaurant

“At the hoteliers association we have a common interest but are also extremely competitive. The environment is changing and becoming much more intense.

“At my hotel we are meeting this challenge with some big investment in rooms and in the layout, incorporating new facilities. In this game standing still is not an option,” he said.

Before setting out for the day the Irishman from Athlone had clocked up 16km on the exercise bike, good job too as he elected to munch on a dish which included deep fried black pudding fritters. The calorie-soaked parcels proved a tempting accompaniment to corn fed chicken breast (from Goosnargh, naturally), sweet potato fondant and intriguingly, apple albufera (a first on me).

The plate was well-presented and declared to have the right balance of taste and textures.

Not so my roast pork with cabbage and a stack of dauphinoise potatoes. The meat was arid and sat astride shredded cabbage which was also as dry as a river bed. There was simply not enough sauce to mask the dryness of the pork and no hint of apple anywhere unlike the above chicken dish.

A couple of characterless glasses of

sauvignon blanc and Montepulciano were washed down with the main courses.

David went on to talk about the return of the Atlantic Tower name.

“You know it never really went away, most people still thought of it by that name and we thought 2008 would be an appropriate time to bring it back. I think it sums up the look and personality of the hotel,” he said.

He passed on a dessert and went straight on to coffee while I dived into a delicious and light chocolate and strawberry tart.

I’m still getting the impression that even the top dining locations don’t make sufficient effort for the lunchtime crowd.

LUNCH MUNCH The Malmaison Hotel has launched a quickfire lunch called The Main Event.

On offer for £9.95 is a glass of wine, main course and coffee.

Try the grilled swordfish, tomato and pepper ragout accompanied by a glass of libertad pinot blanc.

why not try...

Liverpool Smacker Another growing trend is for beer cocktails. Why not try a Liverpool Kiss?

The origin of this particular dish is not too clear but it can be found in some city bars.

Take a highball glass and mix

David Daly

Michelada Pour your beer into a glass filled with ice and add the juice of one small lemon. Add a dash of soy, Tabasco and Worcestershire.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

For some, a true Mexican Michelada is not complete without a shot of Tequila mixed in.

three parts Guiness with one part of cassis over ice. Or maybe the michelada? Pour beer into a glass filled with ice, add a squeeze of lemon, dashes of soy, Worcester sauce and tabasco, pinch of salt and pepper.

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94 _95motors2

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www.dailypost.co.uk

MOTOR PORSCHE CAYENNE REVIEW

Cayenne’s hot stuff BARRY TURNBULL TAMES PORSCHE’S SPEEDY 4X4 BRUISER

The latest Audi A4 is a modern saloon packed with character.

The 2 litre TDi is powerful, roomy and boasting loads of impressive technology.

In addition there is increased power and enhanced fuel consumption despite the growing demands of legislation and customer demands.

There are four new or extensively revised direct injection engines and most are equipped with a standard six-speed gearbox.

With a completely new suspension and steering configuration, it sites both front axle with its sophisticated new five-link set-up 154mm further forwards than the outgoing model, reducing overhang and optimising weight distribution for further improved handling balance.

All of which makes the car, which is roomier and more aerodynamic than ever, have even greater agility.

Audi says the typical A4 customer is in most cases male, middle-aged and professionally successful.

The reason he buys his cars primarily is on the basis of brand, as well as design, image, quality, comfort and safety.

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IT’S big and bulky but packs a mighty punch.

The Porsche Cayenne is an imposing 4x4 with sports car performance credentials. At the top end of the range the 500 brakehorsepower turbo engine propels this two ton beast to 60mph in five seconds and up to a rip-roaring maximum speed of 171mph.

The car we actually tested was a little more sedate. The entry-level V6 290bhp version takes eight seconds to get to 60 and tops at 141mph, meaning it’s still no slouch.

Porsche has latched onto a winner with this sports wagon proving particularly attractive to the business users in Europe and North America.

Inside the cabin there’s acres of space and a comfortable feeling as you settle in. Firing up is old-fashioned key insert. Pressing the sport button and jamming down on the throttle generates a throaty bellow which gains fresh wind when the automatic transmission kicks in.

The sports utility whistled along like a Sumo wrestler with a following wind as we roared through the gears along the Conway Valley to Snowdonia.

The twisting roads were a doddle to negotiate too - the motor being surprisingly nimble on its feet for a big fellow although it helped that Porsche’s dynamic chassis control system was installed.

A skin of moisture on the roads also brought the four wheel drive into play for greater traction as we zipped along.

The luxury off-roader now looks appreciably slicker courtesy of a new front end with its larger air intakes, more striking contours and flirty

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headlamps. It is also significantly more dynamic too.

In addition the air suspension can be set at five levels, including one for special terrain that raises ground clearance around 56mm above normal.

You wouldn’t generally associate the name Porsche with practicality.

However, the Cayenne offers a large boot, ample head and legroom in the rear and adequate stowage.

Height adjustable seats ensure the optimum driving position from a leather-clad and simply laid out interior that oozes quality. Needless to say, all models come with electric everything and premium sound system.

In fact the only criticism you could level at the car is that the split level central storage container is of a light plastic that feels flimsy – particularly the hinges.

All Cayennes have front, side and curtain airbags, the traction management system and anti-lock brakes while the Porsche badge – attractively embossed in the front seat headrests – will ensure residual values are high.

Modern technological additions include heated windows, seats and steering wheel, satellite navigation and DVD player with Bose suround-sound.

There is cell phone capability but strangely for an updated car no ipod connection.

Must admit, never previously been that keen on 4x4 vehicles but this one grew on me. It has a certain presence and ideal for treks like ours through challenging terrain.

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THE NETWORKER

PORSCHE CAYENNE V6 TRIPTONIC PRICE: £37, 000

COMBINED MPG: 21

MECHANICAL: 290bhp, 3.5L petrol engine driving all wheels via 6spd automatic gearbox

INSURANCE GROUP: 20 CO2 EMISSIONS: 358g/km WARRANTIES: 2 years unlimited mileage, 3 years paint, 10 years anti-corrosion

MAX SPEED: 141mph 0 - 62mph: 8.1secs

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96_style

18/4/08

11:59

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THE NETWORKER

STYLE & GADGETS BILL GLEESON - NOT A MAN WHO USUALLY PUTS STYLE BEFORE SUBSTANCE GETS MEASURED UP FOR A TAILORED GIEVES & HAWKES SUIT THE BUSINESS SUIT NOT so long ago a chap would struggle to buy a decent business suit in Liverpool city centre.

For many people the problem became acute with the closure of Watson Prickard in 2000. A one-time bastion of traditional sound dress sense, the shop was struggling to keep enough custom as many of its traditional old gents were dying off.

John Lewis had a limited range of business suits while Marks & Spencer offered its usual two pieces for £150.

But all that’s changing. The gap left for a number of years by the closure of Watson Prickard has been filled by newcomers to town.

The Metquarter is home to several new gents outfitters including TM Lewin, principally a shirt retailer that also sells some suits, and Gieves & Hawkes.

Gieves & Hawkes is one of those traditional British brands with a huge heritage. It is a brand you would associate with walnut fascias of Jaguar or Rolls Royce cars or with the leather upholstery of a Pall Mall club.

Many such traditional brands are trying to catch up with the modern age. The Savile Row tailor now has outlets around the country as it seeks to find new markets.

One way the firm distinguishes itself from the rest of the market is through its personal tailoring service.

Billee Williams, the manager at Gieves & Hawkes’ Liverpool branch, said: “There are all types who come to shop here.

“The man who wants a great suit for that special occasion such as a wedding or the businessman who wants to move up to the next level with his wardrobe.”

Mr Williams says the key to personal tailoring is taking the time to talk to the customer about what he is looking for from a suit.

When he started to measure me, it quickly became clear that there was more to think about than might be supposed.

“Do you want a slanted pocket or a straight one?” he asked. Other big choices included whether to have one or two pockets in the seat of the trousers or a flap on the inside pocket of the jacket.

Once a variety of measurements and preferences had been noted the next thing was to select the cloth.

Gieves & Hawkes in Liverpool offers in the region of 700 different types of cloth, ranging from the paper thin to the too heavy for summer variety. For versatility, I chose an 11oz Merino wool from Italy which ought to work on most days of the year. I also played safe by choosing a traditional dark navy blue suit.

In all, I would estimate Mr Williams spent the best part of an hour with me before the order was finalised. The service was thorough and you do come away with something quite unique that fits just you.

Of course, all good things cost money. Prices for a personally tailored Gieves & Hawkes suit start from £795 and rise to £1,200, whereas the off-the-peg Gieves & Hawkes suits start at £500.

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LDP Business editor Bill Gleeson gets measured up for his suit

NABAZTAG RABBIT

Gieves & Hawkes on the ground floor in the Metquarter P O S T

97_exectravel

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E XECUTIVE T RAVEL

BY ALEX TURNER

Flying high class OMMERCIAL airlines are always keen to emphasise how stress-free travelling with them

C

can be.

VIP lounges and special check-in areas are among the attractions offered, but they all seem to be small steps on the road to what every business traveller wants - their own jet.

Waiting on the runway, able to fly them from a meeting in one European city to their next rendezvous in a different country and then back home in the same day.

AD Aviation, which operates from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, can offer Merseyside’s businesses exactly that - and at a price that can be comparable with business class.

Chief executive Mike Newton said: “It’s never going to be comparable to Easyjet but if you have got four business people, perhaps two or three are lawyers or accountants with high hourly rates, and you can get those guys out there and back in the same day without the same trip costing you two days, you can start to see a big return on that cost.

“The most important difference compared with scheduled flights is you have much more flexibile timing. A trip you would struggle to do on scheduled airlines because you are worried about strict times you can easily do by private charter because if your meeting

overruns by 15 or 30 minutes that doesn’t matter.”

A recent short flight around Liverpool Bay showcased the talents of the latest addition to the company’s fleet, the Citation Eagle II, which extends AD Aviation’s range to 1,700 miles to reach cities like Moscow, Athens and Casablanca, North Africa.

Once on

board the six-seater jet, and a short wait for clearance, the aircraft taxied down the Speke runway and was soon in the air.

Take-off and the flight was surprisingly smooth while the view through the cockpit window provided an in-built bit of in-flight entertainment.

“The key thing about an aircraft of this class is the actual loading on the wing is higher than a commercial aircraft so in fact on a day were we have

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been bounced around quite a lot in a 737 or 747 this will actually be flying very smoothly,” said Mr Newton.

“Also with the rate of climb we have on the new aircraft with the new generation engines we can climb very quickly, 25 minutes to get to 41,000ft.

“The bad weather hardly ever goes above 25,000ft so we are very, very quickly up and through it. With this aircraft we are typically above the weather and into the comfort of the free air.”

And getting down to business is also much easier, with no fears about being overheard by people in nearby seats. It allows meetings to take place on board to mean no minute is wasted.

Mr Newton said: “There is nothing worse than sitting in a commercial aircraft and not realising that someone that knows your key competitor is sat behind you or right across from you or for that matter we are all sat there working on our laptops and the guy next to us peeking across maybe just out of boredom just can’t resist looking at what’s on your screen.

“It does mean that on the way to the meeting and on the way back from the meeting the group can in fact sit and discuss freely and openly knowing there is no one overhearing everything that is being said.”

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98_99 notworker

18/4/08

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NOTWORKING Image: liquid library

Laura Doyle takes an off beat look at the networking scene in Liverpool WHEN it comes to successful networking, it’s a numbers game – the pursuit of telephone numbers through the exchange of business cards.

In Japan, the business card is treated with respect and honour, and the exchanging of cards is a beautifully choreographed ritual.

The card must be presented with both hands and followed graciously with a bow in humble appreciation of the opportunity to proffer your corporate credentials.

The recipient is likewise expected to show both gratitude and interest by carefully examining it and making some form of comment, even if just to clarify their business address.

The card must then be placed carefully in a holder - it is considered a great insult to put one in a pocket.

The Japanese call this “Meishi”; a ceremony steeped in etiquette and tradition that, if performed badly, has the power to turn the sweetest of potential business deals into sour milk.

But despite our increasingly globalised society, the only thing the Japanese have managed to introduce into our business world is sushi-inspired canapés. Our networking techniques, it seems, owe more to the Ibiza restaurant tout than the way of the Samurai.

You know what I mean. The tribe of networkers who circle the room handing out their business cards like flyers, passing you that rectangular piece of card before they’ve finished their introductory sentence. Yet rather than take umbrage at their indiscriminate soliciting, their lack of corporate aplomb, we feel obliged to return the favour, handing over our precious direct lines on a plate.

Last week, I was assailed by one such card pedlar, who, after declaring with great pride he had already given out 98 M A G A Z I N E

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all his cards, reached into his jacket, selected someone else’s at random then proceeded to write his number on it.

I felt we had reached an all-time low. These people have plunged networking into a tombola of data collection. You can almost hear your inbox creaking under the weight of additional spam as they walk away; pockets bulging at the seams with their victims’ cards.

The Japanese call this “wasabi”. Just like the Asian horseradish equivalent, these “keen as mustard” networkers, impart a pungent aftertaste of desperation in their networking, which, when experienced in excess, is likely to make your eyes water.

In the PR industry, contacts are our bread and butter; the phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” describes the very ethos of our work. It is heresy for me to denounce these people and probably professional hari-kiri to encourage a collective embargo on such practices.

No doubt upon reading this, people will think twice before offering me their card for fear of being thought of as the Colman’s mustard of the business community.

But for the greater good of Liverpool’s networking fraternity, I take on this kamikaze mission to expose these shoddy Shoguns riding shotgun and put a little dignity back into the presentation of our humble business cards.

In the next edition of LDP Business . . .

We take a look at Merseyside’s transport infrastructure. How do the business people of the region get from A to B and how can things be improved? In the next edition we will also feature a list of Liverpool’s top corporate lawyers - the legal experts behind the big deals. And we take a close look at major expansion plans for Wirral International Business Park.

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15:02

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