LDP Business Magazine by Liverpool Post & Echo

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

LDP BUSINESS w w w . l d p b u s i n e s s . c o . u k

Are we ship shape? Cruise boss questions suitability of city terminal

Racing ahead: Course catering deal Cleaning up: Revival at Johnson Service Group Ancient & modern: Chester's big ambitions

The University of Liverpool Careers & Employability Service has put together a ‘recession busting’ portfolio of services aimed at regional SMEs.

We can now offer your business: • FREE graduate intern recruitment service • SUBSIDISED student and graduate placement opportunities • FREE student help for your business These are just some of the options we have on offer. To find out more about any of our services or to talk through your requirements call Steve Wood - Business Development Manager on 0151 794 4647 or email: vacancies@liv.ac.uk

www.liv.ac.uk/careers/recruiters/sme 2

INSIDE 4

LDP BUSINESS

NEWS

Racecourses sign 10-year deal

EDITOR Bill Gleeson 0151 472 2319

BIG INTERVIEW

John Talbot, Johnson Service Group

bill.gleeson@liverpool.com

DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR Tony McDonough 0151 330 4918

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY Office market struggles

tony.mcdonough @liverpool.com

BUSINESS WRITERS Alistair Houghton

WEALTH MANAGEMENT

alistair.houghton @liverpool.com

EDUCATION

19 BIG FEATURE

Port/Maritime Industry

Barry Turnbull barry.turnbull @liverpool.com

Demand for business and economics courses

Neil Hodgson neil.hodgson @liverpool.com

Alex Turner

alex.turner@liverpool.com

HEAD OF IMAGES Barrie Mills

barrie.mills@liverpool.com

PROFESSIONAL SECTORS

MARKETING EXECUTIVE Litza Gorman 0151 742 2352

We look at the legal sector

31 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

ADVERTISEMENT DIRECTOR Debbie McGraw

Chester

ADVERTISMENT SALES Jackie McMahon 0151 472 5077 Trudie Arlett 0151 472 2476

HOW GREEN IS YOUR BUSINESS?

David Hunt and Green schemes

38 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

PHOTOGRAPHY Trinity Mirror

Eco-friendly power plant opens

45 INTERNATIONAL TRADE Halewood grows overseas

PUBLISHED BY Trinity Mirror NW2, PO Box 48, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L69 3EB.

46 THE LIST

47 SOCIAL DIARY

TELEPHONE 0151 227 2000

Carolyn Hughes is out on the town

FAX 0151 330 4942

RESTAURANT REVIEW The Vincent Hotel

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

NETWORKER

Barry Turnbull looks at swimsuits

MARITIME trade around the world has fallen hugely on the back of the first worldwide recession since World War ll. World trade is mostly made up of manufactured and agricultural products. Trade in both sectors is currently down an estimated 30% on last year, as manufacturers produce less while they attempt to deplete existing stocks and an estimated 40% reduction in the availability of trade credit hits shipments of grains and other farm commodities. As a consequence, the number of ships laid-up in harbours around the world is rising by the day. The River Fal in Cornwall and the Port of Southampton are now home to idle liquified natural gas and dry bulk carriers, Scapa Flow hosts laden crude oil tankers and Clydeport is

BUSINESS CLUB INQUIRIES 0151 472 2352

EDITOR’S LETTER actively advertising its services to shipowners looking to park vessels during the recession. Piraeus and Singapore are doing the same. Not only are trade volumes down, but cargo rates are 90% below previous peaks. The decline in the shipping trade is a big problem for Merseyside, as the maritime sector accounts for £3bn of the sub-region’s £17bn annual economic output. One of the Port of Liverpool’s

biggest sources of trade, Ireland, is suffering greater economic woes than the UK at the moment. Irish economic output fell 3% last year, is expected to fall 8% this year and another 3% in 2010. The short-term prospects for the Port of Liverpool are bleak. So it’s all the more pity that Liverpool City Council has yet to get to grips with the demands of the cruise-liner market. Everybody loves to see a big ship berthed at the Pier Head, but the city is in danger of missing out on an opportunity if it continues to fail to install customs and other facilties at the waterfront cruise berth.

From what Carnival UK chief executive David Dingle says in the pages of this edition of LDP Business magazine, bureaucracy has held sway over market reality, when it comes to the city’s cruise-line strategy. According to Mr Dingle, who is also chairman of the European Cruise Council, Liverpool City Council has misunderstood the market place, causing some cruise lines to stay away. He argues that overseas tourists aren’t keen to spend a half-day stopover in our city. Instead, converting the Mersey’s cruise terminal into a point of embarkation serving North

West residents would bring much greater economic benefit. Surely somebody in the city council knows this? So why has the council persisted with its strategy of trying to attract ships to stop-off at the Pier Head? The answer is grant money rules. We couldn’t have used Objective 1 cash to finance the construction of the terminal unless we agreed to restrict its use to stopovers. To have allowed the cruise facility to become a point of embarkation, where cruises start and finish, would have broken EU state aid rules. If Mr Dingle is right, and the market is there, then let’s give the money back and do things without grant assistance.

BILL GLEESON 3

NEWS

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Vincent’s best in class at surveyors’ awards

Award-winning Vincent Hotel

SOUTHPORT’S Vincent Hotel was named the tourism and leisure sector’s best development at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors annual awards. The £11m boutique venue on Lord Street beat hot favourite, Morecambe’s art deco Midland Hotel, which was carefully restored by Urban Splash. Liverpool architects Falconer Chester Hall carried off the trophy for the Vincent which features limestone and zinc cladding, four storeys of luxury

bedrooms and rooftop gym. Managing director Adam Hall said: “We are delighted to have won this prestigious award recognising the Vincent Hotel as one of the best new hotels in the North West. It is especially pleasing for our Liverpool-based practice to work with the hotel owner and local entrepreneur Paul Adams who has already established an excellent reputation in Southport through his Warehouse Brasserie.” ■ Business Lunch: Page 48

Compass wins race for catering contract INTREE and Haydock racecourses have signed up to a 10-year deal with catering giant Compass. The company will provide food and drink in bars and restaurants as well as corporate hospitality areas on racing and non-racing days. The deal, running from July 1, covers all 14 UK courses run by the Jockey Club and is expected to generate revenue of £500m over the duration of the contract. The nationwide contract will be delivered by a joint venture company between Compass and the Jockey Club. Aintree chairman Lord Daresbury, who has been appointed chairman of the catering joint venture, said: “I am delighted to have been asked to chair the Jockey Club Catering Board, which is the key driving force of this partnership. “Catering plays a central part in all the activities – raceday and non-raceday – which take place at our racecourses and I look forward to overseeing the improvements in standards of service and quality, together with ensuring ongoing innovation in the product so as to constantly upgrade our competitive position. “Our objective is to create Jockey Club Catering as the quality flagship against which all outdoor events and sports catering is measured.” The agreement means that Compass will handle the biggest catering events in the sporting calendar including the Grand National meeting and Cheltenham festival. The ten-year deal gets underway across the group next month. It will be subject to review at various stages and as part of the contract both parties have undertaken to meet a range of targets.

Under starter’s orders at Aintree

Super container port at Liverpool

Superport still on the agenda MERSEY Ports has completed a feasibility study into plans for a terminal to accommodate the world's biggest ships, called post-panamax because they are too big to pass through the Panama Canal. Surveys and engineering studies have been carried out as well as financial estimates that put the cost of the scheme at £100m. Studies were completed by the end of April and the board now intends to discuss the way forward. Iain Robertson, terminal manager, said: "It would give us the ability to attract business from areas such as India, Pakistan and the Far East and would double overall container capacity." It has cost £3m in consultants fees to draw up the report,

according to MD Gary Hodgson, who added: "It's a question of when, not if." The plan forms part of Peel’s vision of an Ocean gateway masterplan with the region accessible to world markets through ports and airports. It will also be a key driver of new jobs, investment, development and environmental improvements. Although world container trade has slipped dramatically – down 25% in Liverpool during the first quarter – Mersey Docks view is that the proposed development is a long-term project and will go ahead sooner or later. The new super-port would double capacity and at the same time take 800,000 vehicle movements off the roads.

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Really making a difference

Success stories abound for local business initiative STEPCLEVER is transforming areas of North Liverpool and South Sefton as a place for new entrepreneurs and successful businesses. Through this initiative, residents and businesses can access a range of free services to help them start up in business or grow their existing business. Stepclever is a partnership which sees representatives from the business community working alongside Liverpool City Council, Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council and local community representatives, sharing their expertise and experience in driving the initiative forward. The Stepclever initiative is part of a national programme funded by Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) whose aim is to release the economic potential of disadvantaged communities across the UK through enterprise and investment, and is operating in the six Liverpool and Sefton wards of Anfield, Everton, Kirkdale, County, Linacre and Derby.

“This area presents the greatest economic regeneration challenge in the UK, with business density levels and start up rates less than half the UK’s national average and self employment rates twice as high in other parts of the UK, in comparison with the Stepclever area,” said Mike Taylor, chair of Stepclever. “It is also an area with real opportunities surrounded by success stories, such as the re-invigorated city centre, the fast-growing Port of Liverpool and the continued potential offered through the culture, maritime and construction sectors. “Already, Stepclever is making a real difference. Since the programme started in late 2007, we have helped 95 business start ups, supported 96 people into self employment and created over 247 new jobs. “Stepclever aims to build on these achievements, ensuring we attract new investment, make the best use of local labour and continue

to address the needs of local businesses.” ■ For more information about Stepclever contact 0800 030 4376 or visit the website: www.stepclever.co.uk.

What does Stepclever offer? ■ Start-up advisers and enterprise facilitation managers, providing one-toone advice including prestart-up support targeted at particular groups including women and individuals considering establishing social enterprises. ■ Business aftercare managers providing a range of free services and products for employers; plus a team of individuals helping businesses with their crime and environmental problems. ■ A range of confidence building and motivational development activities for 16-25 year olds linked to local opportunities, sport, arts and the maritime sector.

Support for Business

East Key Engineering was one business to benefit from Stepclever’s assistance

LINACRE L NA RE E

DERBY BOOTLE

• Want to grow your business and create new job opportunities? • Want to know how to get FREE advice and continued support to develop your idea? • Require financial assistance to help you achieve your goals?

We can Help

Stepclever offers FREE specialist advice to growing businesses including access to a range of ﬁnancial incentives, support with developing your business idea, managed referrals to other available support, developing new production processes, ﬁnding suitable business premises and a dedicated Business Development Manager to help you on a one to one basis through the whole process.

If you would like some more information please contact us by either email or phone. COUNTY O NTY Y EVERTON FC

BANKHALL

K K KIRK KD KDALE

VAUXHALL

ANFIELD

LIVERPOOL FC

EVERTON LIVERPOOL CITY CENTRE

You can call us, free of charge, on 0800 030 4376 Email: info@stepclever.co.uk

www.stepclever.co.uk

Who to contact Stepclever has established ofﬁces in the heart of the communities serving the areas of Anﬁeld, Everton, Kirkdale, County in north Liverpool and Derby and Linacre in south Sefton.

Faraday Road, Runcorn Astmoor Industrial Estate, WA7 1PE

Having trouble finding tHe rigHt space? let towngate come to tHe rescue!

• Ideal location for M56, M53, M6 and M60 • The main industrial location in Cheshire • High power capacity Industrial unit - 61,800 sq ft (5,741 sq m) Industrial unit - 36,376 sq ft (3,379 sq m) Ofﬁce suite - 12,480 sq ft (1,159 sq m)

Towngate Business Centre, Widnes Everite Road, WA8 8PT

• Close to J6 & J7 M62 and J12 M56 • 24hr manned security/gatehouse & CCTV • Liverpool John Lennon Airport 5 miles away Industrial unit - 28,540 sq ft (2,651 sq m) Storage / parking land available

Other properties also currently available in the North West include a 60,000 sq ft unit in Walkden and 111,200 sq ft in Stockport. Flexible terms and great deals available on all properties!

01484 715635 www.towngate.plc.uk RUNCORN • WIDNES • WARRINGTON • MANCHESTER • BRIGHOUSE • BRADFORD • LEEDS • HULL 6

THE BIG INTERVIEW

Johnson dances to a new tune BY ALISTAIR HOUGHTON

▲ ▲

You’ve heard about the customer who loved the product so much he bought the company – how about the accountant who loved his client so much he became its boss? 7

THE BIG INTERVIEW JOHN TALBOT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 hat’s the story of John Talbot, the restructuring expert brought in by Johnson Service Group to save it from potential

collapse. When English National Ballet chairman Talbot arrived at the company in late 2007, it seemed set to breach banking covenants while headlines screamed about the sale of its iconic Johnson Cleaners business and even its potential demise. But Talbot says he saw the potential of the business despite its short-term financial woes, and decided to stay with Johnson and lead it towards a long-term recovery. He said: “I got fed up going from one restructuring to another. I fancied staying with a group for a longer period of time. I liked the people at this business and I liked the business. “There’d been one or two decisions taken that had very bad implications, but I felt we had four very strong market-leading businesses and good people running them. “That compared to some of the companies I’d been working with in the previous two or three years where they had big financial problems but also major problems in the underlying businesses.” Talbot spent his career in accountancy working with companies in difficulty. He spent most of his career with Arthur Andersen, specialising in restructuring and insolvency, and was global head of its corporate finance and corporate recovery practice until 1999. In 2001 he and Chris Hughes launched their own “boutique” turnaround and restructuring practice, Talbot Hughes. Among its most high-profile jobs was handling the £5bn restructuring of former telecoms giant Marconi. In late 2007, Talbot received the call that would change his career when he was asked to lead the restructuring of Johnson Service Group. Johnson was originally founded in Ranelagh Street, Liverpool, in 1817 and rose to become one of Merseyside’s biggest companies. It remains most famous for its Prescot-based Johnson Cleaners high street dry-cleaning chain. But by 2007, problems were becoming apparent – primarily in its Stalbridge Linen Services business. That September Johnson announced pre-tax losses for the six months to June 30 of £13.8m, compared to a profit of £15.7m the previous year, as the group was forced to write down £15.9m on a failed computer system. Meanwhile Johnson’s debts were mounting, reaching £168.5m by December 2007, and the company found it was in danger of breaching its banking covenants. In 2007 Johnson’s share price fell by some 70%. When it issued a profit warning in October, the company’s value fell by a third that day alone. So in December, Johnson brought in Talbot to restructure the company and handle negotiations with the banks – and later that month, following the departure of chief executive Charles Skinner, Talbot became interim chief executive. With a typical accountant’s caution, Talbot shies away from saying that Johnson was in danger of collapse, but concedes it was an extremely tough time. He said: “When you are in danger of breaching covenants it puts you in a position where you have to negotiate with the banks – and

John Talbot, Johnson Service Group executive chairman and English National Ballet (ENB) chairman, at a London ENB event. Picture: Amber Hunt they’re in a stronger position. “If you have a potential covenant breach and you have to go and ask for relief then they assume you are a higher risk and charge you more accordingly.” JSG reached agreement with its eight banks giving it four months to find a permanent solution to its problems. The next big step came in April when Johnson confirmed it was

selling its East Midlands-based corporatewear arm, which provided uniforms for major retail chains and financial institutions, for £82.5m. The company also raised £35m from a share placing. Talbot says it was well-received as investors were becoming more confident about Johnson’s prospects. Johnson’s woes were, said Talbot, “traumatic” for the company and its staff. That was particularly true at

Stalbridge. Stalbridge had focused on upmarket laundry work, with its linen used at events including the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Henley Regatta and Wimbledon. “There was a decision taken a few years ago to expand it and do low-margin high-volume work alongside what they were already doing,” said Talbot. “They managed to increase the turnover of the business, with sales

up from £20m to £35m. But they went from £3m profit to about £4m loss. “Consequently they had to invest in new laundry and stock. There was a programme to put in a computer system alongside that. It ended up with a vast amount of money spent that brought the group to the situation it was in when I joined.” When Talbot arrived the decision had already been taken to shed Stalbridge’s high-volume work, and

THE BIG INTERVIEW JOHN TALBOT

The former Johnson Cleaners headquarters in Mildmay Road, Bootle

The launch of the new GreenEarth store on Sefton Street, Liverpool that transformation has continued. Last year it made a loss of £800,000 in the first-half, but recovered to an operating loss of £500,000 for the full year. “We effectively made a profit in the second half of 2008,” said Talbot. “That is a real landmark. “The business is concentrating on what it does well, which is very high-quality table linen and chefs’ wear. We’re very optimistic about the future.”

Stalbridge’s sister company, Johnsons Apparelmaster is based in Preston and supplies overalls and workwear to the engineering, manufacturing and food and drink sectors. It saw revenues and profits rise last year. Market-leading Johnson Cleaners, based in Prescot, has taken a hit from declining retail spending in the recession. Throughout 2008 it blamed the

smoking ban for falling revenues, saying customers needed their clothes cleaned less regularly. But now the ban has been in place for almost two years, Talbot says it is “history” and says the business has moved on. “We were trading well last year until October when we did feel the impact of the wider worries on the high street,” said Talbot. “But that picked up at the start of this year and

we’re very positive about the business.” Johnson Cleaners is also hoping to win customers through its new Green Earth technology, which uses liquid silicone instead of the traditional and less environmentally-friendly “perc” fluid to clean clothes. Half of the company’s 520 stores now have Green Earth machines in place, and more will be rolled out

this year. Johnson has also refurbished 25 of its stores with Green Earth branding, including one in Sealand Road, Chester, that opened last month. Johnson is also looking to move underperforming shops to better locations, often moving them to supermarket or drive-through sites. “The economy has been creating problems but the company hasn’t been sitting still,” said Talbot. “The area where there seems to be increasing opportunity for us is doing home laundry through shops, with people bringing in bags of washing and us returning it folded or ironed.” In 2006 Johnson Cleaners was put up for sale but today Talbot says it is an integral part of the group. “Under previous management the group was looking at selling various divisions, including dry cleaning,” he said. “Those are not for sale now. We see dry cleaning as being very much core for us.” Johnson’s facilities management business SGP works with a quarter of the UK’s large high street chains. It offers 24-hour support maintenance and repair services to customers including KFC, Carphone Warehouse and Pizza Hut. “We have been winning quite a lot of business in that division in the past year because people have been coming to us as a way of saving costs,” said Talbot. Johnson left its historic headquarters in Mildmay Road, Bootle, in 2007 to move to a new headquarters in London. When Talbot arrived, however, he decided to return Johnson nearer its roots and moved the head office to Preston Brook, near Runcorn. “It didn’t seem the right thing to have a London head office when we’re a predominantly North West business.” Today, Talbot remains a special adviser at Talbot Hughes McKillop, which was bought by Kroll in 2005 but was the subject of a management buyout last year. Talbot has become a student of iron age history, particularly of the East Anglian Iceni tribe, and says he would one day like to write a book on the prehistory of the region. His role as chairman of the board of governors at English National Ballet sees him promote the company’s work, both nationally and internationally, and help build relationships with the business world. Talbot may be evenly-spoken, but he is fiercely proud of Johnson. One LDP Business reporter tells how, when he reported the comments of one analyst that the company was a “basket case”, Talbot phoned him up and insisted on a meeting to tell him how well the company was in fact doing. At the end of last year, Johnson’s debt was down to £78.5m, leaving the group comfortably within its bank facility of £107.5m. In its AGM statement this month, Talbot told the market he was “confident in achieving a satisfactory result for the full year 2009”. The recession is hitting Johnson as it is hitting every business, but Talbot believes the restructured group is now well-placed to ride it out. “In the present environment you don’t feel like being too smug about anything,” he said. “All things considered we feel pretty confident about the business.” ■ English National Ballet’s production of Giselle will be performed at Liverpool Empire from October 28- November 1. For more information visit www.ballet.org.uk

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Commercial lettings nosedive Merseytravel deal came too late to save annual figures from the effects of recession

THE Northwest Development Agency has defended its move to pledge £3m in gap funding to a prestige city centre development which will become the new headquarters for Merseytravel. Officials stepped in when the transport authority admitted it would no longer need all the 140,000 sq ft of space being built at the Pier Head. Instead the transport authority will take just 10 of 13 floors, amounting to 110,000 sq ft.

The cash guarantee from the agency will ensure the scheme goes ahead as planned. Spokesman Paul Aiken said: “We are underwriting what is an important development in Liverpool city centre. Developers will still be seeking to pre-let the remaining space in the meantime. “We had fantastic rates of return in Liverpool in terms of gap funding on other projects.” News of the Merseytravel deal announced in January gives the city

Bargain rents available at Strand

SIGNS of market distress as Hitchcock, Wright & Partners (HWP) has announced a credit crunch rental sale at Strand House, on Liverpool’s historic waterfront. Brian Ricketts, partner at agents HWP said: “We can offer the most flexible terms and rentals available for a Liverpool city centre location. No reasonable

offer will be refused. We have three floors of space available. We don’t have a basement but we do have 30 on-site secure car parking spaces available at ground floor level.” Located on the city’s historic waterfront, Strand House offers up to 20,991 sq ft of Grade A office space over three floors available on flexible temporary lease

centre commercial property market a much-needed boost. It came just days too late to save 2008’s total city centre lettings figure from falling more than 200,000 sq ft below 2007’s comparable figure. Figures also demonstrate that a severe reduction in public sector demand was a key factor, from 31% of the total in 2007 to just 6.4% last year. In terms of the type of accommodation, the overwhelming demand was led by grade B, or

terms from as short a period as six months up to 12 months. The space is also available on a floor by floor basis at approximately 6,700 sq ft. In addition to its 30 secure parking spaces and two adjoining car parks, Strand House offers easy access to James Street Merseyrail station and nearby bus stops.

refurbished, space at 232,548 sq ft. At the top end, grade A accommodation was just 7,729 sq ft, representing new-build space. Poor grade C offices accounted for just 5,000 sq ft of lets yet the total space available is a whopping 823,000 sq ft, half of the city centre availability. The single largest contributor to the reduced level of central business district take-up was the public sector, traditionally regarded as one of the mainstays of the market.

The financial services sector continued its advance as a proportion of total floorspace let. Financial services and banking accounted for 19.1%. The largest single occupier was Grant Thornton taking 17,000 sq ft. The largest deal of the year saw Liverpool Council for Voluntary Services acquire 42,458 sq ft at Stanley House. Vacancy rates remained stable at 12.6% of the total space being marketed.

Blitz survivor restored to glory

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Space becomes available at Port of Liverpool Building

Developer claims huge scheme is right for city

IRISHMAN Ashley Moore has wagered £8m on a grand scheme to create Liverpool’s biggest office development for 40 years. Lengthy preparations started before the recession began to bite but he remains undaunted. The fact is the proposed 228,000 sq ft building in Pall Mall will only go ahead if a substantial proportion of floorspace is pre-let. Even so, spending heavily to reach this stage has been risky. The boss of West Bay Capital said: “You could say this demonstrates just what confidence we have in Liverpool. It needs a proposition on this scale to be able to compete at the highest level.” Plans were submitted a few weeks ago after a three year preparation programme. Mr Moore added: “My family has been in business since 1925 and I was doing some work in North Wales when it

became apparent there was a great buzz about Liverpool. “Over the past three years I’ve made about 70 trips to the city. There have been lots of discussions with planners and Liverpool Vision and it has merely reinforced my view that this sort of development is right for Liverpool.” Two buildings are proposed in Pall Mall which will reach BREAM excellent efficient ratings and will have a striking shimmering facade. As well as the office accommodation there will be ground-floor cafes, restaurants and shops. One target market will be government departments such as the Ministry of Justice which is looking to relocate into one of the regions. Mr Moore added: “The sort of scale and quality we aspire to is not matched by anything else currently available and should put us in a good position to compete.”

DOWNING is on target to bring more than 20,000 sq ft of newly refurbished office suites to the market during 2009 following the completion of a £10m restoration project at the Port of Liverpool Building. The company has also revealed it is in advanced talks with businesses interested in taking space in the Grade II listed building. The restoration project, which completed in January, was one of the UK’s largest privately-funded refurbishments of a listed building. Works were undertaken throughout the building, with the iconic dome returned to its former glory and its inner glass and marble cleaned and restored for the first time since the building was damaged in the Blitz. Robin Ellis, senior surveyor at Downing, said: “The high level of interest in the building is a testament to the quality of the refurbishment. “Liverpool’s occupier market is holding up well and the credit crunch hasn't changed the fact that leases still expire and tenants are looking to achieve best value. “The extensive repair and upgrade works to the Port of Liverpool Building’s fabric and environs, mean that our valued occupiers can enjoy this magnificent building, safe in the knowledge that it has been future-proofed – giving them valuable confidence and certainty on costs." Downing began work in 2007 to restore the building’s limestone exterior, internal terrazzo flooring and marble wall cladding and to remove, refurbish and reinstate its stunning stained glass windows. The company has also introduced new lifts, upgraded internal and external lighting, as well providing a new disabled access. Occupiers can also link into a new cooling system with state-of-the-art technology that allows tenants to opt-in to a centrally-managed system. The strength of the refurbished space saw the Port of Liverpool Building become one of Liverpool’s most successful commercial properties in 2008, with some 20,000

sq ft of space let to global brands including DHL and shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd. George Downing, chairman of the group, said: “There are few buildings in the UK as iconic as the Port of Liverpool Building. It boasts a level of grace and quality that would be impossible to recreate today. “When we became proud custodians of the building we made a commitment to restore it to its rightful place as one of Liverpool’s premier office buildings. “The stunning results of the restoration combined with the

letting success we have enjoyed in 2008 are proof that we have delivered on this promise. “These extensive repair and upgrade works to the building mean that our occupiers can enjoy this magnificent building, safe in the knowledge that it has been future-proofed, giving them valuable confidence and certainty on costs. “We will continue to invest in the building to ensure it thrives in its joint roles as the jewel of Liverpool’s World Heritage Site and one of the city’s most prestigious business addresses.”

Fresh lettings at 20 Chapel Street ENQUIRIES are on the rise at one of the city’s premier new-build developments. 20 Chapel Street recently completed a deal with accountancy firm Jackson UK for 3,165 sq ft of space, about half a floor, and has seen considerable enquiry activity as business looks to hot up in 2009. One reason for the movement in a largely

stagnant market is the flexibility over rental levels with prices more competitive than ever. Agent Alistair Newman said: “We have been aggressive in deciding we are here to make a deal. People thinking at looking at Grade B accommodation can speak to us and may be surprised what we can offer. We are not quoting rentals but rest assured we are extremely

competitive at the moment." 20 Chapel Street is offering space from 3,000 up to 100,000 sq ft. Mr Newman added: "Our enquiries are growing and we are now making short-lists. However, let's not forget it remains a very challenging environment at the moment and is likely to remain so for some time."

WEALTH MANAGEMENT

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Cat Kircaldy

Bill Gates

A beacon of light in the gloom

Barry Turnbull finds that philanthropy is alive and well on Merseyside HE Secret Millionaire programme came on TV accompanied by a shriek of disbelief. My other half sat with mouth agape as an old chum of hers from Africa waltzed around a UK council estate looking for people in need of dosh. The girl was last seen leading a very modest life in the suburbs of the Zambian capital, Lusaka. Clearly she had enjoyed some good fortune along the way and, like many others, had decided to share it. The TV show has been a good advert for the philanthropy sector at a time when charitable giving is under severe pressure from the recession. Organisations, trusts and shops all report feeling the pinch, but there remains a beacon of light in the gloom – philanthropy on Merseyside is very much alive and well. The region has been home to some outstanding examples of benevolence over the years. The Rathbone and

Moores families are synonymous with spreading their resources. And, in recent times, Matalan founder John Hargreaves supported the creation of an NSPCC centre in Liverpool, and Microsoft magnate Bill Gates contributed £28m to the School of Tropical Medicine’s fight against malaria. The Community Foundation for Merseyside (CFM) is an organisation dedicated to channelling philanthropic funds to worthy social causes, and it is reporting that donations are holding up well despite uncertain economic times. In fact, the trend has been pretty positive for a number of years, with tax-efficient ways of giving coupled with a growing number of professional advisers operating in the field. CFM’s recent survey into the sector, covering 57 professional organisations ranging from wealth managers to lawyers, suggested that 40% of participants regularly receive

requests from clients regarding charitable giving. And notably, the majority of enquiries are done so on the basis that an individual or an organisation is seeking to put something back into the community or has a belief in a cause. Cat Kircaldy, at CFM, said: “We work strategically with people who have an interest in social causes. It is very much a two-way process with businesses or individuals becoming involved in a particular project and how it is progressing. “This is different from straightforward charitable giving whereby a cheque is signed for a particular cause. I’m pleased to say that the level of interest is holding up in what is a difficult time for many. “In some cases, corporates have had to reduce commitments due to budgets, but most have been willing to continue.” CFM was formed in Sefton 10

years ago and has evolved into a regional organisation based at the Alliance & Leicester head office, in Bootle, and has distributed some £35m over the years. At the moment, it is involved with the Merseyside Grass Roots campaign which is designed to realise £2.9m, with the Government contributing on a £1 for £1 matched funding basis. A range of social projects have been supported, including Liverpool Greenbank Wheelchair Basketball Club and Bebington Day Centre. It has also backed the Mark McQueen Foundation to prevent suicides. It was set up by the McQueen family, from Liverpool, in loving memory of their son, Mark, who tragically took his own life in June last year. The Foundation aims to support young men struggling with emotional and mental health issues. The charitable endowment fund

will support sustainable projects in Merseyside and other areas around the theme of young men’s mental health, as well as providing strategic research into suicide. The Mark McQueen Foundation’s ultimate aim is to contribute towards reducing the rate of male suicide in the area and to support young musicians and musical activities that engage with young men, to reflect Mark’s passion for music. CFM recently commissioned a research study titled: Building on Merseyside’s Philanthropic Past: the Views of Those Who Advise The Rich. More than 50 professional advisers were surveyed and the main findings concluded: ■ Wealth is not a primary factor in philanthropy; ■ Advisors are becoming more pro-active in initiating discussions on philanthropy with clients; ■ Most advisors are unaware of the differences between charitable hand-outs and strategic giving;

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Charity lies at the heart of developer’s business philosophy PROPERTY group Bruntwood is one of the most active companies when it comes to philanthropy. The business pledges to spend 10% of annual profits on worthy causes every year, equivalent to around £500,000. In Liverpool, it has supported such organisations as the Tate Gallery and the Everyman and Playhouse theatres, as well as Liverpool School for Tropical Medicine and Alder Hey Hospital. Its charitable philosophy lies at the heart of its business framework, says director of human resources Kate Vokes. “We are involved in a range of artistic, charitable and social initiatives which are integral to the business itself and a strong part of our culture,” she said. Company owners the Oglesby family set up a charitable trust in 2000 and aim to help around 40 applicants a year, many for specific projects. “We believe these activities help us to get closer to customers and suppliers in the cities we operate in, so it also has a important role in that respect,” added Ms Vokes. “And it is not just about giving money. Our senior team help with lending their time and expertise to good causes while members of staff are encouraged to take part in fund-raising activities. “We don’t just give blindly, we are specific about what we support and keep in touch with how things are going.” Senior staff are also encouraged to give time and expertise to support organisations, while other employees are given two days a year to work on projects of their choice. Liverpool’s Playhouse Theatre is among the institutions supported by Bruntwood

of recession ■ There is a mixed opinion about how the downturn will affect giving, but most advisors remain optimistic. Cathy Elliott, assistant chief executive of the organisation, said: “We hope the report will mark the beginning of new work with philanthropists of all kinds on Merseyside. “Last year, we were fortunate to have secured two commissioned programmes worth nearly £4m. We have also had a 100% retention rate with our private sector donors, and overall our existing and new donors continue their work, looking beyond the recession and building endowment funds to plan for the future.” The legacy to Liverpool’s Capital of Culture Year is to receive a boost in the shape of a new partnership between local charity the Community Foundation for Merseyside and Liverpool headquartered law firm Hill Dickinson.

The Community Foundation also set up the Merseyside Cultural Legacy Fund last year, in partnership with the Royal Liver Group, to provide a lasting resource to local grassroots community arts and culture groups, post Liverpool’s 2008 Capital of Culture year. The endowment fund, which sees donations invested over a long-term period with grants being made available off the interest gained, will now benefit from a Hill Dickinson contribution and be further boosted by funding from the Government’s Office of the Third Sector, creating an overall pot of £25,000. Commenting on Hill Dickinson’s decision to work in partnership with the Community Foundation, Colin Wardale said: “Supporting the communities in which we operate is extremely important to us. We have a national and international business with roots in Liverpool and, having been official lawyers to the 2008 European Capital of Culture, we

wanted to help ensure a positive legacy for the city.” Lee Blackshaw, of PWC’s private client tax team, said: “We agree that philanthropy does not depend on the client’s wealth. There are different levels of giving depending on whether they use the Charities Aid Foundation, one off Gift Aid donations or create a personal charitable trust. Sometimes the tax benefits of Gift Aid are not fully understood. “We encourage clients to log all donations during the year and use Gift Aid wherever possible. The downturn does not immediately seem to have impacted on charitable donations – it looks like clients are cutting expenditure elsewhere but, with the new rate of tax at 50% coming in for taxpayers with incomes over £150,000 next year, we may see some high earners deferring large charitable contributions until the next tax year to obtain greater tax relief.”

A ray of hope for savers as competition for deposits hots up THE number of accounts offering returns of more than 4% has soared 25-fold during the past two months, as competition in the savings market increases, research showed today. There are now 75 different fixed rate bonds paying interest of at least 4%, compared with just three at the beginning of March, according to financial information group Moneyfacts.co.uk The increase has come despite the Bank of England base rate being cut by a further 0.5% during the period, to a new record low of 0.5%. Competition in the fixed-rate savings market

has intensified in recent weeks, with a range of providers launching new 4%-plus accounts, including major players such as Alliance & Leicester, Halifax and ICICI Bank, as well as a number of smaller building societies. Saga has become the latest group to offer one of the deals, launching a four-year fixed rate account paying 4.35% and a two-year one at 4.15%. The four-year deal put it in third place in the best buy tables, behind bonds paying 4.4% being offered by both Halifax and ICICI Bank. But returns on variable rate accounts remain low.

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Ex-Mercedes dealer, Chris Smith, invested his money wisely thanks to Fraser Wealth Management

Safe drive for investments Honest advice and personal approach helped ex-motor dealer navigate the financial highway IN these exasperating ‘credit crunch’ times, the temptation may be to resort to that old chestnut of keeping your money under your bed. But it doesn’t have to be that way, says Merseyside businessman and satisfied Fraser Wealth Management client Chris Smith. Pick your financial advisers wisely, spread your risk widely and take a long term view, advises the 45-year-old Wirral man. Chris enjoyed a share of the proceeds when family firm the Robert Smith Group sold its six Mercedes-Benz dealerships – including Liverpool – to Inchcape in 2005. Together with his father and sister, Chris was one-third of a family trio that had built up the successful business over 20 years. Finding himself with a substantial cash sum ‘burning a hole’ in his pocket, he set about looking for the best way to protect his new-found

wealth for the future – and soon found himself bamboozled! Chris, who retained a property role with Inchcape and also acts as a consultant to another of his family’s thriving businesses, Welding Units, in Rainford, which makes pipe connectors for the oil and gas industry, explains: “Normal advice when selling a business would be to plan your exit strategy well in advance and already have a personal investment strategy in place. “However, the nature of our Mercedes-Benz franchise and rules governing its sale meant we couldn’t discuss our plans with anyone beforehand. “So, once the sale was complete I found myself with money to invest and no idea where to invest it for the best. I found myself sitting in front of a succession of advisers from big-name companies but quickly realised that all they were really interested in was my cash.

“Nobody took the time to get to know me personally and find out what made me tick or what I really wanted to do. I didn’t feel comfortable signing over my money to any of them.” Fortunately, at that point Chris remembered an old associate, Kevin Gillibrand, who had previously acted for him and had recently set up a new business venture with fellow financial adviser Paul Bocking. Between them, Kevin and Paul run Fraser Wealth Management, based in Cheapside, Liverpool; the first firm of independent financial planners in the city to achieve chartered status from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). Chris continues: “Kevin had arranged a couple of mortgages for me and we got on well. I’d become more and more exasperated with people trying to place my money here, there and everywhere – mostly in hedge funds, which have had their

share of bad publicity of late – and the approach that Kevin and Paul took was a breath of fresh air. “Firstly they took time to get to know me as a person, my hopes and aspirations for the future, and to find out whether I was a risk taker or a more cautious investor. “Once they’d established this they were able to come up with an investment strategy that wasn’t necessarily the most dramatic, but it suited my profile by spreading the risk and building in a series of ‘safety nets’ in case the stock market fell. I’m extremely grateful for their help given what is happening in today’s money markets.” Chris has continued to take Fraser’s advice with other personal investments, including property deals, and he says they will be closely involved when he fulfils his next ambition to invest in a business that complements his love of gardening: “I’ve investigated a

number of options, including a garden centre and a business importing mature trees from all over the world. “Whatever I choose to do, I know that Fraser Wealth Management will provide me with carefully thought out, honest and, above all, appropriate advice that is tailored to my needs.” Based in Liverpool, and with offices in London, Fraser Wealth Management offers expert advice in a range of areas, with particular expertise in retirement, investment and inheritance tax planning. They operate a fee-based service, as opposed to one based solely on commission taken from investments, creating more efficient financial planning that is transparent, specialised and client centred. ■ For further information visit: www.fraserwm.co.uk or call 0845 456 4404.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

EDUCATION

Credit crunch boom for MBAs Neil Hodgson hears how people are improving their skills ahead of the upturn HE thirst for knowledge is undiminished, despite the debilitating effects on business of the credit crunch. Liverpool’s two main universities are reporting impressive numbers for their business and economics courses, particularly from overseas and distance learning students. And there is a perception that companies and individuals are consciously improving and building on their business skills in time for the economy’s long awaited upturn – whenever it may occur. The University of Liverpool Management School provides eight single honours programmes for undergraduates and 11 joint honours programmes split evenly between the school and other university departments covering subjects like finance, economics and business studies. Postgraduate programmes include four MBAs in general management and three more specific courses, including an MBA in football industries which involves former Liverpool star Phil Thompson and ex-FA chief executive Brian Barwick. MBA courses are populated by mainly by experienced managers working their way up their career structure, aiming to enhance their management abilities. Six further MSc courses cover general management and a range of specialisms, aimed at students who have maybe done a degree in business and want something to specialise in, or a management qualification before entering the labour market. And the university also offers a suite of online programmes, including an MBA course which is very popular with students all around the world who work and study in their own time. The university currently caters for about 2,000 distance learning students. Dr Gary Cook, director of undergraduate programmes at the University of Liverpool Management School, said: “It’s a truly global thing. “We have also recently launched four online MSc programmes and two more are in the pipeline. “It is an important development, giving executive education to people still in work.” And though the world of commerce is tightening its belt and embarking on scrupulous cost-cutting programmes, Dr Cook reports the university’s business and economics programmes are all mainly buoyant. He said: “They certainly don’t seem to have suffered from the downturn. There is no evidence of a downturn concerning our MBA courses. “One or two have been static, but generally applications are substantially up, by as much as 50%, with 2,400 applications. “On the undergraduate side, applications have held up and overseas applications are stronger, so there’s no tangible evidence of any effect of the credit crunch. “Maybe people are looking to

enhance their skills and knowledge ready to take advantage when things pick up again.” Some students will be sponsored by their employers, but most are studying under their own steam and when you consider an MBA course costs £14,400 for an overseas student and £9,000 for a UK student, their commitment is impressive. Dr Cook said the current recession is not following the same trend as the previous downturn in the early 1990s. He revealed: “I was at Manchester Business School during the last recession and there was a noticeable drop there in the MBA market. But we are talking about two different schools.” Over at Liverpool John Moores University the picture is pretty similar. Professor Paul Joyce, director of its Liverpool Business School, revealed that overall applications are 7% ahead of the previous year. The biggest gain has been a 28% rise for business and economics which, historically, has not been that popular. Prof Joyce said: “It’s not one of our biggest programmes and economics has been in trouble in many places over the past years. “I was at East Midlands last year and they were talking about dropping it, so this is pretty amazing.” He added: “We think the credit crunch has raised awareness. People are talking about economics again and it has become a focal point. “Even things not related to economics, like our BA on Business Studies with a one year placement, is up 13% and I am very pleased about that because it gives such good results for employability. “We were worried that students might be put off doing a four year course because of costs, but it is doing well.” The school has also tailored courses to address differing needs and this year is offering a part-time executive MBA for experienced managers. “This is quite unusual because we are providing a dual award, together with the Chartered Management Institute, which should have much more relevance than other MBA programmes.” Another area enjoying increased interest is PR. The school’s business and PR course this year is 19% ahead of previous levels. “PR is a bit special,” said Prof Joyce. “We are also quite proud of our masters in Change Management for local government. It won a Welsh national training award and over the past six months we are getting more and more interest from the public sector concerning inter-agency working, which was highlighted in recent childcare events. “There is interest from the police, local government and health and voluntary sectors because they are expected to work together to devise policies.” He believes the downturn can be used to prepare for recovery.

The University of Liverpool’s School of Management with, left, former FA chief executive Brian Barwick

EDUCATION

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

A BITPAC session in action, being run by a Skills Academy training partner, PICME

Roger Langford, regional skills manager

Process firms can save cash

Neil Hodgson leans about a new programme to improve quality and cut costs and reduce waste

A NEW education package aimed at the region’s process industries could help deliver a ten-fold improvement, on average, in productivity and competitiveness for employers. The BITPAC (Business Improvement Techniques Productivity and Competitiveness) programme has been developed by the Manufacturing Skills Alliance and is being spearheaded throughout the North West by the National Skills Academy Process Industries. The academy is bidding to help companies who employ the region’s 61,000-strong workforce in the process industries to address their skills issues. Depending on the particular requirements of employers the programme can run for anything between six and nine months. Initially an expert PAC analyst will work with the company to assess their business priority areas and

measure the quality, costand delivery in order to highlight the areas where cost savings are achievable. The next stage involves the analyst assessing skills gaps and recommending BIT (Business Improvement Technique) qualifications for staff, as required. Other options are also available. They include the possibility of the analyst arranging for a qualified engineer to work with staff to offer guidance on the improvement process, or bringing in an expert training provider to assess staff who will be involved directly with the work. Roger Langford, the academy’s North West Regional Skills Manager, explains: “The core objectives are to help employers find ways to increase productivity, reduce labour costs, cut machine downtime, identify savings and build their own capacity to deliver sustainable year-on-year improvements.”

He added: “The data is gathered, collated and used in a process developed by the Department of Trade and Industry, called Quality Cost Delivery (QCD). “This examines whether a business is making the most effective use of their resources, be that equipment or people, if their waste can be reduced and if there are any issues with their deliveries. “The analyst assesses the company in seven key areas of the business. “In most cases the result is a tailored, short term project designed to have an immediate impact on the bottom line. “Simultaneously, the staff outside the core team are being trained on BIT so they can all earn a Level 2 or Level 3 qualification, but more importantly so that they can continue to deliver improvements beyond the lifetime of this initial high impact project.” As part of the programme the

progress is benchmarked by a repeat of the initial assessment at the end of the scheme to demonstrate the improvements that have taken place. Mr Langford added: “Industry employers can make significant gains against a small investment, not only through the improved processes, but through better informed and better qualified staff. These gains are usually realised within the lifetime of the initial program. “And because cost is such an issue in the current climate, we have worked with partners to develop a new fully integrated delivery process that means employers can access the whole diagnostic process and help.” The process industries produce hundreds of essentials for our daily lives, from biofuels and plastics, through to rubber, synthetic fibres for clothing, pharmaceuticals and

crucial chemical additives which transform, strengthen and make safe many end user products. The industries, which include chemicals, pharmaceutical and polymers manufacturing, have a combined turnover of £67.1bn and a Gross Value Added in excess of £23bn, which is more than 15% of total UK manufacturing GVA. The alliance of Sector Skills Councils (SSC) – called the Manufacturing Skills Alliance – comprises: Cogent, the SSC for the Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Oil and Gas, Nuclear, Petroleum and Polymer Industries; Improve, the SSC for the food and drink manufacturing industry; Proskills, the SSC for the building products, coatings, extractives, furniture, glass, paper and printing manufacturing and processing industries; and Semta, the SSC for science, engineering and manufacturing technologies.

Developing Business, Developing People Business School Edge Hill始s brand new 拢8m Business School building opened in January 2009. This impressive facility, set in the heart of the campus, contains state-of-the-art classrooms and dynamic social spaces which complement Edge Hill始s forward thinking approach to teaching and learning. The three-storey building features modern seminar and meeting rooms, social learning areas, a 100-seat lecture theatre and a relaxing roof garden and atrium. Extensive use is made of information technology at Edge Hill, including the latest video conferencing equipment available to support classroom activity.

Developing Business

Developing People

Working with business is an integral part of everything that we do in the School. Our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes are designed in conjunction with practitioners and have built into them the skills demanded by employers. Our industrial partners provide other assistance, through the provision of placement opportunities for our students, and guest lectures. Some examples of how we can help develop your business are:

The Business School is also extremely committed to the development of people. We provide opportunities for those wanting to obtain their qualifications at both undergraduate and postgraduate level on a part-time basis, enabling participants to continue working while developing their skills and knowledge.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is Europe's leading programme helping businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity. The University and employer form a partnership to help innovate and improve performance. Extensive financial support is available and the School will provide support in developing the proposal for funding. Contract Research The School始s academic staff undertake research in a range of business and computing areas. Recent examples are shown on our website and staff are available to work with organisations to help develop innovative solutions to business problems. Student Placements Working as individuals or in teams and under the supervision of a member of the academic staff, our students can be a valuable resource. In addition to providing valuable experience to the students, they provide the capacity to undertake projects that can add real value to an organisation in a cost effective way.

We find that many students apply their new found knowledge to their workplace during their degree; this helps demonstrate the real benefits of their study to both themselves and the organisations in which they work. As part of the development of the School, and because of increasing demand, we have now expanded our part-time provision offering courses in a range of areas including Business, Computing, Web Development, Marketing & Management. The School has also been successful in developing bespoke part-time courses to meet the needs of individual organisations. Using the knowledge base in the school, programmes can be adapted to be both cost and time efficient and relevant to your business area. For more information on all the courses we offer, please visit our website edgehill.ac.uk/business or email bustalk@edgehill.ac.uk

To discuss how we can help your business please contact our Business Development Manager, Deborah Draws, on 01695 657644 or Email: businesssupport@edgehill.ac.uk Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK, L39 4QP |

W: edgehill.ac.uk

How Much?

Does your existing Travel Management Company have the expertise to offer genuine savings on FIRST, BUSINESS CLASS, LONGHAUL ECONOMY and COMPLEX itineraries? One email will give you the answer. Forward your itinerary to: fares@tdtravelgroup.com visit: www.tdtravelgroup.com/fare-compare or call us on: 0151 650 8592

a division of the TD Travel Group

FLYING KLM FROM LIVERPOOL? 0151 650 8593 Liverpool’s No.1 for KLM Fly from Liverpool John Lennon airport and connect to over 650 worldwide destinations with KLM and their partners. Call our reservations team on 0151 650 8593 to check prices and availability and start saving on your KLM ﬂights today.

Best Fares From Liverpool Pre Assigned Seating Earn Flying Blue and Corporate Points* Flight Options Held

www.ﬂyfromliverpoolairport.com *subject to fare rules. Flyfromliverpoolairport.com is a trading name of T.D. Travel Ltd. ATOL:3545. ABTA 77074

THE BIG FEATURE

Time to change tack

The Grand Princess towers over the new cruise liner terminal

BY PETER WINDSOR

▲ ▲

Liverpool’s new cruise liner berth attracts thousands of visitors for short stopovers. But a leading industry figure says it must be redeveloped so passengers can start and end their voyages in the city centre.

THE BIG FEATURE

Its massive size dwarfing all around, the Grand Princess ties up at Liverpool’s Cruise Liner terminal

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 n the surface of the Mersey, without a ship alongside, the city’s current liner berth looks little more than a strip of concrete supporting an over-long bus shelter, rising and falling with the tide. Yet, after just two full seasons of operation, and on the eve of its third, the long-awaited Liverpool facility in Princes Dock, next to the Pier Head, is already regarded as offering cruise ship passengers one of the finest port arrivals in the world. Around 24,000 guests on board a total of 14 ships due to call at Liverpool this summer will savour the city’s famous World Heritage Site

waterfront for themselves. Between them they will inject an estimated £1.7m into the Liverpool economy. The vast majority will sail away again a few hours later to their next port of call. For David Dingle, chairman of the European Cruise Council, and chief executive officer of Carnival UK – part of the huge US-owned cruise giant Carnival Corporation – the brevity of the stopovers are a missed opportunity for Liverpool. Carnival-owned brands, including Cunard, Holland America, Seabourn and Princess, operate nine of the vessels booked to call at Liverpool this year. But for Dingle the city’s foray into the modern, multi-million pound global cruise business is not bringing maximum benefits

for the port – or his passengers. “I have always been a little confused with what’s happening in Liverpool,” he said. “The investment has been in port facilities for ships in transit. Liverpool works OK as a port of call rather than a port for people joining or leaving the cruise in Liverpool, but to me that’s the wrong way round. “To me, the value of Liverpool as a cruise port is much less as a place for in-bound tourism from people who are just using it as a port of call. “The big opportunity is as a turnaround port for people who live in the north of England to start and end their cruise. Research we have done at the European Cruise Council into the economic impact of cruising

shows the average local economic benefit for a way-port passenger is 50 euros. The economic benefit to the local economy of a passenger joining and leaving their cruise at a particular port is 100 euros. It speaks for itself.” Public money covered the £19m cost of constructing the extension to Liverpool’s landing stage. And, according to Liverpool City Council, with the cash came conditions. Among these, a ban on allowing the berth to be used as a base for ships to start and finish their voyages. A city council spokesman said: “This is because the rules governing public funding mean that we would not have been granted access to the millions of pounds required for a full

THE BIG FEATURE

turnaround facility as this would have been seen as giving Liverpool an advantage over other ports.” However, as Dingle said: “The economic benefit is actually not nearly as much in people visiting Liverpool for a day as a tourist. The economic benefit is in having ships based in Liverpool, passengers joining and leaving there, dock workers loading and unloading ships, local chandlers, food suppliers, haulage companies, technical sub-contractors – all looking after ships that are based in Liverpool.” e added: “It seems that in terms of the port facilities, the investment hasn’t been put in that direction. The investment

has been made in Liverpool as a tourism destination. Now Liverpool might be a very interesting city – European City of Culture, some fascinating history there – everything from The Cavern to Cathedrals to the Philharmonic Hall and all those wonderful things and great countryside in the hinterland, but you have to look at Liverpool in the context of a complete cruise itinerary and it’s in a less interesting corner of Europe. “Dublin is of interest, but Liverpool doesn’t really stand up to the Western Mediterranean with Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Rome and Florence or the Eastern Mediterranean with Athens and Istanbul and Cairo, and it doesn’t stand up to the Baltic with St

Petersburg and Copenhagen and Stockholm. “It just doesn’t have it. It is not an attractive area as a whole in which to conduct a cruise. So, it’s hard to construct an itinerary with Liverpool as a way-port, so it might have a few calls a year but you look at Copenhagen which has over 300 cruise ship calls a year – masses and masses of them. “There were 100 cruise ships deployed in the Irish Sea last summer. How many of them called in Liverpool? Around 15. That says it all doesn’t it?” Warming to his theme, Dingle added: “They might have been deployed there but they were going

GROWTH OF THE CRUISE INDUSTRY UK ocean cruise passengers compiled for the Passenger Shipping Association Year

1997 2005 2006 2007 2008

Yearly Increase %

Total

5% 12% 11% 11%

522,000 1,070,000 1,204,000 1,335,000 1,477,000

Ex UK Port

Fly Cruise

140,000 400,000 451,000 467,000 577,000

382,000 670,000 753,000 867,000 900,000

CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

ADVERTISING FEATURE

WhizzGo gives employees of its corporate members instant access to a pool of cars from four Liverpool city centre locations

Enjoy a less taxing drive WhizzGo offers a genuine alternative to the company pool car MERSEYSIDE businesses can avoid the unnecessary costs and paperwork associated with running staff pool cars by taking out a corporate membership with WhizzGo. WhizzGo is a pay-by-the-hour car club, which gives the employees of its corporate members instant access to a pool of low-emission cars. Staff of member organisations can pick one up from any one of four locations in Liverpool city centre when they want the convenience of a car. Councillor Peter Millea, Liverpool City Council executive member, said: “Joining a car club is a good business alternative to owning company pool cars, especially for businesses based in the city centre. “Becoming a member can help organisations to cut costs and eliminate the paperwork associated with corporate

car ownership. And, what’s more, by encouraging staff to make TravelWise choices, such as cycling, walking, taking public transport or car sharing, businesses can do their bit to reduce the number of cars on the road, which is good for the environment too!” Membership is easy and can be tailored to suit the individual needs of businesses. There’s even an option of a no obligation trial to see how much your business could save. Alan Brown, managing director of Liverpool design and marketing company The Design Division, has been a WhizzGo member for the past couple of years. He said: “I live and work in the city centre so owning a car was a bit more hassle than it was worth by the time I paid parking costs as well as car tax, insurance and maintenance.

“We’re based in the India Buildings in the city centre and many of our clients are within walking distance. However, we do often have meetings with clients in the wider region and WhizzGo is a great resource for our team to use when it comes to travelling to those meetings. “I think the WhizzGo concept is really flexible and fantastic for people who only need a car for a few hours at a time. My wife and I used to have two cars but we’ve now got rid of them both and we just use WhizzGo cars when we want to use a car to go to meetings during the week or to visit family and friends at weekends.” ■ Visit www.whizzgo.co.uk or call 08444 77 99 66 to find out more. For free TravelWise Business Support visit www.LetsTravelWise.org.

Alan Brown, of The Design Division, is a WhizzGo member

THE BIG FEATURE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 somewhere else. A number of P&O Cruise ships went through the Irish Sea. Why did they go through the Irish Sea? Because they are on the way to Iceland, or Greenland, and then on to Norway. That’s what they were doing there – not calling in on various points around the British Isles.” Two of his rival operators, Fred Olsen and Thomson, each mindful of the huge market that exists in North West England, have deployed ships on itineraries starting and ending in Liverpool with mixed results. Prevented from using the Princes Dock facility, they have been forced to sail to and from West Langton Dock using shore-side facilities surrounded by scrap metal heaps and heavy industrial plant. Thomson abandoned plans for a full Liverpool programme after two departures from West Langton in October 2008. Fred Olsen Cruise Lines is persevering despite concerns. Matt Grimes, the line’s director of planning, ports and logistics says the Princes Dock facility is among the best in the world in terms of the splendour of the Three Graces. West Langton, though, is a totally different experience. Grimes said: “West Langton Dock has by far the lowest passenger satisfaction scores of all the turnaround ports we use both here in the UK and abroad.” Liverpool’s charges to the cruise lines are also high, he revealed. ompared to Southampton, recently voted number one cruise turnaround port in the world, Liverpool charges are an average 5% higher. “On top of that there is the extra cost of fuel to reach or return from the Med,” explained Grimes. “Those involved in Liverpool’s cruise operations need to focus their minds sharply. “We would strongly encourage the provision of full turnaround facilities at Princes Dock. We will have a need for such facilities as early as March 2010.” His line’s flagship, Boudicca, is scheduled to start a Liverpool based season of 10 cruises in less than a year bringing a sense of urgency to the need to provide better facilities. “If we can’t use Princes Dock, we will withdraw the programme,” he warned. “We understand that Princes Dock was developed with transit calls in mind and to that end it is an excellent facility,” he added. The essential facilities required are for baggage, customs formalities and checking-in volumes of passengers far in excess of those currently managed through the Isle of Man Steam Packet base. In particular, the baggage operation needs to be slick to cope with the luggage carried by what could total 2,000 passengers a day ending or starting their voyages at Liverpool. A plan to use Liverpool John Lennon Airport as a check-in for cruise passengers whose bags would then be security-checked and bonded for transfer to the berth has been drawn up. But it may not meet with universal

VALUE OF THE CRUISE INDUSTRY COMPILED FOR THE PASSENGER SHIPPING ASSOCIATION 2007 ECONOMIC IMPACT DIRECT EXPENDITURE (IN £ MILLIONS)

1,158 2,053 968 947 2,001 TOTAL JOBS

15,092 36,136

90,545 18,977 43,375 CRUISE PASSENGERS

280,000 763,000 640,000 518,000 1,337,000

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

THE BIG FEATURE

DAVID DINGLE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CARNIVAL UK David Dingle was appointed CEO of Carnival UK in June 2007. He has full operating responsibility for the UK-based brands P&O Cruises, Cunard and Ocean Village, and is responsible for the UK sales and marketing of Princess Cruises. He is also chairman of the Carnival Plc Management Committee responsible for P&O Australia. He joined P&O Cruises in 1978 where, after holding a series of commercial positions, he became managing director in 2000. At the time of the merger of P&O Princess Cruises and the Carnival Corporation in April 2003, he became managing director of Carnival UK. In April 2007 he became chairman of the European Cruise Council, and from March 2007 to April 2008 he served as president of the UK Chamber of Shipping. He has previously served as a director of the Association of British Travel Agents and UK Passenger Shipping Association.

The Saga Rose Cruise ship with the backdrop of the Liverpool waterfront CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 appeal among guests being coached from the airport to the sea port. Liverpool City Council is aware of the need to serve the lines and their passengers better – and the economic impact of turnaround business. A spokesman said: “Liverpool is well aware of both the market potential and economic impact of turnaround for the city but the choice for us was not between having full turnaround facilities or a port call facility. It was between having a port of call facility or nothing. We remain open to new developments and, if the opportunity arises, would be keen to re-examine the situation.” Dingle has some sympathy for those wrestling with the challenges.

“If Liverpool had the sort of facilities of the new type being built in Southampton which is an investment of around £20m then yes – that’s fantastic. That’s an interesting platform.” Interesting indeed. Carnival UK and Southampton operator Associated British Ports formed a joint venture to build the city’s fourth dedicated cruise liner facility – Ocean Terminal, capable of handling 4,000 people at a time and the world’s largest ships. On the south coast though, in contrast to Liverpool, the £20m has been spent ashore not afloat. Southampton’s new liner facility has been built on a ready-made dockside – less of an engineering challenge and cheaper than floating pontoons, link-span bridges and the other infrastructure that would be

required at Princes Dock. Dingle believes the development of full turnaround facilities at Liverpool would appeal to cruise passengers from the North West. He said: “The only slight concern then is that if you are on southbound cruises, the steaming time to say Gibraltar or the Canaries – the points when you really hit the sunshine – is a bit longer, but some people are happy to trade that off against the convenience of getting on their ship in Liverpool. Manchester is 35 miles from Liverpool – it’s over 200 miles to Southampton. It’s got to be of interest, hasn’t it?” So, if adequate shore side facilities can be accommodated at Princes Dock, or elsewhere if the cruise berth featured in developer Peel’s Liverpool Waters plans is ever built, will ships be based at Liverpool?

THE BIG FEATURE

LIVERPOOL CRUISE CALLS 2009 Date

Vessel

Capacity

Cruise Line

May 26

Rotterdam

1,320

2 3

May 29 June 2

590 700

Holland America 300 Regent

3,114

4 5 6 7 “Yes,” says Dingle, one of the most senior UK figures in the cruise industry. “But it’s a bit chicken and egg. The authorities in the North West of England who could make the difference really need to partner with the cruise industry to make this happen because it’s not sensible for them to build speculatively. “They don’t want to build a terminal and then the cruise lines say ‘Ah, well if you’d asked us we would’ve given you a whole host of reasons why we wouldn’t bring our ships there’. It needs to be collaborative. “Clearly you can see there is a market. Thomson tried to do it, and Fred Olsen will continue to do so, except in future they will be bringing a significantly bigger ship that they have brought in the past. That needs to be managed.

“The Princes Dock facility doesn’t accommodate a turn round. That’s the problem. Liverpool Pier Head – what a fantastic place to get on and off a ship. It’s iconic location – it’s superb – but it just doesn’t work for turnarounds.” There is no denying the current facility is better than nothing as the city council spokesman is at pains to stress. “The cruise liner terminal has been a great success, bringing many thousands of visitors to Liverpool and boosting its economy by millions of pounds,” he said. “ It has also earned lavish praise from the captains of the liners using it.” The cruise industry is nothing if not ambitious. Liverpool needs to match its thinking – or miss a lucrative opportunity to bring even more liners back to the Mersey.

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Total

Astor 7 Seas Voyager June 29 Crown Princess July 23 Crown Princess August 14 Maasdam August 16 Crown Princess August 28 Crown Princess August 29 Crystal Symphony August 31 Prinsendam September 6Jewel of the Seas September 18 Deutschland September Seabourn 29 Pride October 20 Queen Mary 2

Crew

Length (m)

593

237

59,652

176 445

20,606 204

41,827

Princess

1,163

290

116,000

3,114

Princess

1,163

290

116,000

1,200 3,114

Princess Princess

557 1,163

219 290

55,451 116,000

3,114

Princess

1,163

290

116,000

960

Crystal

545

237

51,044

800

460

205

37,845

858

294

90,090

270

175

22,400

212

Holland America Royal Caribbean Peter Dielman Seabourn

160

134

9,961

2,620

Cunard

1,254

345

148,528

23,516

10,094

1,001,404

2,110 548

At Spire Liverpool Hospital we provide the highest standards of medical care from the moment you first get in touch until your treatment is complete.

We offer a range of services in a clean and comfortable environment including: • Breast surgery • Cosmetic surgery • Dermatology • ENT • Gastro-enterology • General medicine

• General surgery • Gynaecology • Neuro surgery • Ophthalmology • Oral surgery • Orthopaedic surgery

• Psychiatry • Physiotherapy • Radiology • Reflexology • Rheumatology • Urology

To us it’s more than just treating patients it’s about looking after people. To find out more call Chloe Parr Business Development Manager on 0151 522 1814 or visit www.spirehealthcare.com/liverpool 57 Greenbank Road, Liverpool LI8 1HQ

ADVERTISING FEATURE

As the first private hospital in the city, Spire Liverpool has the experience and calibre of staff to offer an excellent quality of care

Cost of a healthy business Spire Liverpool sets out its stall to help both health and wealth of local businesses IT is currently estimated that 175m working days are lost in Britain due to sickness absence each year The associated cost is reaching £100bn, says Mike Kelly, public health excellence director, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). In the current economic climate, it is essential for employers to consider what steps can be taken to mitigate the costs associated with absences due to sick leave. “Good health makes good business,” says Liz Cousins, hospital director of Spire Liverpool Hospital, recent winner of two national in-house healthcare awards for best improvement in clinical quality and best percentage improvement in financial performance. “At Spire Liverpool we appreciate the importance of good health. We are continually investing in staff training and wellbeing strategies and consequently we are able to provide

a first class service and run a very successful business. “Our nurses undertake at least one additional academic qualification each year, we also encourage them to specialise in an area such as blood or pain management, we incentivise with internal awards. “We have a strict hand hygiene policy in order to maintain our negligible infection rates. This has been a growing concern due to the prevalence of the hospital superbugs. “We follow a strict screening protocol prior to admission and have single occupancy rooms which helps minimise the risk of an outbreak.” Proud as the UK is of the NHS, many companies also like to offer private healthcare options to their staff as it is seen, not only as a way to gain quick and efficient treatment, but also an appealing perk. Spire Liverpool is able to offer packages to meet all requirements, from private medical insurance

through to a variety of self-pay options. The pledge of efficient, safe treatment for employees is a very attractive motivation for employers considering private healthcare as a viable tool to mitigate the cost of sick leave. “We offer the right support as early as possible, so employees can return to work as soon as they are able,” verifies Liz Cousins. Spire Liverpool Hospital continues to be a quality healthcare provider to the people of the North West with over 88% of patients willing to highly recommend its service. Quality of care, reputation and word-of-mouth are key ingredients in their success. Recent patient choice reforms and the introduction of the Care Quality Commission mean people can now see how their local hospitals are performing and can choose where they want to be treated and,

fortunately, Spire Liverpool is a thriving hospital. Liz Cousins continues: “As the first private hospital in Liverpool, we are well established to deliver premium quality patient care. Our hospital has a rich heritage, having been founded by an order of nuns in 1929. “We have heavily invested in the latest technologies to ensure we can get a quick and accurate diagnosis for our patients, which in turn means faster treatment and recovery. “These advancements mean that operations such as arthroscopy, varicose vein removal and certain cosmetic procedures can often be performed as day-case procedures.” Spire Liverpool Hospital has witnessed a 63% year on year increase on its number of patients. It has also seen a seasonal upsurge in demand for cosmetic surgery, particularly for breast augmentation, which is one of the top procedures

that Spire Liverpool performs today. “We are committed to helping treat people as quickly as possible. We have direct settlement arrangements with all the major UK insurers, making a claim simple and speedy. “However, should you not have private medical insurance, you can opt to pay for treatments privately. We offer a single, all-inclusive, fixed price for the procedure that you want,” says Chloe Parr, Business Development Manager. Spire Liverpool has partnered with a specialist medical loans company to assist with affordable finance quickly and easily, and who also offer 0% finance loans (0% APR typical) to approved customers. ■ Don’t suffer in silence. For further information on the hospital or its services, contact Chloe Parr, Business Development Manager, on 0151 522 1814 or email chloe.parr@spirehealthcare.com.

PROFESSIONAL SECTORS LEGAL

BOARDROOM

CONFIDENTIAL with David Holland of Grant Thornton Liverpool

In the first of a three-part series, David Holland, a strategic business advisor, tackles a dilemma posed by the director of a Merseyside business.

In the current downturn costs are obviously under pressure, but I’m concerned that in order to sustain my business I need to address our image – our brand looks dated compared to our competitors. I'm worried this issue impacts on our competitiveness. That said, I can’t see the spend going down well at the bank. How can I justify the investment?

One thread linking together the most inspiring examples of business success is an instinctive understanding of what branding is really all about. For today’s mega brands, such as Tesco or Starbucks, branding is not an isolated function of the marketing department. It’s part of the DNA of a strong business. Branding is about market position, the product and service proposition, the identity of the business. In a downturn, these issues matter more than ever. So the first step is to deepen your analysis. Changing the wrapper is not the elixir of new life. What’s required is a root and branch audit of your ‘brand’, looking at every aspect from outside-in – from a customers’ point of view. Your brand is the entire value proposition you communicate to the market. It should permeate every aspect of the business, from the way your receptionist answers the phone, through the style of the workplace, the organisational culture... even the typeface you use. The leading players in any market understand this on every level. Let’s take airlines. Ryanair, easyjet, Virgin Atlantic – all businesses with a masterful command of their ‘brand’. Panasonic would tell you that ‘Everything Matters’. They are not kidding. A brand is only as strong as the weakest link in that chain. So if you are genuinely looking to rebrand the business you will

need to address the values that underpin your brand and how they translate themselves at every level of the business. Evaluating your brand is a worthy challenge for any MD. In some businesses, such as retailing, knowing when you’ve got a problem brand is straightforward – the store is empty. Diagnosis can be more involved in other sectors but, either way, building and protecting your brand is a critical management function. It requires standing back from the humdrum reality of daily operations and seeking a more insightful understanding. Corporate identity (your logo and design of all your external and internal communications material) is very much a part of your brand, but is only a small element within it. Creative design in this area can be a huge motivator for your people because it is highly visible and it should not be underestimated as a powerful means of galvanising activity and enthusiasm. There are a large number of players in the brand consultancy area and my advice would be: ■ Think through very carefully and precisely what you are seeking to achieve through this exercise. Is it simply a new wrapper for your business or is it a more fundamental shift in positioning and culture? ■ Prepare a detailed brief that includes a definition of the desired outcomes, both tangible and intangible. ■ Look at those businesses, in your sector and elsewhere, whose impact, profile and style you would wish to emulate and find out who they worked with to achieve that market presence. ■ Submit your brief to a select number of agencies you believe have the necessary understanding of your sector, the demonstrable track record of delivery and the creative spark. Request they "pitch" to you. You can then select the team you believe combines a real understanding of your needs with the creative ability to work with you to deliver the outcome you desire. Rebranding is a root and branch exercise, that will touch all of your operations. Good luck with the project.

‘Branding ...is part of the DNA of a strong business’

David Holland was a financial director in industry before joining Grant Thornton’s Entrepreneurial Advisory practice

Mersey lawyers

Ben Schofield looks at how the recession is changing Liverpool’s legal sector and asks leading lawyers how they are coping

VER the past 18 months the recession has caused carnage in UK's banking sector. Analysts agree that even once the dust is settled, the High Street will be largely unrecognisable. The sector will be dominated by fewer, but larger conglomerates. Diversity will have made way for unshakeable titans. With eyewatering speed we have seen the nationalisation of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, the merger of HBOS and Lloyds into the Lloyds Banking Group and the Government taking a huge stake in RBS. Over a similar time frame, Merseyside's legal sector has also seen several high profile changes, with a glut of activity in recent months. Much of this activity may not be recession-linked – though much of it is – it is clear our legal High Street is also undergoing a metamorphosis. On May 20, Hill Dickinson's senior management cut the ribbon in their new offices in Singapore. The firm – famed for its nautical expertise – now has two overseas outposts, the other in the Grecian port of Piraeus. And as of July, Hill Dickinson will complete its merger with City of London firm Middleton Potts. While also working in the shipping sector, Middleton specialises in commodities and will break new ground for the St Paul's Square-based firm. Meanwhile, partners at Goodmans took the mutual decision to demerge into three niche firms – Goodmans, Heaney Watson and Ray Goodman's own firm Goodman Legal. They say the move was not prompted by economic concerns but because strategically client care is best served by specialised firms, rather than broad-based Leviathans. And one of outgoing managing partner Michael Brabner's last acts at the helm of Brabners Chaffe Street was to broker a merger with Bremners, the eight-partner, Tithebarn Street-based firm specialising in commercial and property law. Jackson & Canter will also merge with AS Law in June, creating one of the largest private client practises in Merseyside. But less "good news" stories have also hit the headlines recently. DLA Piper confirmed in February it would lose 130 staff nationwide, 13 of which would be from its Liverpool office. Those redundancies were on top of 31 announced in December. And Halliwells will shed 30 jobs nationwide in a shake up that will see four posts lost in Liverpool. The firm also saw 48 redundancies across its four UK offices last year. In March it also emerged that JST Lawyers were considering putting some of its staff on a four day week to stave off the recession. With these changes in mind, LDP Business asked four of the city's leading lawyers what they made of the sector's reaction to the recession and what the future could hold.

CHARLIE JONES, PRESIDENT OF LIVERPOOL LAW SOCIETY, PARTNER AT WEIGHTMANS

THE life of the law is to some extent cyclical. When the sector is booming, property firms do very well generally. In times when property doesn’t do so well, they suffer. But litigation firms come into their own – they are more recession proof. People will always make claims and will always have accidents. That’s not decided by the economy. Whilst at the moment both residential and commercial property are undoubtedly having a tough time, they won’t go. They might have to trim their sales to deal with the conditions but they will come back. Overall, I don’t think the big picture of legal firms on Merseyside is going to change much because of the recession. But there seems to be an invisible campaign by the Government to get rid of the small firms, the sole practitioner and sole trader, which is a shame. They’re trying to drive

out the small firms – especially criminal lawyers – with regulation. Regulation is all very well, but more regulation suits the big firms because they have the critical mass. Criminal lawyers don’t get paid for a lot of things that they did a year ago because of changes to the legal aid system. There are also hundreds of people coming out of higher education with no chance of getting a job because there’s too many people qualified to do law and the jobs aren’t there. If the face of firms in Merseyside is going to change it’s not necessarily due to the recession, it’s due to the Government. They’re making it harder to become a solicitor even though they’re mostly ex-lawyers themselves. In five years’ time, if the economy picks up, in broad terms the make-up of firms in this area isn’t going to be too different. Some firms will go, some will start up.

PROFESSIONAL SECTORS LEGAL

metamorphose into big boys HELEN BROUGHTON, MANAGING PARTNER OF MORECROFTS

AT MORECROFTS we’re very lucky because we’re a broad church – we do lots of different areas of the law, though we don’t do conveyancing on a large scale nor do we buy in personal injury work. We’re finding things hard, but OK. I think we’re always looking to make cost savings, but we haven’t made any redundancies and we’re very fortunate that we have that broad base. It does test your mettle to make sure you’re planning right and looking for every opportunity. It’s making people realise that you have to be careful in what you’re engaging in. We’ve got money in the bank and we’re OK. Those firms that are well managed and perhaps are a little more cautious are doing OK. The smaller firms that specialise in domestic work or those that do only one area of law are maybe finding it more difficult – unless that firm only does bankruptcies. There are some great mergers being made and that’s a good thing to do because it gives you that big base. Bremners going in with Brabners is a good move. It adds strength to both sides of the equation. Jackson & Canter and

AS Law is also good. That adds value to Jackson & Canter because AS Law have a good track record in their personal work and in their administrative applications. It adds to Jackson & Canter’s portfolio as a good legal aid law firm pursuing actions on behalf of independent people. Also, Hill Dickinson’s move with Middleton Potts is intriguing. It looks like they’re looking into a different legal area by going into commodities practice. Meanwhile there are huge difficulties in relation to criminal work. They are having it from all sides – first of all the rates of pay are particularly low and secondly because of the way that the legal system has gone. There aren’t many trials now. Not only are you paid less for doing the work but because the police are able to give out fixed penalty fines and cautions, they aren’t pursuing as many trials as before so you don’t get the work. But there’s downturns and upturns and I do think we will come out of the recession in a year’s time and those firms that are there will be better for it. It’s not good while we’re in it, particularly for partners.

ANDREW HOLROYD, SENIOR PARTNER AT JACKSON & CANTER AND PAST PRESIDENT OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF ENGLAND & WALES

WITH our merger with AS Law we’re basically doubling the size of our immigration team and increasing our capability on private client immigration as well as the public law and prison law. It made economic sense because we could take AS Law into our existing premises. Their lease was coming to an end – so it made financial sense. It strengthened our unique selling point as human rights and public law experts – it emphasises our place in the market. The bottom line also looks better because we’re taking out some of the overheads of the AS Law operation. In a sense our sector is – unfortunately – better in a recession. The economic downturn leads to more work for our kind of practice. More generally, Liverpool’s legal scene isn’t as connected to the property market as other areas. It’s a very big litigation centre, that’s what the Liverpool scene is really known for, and that’s probably holding up

reasonably well. But there are some bleak conveyancing practices which have had to make serious adjustments to the scale of their business. And commercial practices have certainly seen the downturn. I’ve talked to people and nobody seems desperate. They’re taking necessary action and putting themselves in a good position for when things turn around. I think we will see Liverpool in a strong position. I think we’ve always been very resourceful here and the legal sector will continue to do reasonably well. My view is in the long term you’ve either got to be across the board or quite niche. As part of the economic drive, you’re likely to get larger suppliers in the private client sector. But you’re also going to get people who are niche in terms of service delivery. It’s going to be interesting to see. What’s happening in Liverpool is a microcosm of what’s happening all over the place.

PHILIP ROONEY, MANAGING PARTNER AT DLA PIPER, LIVERPOOL

I THINK it’s caused big shock waves actually. It’s been so sudden – there’s not been an opportunity to readjust resources over time. It has to be done very quickly and that’s caused a fair amount of pain across the sector. The speed and steepness of the decline is what took everybody by surprise. In the middle of last year everyone was aware that things were slowing down but what happened last summer accelerated the decline. Our view is we’re not niche, but we concentrate on commercial work and that’s the way we intend to continue. There are different constituencies in the legal sector and for commercial firms to succeed in the future they have to provide the wide range of services that their clients require. If you’re a full blown commercial firm then you do need to provide a full range of services. Our mix of work now is a lot different from what it was two years ago. We’re about to run a new business stream in Liverpool, akin to something we run elsewhere. We’ve just kept very close to the clients we

know and are going out to knock on doors making sure that if they have got deals to do or other legal requirements they think of us. I don’t think we’ve changed our emphasis but the work we’re doing now is different from what we were doing. Our insolvency work is booming and litigation is up, particularly property litigation. Internally, we had a review nationally of our resources across the offices and all groups in the early part of this year, which sadly resulted in a number of people leaving the firm. That was an attempt to ensure our resources matched our workload for the rest of this year. That’s no different from every other commercial entity in the rest of the country. In March business sentiment altered and people were being more positive. But I think it’s going to bump along for a while. I don’t think we’re likely to see a sudden resurgence and for small firms it’s going to get much worse. People are wondering what May and June are going to bring, but it’s not possible to say we’re going to climb out of this.

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Add value to your business

Leading edge course offers skills demanded at senior management level THE European Centre for Corporate Governance at Liverpool John Moores University is directed by Professor of Corporate Governance, Stephen Letza. Professor Letza has written over 200 academic papers and several research based books. Professor Letza says: “Corporate governance has risen to the top of the agenda for many companies in these troubled times: one only has to look at the banking crisis to see the significance of issues such as regulation and control. “Even the very essence of what constitutes a modern capitalist approach is changing due to the current global crisis. “A knowledge based economy requires people to view themselves as a brand to which they constantly add value in order to make themselves 'recession proof'. “Companies see knowledge creation and thought leadership as crucial elements in their strategic approach to global competition.”

Professor Stephen Letza Professor Letza has a wealth of industry experience and is currently a non-executive director for two companies, including Controline which is involved in high technology control systems. “We aim to develop a blend of leading edge theory and real life practical experiences on the MSc Corporate Governance programme at LJMU. “For an intelligent, ambitious individual wishing to augment their

qualifications and knowledge in a leading edge area, which will always be demanded at senior management and director levels, the corporate governance leading edge course can add value to your business and represents a very coherent choice. “Companies can use this knowledge in numerous beneficial ways.” Professor Letza is a chartered accountant and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Away from his busy academic life, Professor Letza enjoys spending time with his family, as well as playing his beloved trombone – he was once a member of the National Youth Orchestra. ■ For further information on the European Centre for Corporate Governance, or to apply for the MSc in Corporate Governance, email: blwpg@ljmu.ac.uk or telephone 0151 231 3800. You can also visit the website at: www.ljmu.ac.uk/eccg

Gain desirable qualifications at LJMU’s European Centre for Corporate Governance

have you got what it takes to be a 21 Century Business Leader? st

Prestigious MSc Programmes in Corporate Governance Commencing October 2009 You have achieved a lot but the professional in you knows you have to take the extra step to attain excellence. As the world evolves, business decision makers need the tools and skills to analyse, and find effective solutions to, a range of complex issues. The European Centre for Corporate Governance (ECCG) offers flexible, one year Masters level programmes in Corporate Governance, Risk and Crisis Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Management Consultancy.There is also the potential to undertake PhD studies in these areas. The MSc programmes develop in participants the ability to perform in a variety of business settings, and provide the perfect opportunity to learn from experienced business practitioners who are highly academically qualified. Whether you are running your own business, managing a department or working your way up the corporate ladder, our programmes and expertise are invaluable. 30

If you have at least 3 years’ management experience and a good first degree or other relevant qualifications then these programmes can help you to fulfill your career aspirations. We also invite applications from exceptional people who may have a non-standard background. Experienced MBA graduates can also apply for our fast track route (normally 7-8 months). ECCG has an established reputation for excellence in corporate governance, leadership and management education. Our degrees are recognised by the National Foundation for Business Excellence who sponsor an annual award for the best performer.

The next induction day is 5th October 2009. For details on how our MSc programmes can best meet your needs please the contact the Programme Administration team on telephone: 0151 231 3800 or email: blwpg@ljmu.ac.uk quoting reference LXM43. Alternatively, you can visit the website at www.ljmu.ac.uk/eccg

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

in association with

Ancient city, modern ambitions

The new HQ development, Grosvenor Roundabout, Chester

Chester wants to position itself as a must-see European destination. Alex Turner reports YEZ! Oyez! A 10-year plan costing £1.5bn could turn Chester into a must-see European destination. Oh no! Oh no! Work on the £460m Northgate Development will not start before 2012. Chester’s reputation as a city full of history is well-deserved, but it can appear to struggle to get its modern-day message out there about what it has to offer. But the city does have plenty to shout about. It has one of the lowest levels of unemployment in the region, with just 3% of its working population claiming jobseeker’s allowance compared with 4.6% across the North West. And it has just 2.3 claimants for every unfilled job

centre vacancy, whereas regional and national averages are more than three times greater. Its residents are better-qualified than regional and national averages with more than one in three of its working-age population having degree-level qualifications. The University of Chester now has 14,000 students at its Chester and Warrington campuses, and in the last two years has opened the £5m Westminster Building and the £2m Chester Students’ Union Building. Chester has much higher-than-average levels of people working in professional and management roles – which boosts the average weekly pay to £518, £67 higher than the North West average. Prof Phil Harris, dean of the faculty of business, enterprise and

lifelong learning at the University of Chester, believes the city’s economy has remained relatively strong through the downturn. He said: “Although Chester is showing signs of the recession, it is weathering it better than many others because it’s quite a mixed city and regional economy. “It’s a regional tourism centre and one of the characteristics of the downturn is that more people are holidaying at home. People are looking for a good leisure centre. “Its history is also an advantage. It probably was the place that time passed by. “Yet it increasingly has got its own international status. Chester quietly gets on with it and its status is growing. “It fits very nicely alongside some

of the other European models. As soon as visitors are here they find it a very pleasant environment. “Chester races and a number of other events are helping the hospitality, tourism and events businesses to hold up quite well. “There’s quite a strong agricultural base which underpins it. Some, of course, is downturning, which is reflecting the general economy.” Chester also has a strong entrepreneurial spirit, with research by accountants UHY Hacker Young placing the city fourth in the UK for business creation. The latest figures showed a net total of 21 new businesses for every 10,000 resident adults were set up in Chester, compared with the UK average of just 12 in a year.

John Ierston, partner at UHY Hacker Young, said: “These figures show that Chester has actually managed to up its game over the last year. But these figures only cover the early stages of the credit crunch, so Chester City Council and Chester’s business support groups will have to work hard to attract more businesses to the area to maintain Chester’s success at creating new businesses as the full impact of the recession hits the city.” Mr Ierston argued that Chester’s ability to replace closing businesses with new start-ups will determine whether its economy can continue to weather the economic conditions better than rival cities. However, despite its strength the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CHESTER

Shoppers walking under Chester’s Eastgate Clock. The city wants to propel itself up the league of the UK’s top shopping destinations CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 city is facing some difficulties with the banking and property sectors impacting on its fortunes. MBNA owner Bank of America has said it is looking to cut 30% of its global workforce, although it is not yet known how many of the 4,000 staff in Chester will be affected. Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) – now part of the Lloyds Banking Group – announced in April it is to axe its motor finance division with the loss of 340 jobs in the city. Mr Ierston said: “Since the bubble burst, losses like this in the financial services sector and also in the property sectors are becoming more commonplace in Chester.

“This means that business growth in financial services sectors and in related support services will take a knock as the economic climate worsens. Small start-ups will also struggle to secure funding because lending standards have tightened up dramatically.” Prof Harris agrees the upheaval in the banking sector presents a challenge for the area. “There’s a lot of the financial services industry that has been particularly hit in the general downturn,” he said. “Clearly the restructuring of the banks will have an impact, but Chester is quite diversified within the sector. “Chester is known as a very good

retail area and is attractive nationally and internationally. To be holding its position it’s got to make sure its facilities are up to scratch. “We now have broad agreement for one of the largest Marks & Spencer stores to go in the north of the city. “There are delays with the Northgate complex but the more important thing is to have a viable retail sector in the city.” The ongoing Northgate saga has dented the city’s ambitious plans to become a must-see European destination. The plans have been hit by bad timing as the credit-crunchturned-recession has hit developers especially badly. The scheme was originally

launched in 2002 and promised 60 shops covering 420,000 sq ft including a three-storey House of Fraser, a new library, market and performing arts centre. In short, it was to be a major regeneration of the city centre. But the downturn caused delays as the project stalled because of falling property values. Then it was announced the scheme would be shelved for the next three years. More positively, in February property developer Land Securities – which has Clayton Square shopping centre and Aintree Racecourse retail park among its vast portfolio – agreed to join financiers ING to investigate the viability of the revised scheme.

Cllr Mike Jones, Cheshire West and Chester Council leader, is aware of the value of the Northgate development. “It’s important but not critical,” he said. “It’s not had the focus it should have had over the last 15 years. “It’s a part of Chester that needs sorting out. It’s not critical to the success of Chester – it’s a success already. But it will elevate Chester to a position of eminence.” Cllr Jones believes the city can benefit from a closer working relationship with other areas. “I am very keen to work with Liverpool and North Wales. We have got a lot of history together,” he said. “My challenge to all our neighbours is ‘how do we provide a

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CHESTER

An artist's impression of the Northgate development

Prof Phil Harris

Cllr Mike Jones

Martin Lee

Computer-generated image of Chester Zoo’s £225m bio-dome plan shopping and holiday experience?’ “If we can deliver that we will be a major attraction. We are not competing with each other, we are competing with the rest of the UK and Europe. “If we can deliver that we can deliver an important boost to the growth and prosperity of the area.” A key part of delivering the plans for the city is Chester Renaissance, which is overseeing the major projects. As well as the Northgate development, £10m is being spent on regenerating the gateway to the city, which includes major work at Chester railway station. There is the £50m Castle Gateway mixed-use development at the former

police headquarters and retail and office opportunities at the £34m Delamere Street project. Martin Lee, chief executive of sub-regional partnership Cheshire and Warrington Economic Alliance, believes the city can prosper by working together. He said: “The thing we do is work where we can to bring forward big programmes. One of those is the coming together of a very wide range of partners behind the Chester Renaissance project. “There had been a whole series of not-very-well connected projects – what Chester Renaissance seeks to do is bring those together for the development if the city. That’s really positive.

“There are lots of things coming together, but Chester still remains a little bit of a sleeping giant in the North West.” But he is positive about what the city offers and its potential to continue to be an attractive location for businesses and staff. He said: “What we find from our own experiences is that those things make Chester extremely attractive to inward investors. Those businesses are trying to set up somewhere that’s not a major city centre and want to offer a better quality of life for their staff. “It’s a very, very attractive environment. “Chester appeals to a certain part of the market – it is complementary

to Liverpool and Manchester. “Chester isn’t just about the past – it has proven over the last 10 years that it is as much about the future. “Businesses choose to come to Chester rather than coming here just because they are offered huge subsidies. It means they tend to stay because they come for the right reasons, they are not choosing to come for what they can get. They come because it is where they want to locate and grow.” Growth is a stated aim of Chester Zoo, which plans to become one of the world’s leading wildlife attractions. An ambitious £225m project to expand part of the 50-hectare site to include a huge bio-dome facility

called the Heart of Africa has been unveiled and the transformation is expected to create hundreds of jobs. The first phase of the construction, called Natural Vision, costs £90m and will see the UK’s only domed ecosystem completed. The domes are expected to dwarf the Eden Project in Cornwall and will allow visitors to travel on an interactive water ride to gain views of the enclosures of gorillas, okapi and chimpanzees as well as reptiles, amphibians and birds. Planning permission for a 90-room themed hotel, conservation cottage, an education centre, a revamped main entrance, retail and dining facilities will be sought later this year with completion due in 2018.

‘Get out of Town’

Nexus Office Park Junction 4 M57 Knowsley 1st phase completion

High quality refurbished ofﬁce units with air conditioning Total 40,000 sq ft available to let Units from 1,980 sq ft Additional

at Ofﬁce Parks , d r o f n i a R , n o Huyt rt Ellesmere Po & Mold

208

M57/J4

GEL LIN GS

AT E

A580

RA ND LE SR

SCH

OO L LA

0845 365 5555 34

www.spencerpropco.com

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

HOW GREEN IS YOUR BUSINESS?

Avoiding congestion at Estuary Shop Direct staff take to their bikes and car share to reduce CO2 EMPLOYEES at Liverpool-based retail giant Shop Direct have made changes to their travel habits which are estimated to have cut their carbon footprint by hundreds of tonnes of CO2 a year. And the three-year green travel programme has been so successful it is now going to be rolled out at other company locations across the UK. The company, formerly Littlewoods, employs 1,600 people at its headquarters in Speke. Between them they have taken part in a string of initiatives including cheap bus travel, car sharing, cycling and anti-congestion measures. Around 11% of the employees at Speke – who travel in from as far afield as Cheshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire – now car share, saving around 100,000 journeys, more than 800,000 miles and 210 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. In June 2006 the company joined forces with Liverpool John Lennon Airport and The Riverside Group to form the on-line Estuary Car Share Network in a bid to reduce traffic jams and pollution in south Merseyside. Up-to-the-minute news of major road and rail problems – including traffic congestion in the Mersey tunnels and at the Runcorn Bridge – is also circulated by e-mail by Shop Direct Group and is helping to persuade about 17% of staff to alter their travel habits. More employees now work later, work out in the gym, go shopping or visit family and friends then travel home when traffic is moving again, rather than get stuck in gridlock. Shop Direct Group also works with bus operators to offer tax and National Insurance-free bus travel, saving staff around a third in fares and cutting the company's carbon footprint. Plans include introducing a dedicated bus service for employees at the company’s returns centre in Oldham this summer. Not only will this cut the cost of travelling by a third, it will also get them to work on time for their shifts – saving cash, reducing stress and improving productivity. Regular rail commuters can also count on interest-free annual loans to cushion their travel costs. And staff keen to step up their fitness are snapping up places on the company’s pool bicycle scheme, now

SMARTER TRAVELLING HUNDREDS of businesses are saving time and money by providing sustainable workplace travel plans for their staff. Organisations that help their workers discover alternatives to single-occupancy car use are not only benefiting the environment but are also finding there are financial and productivity benefits. The National Business Travel Network (NBTN) – a Department for Transport initiative – is a business-to-business network that enables companies to share best practice and promote the idea of workplace travel plans. Heather McInroy, NBTN programme director, said: “Our network exists so that we can demonstrate – through real examples – how businesses can reduce their employees’ singleoccupancy car use and bring about financial, social and environmental benefits. “We hope that by demonstrating the successful initiatives out there that we can encourage and inspire more businesses and their employees to set up travel plans and more sustainable travel. “As well as strong environmental reasons to reduce commuting and business travel by car, there are substantial cost savings to be realised by organisations too.” NBTN members include a wide range of organisations, from global corporations and high-street names, such as AstraZeneca, BskyB, BT, E.ON, Orange and Vodafone, to government bodies and small companies. The NBTN says it has a strategy for all businesses, whether small or large, in both the public and private sectors.

Designated car share parking bays at Shop Direct Group, Speke attracting an average of around 2,000 bookings per year. Bikes are available to travel to and from work, for healthy lunchtime and weekend leisure rides and to raise funds at local charity cycle events. More teleconferencing and video conferencing is also being encouraged. Last year employees around the country took part in more than 31,000 hours of teleconferencing and 450 hours of

video conferencing, both seen as the way forward in cutting air and road travel. The green travel strategy was launched three years ago by travel plan manager, Phil Spick. He says the programme is a success, adding that more and more employees are climbing on board to cut their travel expenses and boost their quality of life. “Transforming promising ideas into positive action has been a

challenge for our company, because many of our employees travel long distances to work and have shift patterns that often conflict with green travel options,” said Mr Spick “But since we launched our comprehensive travel plan in 2006, we have introduced a number of practical measures and incentives to encourage them to think more creatively about the ways they tackle their individual transport needs – reaping a range of benefits.

“Our plan has proved so successful in Merseyside that we are now rolling it out to our other sites around the country, adapting its core principles to suit the specific needs of each area. And being part of the NBTN (National Business Travel Network) enables us to seek expert advice – such as the tax implications of offering rewards to encourage car sharing – as well as sharing ideas and best practice with other members.”

Government needs to put its money where its mouth is LIVERPOOL businessman David Hunt claims the government rhetoric on cutting carbon emissions isn’t being matched by its actions. His company – Eco Environments – specialise in helping businesses and households cut their energy use. The firm’s team of specialists will supply and

install energy-saving equipment such as wind turbines, solar panels or heat pumps. The Labour Government says it is committed to a low carbon economy but Mr Hunt claims it is not putting its money where its mouth is. He cites a recent move that saw the withdrawal of a programme giving 50%

grant funding for solar power installations for schools, education, charities, churches and not-for-profit organisations. “The Government has said it wants 20% of our energy coming from renewable sources by 2020,” said Mr Hunt. “At the moment the figure is around 1% and we

will be lucky if it reaches 1.5% at the present rate. “There was some extra money in the Budget but that is for bigger projects that have already been decided. We have schools and charities locally seeking this funding, now their projects are stopped dead in their tracks, and jobs at installers like ours are at risk.”

David Hunt of Eco Environments

HOW GREEN IS YOUR BUSINESS?

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

The Mersey ferry Royal Daffodil makes waves on a choppy River Mersey on its way to Woodside, Birkenhead

Harnessing the power of the Mersey

Study confirms that tidal power is the way forward for North West rivers FRESH research produced in Liverpool has identified the River Mersey as an ideal location to generate wave power. Engineers at the University of Liverpool and the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory claim that building estuary barrages in the North West could provide more than 5% of the UK's electricity. A regional tidal energy group involving Port of Liverpool owner Peel and the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) is already involved in studies to determine exactly what type of scheme would be most suitable. Ideas so far looked at include a barrage, giant water wheel or a fence and gate system. The university’s new study

determined that four estuary barrages, across the Solway Firth, Morecambe Bay and the Mersey and Dee estuaries, could be capable of meeting approximately half of the North West region’s electricity needs. Funded by the NWDA, the team investigated different types of tidal power, including barrages – which run from one bank of an estuary to another and guide water flow through sluices and turbines – using advanced two-dimensional computational modelling. They found that the most effective mode of generating electricity was ‘ebb generation’, which involves collecting water as the tide comes in and releasing the water back through turbines once

the tide has gone out. The barrages would provide substantial sea defence, as well as flood alleviation, by draining the estuary following heavy rainstorms. Electricity generation could also help to achieve the UK’s CO2 emission reduction targets. Professor Richard Burrows, from the Maritime Environmental and Water Systems Research Group, in the University’s Department of Engineering, said: “With concerns mounting over the UK’s future energy provision, it will soon become paramount that all sources of renewable energy are fully developed. “Unlike the wind, tides are absolutely predictable. The geographical location of the UK, and

the seas that surround it, provide a great platform for marine renewable sources. “The best places to harness tidal power at meaningful scales are areas with a high tidal range such as estuaries. Tidal barrages would alter the natural motion of an estuary’s flow as the sea level changes, usually by holding back the water at high tide and then releasing it when the tide has subsided. “This water level difference across the barrage is sufficient to power turbines for up to 11 hours a day, and, in terms of the four North West barrages, the energy extracted could equate to 5% of the UK’s electricity generation needs.” Joe Flanagan, head of energy and environmental technologies at the

NWDA said: “The regional development agency is pleased to have supported this project, which has provided an important stimulus to the concept of tidal power in England’s North West. “There are a variety of groups and individuals promoting a number of schemes in the region, which have now been brought together under the Northwest Tidal Energy Group. “Building on the work of the Liverpool team, I expect that a number of more detailed feasibility studies of individual schemes will be undertaken in the near future. “Although most of the focus for tidal energy has been in the Severn estuary I would welcome the UK's first major tidal scheme here in the North West."

Green fingered agents help Woodlands Trust Hospice STAFF at the Liverpool office of commercial property agency CB Richard Ellis turned their attention from the region's buildings to a hospital garden. Twenty CBRE employees spent a day landscaping and planting new gardens at the Woodlands Trust Hospice in Aintree following building work at the site. Now the trust’s patients can enjoy the restful gardens throughout the coming summer months.

As well as volunteering their time, CBRE raised £2,000 for the project, which was used to fund the purchase of plants and equipment. Stuart Meadowcroft, senior surveyor at CBRE, who led the charity team, said: “It is fantastic that the CBRE team was able to make such a positive difference to the hospital. “The patients at The Woodlands Trust Hospice endure so many difficulties

related to their illnesses. Hopefully the garden will provide restful surroundings, which will support them emotionally during their stay. “This is just the latest charity project for CBRE and we are already looking forward to our next event. It really is important that businesses still find the time and energy to support their local charities despite the current economic downturn.” “The Woodlands Trust

Hospice complements the hospital and primary care teams in the region by providing palliative care. The Trust currently provides day therapy, medical assessment clinics, counselling, bereavement support, lympoedemia clinics and an outreach service. The new inpatient unit will open at the beginning of May and provide 15 single bedrooms with en-suite facilities.

CBRE staff landscaping Woodlands Trust Hospice’s gardens for patients to enjoy

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Improving your efficiency

Commitment to recycling drives B&M’s award-winning waste management service B&M Waste Services Ltd, specialise in mobile compaction waste collection services for business organisations. Since entering the market in the year 1999 the company has built up an impressive reputation for delivering reliable and efficient waste collection services. It has been their commitment to recycling that has persuaded most of their current clients to switch to them, but it is B&M’s reliability and efficiency that has kept them as loyal customers. They run an extensive fleet of both Trade and Front End Loading (FEL) vehicles from their Manchester and Wirral depots which service the full spectrum of businesses throughout the North West. They have supplemented their general waste collection fleet with dedicated cardboard, paper and glass collection vehicles to ensure that they can satisfy their customer’s diverse recycling requirements. There is not a business sector they do not provide waste management and recycling services for, typical examples of which include: ■ TRADE Shopping Centres, Hotels, Markets,

High Street Retailers, Fast Food, Schools & Colleges ■ COMMERCIAL Managed Offices, Banks, Solicitors, Local Authority Buildings, Estate agents, PCT’s and Doctors ■ INDUSTRIAL Hospitals, Printers,General Manufacturing Warehousing, Food Manufactures, Chemical Companies, Support Services Apart from general waste and recycling services, their customers benefit from a wide range of support services which include providing: ● Hazardous waste registration and collections ● Fully compliant WEEE regulated Bespoke onsite recycling services ● Recycling reports ● Regional and national waste management services ● ISO 9001, ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001 compliance In its brief history, the company has won numerous accolades including Environmental Business of the Year 2003, 2005 and 2008. B&M was voted Merseyside’s Medium Business of the Year 2008 at The Daily Post Regional Business Awards for their outstanding service and investment in the environment.

The company has an extensive fleet of waste collection vehicles

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Net phone use surges VoIP technology experts predict massive gains LIKE many other sectors, information technology has taken a battering from the prevailing economic storm. However some Merseyside companies are continuing to ride the crest of the business wave. Intrinsic Technology, for instance, grew by 36% last year and forecasts similar if not higher gains in 2009 as more customers seek out flexible and cost-effective communication systems. Intrinsic specialises in internet telephony and unified communication sytems. Since access to the internet is available at local

phone connection rates, an international or other long-distance call is be much less expensive than through the traditional call arrangement. However, using the internet is just the framework for systems that have become increasingly sophisticated. Intrinsic's Gregg Spooner explained: "I can go to any telephone within our business and log on to my own extension and from then I can tell who is on the phone or who is on a conference call, for instance. "Unified communications is not just about a voice-based system though, it incorporates everything,

TIMES ARE CHANGING MERSEYSIDER Mick Clarke who runs Digital Exchange Products (DXP) explains how telecommunication services are evolving. “Internet telephony, or VoIP (Voice over internet Protocol) comes in various guises, but is all based on the same technology. As we see a migration from analogue or digital telephony, to IP

telephony, the traditional telephone system or telephone exchange may become a thing of the past. In fact BT’s introduction of 21CN (21st Century Network) is basically the replacement of the existing network to an IP based network, where voice and data calls are sent as packets, rather than transmitted in the standard method.”

computers, phones, email, messaging. It effectively fuses diverse multimedia and applications on to a single network, allowing the customer to benefit from substantial cost efficiencies and improved business agility." There is no typical end user. Customers can include small and large business, local authorities, hospitals and educational institutions. Intrinsic install the hardware and provide 24-hour IT cover with a network of 30 field engineers around the country. The company has rolled along on the back of revenue growth averaging 55% a year which has showed no sign of recession wear-and tear. It has been a steady and sustained climb since the Haydock business launched as a data communications company that has developed along with the technology within its particualr sector. Turnover has risen from £3.5m in 2004 to £18m last year. Mr Spooner added: "Overall business performance is excellent, and stable growth has been underpinned, through the signing of a number of long term contracts with our customers. This together with important partnerships we have established will provide the stable platform of our growth in the years ahead.”

Rapid embrace of new ideas required COMPANY culture lies at the heart of whether or not an organisation is prepared to embrace new ways of working. Liverpool-based Rapid Technologies says it is becoming a generational issue as younger people and graduates look for those businesses that are progressive. One area of growth is interactive technologies such as whiteboards which can be used for virtual meetings. Rapid’s managing director Mark Stevens said: “Some businesses have really got to get a grip and realise the world is changing. In some cases there is still resistance at board level to change but this is becoming and increasingly generational thing. “Pupils in school and students are growing up with new technologies. If you have a graduate walking into a business that still used old-fashioned flip

charts, for instance, they won’t be too impressed. “With the interactive whiteboard you can do business all over the world, sharing data, editing worksheets and so on. “This also addresses the green agenda. There is no reason now why people fly all over the place for meetings and of course the bottom line for many corporates as well is the cost savings that can be made.” Rapid was established in 1985 supplying computer hardware, software and peripherals to business, education and the local community. Rapid were one of the North West 's first specialist computer dealers to have in-house service and technical support departments. The company has now evolved into a One-Stop-Shop for organisations wishing to improve or implement new ICT products and solutions.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Green power plant launches

The cutting edge Gasifier designed by George Willacy (inset) of Refgas in Sandycroft, Chester

Firm converts waste materials into eco-friendly electricity A FIRM that has developed technology that turns wood and waste into energy has delivered its first power plant. Refgas in Chester has installed its renewable energy technology at the University of East Anglia in a £2m deal. The university will use locally-sourced woodchips which will be converted by a machine called the Gasifier to produce two megawatts an hour of electricity. The self-contained plant will provide heat and light for half of the university’s campus and reduce its carbon footprint by a third, as well as deliver substantial savings on its annual electricity bill. The plant will

pay for itself in five years. George Willacy, chairman of Refgas, said: “The University of East Anglia is one of the greenest in the UK, and our technology will now improve on their already impressive credentials. “We’re very proud to be working with them. Their decision to use Refgas is testimony to our ability to provide reliable, renewable clean energy technology based on what the client needs.” He also explained how it works: “After recycling plants have removed all suitable materials such as clean paper, some plastic, metal, wood and aggregates, approximately 30% of the

WHAT IS BIOMASS? THE term 'biomass' can be applied to any fuel type derived from recently living tissue or biodegradable material. Many biomass fuels can significantly reduce carbon emissions if they are used to displace fossil fuels, especially in 'heat only' applications such as firing boilers providing space heat and hot water in buildings. Some biomass types can

also be converted into liquid fuels suitable for use in vehicles. Biomass fuels can be cheaper to use than fossil fuels in many circumstances, so, combined with increasing fossil fuel prices and energy security issues, biomass is becoming a more and more attractive option. This is reflected in the rapidly increasing number of installations.

original input still goes to landfill. “This residue after recycling is the base fuel for the Refgas gasifier, known as refuse derived fuel.” Refgas, which employs six at its Sandycroft factory, was formed two years ago, although Mr Willacy has worked in the production of waste processing plants for 30 years. The power plants gasify fuel made from biomass – items such as wood chips, plants or plastics - to produce syngas, which powers an electrical generator. The generating machines are made in modular form so they can be put together to suit specific needs and environments. By adding several modules together significant amounts of electricity can be produced from relatively small unobtrusive sites. Power generation ranges from 500Kw/hr to 2Mw/hr modules which can be combined, so plants can supply clean energy to anything from a single factory to a small town. Recent EU studies have concluded that biomass is the only long term solution to mass power production after nuclear power in the light of current climate problems. The company is continuing to seek new business opportunities across the public and private sectors. And with many organisations becoming environmentally and cost-conscious Mr Willacy is confident of generating much more business.

Intelligent application protection for Microsoft solutions Situation The protection of IT applications and solutions is a key consideration as new projects are deployed in computing environments, but What about data? For many of these projects the answer for data protection has been the same for years- “take a backup and store the information on Tape media.” Paul Stringfellow, of local IT Solution provider Gardner Systems

•Limited specialist expertise available to restore data •Excessive high cost resources consumed (storage, Network) •Virtualised environment complexity

Microsoft System Centre Data Protection Manager (DPM) DPM puts a new focus on the application protection topic; the focus of DPM is the rapid recovery of information by those

says, “This approach was suitable when the IT systems played a

who need the protected data. Using advanced technology,

supporting role to business needs and when IT systems were not

DPM provides continuous application availability while

business critical, but this approach now does not meet the current

minimising the IT Storage and Network resources consumed.

urgent needs of users to have access to their data. In today’s world,

DPM protected data is organised for specific fast granular

time is money, and ´time to data` is an essential criterion in the

recovery - from yesterday, last month or even over a period

design and selection of the system, software and peripherals.

of many years.

The use of tape backup, though seemingly efficient, actually

When linked to the intuitive wizard based interface and the

takes too long to restore data and therefore negatively impacts

simple value licensing model, the DPM solution becomes a

the business.”

compelling proposition to compliment or augment existing

“The leaders in the businesses we talk to are becoming

data protection tools.

increasingly aware that their IT must meet increasingly aggressive recovery point and recovery time objectives to allow the business to continue to function and meet their customers’ demands, in the event of an IT service issue” Paul continued. These Issues manifest themselves in many ways; •Missed deadlines or business impacted by poor access to backed up data •Lost data due to poor processes (backup not started/ failed) or media problems •Business impact as Backup runs (applications; slow or no service) •Complex inter departmental co-ordination required to restore data

DPM Benefits 1. Unmatched Exchange, SQL Server, SharePoint and Virtualised System Support 2. Near Zero data loss for transactional systems 3. Rapid Granular recovery of information in minutes not hours 4. Elimination of “Backup Window” loss of service 5. Advanced Data filtering technology 6. Enable consolidated protection using central assets and processes 7. Low cost simple licensing model

ADVERTISING FEATURE FREE LIVERPOOL BRIEFING DATES:

Relying on your infrastructure THE PLATFORM that you chose to run your business on is a critical decision that customers take very seriously. Infrastructure is rarely seen as “sexy” but a modern, well managed infrastructure can reduce the costs of running your business, improve your security and help you deploy applications that allow your business to survive and grow in today’s climate. Paul Stringfellow, of local IT Solution provider Gardner Systems says, “We see many customers running old versions of key infrastructure products in the belief that they are good enough, but when they review the real cost of running on old platforms, it’s usually much higher than the cost of the upgrade. Not only that, they often ignore the fact that their old infrastructure is stopping them growing by restricting the ability to deploy and manage the new applications they need to drive their businesses forward”. 70% of servers in the UK run Microsoft Windows Server® and the latest version, Windows Server 2008 have gained critical acclaim and a huge number of happy customers due to its focus on reducing the cost of IT infrastructure. Windows Server 2008 provides: • A rock-solid server foundation that is secure, manageable responsive, interoperable and compatible • A platform that supports rapid development and delivery of smart and connected applications • Agility to increase operational efficiency and IT effectiveness • Improved branch office management and enhanced end-user collaboration • A platform that provides a more secure and reliable IT infrastructure, to help organisations meet project objectives on

NEXT DATE:

Tuesday 14th July To register to one of these a.m. events please visit our Website at www.gardnersystems.co.uk/microsoft to register your attendance and see how your business can start saving money.

time and within budget, allowing staff to focus on priorities important to the company. Windows Server 2008 focuses on improving and reducing the cost of four key areas of customers’ infrastructure:

1. Virtualisation With its built-in server virtualisation technology Windows Server 2008 enables organisations to reduce costs, increase hardware utilisation, optimise their infrastructure and improve server availability through server consolidation

2. Web Windows Server 2008 is a powerful web application and services platform that provides organisations with the ability to deliver rich web-based experiences efficiently and effectively. With improved administration and diagnostics, better development and application tools, as well as lower infrastructure costs.

3. Security Windows Server 2008 is the most secure Windows Server ever. Its hardened operating system and security innovations, including Network Access Protection, Federated Rights Management and Read-Only Domain Controller, provide unprecedented levels of protection for an organisations’ data.

4. Solid foundation for Business Workloads Windows Server 2008 is the most flexible and robust Windows Server operating system to date. With new technologies and features such as Server Core, PowerShell, Windows Deployment Services, enhanced networking and clustering technologies, provides you with the most versatile and reliable Windows platform for all your workload and application requirements.

✁

If you would like to notify us of any other areas which you would like Microsoft to offer advice, please contact us via the following locations:

MONTHLY BRIEFINGS ON MERSEYSIDE AT GARDNER SYSTEMS SPECIALIST BRIEFING CENTRE.

•

Provide a suitable meeting point between local Microsoft users and key Microsoft technical and commercial staff.

•

Showase new global offerings from Microsoft and how they can be deployed locally.

We are committed to our customers and are interested in hearing from you. A list of forthcoming Merseyside seminars is available at www.gardnersystems.co.uk/microsoft where you can register your interest or attendance at one of our events

www.gardnersystems.co.uk/microsoft

Name: _____________________________________________________________

✁

The objective of these meetings is to:

I am interested in _____________________________________________________

Organisation: ________________________________________________________ Tel: __________________________ Email: _______________________________ Email: microsoft@gardsys.co.uk Tel: 0151 220 5552 - request Microsoft Desk

Fax: 0151 220 5715

Post to: Microsoft at Gardner Systems plc, 1 Faraday Road, Wavertree Technology Park, Liverpool L13 1EH

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Are you looking for ways your organisation can save time, space and money? Now you can do more with less

For many mid-size enterprises managing storage, completing backups and controlling the day-to-day running of IT, makes finding time to implement any new data management solution a difficult task.

Liverpool Briefing Dates: To register to one of these events please visit our Website at www.gardnersystems.co.uk\netapp to register your attendance and see how your business can start saving money.

■ Cut your nightly backup window by 90%

About Gardner Systems Gardner Systems is a specialist IT Company based on Wavertree Technology Park. Since its formation in 1984, the company has gone on to develop strong relationships with leading global IT companies such as NetApp to allow our customers to take advantage of technology from IT industry leaders. By building close relationships with these influential global players, Gardner Systems is able to bring the wealth of resources available through such multinational companies to local businesses in the North West. www.gardnersystems.co.uk

or more increasing business uptime ■ Improve storage utilisation by 50% or more, which means less hardware and less cost. ■ Reduce annual power and cooling costs by up to 30%

MONTHLY BRIEFINGS ON MERSEYSIDE AT GARDNER SYSTEMS SPECIALIST BRIEFING CENTRE.

About NetApp NetApp creates innovative storage and data management solutions that accelerate business breakthroughs and deliver outstanding cost efficiency. Discover our passion for helping companies around the world go further, faster at www.netapp.com/uk

✁

If you would like to notify us of any other areas which you would like NetApp to offer advice, please contact us via the following locations:I am interested in _____________________________________________________ Name: _____________________________________________________________ Organisation: ________________________________________________________

✁

The objective of these meeting is to provide a suitable meeting point between local IT users and key NetApp technical and commercial staff. Best known for our world beating storage and back-up solutions, we are leading specialists in:-

To register to one of these a.m. events please visit our Website at www.gardnersystems.co.uk\netapp to register your attendance and see how your business can start saving money.

If you want to find out how, why not join us at one of our informal briefings here at Gardner Systems where we’ll introduce you to NetApp and their technology and how it can help your business save money when deploying a storage infrastructure.

■ Reduce storage systems by 10:1, making storage easier to use and manage

For more details of this programme visit: www.netapp.com/uk/soltions/infrastructure/ virtualization/guarantee-uk.html

Wed 17th June Thurs 23rd July Thurs 20th August

We can help....

NetApp delivers simplicity with a range of data management systems that means you can:

All this from one, unified solution and one leading vendor: NetApp - delivering simplicity and value throughout your enterprise. In fact, NetApp guarantee you will use 50% less storage with them, compared to traditional storage solutions, and offer the NetApp 50% Virtualisation Guarantee Programme with this in mind. *

FREE LIVERPOOL BRIEFING DATES:

Tel: __________________________ Email: _______________________________

■ Virtualisation

■ Back Up and Recovery

Email: NetApp@gardsys.co.uk

■ Database management

■ Messaging and Collaboration

Tel: 0151 220 5552 - request NetApp Desk

We are committed to our customers and are interested in hearing from you. A list of forthcoming Merseyside seminars is available at www.gardnersystems.co.uk/netapp where you can register your interest or attendance at one of our events

www.gardnersystems.co.uk/netapp

Fax: 0151 220 5715 Post to: NetApp at Gardner Systems plc, 1 Faraday Road, Wavertree Technology Park, Liverpool L13 1EH

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Providing global solutions

Gardner Systems brings international IT companies to region IT HAS become well recognised by the IT user community of Merseyside that Gardner Systems has fulfilled its’ ambition to connect them with key global IT manufacturers and service providers. Household names such as IBM, HP, Microsoft, Sage, NetApp, Lenovo, Axis and Avaya are all using the Gardner Specialist Briefing Centre to bring local users up to date as to how they can get the best out of their IT based business systems. “It’s most important to appreciate that many users do not have the resources in the present economic climate to purchase much in the way of new hardware or software, they really want to understand how they can squeeze their existing assets. “We also have a great many clients whom are able to plan expansion – despite obvious difficulties – but who fully realise that any investment must produce an acceptable and agreed

level of return,” says Alan Huyton, Gardner’s Sales Manager. Microsoft is one key partner whom has been very active in offering key solutions to users who are coping with ever increasing demands in the midd le of a downturn. To that end, Gardner and Microsoft are offering free workshop events to explain ways to reduce costs by careful examination of licensing and usage of Microsoft operating systems and applications. Most customers welcome an opportunity to review their usage, check their purchasing is optimised and update their compliance records. This frequently releases revenue to allow clients to consider enhancing an existing activity or introduce a new and business changing one. Traditionally, IT advisers would consider one aspect of a client business at a time. These days, the

position is far more complex. Users leveraging software assessment will want to assess other technologies such as virtualisation, back-up and recovery, data management and messaging. That is where global experts such as NetApp can add their knowledge and experience – in the same Liverpool briefing centre. Cost is therefore key to all of these changes and who better to offer the most energy and process efficient hardware platforms than IBM. Additionally, their global finance division (IGF) is a Tier 2 bank with considerable resources. In days when many enterprises are struggling to secure financial support, it is encouraging to know that IBM is willing and able to help out locally. ■ Call 0151 220 5552, visit: www.gardnersystems.co.uk, email: CEO@gardsys.co.uk

Gardner Systems is based in Liverpool at Wavertree Technology Park

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Exchange rate woes beaten

Halewood revenues saved by hedging

THE unpredictable nature of the currency markets has been a concern at Halewood International, as its overseas operations account for 13% of its turnover. The Huyton-based drinks firm, which has a portfolio including Lambrini, Red Square vodka and Tsingtao beer, generates £30m a year from its significant presence and manufacturing operations in South Africa and Romania as well as a joint venture in China. It also exports more than 500,000 cases of a wide variety of products to more than 40 countries. The company recently announced it made operating profits of £7.6m on a turnover of £227m in the year to June 2008 – a period marked by major changes in the exchange rates. The company said: “The group’s South African subsidiary has continued its strong growth driven by increased volumes. This has resulted in operating profits increasing by £900,000 for the subsidiary during the period.” Halewood said it seeks to minimise the risk of exposure to changes in the currency markets. It added: “The group sells and operates in mulitple markets around the globe and it is exposed to movements in key currencies, in particular the euro, dollar and South

African rand. “This risk is managed at a group level with forward contracts taken out to manage the risk.” There have been big changes in the company’s key currencies against sterling. From September 2007 to April 2008, sterling gained 13% against the rand and slumped 15% against the euro. While in the same period sterling only slipped slightly – 1.5% – against the dollar, it later fell 17% in the three months to November 2008. The currency fluctuations have continued throughout the early months of 2009. Halewood has also been working in China since 2001, when it established a joint venture with the Beijing Shunxing Wine Company, which enabled it to start producing Red Square for the Chinese market. Since then it has launched other products into the market as well as expanding its geography to include other countries including Malaysia and Thailand. It also became the UK distributor last year for Beijing-brewed Tsingtao beer – one of the world’s ten largest beer brands. This coincided with a major fillip for the brand with the success of the Olympic Games in Beijing leading to an upsurge in demand for Tsingtao.

UK trade deficit narrows

THE UK’s trade deficit in goods and services narrowed in March by £300m, adding to the £200m drop in February. The deficit stood at £2.5bn in March, although both imports and exports fell. A £4.1bn surplus in services was maintained, while the deficit on trade in goods was reduced to £6.6bn, continuing a trend of narrowing the gap.

The reduction arose from a significant fall in the trade deficit with non-EU countries, which dropped more than 10% to £3.3bn. Excluding oil and erratic items, the volumes of exports and imports were both 4%lower in March than in February. Export prices rose by 2% compared with February, and import prices rose 1.5%.

John Halewood of Halewood international

THE NETWORKER

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

THE BUSINESS LIST Tuesday, June 2

An export-focused business breakfast is being held at The Heath Business and Technical Park. Margaret Bourke, international trade advisor, UKTI North West international trade team, and Mike Snape, innovation advisor, Enterprise Europe Network, will be the speakers. The event, one of Halton Chamber of Commerce’s 1stuesday series, starts at 7.45am at Foodini Restaurant and is free to Halton Chamber members and £10 for non-members. To book, contact Nicola on 01928 516143 or email nicolah@haltonchamber.com.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24/LIVERPOOL DAILY POST REGIONAL BUSINESS AWARDS

Wednesday, June 3 Chester Business Growth Club is meeting at Mollington Banastre Hotel, Chester from 7.30am-9am. After breakfast there is a five-minute presentation from a member company on business growth, followed by structured networking. It costs £23, while Chester, Ellesmere Port and North Wales Chamber members will pay £11.50. To book, visit www.cepnwchamber.org.uk or call 01244 669988.

Monday, June 8 St Helens Chamber is holding a free business surgery on tax or employment issues with advisers from HMRC and ACAS. One-to-one appointments lasting an hour can be booked on 01744 742000.

Wednesday, June 10 A seminar on using eBay to either sell online for the first time or increase sales is being held at St Helens Chamber. It costs £10+VAT for members and £15+VAT for non-members. For more information contact Rachel Wellens on 01744 742028.

Thursday, June 11 Business Link Northwest with NWDA is hosting a Survive and Thrive event, designed to help your business through the economic downturn. Hear from members of The Directors’ Centre who will explain how to make it through the current economic climate while

Last year’s Liverpool Daily Post Regional Business Awards, held at St George’s Hall THE change in the world economic landscape over the past 12 months has been the most dramatic, turbulent and unpredictable since the Great Depression. It may seem at first glance like a strange moment to be

celebrating the achievements of Merseyside’s great businesses and entrepreneurs, but in reality there could hardly be a more appropriate moment. The Liverpool Daily Post Regional Business

Business Link experts will provide tips on how to manage your business in the credit crunch and make money at the same time. The

Awards will be a tribute to the courage, hard work, expertise and irrepressible spirit of our business community as it faces up to challenges on a scale unprecedented in living memory. But there is no hiding

the fact that times are tough for all businesses, and our awards this year will be a salute to the dynamism, drive and determination with which the best of our business people are facing up to the challenge. The ceremony will take

Thursday, June 18

free event is at the Crowne Plaza, Liverpool, from 8.30am-5pm. For more information, call 01772 790154 or e-mail events@businesslinknw.co.uk.

A seminar providing expert advice to help manage cash flow effectively and meet all the legal requirements is being hosted by St Helens Chamber. For more information contact Rachel Wellens on 01744 742028.

Thursday, June 11 The Business After Hours networking event is being held at Kingdom, Harrington Street. Starting at 5.30pm, the event will also include a cocktail masterclass. It costs £11.50 members / £17.25 non-members. To book, contact Sue Platt or Melissa Bush on 0151 227 1234 or e-mail events@liverpool chamber.org.uk.

Tuesday, June 16 Cocktail masterclass at Kingdom

Networking group Business 9am is holding Connection, its informal networking event, at Room, Castle

place once again in front of an audience of 500 guests in the magnificent surroundings of Liverpool’s St George’s Hall. To book your place at the awards dinner, priced £95+VAT each, call 0151 472 2570.

Friday, June 19

Chester Business Growth Club is meeting at Mollington Banastre Hotel, Chester Street, from 9am-11am, free to members. Non-members should contact Sophie on 07590 710519 or e-mail liverpool@ business9am.co.uk.

How to build a business team is the subject of Striding Out’s networking event. Victoria Brown, founder of High Performance Consultancy, will share her knowledge on best practice in interviewing and recruiting a top team for your business. It takes place at Leaf Tea Shop and Bar, Parliament Street, Liverpool from 6pm-9pm. For more information, call 0151 267 0248 or e-mail liverpool@stridingout.co.uk.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

SOCIAL DIARY THE NETWORKER

Alex Davies, Colette Johnston and Pat O'Brien from OBW Engineering

Carolynn Hawkins and John McDownell from Leisure Management

CAROLYN HUGHES Steven Broomhead, chief executive of the NWDA, and Martin Wilcocks from Wilcocks Associates

THE makers of teen soap Hollyoaks, Lime Pictures, hosted two fundraising events in Chester. The Soapstar Football Challenge at Chester City Football Club saw almost 2,000 people cheer on a Hollyoaks 11 versus an All Stars 11. And Chester Racecourse was the venue for the Hollyoaks Ball, which saw 360 people enjoy a musical extravaganza provided by the Hollyoaks cast who were joined on stage by Coronation Street’s Kym Marsh. ■ SOME of the region’s most successful companies, entrepreneurs and business leaders

headed to Chameleon Bar to celebrate the 5th birthday of business lobby group, Downtown Liverpool in Business (DLIB) ■ PEOPLE from across the city headed to the Baltic Triangle for the launch of a new restaurant and tavern. The Orchard which is on the former site of Cantina Tequila, boasts a 500-person capacity, with 120 covers in the restaurant. ■ MORE than 150 of the region’s leading technology businesses gathered in Liverpool’s Radisson SAS Hotel to celebrate the launch of the Liverpool Software City International.

Warren Whyte (Transglobal Payment Solutions), Ian Wheeler (Transglobal Payment Solutions), Alice Hughes (Alice in Wonderland Jewellery), Richard Bamford (Enterprise Ventures)

Phill Woolley (Entwistle) with Louise Woods (DLIB)

Hollyoaks actors Zoe Lister, Lena Kaur, Gemma Merna, Jorgie Porter, Saira Choudhry and Claire Cooper

Ian Maguire (Rippleffect), Andrew Binns (Rippleffect), Julie Meyer (Ariadne Capital)

Hollyoaks actors Jennifer Metcalfe, Helen Pearson and Nicole Barber-Lane

Actors Jamie Lomas from Hollyoaks and Kym Marsh from Coronation Street

THE NETWORKER

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

BUSINESS LUNCH Alistair Houghton goes to the Vincent Hotel to meet Southport Business Enterprise manager Jim Breen F YOU’D seen the pictures of guests at a launch party eating sushi off the body of an (almost) naked lady, you might be forgiven for thinking Southport’s Vincent Hotel wasn’t an obvious business lunch destination. But fear not – high-profile gimmicks aside, the Vincent makes an eminently stylish place for lunch. The place may attract some of Merseyside’s A-listers and WAGs, but LDP Business wasn’t there to check out its most expensive dishes. Instead I wanted to see whether the Vincent’s V-Café & Sushi Bar could offer an affordable business lunch. My guest on this fine spring morning, proudly sporting his I Love Southport badge, was Southport Business Enterprise (SBE) manager Jim Breen. New Yorker Jim has been a Southport resident for some 17 years and for the past six has been charged with promoting the town as a great place in which to live, work and do business. He says he has seen the resort change greatly in recent years, and is hopeful that there is more to come as Southport bids to cement itself among the region’s top shopping destinations. The resort may be best-known for its old-fashioned charm, but the Vincent, with its contemporary feel, means it can now cater for the most design-conscious traveller. Jim said the Vincent was seen as a breath of fresh air in Southport – and as a Japanese food fan was pleased to hear it was also a sushi specialist. He said: “We have a lot of hotels but we hadn’t had a big new hotel for a long time, so as a boutique hotel it was a welcome addition.” The menu offers a broad choice of Japanese-style options, as well as a wide range of other mains, but this time we went for the lunchtime meal combos. I went for the soup and a sandwich option at £6.95, while Jim unsurprisingly chose the soup and sushi at £7.95. While we waited – not for long – Jim told me about his badge. It’s part of a campaign from SBE’s marketing working group to encourage locals to shop in Southport and attract visitors to the resort. Its work has been enthusiastically backed by local media. LDP Business’s sister title the Southport Visiter has been running its own parallel Shop Local campaign since November, and is a partner in the I Love Southport campaign.

Jim, whose wife’s family hail from the area, moved to Southport in 1992 when he was working for a financial services firm in Manchester and says he was already an evangelist for the resort before he joined SBE. “Southport is a fantastic place by the seaside,” he said. “There’s nowhere else like it in the country. “People love Southport for different reasons. The whole idea of the badge is ‘I Love Southport because....’ because of what? “People might love Southport because of the shops, or the seaside. I love to play golf so I’m spoiled for choice. There’s a lot of things about Southport to enjoy.” Our food arrived swiftly, with our respective soups alongside our mains. I was served a bowl of creamy vegetable soup. That sounded too wintry a soup for a sunny Southport day, but in fact it was a light concoction that went down a treat. Jim said his Oriental chicken soup was almost a meal in itself. “It had a real spiciness to it but it was very light and full of fresh vegetables,” he said. Our conversation moved on to SBE’s other activities. SBE’s environment and safety group aims to make the town a safer and more attractive place to visit, with work improving lighting and other street furniture. Its Retailers Against Crime team brings together the police and the business community to run the town’s security radio network. SBE’s Chapel Street Area Management working group manages the pedestrianised street, which is one of the town’s key retail destinations. Finally, its business retail and strategy group brings together property owners, retailers and planners to debate how the town’s retail offer should be improved to help it attract more visitors. The Southport Investment Strategy, a 10-year plan forecasting the development of the town, says it needs another 300,000 sq ft of retail space. It says the town also needs a

The V-Café, inside the Vincent Hotel, Southport “high-quality new department store”. The Southport Partnership says “feelers” have been put out to potential shopping centre developers, who could invest up to £140m in the town, and that retailers such as House of Fraser have expressed an interest in coming to the town. Jim said: “For a town of this size we have a broad retail offer, because we have so many visitors a year. “But we do need to raise our game. We need an anchor department store, which we don’t have at the moment and which people expect. “We don’t have the floorplate for a store that size right in the centre, so that means a redevelopment. “The other challenge is that we need several 15,000 or 20,000 sq ft floorplates for modern retailers – not full department stores, but stores for modern retailers who need more space than we have.

Jim Breen

“The town was largely built in Victorian times. The shops are around 1,000 sq ft each. “What makes Lord Street, for example, is its Victorian heritage. You can’t just chop and change. “The economic climate has to improve because there aren’t funds available. But this is our aspiration for the future.” Southport has been hit hard by the recession, with the collapse of Woolworths in particular leaving a big hole in Chapel Street, but Jim believes the resort’s smaller independent shops are comparatively well-placed to ride out the recession. All through our conversation we kept returning to our small yet perfectly-formed platters. My sandwich of the day was a beef and pineapple wrap, served with a tangy chutney. The warm wrap had an almost melt-in-the-mouth quality, with small pieces of beef in a pineapple relish. Jim’s salmon and avocado rolls were delicious but he particularly enjoyed his four pieces of chicken. The chicken pieces – deep fried, but light-years away from chicken nuggets – were served with a chilli mayonnaise. The restaurant had a steady stream of visitors, from families of

all ages to young couples and fellow besuited types. With its large windows opening up onto busy Lord Street, the V-Café & Sushi Bar is ideally located for a business lunch – and, with its range of sandwiches and light meals, needn’t break the bank. Too soon it was time to leave, and I walked with Jim along Lord Street, watching him survey his adopted home. Jim’s broad New York tones mark him out as an exotic beast in Southport, but he insists his years in England have left their mark. “When I go back to New York with my mates, they say ‘you sound English’,” he said. “My wife cracks up. I must have picked some phrases up here.”

DETAILS V-Café & Sushi Bar The Vincent Hotel 98 Lord Street Southport Tel: 01704 883800 www.thevincenthotel.com

Access Downtown’s Little Black Book Downtown Liverpool in Business Join The Business CluB wiTh ATTITUDE! 0151 227 1633 www.DownTownLIvErpooL.com

THE NETWORKER

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

BARRY TURNBULL ... in which our hero learns that beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder and prudence is not necessarily a virtue for Virgins OU GET the occasional invitation in this job. In recent months they have included quaffing pink bubbly at Herbert’s champagne bar and scoffing cottage pie at a property industry gathering where a Yorkshire comedian went down like a stricken U-boat when he embarked on some stereotypical Scouse japes. One offer that was a little more unusual than most was to attend the final of the Miss Great Britain beauty pageant. Ogling fit birds in swimsuits while being plied with free ale? Sounded like heaven. Unfortunately travelling to London during the middle of the week made a night out in Grimethorpe sound appealing. Funny things beauty contests though. I recall the annual Miss World competition used to be a real

family TV event until political correctness reared its head in the 1980s and it disappeared from terrestrial screens. Pageants do appear to be making a comeback though and locally we have seen the return of Miss New Brighton. In Italy it is planned to hold a contest for nuns – based on inner beauty, naturally – while Cameroon’s version is only open to ladies of 198lbs plus. Miss Great Britain holds particular memories for me as I first encountered the 1969 title-holder Wendy Anne George as a small boy in my home town of Hartlepool in the North East. The visit caused a frisson of excitement in a dead-end town known chiefly for stringing up a monkey dressed in a miniature French uniform for being a spy during the Napoleonic wars. I was in a store when she breezed in with a general greeting of “Hi, I’m Wendy” in some sort of weird ecky thump accent which I then tried to

mimic using the same words. Unfortunately she heard me and asked if I was a Wendy too why wasn’t I wearing a dress? It was a public humiliation I’ve never forgotten. These days she appears to be living in Wigan and still involved in organising contests. I had another brush with a Miss GB in 1984 when I attended the switch-on at Morecambe illuminations. The luminary chosen to do the honours was Liverpool model Debbie Greenwood. She was following in the footsteps of such greats as Rod Hull and Emu, the Wombles and Roger Moore. I was there purely to mingle and enjoy the free grog until a photographer informed me I was on inteview duty as the reporter due to turn up had been delayed. At this stage I’d enjoyed seven pints of Tetley’s finest and was buzzing. I sought out the relevant public relations person and whilst stumbling over my words managed to spill some ale over her blouse. Not my finest moment and needless to say I was advised that an interview with Ms Greenwood might not be the greatest idea. Much more recently I did a photo-shoot with Danielle Lloyd when she was Miss Great Britain but before she was stripped of her title for canoodling with one of the judges. The pictures that were subsequently published, while entirely tasteful, had caught the eye of the government’s social inclusion officer for the North West. I was summoned to an interview and told that scantily-clad females were not the sort of role models they expected to see in a serious business publication. The accompanying PR person agreed, nodding solemnly and adding: “Barry, you need to go on a course, mate”. he credit crunch has exposed the greed of the financial system and gullability of punters daft enough to accept shedloads of loan money they had no hope of repaying. Me, I’m a bastion of fiscal virtue. I’ve no credit cards, no loans, owe no money and am solvent. My reward? To be informed by a Virgin sales assistant that my business was not wanted after I had applied to take out a mobile broadband service at £15 a month. Mystified, I asked why, when she muttered something about Equifax, the credit ratings company. Further investigations revealed that because I had no recent credit history I was an unknown quantity and therefore deemed a bad risk. So much for prudence. Funny old world, isn’t it?

Of course, it wasn’t all glamour for beauty queen Debbie Greenwood, seen here in 1979 with Tom O’Connor

ants • Acquisitions • Architects • Asset Financiers • Auditing • Bankers • Barristers • Societies • Building Surveyors • Business Start-Ups • Career Consultancies • Chartered rs • Chartered Valuation Surveyors • Company Relocation • Computer Systems Construction Consultants • Consultancy • Consulting Engineers • Corporate Finance rate Recovery and Insolvency • Creative • Events Management • Finance • Financial • Forensic Accounting • HR Consultancy • Incubators • Individual • Information Services ation Technology • Insolvency Services • Insurance • Intellectual Property Advisers • Audit • Investment Bankers • Investments • Lawyers • Legal • Loans • Marketing and nication • Merchant Bankers • Mortgage Services • Patent Attorneys • Payroll Bureau • s and Investment • Private Banks • Private Equity • Professional Associations • Project rs • Property • Property Consultants • Property Developers • Property Investors • rs • Quantity Surveyors • Recruitment • Regeneration Consulting • Research • Stock • Taxation • Trade Mark Attorneys • VAT • Venture Capitalists • Web Design • Accountants tions • Architects • Asset Financiers • Auditing • Bankers • Barristers • Building Societies ng Surveyors • Business Start-Ups • Career Consultancies • Chartered Surveyors • d Valuation Surveyors • Company Relocation • Computer Systems Advice • Construction ants • Consultancy • Consulting Engineers • Corporate Finance • Corporate Recovery and cy • Creative • Events Management • Finance • Financial Advisors • Forensic Accounting onsultancy • Incubators • Individual • Information Services • Information Technology • cy Services • Insurance • Intellectual Property Advisers • Internal Audit • Investment • Investments • Lawyers • Legal • Loans • Marketing and Communication • Merchant • Mortgage Services • Patent Attorneys • Payroll Bureau • Pensions and Investment e Banks • Private Equity • Professional Associations • Project Managers • Property • Consultants • Property Developers • Property Investors • Publishers • Quantity Surveyors tment • Regeneration Consulting • Research • Stock Brokers • Taxation • Trade Mark s • VAT • Venture Capitalists • Web Design Accountants • Acquisitions • Architects • nanciers • Auditing • Bankers • Barristers • Building Societies • Building Surveyors • s Start-Ups • Career Consultancies • Chartered Surveyors • Chartered Valuation Surveyors Join •us today to build your any Relocation • Computer Systems Advice • Construction Consultants Consultancy ting Engineers • Corporate Finance • Corporate Recovery andbusiness Insolvency • Creative •reputation with and Management • Finance • Financial Advisors • Forensic Accounting • HR Consultancy • rs • Individual • Information Services • Information Technology • Insolvency Services the• professionals. e • Intellectual Property Advisers • Internal Audit • Investment Bankers • Investments rs • Legal • Loans • Marketing and Communication • Merchant Bankers • Mortgage • Patent Attorneys • Payroll Bureau • Pensions and Investment • Private Banks • Private

Professional Liverpool is the business network and sector support organisation for financial and professional service firms across the Liverpool City Region.

For more information on how your business can benefit from membership contact us on: T: 0151 795 0125 E: info@professionaliverpool.com www.professionaliverpool.com 51

Welcome to business class

With its superb location and panoramic course views, Formby Hall Golf Resort and Spa is an inspiring place for business.

Away Days Packages from £42.50* per person

Our conference rooms and suites can hold from 2 delegates to 300 and come complete with the latest facilities and equipment.

*Based on a minimum of 10 people

Corporate Golf Membership

Corporate Golf

7 Day Packages available

Packages from £75* per golfer *Based on a minimum of 24-60 members

Visit

www.formbyhallgolfresort.co.uk

or call 01704 875 699 for more details. Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa, Southport Old Road, Formby, Merseyside L37 0AB 52

Combined with our championship golf course, challenging PAR 3 inland links course, state-of-the-art leisure club and indulgent Spa, it makes for a very persuasive proposition. For further information on our corporate packages contact the sales ofﬁce.