Post business - 24th October 2013

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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Mersey Maritime kicks off third business forum with LFC CLOSE to 100 businesses from across Merseyside united at Liverpool Football Club (LFC) for an action packed business forum delivered by trade body Mersey Maritime.

The event was part of Mersey Maritime's 'On the Road' initiative which is visiting all six boroughs of the Liverpool City Region.

The forum, held in Anfield's Trophy Room, saw

presentations from LFC's managing director Ian Ayre, Mersey Maritime's chief executive Jim Teasdale and Liverpool Vision's Tracy Lynn.

It comes hot on the heels of Mersey Maritime signing LFC as a new executive member.

Mr Teasdale said the event was designed to explain the benefits of joining Mersey Maritime and highlight important opportunities in

the regional maritime sector.

“We are very grateful to LFC for partnering with us to host our latest travelling business forum,” he said.

“It was another successful event helping to raise the profile of Mersey Maritime and our ability to help businesses grow.

“We were able to explain our role delivering business support, training and education.

“We were also able to open discussion on key infrastructure projects and regional events which are expected to transform the regional economy.”

Mersey Maritime is the sector development body for the Liverpool City Region's ports, maritime and logistics businesses.

Mr Teasdale delivered an update on the £1.8bn SuperPort project which is set to

create 100,000 new jobs in the region.

A presentation was delivered by Ian Ayre about LFC's global appeal and plans for future growth.

Tracy Lynn, project director for the International Festival for Business 2014 (IFB), which is being held in Liverpool, gave information on the event programme, which will have a maritime themed opening week.

Plan B prepares to step in as answer to Sefton Chamber

by Neil Hodgson

POST BUSINESS STAFF

neil.hodgson@liverpool.com

PLAN B, a new organisation for businesses in Sefton, is being launched tonight.

It is a response from businessmen and women across the borough following the collapse of Sefton Chamber of Commerce earlier this month.

Formed and chaired by Jonathan Cunningham, managing director of Storm Consultancy, the group’s mission is to provide a locally-based forum to support business, commerce and the community.

Mr Cunningham said: “Following the sad demise of Sefton’s Chamber of Commerce there was an immediate need among the business community for a group which enables business development and support.

“This is a very new and dynamic type of business forum – no membership fees and whose only agenda is to enable and develop local and regional business.

“We held a very informal meeting last week of former chamber members at the Ramada and the attendance and enthusiasm was phenomenal.

“There is now a real wave of ‘Dunkirk Spirit’ with everyone doing whatever they can. I have been humbled by people’s offers of assistance.”

He added: “The desire from people to form a group which provides opportunities for business growth, training and giving back to the community was clear.

“Plan B aims to do just that by creating a group which is run by, and for, local businesses. More importantly, not for profit.

“This group isn’t just about making connections, it’s about creating significant opportunities for the business community through outstanding events and development courses.”

The group has already selected a board and sub-committees with spe-

SIX in 10 working women have had a male colleague behave “inappropriately” towards them, according to research out this week.

The study showed that women were still subjected to sexist attitudes at work and nearly a quarter have experienced a senior colleague making a pass at them at some point in their career.

When it came to inappropriate comments and touching, more than half the offenders were more senior members of staff and two-thirds of women said the inappropriate behaviour came from a married man.

But despite saying the behaviour of their colleagues was often degrading and embarrassing, only 27% reported the behaviour to someone senior.

The research polled 1,036 women and was commissioned by employment law specialists Slater & Gordon.

The research findings echo the views of Liverpool-born employment law consultant, Michael McDonough. who in Post Business last week called on more firms to offer training to staff on what constitutes sexual harassment.

Claire Dawson, an employment lawyer with Slater & Gordon, said: “We deal with some really shocking cases of sexual harassment in the workplace.”

POST BUSINESS DAILY Jonathan Cunningham, of Storm Consultancy, is behind Plan B’s bid to serve Sefton businesses cific remits such as Business Breakfast, Business Women, monthly Business Events and Business Development.

The official launch of Plan B, with the strap line ‘Connect Inspire Sup-

port’, is taking place tonight at Southport’s Ramada Hotel.

Sefton Chamber of Commerce revealed last month that it had encountered cash flow problems.

A meeting is taking place at 11am

Financial advisers named in top 200 TWO independent financial advisers (IFAs) from St Helens and Southport have been voted among the top 200 in the UK by clients.

Allie Baglow, from St Helens, and Neil Bart-

Study says women are being harassed

lett, from Southport, both made the list, published by a national newspaper.

The advisers were selected after clients reviewed and commented on their services on

consumer ratings website vouchedfor.co.uk.

Mr Bartlett has been an IFA for more than 20 years and currently works for Abacus Associates Financial Services. His clients

include the National Union of Teachers.

Meanwhile Ms Baglow works for Allisons Financial Planning and her specialisms include long-term care and earning protection.

today at Southport’s Ramada Hotel for Sefton Chamber of Commerce members to vote on the winding up of the limited company, and the appointment of Manchester insolvency practitioner Kay Johnson Gee as liquidators.

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Get on boards UNIONS have issued a call for workers to sit on company boards.

The TUC published two reports it said backed its argument that the UK system of relying solely on shareholders to hold a company to account had not delivered economic success or social justice.

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Thursday, October 24, 2013

news

Visiting Norwegians seeking business links in Liverpool Jan-Roger Henriksen has brought around 10,000 Norwegian visitors to Liverpool

by Neil Hodgson

POST BUSINESS STAFF

neil.hodgson@liverpool.com

SOME of Norway’s most important bankers and their clients heard about the International Festival of Business 2014 (IFB) in a lightning visit to Liverpool.

Sparebank 1, one of Norway’s biggest banks, brought a 100-strong party to the city last weekend for a conference and cultural visit.

On Friday they enjoyed a dinner in the Metropolitan Cathedral’s impressive Crypt and on Saturday morning they attended a conference at Merseyside Maritime Museum, before taking in Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Southampton in the afternoon, then dining at Liverpool’s East Z East restaurant before finishing on Sunday

with a tour of the city and a private party at the famous Cavern Club.

Saturday’s conference included an address by Mark Butchard, formerly of the Mersey Partnership and now a business consultant, and from Marketing Liverpool head Chris Brown who spoke about next year’s IFB to be hosted in the city, and backed by Prime Minister David Cameron.

For many it was their first visit to the city and Martin Hagen, chief executive of Sparebank 1’s Adm.dir operation, said: “It is a fantastic town. I called my wife yesterday and said our next holiday will be Liverpool.

“I am very interested in the growth you have achieved in so few years. It’s like moving the town from the countryside to a beautiful town. We should learn more about this story because it is impressive.”

On the IFB he added: “This would

be very interesting to Norwegian companies. I think there’s business to be done here. A lot of Norwegian companies could do business with companies in Liverpool.”

The event was organised by JanRoger Henriksen whose travel company Now We’re Talking, based in Sandefjord, 100kms south of Oslo, has been coming to Liverpool for 10 years.

He estimates that in that time he has brought up to 10,000 Norwegian visitors to the city, boosting the local economy: “There are a few people running bars here that are quite happy with that,” he said.

His visits are either sport-based – mainly football but also including the Grand National – or business trips.

Mr Henriksen said: “I have been coming here since 1980, when I came to see the best team in the world, Everton. But from 2004 there has been

an amazing story here.

“We take clients to 50 cities in 20 countries, but Liverpool has been very important for us.

“When we bring corporate groups one of the main reasons is if a company brings employees it helps team building, and when they bring clients you can do business-to-business, and Liverpool is perfect for that.

“We always experience good stories here. We had a great night at the Cavern. They let some people get up on stage and when people get experiences like that they talk about it and they experience together, and that makes them connected and that is when business happens.”

Mark Butchard said: “We need to get our message out to places like Oslo and work with chambers of commerce in places like that, that Liverpool is open for business.”

Manufacturing in event spotlight

Workers at risk

BUSINESS people are being invited to register for a conference discussing the future of manufacturing in Merseyside.

Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, will be the

SAFETY checks on building sites revealed dangerous practices and poor standards on almost half of those inspected.

The Health and Safety Executive said it visited over 2,600 sites last month where refurbishment or repair work was taking place, and discovered that, in 1,105 of cases, basic standards were not being met.

keynote speaker at Making It, being held next Thursday, October 31.

The event will also feature an exhibition area with stands from companies such as BAC Mono, GETRAG, MerseySTEM, and CNC Robotics,

and other speakers such as Alan Welby, from Liverpool City Region LEP. To register for the conference, held at The John Lennon Art and Design Building, go to www.makingit.glasgows.co.uk

post business 3

Dragons Den style network launching A DRAGONS Den-style club which matches angel investors with entrepreneurs is expanding to Merseyside.

Angels Den holds monthly speedfunding and pitching events across the UK, Europe and Asia and is holding a breakfast launch for its Merseyside network at Liverpool Innovation Park from 8am on Tuesday, October 29.

John Sheehan, North West regional manager of Angels Den, said: “Cash is very tight for businesses despite all the hype we hear and the banks’ adverts on television.

“The Merseyside area is full of innovators who cannot easily get funded in conventional ways.

“Angels Den has had a strong presence in the North West for the last six years and recognises that there is a strong need to focus ever more strongly on Merseyside.”

Angels Den events include speedfunding, which sees business owners attempt to woo potential investors in the style of BBC television programme Dragon’s Den. Mr Sheehan said: “Business Angel Investment will now take place at the Liverpool Innovation Park on a regular basis.”

He added Angels Den and Liverpool Innovation Park can “make a real difference” to Merseyside’s economy.

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4 post business big feature

Bill Gleeson A venerable British brand taking on the world and winning NEWS emerged at the weekend that Jaguar Land Rover plans to open yet another overseas factory.

An announcement about a deal to build a factory in Brazil is expected before Christmas.

By the time it opens, the Brazil assembly factory could be JLR’s fourth overseas plant.

Plans are well advanced to build the Range Rover Evoque, which is also built at Halewood in Merseyside, at a factory outside Shanghai, which would create up to 1,000 Chinese jobs.

Another plant is earmarked for India, and discussions are underway with the Saudi Arabian government that could see 50,000 JLR cars built there every year as part of the Middle Eastern country’s industrialisation plan.

The drive to build overseas factories comes as the carmaker’s global sales continue to rise strongly. Its latest figures show that it had a record monthly sales performance in September, retailing 43,181 vehicles, up 17% versus the same period last year.

During the first nine months of the year, JLR sold 312,834 vehicles, up 16%.

Sales for the first nine months of the year were up in all major regions with Asia Pacific up 29%, the China region up 24%, North America up 17%, the UK up 15%, Europe up 5% and other overseas markets up 19%. In September, the Land Rover division sold 34,719 vehicles, up 13% with a particularly strong month from the Range Rover Evoque up 31%.

JLR now exports £11bn worth of vehicles a year, making it Britain’s largest exporter of manufactured goods. The company’s performance under Tata ownership continues to be impressive.

It makes you wonder why Ford couldn’t achieve the same results when it owned the company.

It just goes to show what can be done with a famous, old, British brand when it’s in the right hands.

A FURTHER encouraging sign that things are picking up again is the news that Stena Line is adding a third vessel to its Liverpool-Belfast service.

This is very good news because shipping is an extremely sensitive barometer of the state of the economy. The economy must be picking up if shipping lines see the need to expand capacity.

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has waded into the political controversy surrounding energy prices.

The former Dean of Liverpool was responding to the latest price rises imposed on consumers by British Gas, SSE and NPower.

The Archbishop argued that energy pricing is different from the pricing of other products.

He described the price rises as inexplicable and said energy companies shouldn’t feel free to merely maximise profits at the expense of ordinary people keeping warm in winter. It is, he says, a moral issue.

He is absolutely right.

We cannot dispense with our need for energy and, despite Government attempts to liberalise the market, the fact is the energy industry still bears all the hallmarks of a monopoly. As the Archbishop pointed out, customers don’t really have the choice of taking it or leaving it.

The fact is, however, Britain’s supply of gas in particular is tied into the European market. This puts a limiting constraint on the availability of gas to UK consumers. To genuinely liberalise the market, more needs to be done to improve the supply of gas and increase the variety of sources.

The Archbishop’s intervention is most welcome. As shown by the behaviour of bankers in the past, Britain’s business leaders do, from time to time, need a guiding light.

The £5m a year British Gas chief Sam Laidlaw has applied for planning permission to build a second heated swimming pool at his luxury home at a time when many people can’t afford hot water for their bath tub.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Region’s jobs While UK enjoys a record number of jobs, the North West sees numbers fall Bill Gleeson reports

T

HE latest official labour market figures show that unemployment nationally fell in August while the number of jobs in the British economy hit record levels.

However, the same set of figures also show that neither of these things are true for the North West of England. The region is the only part of England that saw both rising unemployment and falling job numbers.

While the headline UK unemployment figure fell 18,000 to just under 2.5m, or 7.7%, the figure for the North West rose 24,000 to 294,000, or 8.6%.

The number of jobs in the UK as a whole rose 279,000 over the previous 12 months to 29.87m. In the North West, the number of people with jobs fell 50,000 to 3.12m over the same period.

This region’s poor performance contrasts with improving trends in the North East, even though that region has higher levels of unemployment.

The poor performance has puzzled many economic commentators.

Nye Cominetti, an employment market researcher at the Work Foundation, points to data that shows the North West’s employment market has traditionally tracked the performance of the rest of the country and that the regional trends have not been divergent from the national picture.

He said: “If you look at the longer term trend, it doesn’t look as if the North West is exceptional. Over the last 10 years, the North East has had a very high unemployment rate, while the North West has not been much higher than the UK average. The North West and North East have more or less conformed to trends over the past 10 years. and also since mid 2012.”

He points to some of the characteristics of the region’s economy as a possible cause for recent divergence. The service sector is picking up more strongly than manufacturing, so the region’s manufacturing traditions could be holding it back. Nor has the region’s lower skill levels and over-reliance on the public sector helped.

“If you take these things into account,” Mr Cominetti said, “it is as you would expect. There is nothing that comes to mind that would explain short term trends like that. There is nothing structurally that would explain that trend. It’s hard to look at short term trends.”

Mr Cominetti points to the fact there are wide employment market variations within the North West. Hard hit places like Liverpool, Manchester, Knowsley and Rochdale have unemployment rates twice those of Ribble, Chorley, and Cheshire.

Former Northwest Development Agency chief executive Steven Broomhead says he believes the region’s economy has already begun, or will shortly return to tracking the trend for the rest of the UK economy.

In a bid to explain the current divergence, Mr Broomhead said: “Bearing in mind how these numbers are calculated,

Job seekers at a recent jobs fair at the Echo Arena Picture: Martin Birchall although the North East has a very strong dependence on the public sector in terms of jobs, the North West has even more and some of the spending cuts in the North West came earlier.”

Mr Broomhead explained that a greater proportion of public sector jobs in the North West were, in fact, central government civil service posts and the Coalition’s austerity cuts to central government spending were implemented earlier than cuts to other parts of the public sector, such as local authorities.

He added: “The private sector in the region has not compensated for public sector jobs losses yet, but I think the North West economy is turning the corner.

“The private sector is beginning to move into a much better place than it was at the time these measurements were made. We are beginning to see some compensatory growth.

“Local authorities have recently begun to accelerate their own job losses as budget cuts have begun to arise, however, I'm convinced the next figures

‘The next figures should be better for the NW’

should be a bit better for the North West.”

Damian Waters, regional director of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in the North West points to the sectoral structure of the North West’s economy as one possible reason for the region’s labour market conditions.

He said: “It’s to do with the make-up of the businesses in the North West. We are much more reliant on manufacturing.

“Manufacturing is changing. It used to employ a lot of people. Technology is at the forefront these days and it means manufacturing employs less people than it used to.

“Although there are pockets of professional services in Manchester, we are under-represented in that sort of business service, where a lot of the economic rebound has come from, and we are more at risk than most to public sector cuts.”

However, Mr Waters believes the regional picture is complex and defies simplistic answers.

He said: “There is no one answer as there are a lot of additional factors to

big feature post business 5

Thursday, October 24, 2013

market fails to grow

Professor Tom Cannon says local construction projects should be brought forward

Improving GDP figures should point to light at the end of the tunnel for the unemployed

consider. There are not enough businesses in the North West. We are at the bottom of the UK league table for business density. Until people start to create businesses we will be a bit behind the curve.

“I’m convinced it will come eventually.”

Tom Cannon, Professor of Strategic Management at The University of Liverpool’s Management School, said the recovery was strongest in sectors in which the region was weak. Prof Cannon said: “Nationally jobs growth has been in areas that the North West doesn’t do well, such as business services, especially if you compare with Yorkshire.

“Leeds is doing particularly well for business services, and, most dramatically, so is London. I’m not sure places like Manchester are doing all that well in this sector. So business sector jobs have not been generated during this turnaround in the North West.

“Secondly, construction hasn’t developed here. It has not moved mater-

ially in the North West in the way it has in the Midlands and the South.

“Retail is also languishing quite badly. The North West doesn’t seem to be benefiting much from the click replacing the brick – we don’t have our share of the Amazons of this world.

“A weak business services sector is allied to not much going on in construction and retail not being replaced. It’s having a disproportionate effect.”

Prof Cannon argues that the region’s employment would be improved if the region’s major construction projects were brought forward.

He said: “There’s a lot in the pipeline, such as the Etihad scheme, Wirral Waters, the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and the regeneration of Anfield and the second Mersey River crossing.

“Our local authorities have to expedite planning agreements.

“The rest of the country has got the message – if you want construction to take place, you have to expedite planning.”

‘NW not benefiting from click replacing brick’

THE UK economy looks set to notch up a third successive quarter of improved growth when official figures are published later today.

The figures could point to a light at the end of the tunnel for many of the region’s unemployed.

Buoyant survey data from a number of sectors has led some economists to predict gross domestic product (GDP) may have grown by nearly 1% in the three months to the end of September.

However, official figures have been less rosy, showing slowdowns in construction and manufacturing during August.

Meanwhile, retail sales have had a rollercoaster ride, soaring amid the July heatwave, before slumping again in August, then recovering in September.

GDP returned to growth in the first quarter of this year, posting a 0.4% increase, improving to 0.7% in the second quarter.

There are hopes that the figure for the third quarter will be up again when the Office for National Statistics announces its first estimate of performance over the three-month period on Friday.

It will be watched for signs of whether the recovery is building or has stalled, coming weeks after Chancellor George Osborne received a boost from the International Monetary Fund as it sharply upgraded its UK growth forecast for 2013 to 1.4%.

Investec’s Philip Shaw forecasts 0.8% growth for the third quarter but said it was “not impossible” that this could be closer to 1%.

He said: “Surveys have been very buoyant indeed.

However the official data over the quarter so far have portrayed a slightly less robust picture.”

Analysts at Scotiabank predict a reading of close to 1% – lying somewhere between “spectacular” survey data suggesting growth of up to

1.5% and official figures pointing to expansion of as little as 0.5%.

Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, predicts GDP growth of 0.8%, which would be the strongest since the second quarter of 2010, when a 1% improvement was recorded.

He said domestic demand may have risen by around 1% for the third quarter of 2013 but will have been tempered by disappointing net trade and industrial production figures.

The upbeat forecasts will have been tempered by figures out this week that cast doubt on the strength of Britain’s consumer spending recovery.

Footfall on UK high streets, shopping centres and out-of-town retail parks in September dropped 2.4% on the same month a year earlier, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium published earlier this week, the steepest decline since March.

6 post business wealth management

Thursday, October 24, 2013

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Flashpoints could still trigger a global economic disaster market analysis

by Anjali Roberts

LIVERPOOL OFFICE OF CHARLES STANLEY

RECENTLY the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the latest World Economic Outlook.

The review presents IMF economists’ analysis of global economic developments during the short and medium term.

The IMF’s view is that overall global growth is still in a relatively low gear. Developed economies are growing again, but in order to continue with this upward momentum governments must continue financial sector repair and fiscal consolidation as well as create more jobs. In emerging market economies growth is starting to slow compared to previous accelerated rates of growth due to tighter global financial conditions.

In the same week the IMF also published its Global Financial Stability Report. The aim is to examine current risks facing the global financial system by identifying potential economic and financial market ‘flash points’, setting out an informal league table of potential crises.

A rise in interest rates in the US is currently in first place, with the report emphasising the potential for financial instability. The US may soon move to less accommodative monetary policies and higher long-term interest rates as amid recovery.

According to IMF research the global bond portfolio is approxim-

Anjali Roberts

ately three times larger now than it was on average during the previous three periods during which US monetary policy was tightened. If the Fed were to taper its bond purchases or raise market rates significantly, the impact is likely to cause a ripple effect across the globe through financial institutions, corporate entities, economies and markets.

The report was compiled during the run-up to the Federal Reserve’s meeting in September. There was huge speculation surrounding the prospect of tapering bond purchases.

This did not happen and sovereign bond yield curves have fallen and flattened appreciably over the last few weeks. However, the inference is clear if and when the Fed departs from its ultra- accommodative monetary policy ramifications globally are likely to be negative. Given the still relatively high fragility of the global recovery the Fed may have no option other than to maintain the prevailing levels of bond purchases.

The new ‘Abenomics’ policy regime in Japan was another ‘flash point’. If the country fails to achieve its economic reflation goal Japanese government bond yields will spike sharply higher. This will have a knock-on effect on the banking system and economic activity in the country.

The IMF also has concerns over the eurozone’s banking sector and the solvency of banks. The report recognises improvements have been made towards capital adequacy, but there is still further work to be done in terms of bolstering bank balance sheets from potential capital losses on government bond holdings or the, as yet unrealised regional corporate write-downs.

If the global economy improves, market expectations for higher future interest rates will rise. This, in turn, could trigger a series of negative consequences which, without sufficient buffers in place, could set back the global economic recovery. The alternative is the global economy achieves no traction and market rates remain subdued for the foreseeable future.

Such an outcome would be good news short-term for financial markets as money continues to be pumped into the global financial system, however, long-term it would only increase the level of hardship for the real economy.

One thing is certain, decision makers worldwide are negotiating a very precarious path whereby one wrong move could cause shock waves that reverberate worldwide.

notes ■

PRIVATE rents have reached a new high despite Government efforts to make it easier for people to jump onto the housing ladder, a lettings network has reported.

Rents across England and Wales reached a record £757 a month on average in September after jumping by 1.8% month-on-month, according to LSL Property Services, which owns chains Your Move and Reeds Rains and has been monitoring rents in this way since 2008.

Record rents were recorded in seven out of 10 regions across England and Wales, in what charity Shelter described as “devastating” news for tenants.

Rents reached new peaks in Wales, London, the South East, the West Midlands, the East Midlands, the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber. Average rents in September ranged from £533 a month in the North East to more than double this amount (£1,141) in London.

■

Global money markets are still at a precarious stage

PEOPLE approaching retirement are more likely to be digging into their savings to cover essential living costs than any other age group, consumer campaigners are warning.

Almost one quarter (23%) of 50 to 64-year-olds were forced to raid their nest eggs to pay for bills last month, compared with one fifth (20%) of consumers generally, according to a survey by Which?

The research was conducted just before a wave of energy giants announced bill hikes. Centrica-owned energy giant British Gas recently announced it was hiking electricity bills by 10.4%.

People expecting to have more money

House price boom fears

CONSUMER optimism over the economy continued to run at a three-year high in September amid a blossoming housing market and a further easing of concerns about employment.

The Lloyds Bank Spending Power Report said that a new peak of consumer sentiment which had been recorded in August grew stronger in September, to reach the highest levels since records began in November 2010.

For the first time since the sur-

A MAJOR property website has seen London house sellers’ asking prices soar to a new high this month, beating their previous record by nearly £30,000 and fuelling fears that the capital is overheating.

Asking prices in London saw an “unsustainable” 10% month-on-month increase in October, pushing typical asking prices in the capital to £544,232, leapfrogging a previous high set in July by more than £28,000.

vey began, more people think they will have more money to spend in the coming months after paying household bills rather than less, with a net balance of 1% more people saying this.

The pace of consumer confidence is continuing to accelerate, although energy bill prices remain a concern for more than three-quarters (77%) of consumers, the research found.

The research was carried out just before Centrica-owned energy giant

British Gas announced it was hiking electricity bills by 10.4% and gas tariffs by 8.4% – affecting 7.8m households, and SSE announced it was hitting 7m customers with an 8.2% rise.

Sentiment about employment was at its least negative since the survey began. Some 78% of consumers were downbeat about the employment market, edging down from 81% in August.

Those approaching retirement were the most pessimistic.

The website put much of the increase down to a “frenzy” of activity in parts of prime inner London as overseas investors look for a safe haven to place their cash, which is “leaving the shelves bare”.

Across England and Wales, asking prices rose more gently by 2.8% month-on-month, following two months of falls, to reach £252,418 on average.

Prices across the country are 3.8% higher than a year ago.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Surveyors report an increase in homes HOUSEBUILDING in the North West is continuing to rebound with chartered surveyors across the region reporting growth, says the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) construction market survey.

During the third quarter of the year, a net balance of 34% more respondents in the region reported rises in privately-funded housing projects compared with the previous period (from +30%t in Q2).

Significantly, across the country, this is the first time that every region has reported growth since the beginning of the market crash six years ago and demonstrates that the long-awaited upturn in numbers of new homes may finally be underway.

Tthe overall construction sector in the North West saw a welcome boost during the three months to September, with workloads rising at their strongest rate since the fourth quarter of 2004 (net balance +31%) Alongside housebuilding, this growth was largely driven by private commercial developments as funding finally begins to filter through.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: “While it’s certainly good news, we are certainly not out of the woods yet.”

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ESLA students put business consultant in studio hot seat ENTERPRISE South Liverpool Academy (ESLA) has taken to the airwaves.

The academy is continually seeking new and innovative ways to inspire students and, based within one of ESLA’s Business Pods, the radio station went live on October 14, from 8am to 8pm, which is then “looped” to become a 24/7 transmission.

ESLA learning mentor John McCarthy, who organised the initiative, said: “This has been a fantastic opportunity for our children to experience the planning and broadcasting of their own radio show and gain valuable experience and learning.”

This Monday Morgan, a year seven student, presented her own one-hour show and invited a number of guests including local business consultant David Wiles and Academy principal Jack Pendlebury.

Mr Wiles, who works with staff and students at ESLA, said: “If I’m honest I was a little nervous.”

He is hosting his own show at 10am this Friday, with a slant towards business and the activities of business students at ESLA. Tune in on 109.7FM or visit www.esla.org.uk to hear the broadcast.

Business consultant David Wiles being interviewed on air at Enterprise South Liverpool Academy

High Sheriff’s Awards aim to celebrate our entrepreneurs

by Rachel Flint

POST BUSINESS STAFF business@liverpool.com

ENTERPRISING entrepreneurs and inspirational business owners are being urged to enter a prestigious competition recognising the best companies in the county.

For the past eight years the High Sheriff ’s Awards have celebrated the most outstanding, innovative and successful businesses across Cheshire and Warrington.

Now, as entries open for the 2014 award nominations, Professor Phil Harris, Dean of the Faculty of Business, Enterprise and Learning at the University of Chester, has urged businesses big and small to enter to recognise the “wealth” and “talent” the county’s businesses have to offer.

“A lot has been said about the way businesses have been struggling and about how Britain doesn’t have

enough small independent businesses, but in Cheshire we have a lot of family businesses which are thriving,” said Prof Harris.

“This is a celebration of some of the best businesses we have, from the smallest family companies to large businesses.”

And with more than £17,000 of prizes up for grabs for the winning entrepreneurs and teams, alongside regional exposure for all finalists during a co-ordinated PR campaign, Prof Harris said the awards would help to shine a spotlight on some of the most outstanding companies in Cheshire.

“We are growing and driving new businesses, and driving new talent in the county. It is encouraging for the economy of the region to have such talent and hard work driving business in Cheshire forward,” said Prof Harris.

Founded in 2006 by former High Sheriff of Cheshire and now Lord

Lieutenant for Cheshire, David Briggs, the Awards for Enterprise, run in partnership with the University of Chester, are judged on the categories of Innovation, Corporate Social Responsibility and Enterprise.

There are also separate categories for the most Outstanding Cheshire and Warrington Business Leader and the Young Entrepreneur of the year – entrants to this award must be 30 years or less.

The top prize – won last year by electrical engineering company B&S Group of Chester – will see one employee gain a sought-after place on the Business School’s MBA, worth £10,000.

The awards will be held at the University of Chester on March 27, and entrance is open until 5pm on January 3, 2014. Applicants must have a turnover of at least £500,000 and employ between five-250 members of staff. To enter visit http://www. chester.ac.uk/highsheriff-enterprise

Professor Phil Harris

Bartons Pickles secures deal to supply Co-operative Food Download today for your free 30-day trial www.liverpool dailypost.co.uk/ businessdaily

MERSEYSIDE pickle producer Bartons Pickles has struck a deal so supply Co-operative Food outlets across the North West.

St Helens-based Bartons, a family-run firm, will provide

the Co-op with its range of locally-made pickles.

Two hundred stores across the region now stock Bartons “legendary” Piccalilli, Red Cabbage, Sliced Beetroot and Sweet Pickled Onions.

Joanna Jenner, director and fourth generation family pickler at Bartons, said: “We are delighted with the opportunity to supply The Co-operative. This is a great opportunity to provide people in

the North West with locally-sourced produce.”

Pickle Eddie, managing diector and third-generation pickler, who has worked at the Fingerpost Factory in St Helens for more than 50

years, added: “The first jars of Bartons legendary pickles have now started to appear on the shelves, and we only need to deliver five minutes up the road to The Co-operative’s Lea Green depot.”

8 post business the bottom line

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Home Bargains achieves goal of reaching £1bn sales mark

by Bill Gleeson

POST BUSINESS STAFF bill.gleeson@liverpool.com

DISCOUNT retailer TJ Morris saw its sales comfortably pass the £1bn mark for the first time during its last financial year.

According to accounts recently filed at Companies House, the Merseyside based chain, which trades as Home Bargains, recorded sales of £1,058m during the 12 months to the end of June 2013. The figure represents a 16% rise on sales of £914m achieved during the firm’s previous financial year. It also represents the achievement of a long held target by the company’s owner, Tom Morris, and his brother Joe Morris, who is a director of the business.

The rapidly growing firm, which is currently expanding its Gillmoss head office, also notched up 33% growth in pre-tax profit.

The accounts show that cost of sales were £744.7m compared to £660.6m in 2012, giving gross profit of £313.6m in 2013 and £254.1m in the year before.

Administrative expenses of £205.1m contributed to operating profit of £110.1m versus £83.9m in 2012. With modest borrowings, the firm received more interest than it paid giving profit on ordinary activities before taxation of £110.8m (2012: £84.1m). The corporation tax charge for 2013 is £28.2m versus £24.4m in the previous year, resulting in a profit for the financial year of £82.6m, up from £59.7m.

TJ Morris’s balance sheet shows fixed assets of £250.7m versus £212.6m at the 2012 balance sheet date. Stocks were £81.4m (2012: £76m). Debtors due within one year are £31.3m, down from £28.7m. Debtors due after more than one year are £24.6m, almost unchanged on the £24.5m shown in 2012. Cash was £82.6m versus £66.6m.

Creditors due within one year were £87.6m, lower than the £101.6m in 2012. Creditors falling due after more than one year were £30m versus £29.6m.

The accounts show modest bank loans for a company of TJ Morris’s size. Short term bank debt was worth £2.2m, down from £17.3m as at June 2012, while bank loans due after more than one year were worth £11.9m versus £13.9m.

Total net assets were £348.9m versus £272.9m.

■

ENERGY giant RWE npower heaped more pressure on households this week by hiking electricity and gas prices by 9.3% and 11.1% respectively from December 1.

The 10% average bill increase will affect about 3.1m customers, the group said, and follows recent price hikes by British Gas and SSE. The announcement came as Britain sealed a deal with French energy EDF to build the first nuclear power station in a generation at Hinkley Point in Somerset, after lengthy wrangling over taxpayer subsidies.

Npower blamed the higher cost of delivering power to homes, meeting Government schemes and rising fuel costs, insisting it makes a “fair return for delivering reliable energy to consumers”.

■

Joe Morris outside a Home Bargains store and, inset, the firm’s Gillmoss office

In their report, the TJ Morris directors said the 16% rise in turnover was “achieved from the contribution of additional retail outlets opened during the year, shop re-sites and like for like growth from existing stores.”

The report continues: “The balance sheet and the financial statements demonstrate that the company’s financial position has improved compared to the prior year end in terms of net current assets.”

The company says further additions to retail outlets are planned during 2014, which should allow further growth in turnover and profitability.

However, the accounts demonstrate a reluctance to comment in detail about performance. The directors report states: “The company manages its operations on a retail outlet basis.

For this reason, the company’s directors believe that further key performance indicators for the company

are not necessary or appropriate for an understanding of the development, performance or position of the business.”

Dividends paid on equity shares were £6.6m, which compares to none in the previous year.

Employee numbers rose from 7,911 in 2012 to 9,238 in 2013.

The remuneration of the highest paid director, excluding pension contributions, was £814,754 versus £1.8m in 2012.

To facilitate its expansion, the retailer is currently building two new warehouses, one in Liverpool next door to its existing head office and warehouse, and the other in Wiltshire. Located at G-Park, near the East Lancs Road in Fazakerley, the Liverpool scheme will see the new building linked to the head office by an overhead walkway. The new warehouse will create 150 new permanent jobs on site, as well as other ancillary jobs in the surrounding area.

Coffee shops and hotel rooms boost Whitbread profits PROFITS at coffee shop chain Costa have risen by a fifth after more strong sales and a surge in the size of its UK estate to more than 1,600 stores.

The retailer, which is part of the Whitbread leisure group, grew total worldwide sales by 19.5% to £569.2m in the six months to August 29, while underlying profits were 20.5% higher at £43.5m.

notes

It added a net 86 stores in the UK, meaning its estate of 1,664 outlets in locations ranging from high streets and shopping centres to motorway service areas and garage forecourts is now 800 greater than its closest competitor.

The chain also recently marked the milestone of 1,000 international stores with a new outlet in Bangkok.

Costa’s continued strong growth combined with further market share gains at budget hotel Premier Inn to help Whitbread post a rise in half-year underlying profits of 12.6% to £216.1m.

Premier improved like-for-like sales by 3.3% and added 1,368 UK rooms, taking its total to 53,039. Revenues grew by 12.2% to £497.4m.

Across the group, Whitbread said it created 1,200 new UK jobs over the period, with a further 10,000 expected in the next three years.

In April 2011, the company pledged to grow the number of Premier Inn rooms in the UK by around 50% to 65,000 by 2016. It extended the target in April to 75,000 by 2018. Around 4,000 rooms will open this year.

THE Co-operative Group has struck a deal to save its battered banking arm by ceding control of the ethical lender to a group of powerful investors.

Co-op Group chief executive Euan Sutherland confirmed in a video message that the customer-owned group will be left with a 30% stake in the Co-operative Bank – but insisted the lender will retain its ethical values.

Under pressure from regulators to plug a £1.5bn black hole in the bank’s finances, its mutual parent had hoped to retain control of the bank through a stock market flotation, giving owners of its bonds a minority stake in return for a £500m loss on their debt.

However, US hedge funds and big blue-chip investors such as pension funds and insurers this week emerged victorious from lengthy negotiations by securing majority ownership.

■

GIFT voucher and prepaid gift card provider Park, which is based in Birkenhead, said nine new brands have signed contracts to accept Love2shop flexecash cards, bringing the total number of brands accepting the cards to 59.

They include PC World, Waterstones, The Perfume Shop and Matalan’s new outlet Sporting Pro.

small business post business 9

Thursday, October 24, 2013

small

notes

business of theweek

■

A LOBBY group is calling on councils to waive parking charges for the first UK Small Business Saturday, on December 7.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) says this inaugural event will celebrate small firms across the UK and is the culmination of a campaign to encourage communities to shop local.

The Forum has written to all local authorities to ask them to consider removing parking charges on the day in the spirit of the event and to help provide an added incentive to shoppers to hit their local high streets.

Phil Orford FPB chief executive, said: “Small businesses are at the heart of every local community. The Forum is a proud supporter of Small Business Saturday, which is about reconnecting people with the small businesses in their local areas and demonstrating the enormous value that they bring to individual customers and to the UK as whole.”

by Neil Hodgson

POST BUSINESS STAFF

neil.hodgson@liverpool.com

J

AYNE BRANSBY can thank her size 10 feet for setting her out on the road towards a successful business career 10 years ago when she was looking for wedding shoes.

The bride to be couldn’t find anything suitable and was eventually forced to buy from a US firm.

She said: “I thought it would be easy to get wedding shoes, even though it was difficult to get normal shoes being tall and having size 10 feet.

“There were a lot of traditional shoes but not really wedding shoes. I thought, why should I have to wear something a bit ugly or traditional on my wedding day? That’s when I found the shoes I wanted in America.

“They cost me a fortune in shipping and duty and VAT, but in the US they were more geared up to brides and I thought, why don’t we have this?”

Ten years after setting up her own company, Elegant Steps, she is now the biggest client in Europe of the American firm she turned to a decade ago.

The 40-year-old mother of one had worked as an admin assistant with young persons’ advisory service Connexions for 17 years.

She said: “It was a nine-to-five, 32 days holidays a year and weekends job and I had no intention of leaving, but when this opportunity came along I thought, maybe it is something I should be doing.”

Initially she worked from home for 18 months importing wedding and special occasion shoes but soon had to expand: “All the brides were coming to my house and the neighbours were beginning to talk.”

She moved to a small shop in Oxton which was the firm’s base for eight years, during which she was continually recruiting staff, until 18 months ago they needed to grow even more, so bought a unit on Birkenhead’s Lairdside Industrial Park where she and her 17 staff are now based.

With 85% of sales now from her website the business needed warehouse space for posting and deliveries.

“It’s the best move we ever made,” she said. “We even grew in the recession.”

Shoes range in price from £20 to £600, but the average purchase is around £100-£120.

An additional service is a colouring and decorating option to create a unique pair of shoes for that special occasion.

Requests range from one pair of shoes for an engagement that were personalised by dyeing them red and black and adding studs. Another commission was for a bride who had 10 bridesmaids, all in different coloured dresses: “We had to dye their shoes to match the dresses, and the page boy cravats.”

Ms Bransby added: “We pushed our unique services in the recession to help us through.”

Customers travel from all over the UK, and one travelled from Dubai for shoes: “We have sent shoes to the Maldives and Hawaii and a lot to Germany.”

Expansion deeper into Europe is high on the agenda for next year,

■

Jayne Bransby, right, and colourist Monica Doyle show how they match colours for shoes to dresses

Sole proprietor Jane stepping up growth which should prove to be fairly busy, she said: “2014 should be a boom year because not many brides wanted to get married in a year with 13 in it.”

However, any rewards have been hard earned: “We never had a holiday or a weekend off for the first six years and as newly weds it was a difficult scenario. We put all that on the back burner to start the business.”

Miss Bransby added: “I am still learning. I have made a lot of mistakes, but that is how you learn. I had my fingers burned lots of times, but I’ll never make those mistakes again.

“It is an uphill battle with any business because there’s never any certainty. You have to be focused and drive the business forward, but our team is fabulous. They’re all stars.”

Jayne Bransby and some of the range at her Birkenhead store

SMALL firms owners have welcomed recent changes to employment law, seeing fairness and balance restored in some key areas, according to the latest research report from the Forum of Private Business (FPB).

More than half of FPB members believed the Coalition’s reforms have made employment regulations fairer, particularly around recruitment and termination of employment.

Simplified employee checks through the Disclosure and Barring Service, along with the introduction of settlement agreements earlier this year, have been recognised by small employers as positive developments, with 51% of small businesses looking to employ staff saying these changes would make them more likely to take people on.

Alexander Jackman, FPB head of policy, said: “Employment regulations have long been seen as weighted in favour of employees and it is good to see some balance returning.”

“However, our members feel that further action is needed from the Government on regulations around people management.”

10 post business creative & digital

comment

by PHIL BIRD

Don’t be held to Ransom BUSINESSES should be alert to a new virus holding companies to ransom.

Appearing in emails from apparently reputable brands and organisations like Companies House, Inland Revenue, and Fedex, Ransom-ware is a nasty type of virus which can do considerable damage to IT systems.

Its purpose is to encrypt as many files as it can gain access to.

These files are rendered useless until either a ransom is paid (usually costing a few hundred pounds), or an IT expert can clean the virus and recover the files from backup.

If you are on a company network and have a high level of access privileges to shared files and folders, then the damage can potentially infect all the files throughout the business.

It is certainly catching people out, either resulting in a lot of time lost while recovery takes place, or the permanent loss of invaluable information.

How can you spot the virus? Look out for emails from seemingly official sources, which are demanding an urgent response and include an attachment.

This attachment is what contains the deadly malware and must not be opened under any circumstances.

A tell-tale sign that the attachment is suspect will be if the document name ends in ZIP. If you think you have been infected log off and shut down immediately to prevent further infection and damage to data files. Then contact your IT support provider straight away and don’t log on again until you are advised to do so.

■ PHIL BIRD is managing director of The PC Support Group, based in South Liverpool

A new virus could lock you out of your laptop

Thursday, October 24, 2013 IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Pinstripes are passe as city insurer targets creative sector

by Alistair Houghton POST BUSINESS STAFF

alistair.houghton@liverpool.com

THE boss of insurance brokerage Oval says the company is having to adapt its approach as it bids to expand its work in the creative sector.

Oval, whose North West office is in Liverpool, sees the creative and social enterprise sectors as potential growth markets.

Steve Penketh, Oval’s Liverpool-based regional managing director, said the growing creative and digital sector in and around Liverpool offered a pool of “brains-based” businesses for his company to target.

But Mr Penketh said Oval, which has been working with Baltic Triangle-basedAgent Marketing on his promotional push, said the company was having to work in a different way to get noticed in this field of young entrepreneurs and small companies.

And he said that “conventional breakfast briefings at half eight” were less popular in the sector, with entrepreneurs preferring later starts.

He added: “If we turn up in our chalky pinstripes, that’s not going to connect, is it?

“We’re a very traditional profession, if you like. That’s fine and that works, but also you want to be able to convey the message to the creative industry that actually yes, we understand you.

“Our job is to represent you in the

insurance market, so unless we understand how you operate, what your values are and what your risks are, we can’t succeed.

“It’s insurance. It’s not ‘sexy’, and we get that. It’s actually trying to bring it alive and reminding them to accept or see what the risk is and how damaging that risk can be.”

Mr Penketh said digitally-focused firms had different insurance needs to other small businesses, covering issues including intellectual property.

He said: “A lot of businesses will just start off with the asset protection, if you like – ‘I have a laptop and I need to insure it in case it gets stolen’.

“Actually, the risk to the business is often contractual – you’re holding on to someone else’s data, so what happens if that data is lost while it’s in your control? The risks aren’t the conventional ones anymore.”

Mr Penketh said that insurance and other advisers in the fast-paced creative sector had to “constantly revisit” their business clients to see how they were changing.

He said: “When you started off it was just you and your business partner round the kitchen table, doing X. “Well, in 12 months’ time you’re now employing someone, you might have vehicles, you might have taken office space, and all of a sudden you’re now entering into a contract with an overseas company.

“So it’s making sure at every step of that path that your insurance pro-

Steve Penketh, of insurer Oval

gramme still reflects your business.”

Oval employs some 50 people at its North West base near Brunswick station, south Liverpool. The office controls premiums of some £20m.

Oval is also working with Liverpool’s Social Enterprise Network (SEN) as it bids to become “the leading insurance and risk management partner” to companies in the sector.

SEN says social enterprises often have different insurance needs to other firms, covering issues from volunteering to management liability insurance cover for board members.

Oval has held workshops and seminars for SEN members, as well as backing the body’s newsletter and annual awards.

Mr Penketh said: “A lot of people will start up (a social enterprise) and the motives won’t be ‘I want to run a business’ – they want to provide a service or offer advice.

“But by doing so they’re creating a business. And that brings with it a certain legal responsibility and a business and commercial responsibility.”

Debbie Felton, programme manager at SEN, said: “Oval is a valued and supportive commercial partner to SEN. “It assists our members to compete with the private sector by offering specialised and bespoke advice and guidance to the social enterprise sector in the city region.”

Spanish first as agency sees a flurry of deals

Lime Pictures rockets ahead with commission for CBBC drama

MARKETING and communications agency Kenyon Fraser won 12 new clients in September after reporting record trading in August.

The Liverpool firm’s new clients included its first Spanish customer, Medplaya Hotels, as well as Bradford and Sunderland Colleges and Right at Home.

It also won the pitch to conduct the consultation and redesign activity around Everton Football Club’s new crest.

Chief executive Richard Kenyon said: “We had record billings in August – the strongest trading in our 23-year history – and we expect annual turnover to approach £3m.

TELEVISION producer Lime Pictures has been commissioned to produce children’s drama Rocket’s Island for CBBC. The 13-part drama, whose cast includes Heartbeat veteran Mark Jordon and The Thin Blue Line star Mina Anwar, is being filmed in North Wales and will be transmitted next year.

The series is set on the fictional island of Dirgelmor and follows the magical adventures of schoolboy Rocket Boulsworth (Joe Gallucci) and his friends at The Knot farm.

Rebecca Hodgson, head of drama for Lime Pictures, said: “Rocket’s Island is a wonderful

Richard Kenyon “This is an extremely encouraging performance in what is still a challenging climate. Adding high-quality clients to our portfolio gives real confidence for the future.”

The cast of new CBBC drama, Rocket’s Island adventure series with a character and a storyline for everyone. It’s a series which will make the audience laugh, cry and delight in our characters’ exploits. Lime Pictures are proud to be collaborating with creator Nick Leather.”

Sue Nott, executive producer for CBBC, added: “Rocket’s Island offers our young audience a sparkling adventure full of heart and warmth – and lots of animals. CBBC is thrilled to be working with Lime Pictures on this magical series.”

creative & digital post business 11

Thursday, October 24, 2013

How a fridge full of beer can transform the way we work

Alistair Houghton on how Mando is using the power of play to help it work more effectively

FILLING in forms is never fun – so why shouldn’t you get a beer if you do it properly?

When digital agency Mando let its staff off the leash to develop any ideas that took their fancy, one team came up with a novel way to get staff to fill in their timesheets.

So all week, a locked fridge full of beer sits in the corner of the office, reminding staff what treats will come their way if their forms are filled in.

Above the fridge is a display screen, showing how many timesheets each team has filled in.

Once all departments have filled in their sheets, then the countdown begins. A clock counts down to zero before a fanfare – composed by Mando’s MD Ian Finch himself – blares across the office.

Finally, the locked door clicks open – and staff hurtle towards the door for their much-needed beers or soft drinks.

It’s fun but, Mr Finch insists, far more than a gimmick.

Mando can only get paid if it bills its clients – and that means its staff have to fill in timesheets to show what they’ve been working on. But form-filling is an unexciting job, and often gets forgotten.

The beer fridge gets it done. And it’s exactly the sort of idea that Finch and his team hoped would come out of Mando Play, a day last year when Mando staff were let out of the office and worked in teams to develop ideas they would never get the chance to do in work time.

Some staff built a hovercraft, others made smoothies with spicy wasabi nuts, and others pondered timesheets.

Two ideas from that day, including the beer fridge, are now in action in Mando’s office. And, with the company holding its second Play event last week, more experimental ideas could soon become reality at the company’s Liverpool Science Park base.

Matt Stephens, Mando’s head of learning and development, said: “The timesheet fridge is something we came up with as a solution to a problem a lot of companies have, which is that no-one wants to fill in timesheets because they’re really boring.

“So we found an idea that would incentivise people – filling a fridge with some lovely drinks and then, once everyone fills in their timesheets, the fridge opens.

“It’s a really simple idea and it’s turned out to be much more successful than we thought it would be. We’re about eight weeks in and we’ve achieved 100% timesheets completed.

“What’s really nice about it is that it’s taken a common business problem, that was often being dealt with by managers and project managers, and made everyone interested in it.

“So everyone is turning to their neighbour and saying ‘have you done your timesheet? I want to get a drink’.

“And it’s created quite a nice soci-

Ben Hatton

Get real and ready to say yes

Matt Stephens at Mando’s office on a Friday afternoon with a message for staff

able atmosphere at the end of a Friopportunities in real time, 24/7. I day.” thought ‘I’ll have one of those, please!’

Mando isn’t the only organisation “Looking at what people have to devote time to experimentation. achieved in just one day, it’s Design consultancy Uniform, for extraordinary.” example, has been developing a host And the success of Play, Mr Finch of unusual ideas through its ULAB mused, showed the advantage of takarm. It won two Big Chip awards for ing a more flexible approach to proinnovation this year after making jects. postcards that can play music.

“We can realise things more rapAnd city centre shared workspace idly,” he said.

DoES Liverpool offers a space for “What six people did in a day, it entrepreneurs and “makers” to expermight take one or two weeks to do iment with ideas from bubble-blowing with a normal project – and that’s robots to clocks that tell you where with a customer that’s really on it and someone is. gets back to you really quickly.

Mando Play was this year suppor“We want to make that rapid proted by Open Labs, a Liverpool John totyping and experimenting part of Moores University project the business.” that aims to encourage Play may be local businesses to use work-focused, but it also See the beer fridge serves as an unofficial new technologies. in operation at Through its Labs initiaway day – even though it liverpooldailypost. ative, Mando allows all was this year held just co.uk/business staff a certain amount of down the corridor from time away from their Mando in Open Labs’ desks to work on experimental prooffice. The event, Mr Finch said, jects. Projects created at Play, for encourages teamwork and helps example, will be worked on break down office barriers. throughout the year.

“We could see things we could do Another idea from last year’s Play differently that would benefit the cuswas the “team screen” – a real-time tomer and the way we work,” he said. display that shows people how the “Play also flattens the organisaproject they are working on is protional chart and the flow of informgressing. Those screens are now ation for the day. It’s an opportunity being rolled out to several Mando proto come together as a business. ject teams.

“Every idea is valid. People conOn Monday, Mr Finch was still bubtribute on an equal basis. We’ve bling with enthusiasm for the ideas always believed that creativity can generated three days earlier at Play. come from anywhere or anyone, not He said: “People could leave their just people who use Photoshop.” day jobs behind and solve a series of Play may be over for another year, ‘wouldn’t it be great if...’ projects. but some of the work done there will “We are looking at ways of making be developed over coming months. the office much more easy to work in, Work will also continue on the beer perhaps including an in-out board fridge – which is winning attention that you run your key fob over. from other companies looking for new “As MD, I’m not in the office all the ways to motivate their staff. time. So one idea I liked was a ‘dashMr Stephens said: “At the moment, board’ showing sales, targets and the lock unlocks, but the door itself

online

The beer fridge – minutes before it unlocked doesn’t physically open. We quite like the idea of having a little lever or something that pops the door open, to make it more interesting.

“We’ve also had inquiries from a few different companies about whether they can have one. So we’re looking at whether we can build the software so it can be made available to other people.

“But I don’t think we’ll get into the business of selling fridges just yet.”

A POPULAR topic amongst many digital commentators is that real-time marketing is losing its lustre as people become more exposed to it. This is far from the case.

On one of the world’s most expensive advertising days, the most powerful piece of marketing happened to be a free spur-of-the-moment move taking advantage of the zeitgeist.

Oreo issued a picture on Twitter with the tag line “You can also dunk in the dark” during the blackout at this year’s American Superbowl. It went viral. Since that moment, companies have been trying to “score an Oreo” by using social media to demonstrate their flair for in-themoment creativity.

Many have tried, but few have succeeded, with a majority piggy-backing on current affairs of the day or events such as the Oscars.

These are good pegs to hang a short campaign on, but to really have an “Oreo moment” brands must have the right people in place ready to take advantage of a situation should it arise – and be prepared to say yes.

During the Superbowl, Oreo had its advertising and brand teams together ready to sign off tweets.

That is why the picture was issued minutes after the blackout. The right people were in place to capitalise on one of the biggest sporting events in the world – and it paid off.

Real-time marketing is far from being an advertising fad. Social media is a part of how people converse with each other and interact with brands.

Using social media as a tool and events as leverage can help weave the brand into the fabric of cultural conversation.

Brands just need to be bold enough to say yes.

■ INTERNET entrepreneur Ben Hatton is founder and managing director of digital agency Rippleffect. Follow Rippleffect on Twitter @rippleffected

12 post business big interview

Tony McDonough meets ANDY STREET, managing director of the John Lewis Partnership

G

ROSVENOR’S £1bn Liverpool One scheme has so quickly embedded itself in the city’s public consciousness that it is easy to forget how poor the city’s retail offer had become before it opened in 2008.

Retail giant John Lewis was certainly painfully aware at the time, a point clearly stated by the chain’s managing director Andy Street on his latest visit to Merseyside.

Without using the phrase, Street hits at market failure within the city, suggesting Liverpool One arrived just in the nick of time.

And indeed imagining Liverpool in the midst of the recession without the Grosvenor scheme can make one shudder.

“Something needed to happen,” said Street.

“It was deteriorating in its relative position prior to 2008 so people from Cheshire, Wirral and from north Merseyside were not coming into the city – we knew that.

“We always believed from the beginning that this (Liverpool One) would do the trick which is why I think we were the first major retailer to commit to the Grosvenor scheme and it has proven the right decision.

“The whole reason we wanted to re-invest in Liverpool city centre was that we thought it had the potential to reassert itself as the regional capital.

“So what this was about was re-establishing that leadership and we thought that could be done with the sort of transformation Grosvenor was proposing.

“What is really obvious to us is that Liverpool has re-established itself in the pecking order and we have been part of it.

“That is partly why we have been able to report the sales numbers that we did. It is obviously sensible to think about how we can continue to build on that.

“The Liverpool store is performing extremely well. Since we opened the shop in ‘08 it has surpassed our expectations.

“At the time people said it is a stupid time to open a shop of this scale and my reply was that we are not particularly interested in the economic circumstances at the time.

“This is about an investment for the long term. It is now absolutely clear that this was the right investment.

“In the last year this store has been one of the top performing in the group and I think for the first half of this year it was 4.6% ahead.

So that was nicely ahead of other cities around the country.”

Street appears to have total confidence and an almost unshakeable belief in the power of the John Lewis brand.

So when he talks about how its percentage of online sales has exceeded those of its competitors, he points out it’s because John Lewis caught onto to the changing shopping habits earlier than they did.

However, when it is pointed out the group has come very late to the loyalty scheme market (My John Lewis is to launch in the next few weeks) his response is along the lines of, ah yes, but ours is better.

It would be too easy to accuse Street of hubris but the phenomenal success of John Lewis in the face of

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Preparing a retail giant to go mobile this Christmas

Andy Street, right, in discussion with Dan Cooke, who runs the chain’s Liverpool store and, inset, durin his Post Business interview a vicious economic downturn that has already seen a number of high-profile collapses on the high street is hard to argue against.

Many have asked the question: what is the John Lewis secret? Is it the quality of the goods, quality of

the service – or the partner system which sees every one of its employees have a stake in the business?

Street believes no single factor can be pinpointed.

He said: “If there was one thing then others would copy us.

Andy Street’s career so far ANDY STREET has spent all his working life in the John Lewis Partnership, joining after graduating from Oxford with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics in 1985.

After initial postings in department stores, head office and manufacturing units, he became managing director, John

Lewis Milton Keynes, in 1993. He moved to Bluewater in 1998, and in 2000 to head office as supply chain director, John Lewis. He was appointed to the partnership board as director of personnel in 2002.

In February 2007, he became managing director of the John Lewis division.

“We have always had the quality and we have always had the partner system but we haven’t always outperformed the market and I think in the last few years all those things have come together.

“The helicopter view is that we have outperformed the market consistently for the past four years.

“Since the beginning of the financial crisis John Lewis has somehow managed to find a sweet spot.

“I think the way that has been done is by embracing the new way in which customers want to shop – which is all about ‘bricks and clicks’.

“Our merchandise has always been good quality. We have now combined that with a more forward-looking approach.

“So if you take the technology area, where the Liverpool store has

been on fire, it is about having the latest trends. We have added that bit of bravery.”

The John Lewis Partnership operates 39 John Lewis shops across the UK (30 department stores and 9 John Lewis at home), johnlewis.com, 298 Waitrose shops and waitrose.com.

The business has annual gross sales of more than £9.5bn and it is also the UK’s largest example of worker co-ownership, where all 85,500 staff are partners in the business.

In the Liverpool store alone there are more than 600 partners.

A few weeks ago, Street said that such was the growth of online sales through devices such as mobile phones and tablets, this was set to be the retailer’s first “online Christmas”.

creative & digital post business 13

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Alex

Turner Learning from Paul Gascoigne “I NEVER make predictions,” said footballing philosopher Paul Gascoigne, before adding, “and I never will.”

He at least understood the futility of guessing what might happen after a career which was anything other than predictable.

But then so few things are predictable in football.

A national newspaper’s “England team of the future” from 2007, which resurfaced this week, is a great case in point.

It is worth listing the team in full: Ben Amos, Sam Hutchinson, Micah Richards, Gavin Hoyte, Robbie Threlfall, Dean Parrett, Michael Johnson, James Henry, Theo Walcott, Jose Baxter, and Scott Sinclair.

It’s largely a collection of players who get the reaction either of “who?” or “whatever happened to him?”.

These players have a host of representative honours at junior level but have mostly been unable to build Premier League careers.

Richards and Walcott – had already made their England debuts when this prediction was published.

Sinclair has played plenty of Premier League games, while Amos and Hutchinson remain on the books of Premier League clubs, even if time is running out for them to deliver on their youthful promise.

Five of the others now play at Dagenham & Redbridge, Morecambe, Stevenage, Millwall, Sheffield United while the last, Johnson, is without a club after several off-the-field problems.

Despite the huge amount of information available about junior players and the significant focus on up-and-coming English talent it appears the only reliable indicator of whether a player would play for England’s senior team was whether they had already made their debut.

While this is an example of punditry rather than forecasting, it does highlight how very difficult predicting the future is.

Too much time is spent on debating what the distant future will look like without its participants realising it has long stopped being an academic exercise and instead turned into a not-very-interesting parlour game.

Economists and politicians would do well to learn from Gazza.

‘Too much

time is spent debating the future’

Andy Street says John Lewis has prospered through its ‘bricks and clicks’ approach Pictures: JAMES MALONEY

“This Christmas about a third of our sales will be online and of that 40% of that will come via mobile.

So that 40% of a third works out at about one seventh of our overall business,” said Street “We have to make it easier for the customer to shop with us however they want to do it – in the shop, on the PC in the evening or on the mobile while, say, on the bus to work. It has got to be about how easy the website is to read on all devices, how convenient the pick-ups are.

“What we do at Christmas is that we actually cut off our deliveries before our competitors.

“Now you may think that is a stupid thing to do but it is about our determination not to disappoint anyone at Christmas.

“What won’t change is our com-

mitment to get it right for the customer. That must come first.”

The other forthcoming innovation in the coming weeks will be John Lewis’s first foray into the world of loyalty schemes – something it has trailed behind the rest of the high street on.

Street explained: “We are late to the market on this and you might want to ask why.

“Well I would say we have been running a loyalty scheme for the past 80 years and that loyalty is the things we have been talking about – if you get a great experience you are going to come back.

“And our devoted customers have effectively been part of a loyalty scheme – they just didn’t have a card with points.

“So why have we done it now?

“If you have a large proportion of

sales online you need different things to drive loyalty than you did than it was all about coming into a shop. Our most loyal customers now expect a higher level of personal recognition and this is driven by what is happening in other sectors of business.

“That basic form of loyalty scheme favoured by our competitors, where you get a percentage off, is not for us at all. It is unimaginative. People expect to be recognised as individuals and that is what My John Lewis is all about.”

Street has little time for false modesty – he believes John Lewis is number one and is more than happy to say so.

He added: “I think the high street can learn two things from us: first is that you are rewarded if you have a consistent approach and

don’t change your beliefs.

“The other thing is that the future is about bricks and clicks and I think we have welcomed that sooner than our competitors.

“If you look at M&S, Debenhams, House of Fraser they will have nowhere near the percentage of sales online – so that is the evidence that we have embraced it sooner and I think we have been rewarded for that. In any flat market there are winners and losers.

“When we saw the numbers in 2008 we knew the market was going to be flat for the next four years.

“We said the only way we will win in this market is if we outperformed the market.

We knew we had to be better than our competitors. To be better is to be differentiated – it is about not compromising.”

■ Alex Turner is the general manager of financial training firm Ambitious Minds

14 post business legal

Thursday, October 24, 2013

FDR donation helps puts hot meals on youth club’s menu A NEW hot meal service is being launched at Warrington Youth Club, thanks to a donation of £530 raised by Cheshire law firm Forshaws Davies Ridgway (FDR) who organised a charity golf day.

Youth club chief executive Dave McNicholl says the money will be used to pump prime the new service, enabling youngsters attending after-school and evening sessions at the Peace Centre to eat a cheap, hot, healthy meal before returning home.

FDR conveyancing partner Tim Jordan is a trustee of the youth club and commercial partner Margaret Evans organised the charity golf day in Delamere for the firm’s clients and contacts.

Mr Jordan said: “Warrington Youth Club does an amazing job for local youngsters and I’m delighted the firm has agreed to make it one of our nominated charities.”

Mr McNicholl added: “Annual running costs are just over £500,000 pounds, so we rely very heavily on the support of Warrington businesses. It’s difficult to attract funding from grants, so the help we get from FDR and other firms is vital in allowing us to meet those targets.”

Each month an average of 2,000 young people benefit from the club’s services.

FDR partners Tim Jordan and Margaret Evans present the cheque to club CEO Dave McNicholl, standing

New employment law firm takes its lead from its clients

by Neil Hodgson

POST BUSINESS STAFF

neil.hodgson@liverpool.com

A NEW employment law firm was founded on the principals close to its clients’ hearts and has been rewarded with a rapid breakthrough into the ranks of the prestigious Legal 500.

E3 founding partners Simon Ost, Nick Jones and Dan Bickerstaffe had worked together at international firm, Squire Sanders, and were independently recognised as leaders in the field of employment law.

They were determined to break the mould of traditional law firms and create a practice fully in tune with their clients.

Merseyside partner Simon Ost explained: “We spent years listening to business leaders, senior HR professionals and experienced in-house lawyers telling us what they did and didn’t like about using law firms.

“So we decided to discard the traditional blueprint for a law firm.

“Instead, we built a firm to deliver exactly what the business community wanted: leading expertise with decades of practical experience, clear, effective advice, better service levels, and much greater cost efficiency and transparency.

“In particular, we decided to strip out any costs that businesses didn’t value because they didn’t generate any material benefit to the client.

“Out went plush city centre offices, expensive bonus schemes and extravagant marketing events. We made E3 as lean and cost-effective as it could possibly be, without compromising on the quality of our service.”

The result, just over a year after the launch of E3, is that many businesses in the region have voted with their feet by choosing to switch to the fledgling firm.

Various North West-based plcs, a leading North West utilities giant, and some of the world’s largest and most respected corporate organisations now trust E3 to resolve their employment law issues.

The partners believe this simplified approach is one of the reasons the boutique employment law firm, which covers Merseyside, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, was included in the recent Legal 500 rankings for law firms in the North West.

Despite its recent emergence in the sector, E3 was ranked at the same level as long-standing Liverpool legal giants such as Brabners and Weightmans and ahead of national and international firms such as Irwin Mitchell

and Squire Sanders.

The partners also apply their unique approach to corporate social responsibility issues.

E3 is committed to giving away 10% of its profits to charitable causes each year.

It also offers reduced rates to charities and public sector institutions.

Mr Ost said: “We want to make a positive and material difference to the communities in which we live and work, the communities that have nurtured and supported us. For me, that is Merseyside.”

This September E3 celebrated the end of its first year of practice, but instead of champagne receptions or lavish events, partner Dan Bickerstaffe suggested they all competed in a triathlon in Cheshire to raise funds for charity.

This raised £1,000 for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Similarly, last Christmas, rather than indulging in the traditional corporate hospitality, the partners, led by Nick Jones, celebrated Christmas by preparing and serving breakfast to the homeless community with the North West charity, Lifeshare.

Originally based in Manchester, the firm is now in the process of relocating to new offices in Liverpool or, more likely, Warrington.

Tributes paid to Howard Jackson COLLEAGUES have been remembering Howard Jackson, who sadly passed away on October 11, aged 76.

Mr Jackson and Philip Canter set up Jackson & Canter Solicitors in 1961.

Current managing partner Andrew Holroyd said: “They were the first legal practitioners to leave the safety of the city centre and set up offices near to where disadvantaged people lived, first in Kirkby and then in Liverpool 8 and later in Belle Vale.”

He said: Howard was a lovely human being.

He was always down to earth, warm, hospitable and friendly.

“It was this informal style that worked with clients. He never put himself on a pedestal but you felt he really was on your side, working with you.

“He built up a cadre of loyal clients who always wanted to see the boss, and Howard was generous in making himself available.”

He added: “With Howard and Philip, legal practice was never dull. Whether it was barring the doors to the police in hot pursuit of clients who burst into our rooms in the Rialto in Toxteth, or life after the riots, coming to work was always an enjoyable experience.

“Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.”

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Simon Ost, one of E3’s three founding partners

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women in business post business 15

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Young retailer expands as she gears up for Christmas trade YOUNG Merseyside entrepreneur Rachel Gilberston is expanding her retail space as she gears up for the Christmas trading season.

Rachel, who has recently turned 20, was featured in Post Business in June just weeks after she set up her venture, Roxie’s Treasures.

She trades from The Crosby Emporium, above the Crosby Tearooms in College Road.

She sells hand-made and costume jewellery, bags, accessories and a few other interesting odds and ends.

Rachel first set up in one room in May and now she has expanded into another room and has taken some space in a third.

She said having the extra space has made her more focused on the kind of merchandise she will buy.

“I have to think more carefully now,” she added.

“I may see thing that I like and I may want to buy them but then I have to think whether other people will like them too.”

Rachel is now pushing her range of “statement” jewellery.

“They are big pieces with bold colours worn by WAGs and models,” she said.

Rachel Gilbertson started Roxiie’s Treasures in the Crosby Emporium in May this year

Teresa using technology to reach those people in need

by Tony McDonough POST BUSINESS STAFF

tony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

WHEN Teresa Smith was born in 1960 she wasn’t expected to live more than a few minutes.

She emerged into the world already disabled due to the effects of the drug, Thalidomide, which her mother had taken during pregnancy to alleviate morning sickness.

Thanks to the swift actions of the midwife, Teresa was rush to Alder Hey hospital and survived.

Confined to a wheelchair her whole life, she has managed to forge a successful career as a social worker and counsellor and has now embarked on a new phase of her life as an entrepreneur.

From her Southport home she has launched Change Beyond Belief, which offers hypnotherapy and life coaching.

“I had to retire from my job as a social worker due to ill health a couple of years ago and I thought that would be the end of my working life,” said Teresa.

However, she has fought back from her illness to start the business.

“I have had to fight and battle my whole life,” she added.

Teresa first developed a keen interest in hypnotherapy more than 20 years ago while training to be a social worker.

She explained: “While I was study-

ing to become a social worker I became very nervous about taking my exams.

“So I embarked on a course of hypnotherapy and found that it really helped me.”

She qualified as a hypnotherapist last year and is keen to counter some of the myths about the technique.

“It isn’t about doing things under hypnosis that you don’t want to do like handing over your bank details,” she said.

“It is simply about being in a state of relaxation – being in your own zone in the way you might be if you were watching your favourite TV programme, for example.

“Hypnotherapy can be really effective for dealing with a lot of issues such as depression and other medical issues.

“It can also help you deal with stress, negativity, anger and fears and phobias.

“It can also simply help you gain more confidence.”

Teresa also uses technology to help clients who are unable to leave their homes.

She added: “There are some people who don’t want to go outside or are too ill to go out so for them I can do hypnosis using Skype.

“It is perfectly safe and the effects are exactly the same as they would be if there person was in the room.

“I think doing sessions that way could really appeal to some people.”

Workers seeking greater flexibility MOST office staff would change their job if they were not allowed to work flexibly, a study has shown.

A survey of 1,000 people by recruitment firm Office Angels found that three out of five would move if their employer did not offer flexible arrangements.

Travel and childcare were given as some of the reasons for flexible working, although many said they simply preferred it.

Angela Smith, managing director of Office Angels, said: “Flexible working is clearly more important to employees than ever before, and childcare is not the main driver – rather it comes from the preference of employees.

“A strategic focus on flexible working can help an organisation attract and retain the best individuals.

“It is clear that a working culture which can adapt to a worker’s lifestyle is becoming increasingly important, with employees wanting to achieve the optimum work/life balance. However, whilst flexibility creates a work/life balance, it needs to be twinned with responsible choices. Opportunities to work flexibly should be clearly and transparently communicated.”

Just over half of those questioned in the survey work flexibly, with 57% saying their employers offer flexible working.

POST BUSINESS DAILY A revolution in the way business people get their news

Teresa Smith offers hypnosis sessions over a Skype connection Teresa has also been chosen by the Brains Trust as one of only 10 practitioners to help people who have been diagnosed with brain tumours.

“I feel like what I am doing now

means I am giving something back to society,” she said.

“Because I have had to battle in my own life I feel I can bring a lot of empathy to my work.”

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16 post business location

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Commercial occupiers are increasingly insisting on flexibility in deals

view point

by Colin Forshaw, head of sales and development at Bruntwood WHEN we hear talk of economic resurgence, the most common metaphors tend to involve businesses spreading their wings, flexing their muscles or even getting a jump on the competition.

As any good physiotherapist will

Rate hike hurting retailers THE link between the Retail Price Index (RPI) and business rates is hurting the convenience store sector, according to the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).

And ACS chief executive James Lowman has called on Chancellor George Osborne to take immediate action to lift the burden on retailers.

The rate, announced last week by the Office for National Statistics as 3.2%, remains higher than the Government’s target of 2% and is an increase on last year’s 2.6% hike.

ACS estimates that the upcoming increase for 2014 will cost retailers £25.8m.

Mr Lowman said: “Continuing unpredictable increases in business rates have put unnecessary pressure on businesses and stifled investment at a time when growth is desperately needed.

“The Chancellor must not ignore the collective voice of thousands of businesses calling out for change.

We need a new system for setting the rates increase and a cap on increases.”

Commercial/Industrial Property Sale/Let

T J THOMAS 0151 708 6544 KNOWSLEY IND PARK,

tell you, none of this strenuous activity would be possible without a large dose of flexibility, and I’m sure Bruntwood is not alone in seeing that flexibility has become an increasingly key feature in property negotiations over the past 12 months.

The re-emerging market has brought with it a renewed appetite for flexible terms across the negotiation process, requiring landlords and agents to be more nimble than ever before.

That’s not to say that customers simply demand more for less or that owners are forced to bend over backwards to attract deals.

Instead, we have seen the need for

flexibility to work both ways and it’s a challenge for everyone in the market to identify areas of importance to businesses and figure out a solution that works for all parties.

We all have to work that little bit harder to be creative and use emotional intelligence to get to know potential customers and ultimately view the deal through the eyes of the customer.

It makes clear commercial sense for owners to want their customers to remain fit and healthy for a long period rather than overstretching themselves in pursuit of

short-term wins, whether that’s agreeing a deal for more affordable space with room for future growth or helping them to fund the costs of relocation.

For our part, having been established for so many years, we know that maintaining flexibility becomes even more important with age, so it’s vital we, as a business, remain fresh in our approach.

Possibly the greatest challenge for all property owners is that, once they have listened to customers and tailored their offer accordingly, they must then appre-

‘We will all have to work that little bit harder’

ciate that what’s important to the market one week may become obsolete the next.

This changing picture certainly keeps us all on our toes as we vie to remain in peak competitive condition.

Bruntwood’s Cotton Exchange office space

Warrington running out of grade A space, claims report Lingley Mere Business Park and, inset, Wes Erlam

by Tony McDonough

POST BUSINESS STAFF

tony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

THERE is less than 12 months of grade A office space left in Warrington and the surrounding areas, according to new research.

Analysis of available property, compared to the average take-up over the last five years, indicates that high quality office space in excess of 10,000 sq ft could run out within 12 months.

Lingley Mere Business Park – which researched the figures from January 2012 to the present date – has warned that businesses could leave themselves with very little choice when considering expansion or improving their current working environment.

With the current economic climate still suggesting that speculative office development is unlikely to be forthcoming in the short-to-medium-term, the park warns that businesses with “impending lease events” need to seriously consider how to “futureproof ” their business in a property context.

The report claims that just 68,000 sq ft of grade A space in excess of 10,000 sq ft units is available to lease or purchase.

The study has shown that of those companies looking to move, more than 90% have enquired about existing grade A property, with more than a third requiring office space in less than nine months.

Wes Erlam is senior development surveyor at Muse Developments – part of a joint venture with United Utilities at Lingley Mere.

He said: “The statistics clearly demonstrate the widening gap between what is available for immediate occupation and the current approach being taken by the majority of businesses when it comes to addressing property requirements.

“Time and again we see companies

that are missing break clauses or failing to consider their lease expiry dates in a timely manner.

“This is compounded by the misbelief that there is a surplus of high quality grade A stock immediately available.

“With the amount of grade A property falling, we expect the pre-let mar-

ket to increase in the next 12 to 18 months, in order to meet the needs of regional businesses.”

Chris Cheap, director at GVA – the joint agent at Lingley Mere – added: “Companies often leave it too late when it comes to relocating or upgrading their office environment – subsequently reducing the number of

options that are available to them.

“Our research shows that a significant number of companies in the region have less than 18 months left on their current property lease.

“With the average building taking 18-24 months to build, companies need to place their future property requirements higher up on their agenda.”

Business units, 575sqft £100pw ERSKINE STREET Business units 850sqft £550pcm LIVERPOOL CITY CENTRE Shop unit £115pw

www.tjthomas.co.uk

‘Celebrate, work, eat, sleep and play’ at Birkenhead venue A MIXED-USE venue is set to open in Wirral’s historic Hamilton Square, offering private and corporate entertainment, a business hub and

boutique accommodation.

Housed in two newly-renovated Georgian Grade I-listed buildings, 4748 offers guests a range of facilities

and services where they can “celebrate, work, eat, sleep and play”.

It offers private and corporate hospitality, a venue for

weddings and other celebrations, serviced offices, meeting rooms and boutique accommodation.

Later this year will see the

opening of a public space at the venue in the form of The Cellar Bar and Café, with access to walled gardens and stables.

location post business 17

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Sales of up to £4m expected

by Kersh SUTTON KERSH sold 71 (77%) of the 93 properties offered at is recent Liverpool property auction, generating proceeds of more than £3.7m.

With plenty of post-sale activity already taking place the final figure is anticipated to be around 80%, with proceeds nearing £4m.

Seating was “at a premium” at the Liverpool city centre Marriott Hotel as Sutton Kersh once again attracted a large audience.

The best performing lot of the day was a propery in the Mossley Hill area of south Liverpool which sold for £623,000, off a guide price of £550,000.

Carleton House in Palmerston Road is a former school and has planning permission for conversion into six flats. The lot also included the adjacent coach house which has planning for a self-contained dwelling.

Cathy Holt, auction manager at Sutton Kersh, said: “This was another strong auction as buyers reacted positively to all types of stock, and showed further evidence of improved investor confidence.

“We have also been inundated with enquiries for stock which did not sell in the room and I am confident these will result in further sales.”

POST BUSINESS DAILY A revolution in the way business people get their news

Peel’s serviced office space is launched with a bang

Meeting space at The Quay and, inset top, Liza Marco, and, inset bottom, the fireworks at the launch

by Tony McDonough

POST BUSINESS STAFF

tony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

PEEL has become the latest property firm to enter the Liverpool flexible office market with a launch at its Princes Dock development.

The launch of its new flexible office scheme – The Quay – went with a bang as crowds were treated to a firework display at the dock.

Peel is following in the footsteps of rivals Downing and Bruntwood in offering flexible space The Quay is based on the ground floor of No 12 Princes Dock and offers

a range of flexible office suites from 100 sq ft to 470 sq ft.

All the suites offer floor-to-ceiling glazing providing waterside views across Princes Dock and meeting room facilities for up to 12 people which are available to hire.

Peel recently opened its dedicated Liverpool Waters project office at the dock and welcomed its first tenant, international property consultant Dunlop Heywood.

Liza Marco, property manager at Princes Dock, said: “Peel have a similar offer in MediaCityUK, Manchester, which has proved very popular with start-up companies and small firms in need of centrally-located office space but aren’t yet in a

position to commit to a longer lease.

“We’ve had a healthy interest in The Quay already, in part owing to the quality of the environment and the fantastic views over Princes Dock and the River Mersey.

“It’s well known that the view from an office can have a transformational effect on the people working in it and each of The Quay suites benefit from floor-to-ceiling glazing which makes the most of this vista.

“We’d strongly recommend anyone interested in the offices to take a look around.”

More than 2,500 people are employed within Princes Dock, with occupiers including Coutts Bank, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG,

Liverpool take-up below the average

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OFFICE space take-up in Liverpool city centre was “below average” in the third quarter of this year, a report says.

GVA’s Big Nine, which surveys the nine biggest regional office markets, reveals there was 50,000 sq ft of space let in the city centre during the period.

This is below the five-year quarterly average of 69,526 sq ft.

The quarter saw Liverpool’s

largest deal this year – law firm Hampson Hughes taking 34,000 sq ft at the Edward Pavilion in the Albert Dock.

The report added: “Occupiers remain cautious in the city, preferring to re-gear their leases.”

The Big Nine reports the regional city centre take-up levels totalled more than 1.12m sq ft in the third quarter.

This was 10% above the

five-year quarterly average.

City centre take-up was twice the average in Newcastle and well above average in Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow, while take-up was below average in Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.

Carl Potter of GVA said: “Occupier confidence has made a welcome return to a number of the regional city centres.”

and Atlantic Container Liners.

And at the launch event of The Quay, Peel’s development director, Lyndsay Ashworth, said talks with potential Chinese investors for the £6bn Liverpool and Wirral Waters projects were “well advanced”.

Last week it was revealed that Chinese investors were to take a £650m stake in the £800m expansion of Manchester Airport – a project called Airport City.

This prompted concern that Liverpool was in danger of being left behind Manchester but Mr Ashworth assured those present that talks with potential Chinese backers of Liverpool and Wirral Waters were “well down the road”.

Guardians plea LOCAL authorities are being encouraged to adopt the role of the guardian of high streets and town centres in a new report – Hope for the High Street – from accountants KPMG. Presented as a discussion document, KPMG’s report outlines the challenges facing the UK’s town centres and suggests actions required by stakeholders in order to deliver change.

It states the British high street merits a fundamental re-think.

18 post business economic development

Thursday, October 24, 2013

JLR puts charity on road focus on

growth

by Neil Hodgson

POST BUSINESS STAFF

neil.hodgson@liverpool.com

A

SMALL Liverpool community charity has helped global car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) take its next steps to international growth.

And the unlikely relationship was driven by the latest round of austerity cuts forced on the city council.

Chinese Wellbeing, in Hanover Street’s Gostin Building, was set up almost 25 years ago to support the Chinese community, particularly the elderly.

Its carers’ network was primarily funded through public sector grants.

Recently it has diversified and in 2010 successfully applied for council contracts to provide care for people in sheltered accommodation, as well as domiciliary care. But 90% of its total income was still dependent on grants.

Earlier this year council cuts resulted in the organisation losing £130,000-worth of grants, about a third of its total turnover.

Chief executive Colin Ling said they realised they would have to find alternative income to survive and support its 42 staff: “We knew we had to drive income, so we have created a trading arm.”

The new venture specifically focuses on the organisation’s unique ability to bridge the divide between Chinese and domestic businesses, such as interpretation, translation and cultural awareness issues.

And its very first commission has already helped restore some stability in these uncertain economic times.

JLR is building a £1bn car plant in Changshu, near Shanghai, in a joint venture with Chinese manufacturer Chery.

The first 50 key Chinese recruits, who will be instrumental in training the rest of the workforce, have undergone a three month induction course at JLR’s Halewood plant, and return home this weekend.

Mr Ling said: “JLR were referred to us because their requirement was so niche.”

He acknowledged: “We have been incredibly lucky to be able to get such a prestigious contract as our first customer.”

Having created a cultural awareness programme for JLR, aimed at both the Chinese party and JLR workers, his team then recruited 12 interpreters to work with the Chinese party throughout their stay, mostly Chinese students at Liverpool universities.

He said: “They had to have sufficient language skills to adapt to the difficult technical aspects involved with a car manufacturer.

Most local interpreters work on legal or health matters, so this was

Colin Ling, chief executive of Chinese Wellbeing, the charity bidding to cover the loss of income through budget cuts a whole different kettle of fish. They were also going to be working in a noisy, frenetic environment.”

The Chinese recruits lived in city centre apartments, but Mr Ling said there were inevitable culture clashes: “They were a little bit perplexed with egg mayonnaise sandwiches. We took them for English high tea at the Adelphi and the sandwiches proved less popular, but the cakes and scones went down a treat.”

The Wellbeing team familiarised the recruits with Chinese supermarkets and restaurants in the city, and even

arranged discounts.

They also arranged a “midautumn lunch”, which is a traditional family event in China: “JLR kindly sponsored the event for 140 people, including the 50 Chinese and friends they had made on the production line, as well as the Lord Mayor of Liverpool. It was hugely successful.”

Ed O’Shaughnessy, JLR’s Chery/JLR key worker programme project manager, agreed: “We have benefited from practical advice on

‘We now know that we have to help oursleves’

day-to-day issues and as an organisation Chinese Wellbeing have been extremely flexible to our needs throughout the project.

“Without doubt the highlight for everyone involved was the midautumn festival.”

Mr Ling said: “This contract will go some way towards helping to make up the shortfall in public funding, but we know that we have to help ourselves now.

“After the cuts the city council were very supportive, particularly cllr Mumby, but we now need to go forward.”

Plans include working with more companies targeting Chinese trade.

Mr Ling said: “Despite working

with JLR, no project would be too small for us.”

Advice could include protocol on giving and receiving gifts, rules on dining at formal banquets, and even the presentation of business cards.

Another idea is the introduction of innovative services such as reminiscence events, or bespoke dementia services for the elderly in the community.

However, despite the importance of developing a commercial trading arm, the organisation is still deeply rooted in the community, and within the next fortnight it is moving to newer premises in East Village to be nearer to the Chinese community.

economic development post business 19

Thursday, October 24, 2013

to new future

The JLR Halewood line which has been home to 50 Chinese key workers for three months

diary of an entrepreneur AFTER leaving school in Leicester at 16, I joined Tesco as a trainee manager then moved to my first love, music, teaching and selling pianos.

A stroke of luck then led me to working as a domestic aide to the Omani Royal family until, in my late 20s, I moved into the world of insurance.

I began selling simple life assurance policies but then moved into pension and investment planning and finally spent more than 20 years in offshore retail stockbroking, ultimately as a consultant.

Throughout this time, the idea of being involved in the beer trade, let alone owning a brewery, would have been a fanciful notion to say the least.

However, as repeated regulatory changes warped the industry landscape beyond recognition, I decided to say goodbye to financial services and regroup before choosing my next step.

I had long harboured a dream to run a pub but I was also aware that I would need more experience of the sector if I were to succeed.

In 2007, I offered my services for free to Frank Parrat, the landlord of Stamps Too on South Road in Waterloo.

It had become my watering hole of choice and it felt like a good fit to work there while I enhanced my skill set.

I was quickly asked to put my cooking skills to good use and soon developed a highly popular burger menu featuring meats such as wild boar and ostrich.

I began to search the UK for vacant pub premises in the hope of finding a canvas for my mental picture and my search led me to Derby and a property with bags of character, plus a number of outbuildings.

My friend Peter Amor, founder of one of the UK’s first microbreweries, in Hereford, advised me to take the project on and said the extra space would be perfect for a microbrewery.

The deal eventually fell through

but I had now seen enough to realise there was a boom in microbreweries just around the corner, so I returned to Waterloo to share my findings with a number of pub regulars.

Among them was Karl Critchley, whom for many years had been a home brewing enthusiast and understood what it would take to develop quality handcrafted beers.

Now our head brewer, Karl invested alongside two other mutual acquaintances with me as majority shareholder, and Liverpool Organic Brewery was born.

Today, we brew a range of more than 20 different beers at our headquarters in Kirkdale, while we also host a number of beer festivals across the city.

Our largest to date was at St George’s Hall in September, which attracted more than 5,700 people and is already being lined up to return next year.

Our beer festivals began at Old Christ Church in Waterloo and I am currently in the midst of putting the finishing touches to our next festival, which takes place this week.

Their conception is a classic case of great minds thinking alike.

I’d never been to a beer festival prior to owning the brewery but, after visiting a few CAMRA events, I soon realised their huge potential.

Meanwhile, we’d displayed our products at a few farmers’ markets in the church and the organisers mentioned they liked the idea of a beer festival.

You can guess the rest.

With another beer festival planned at The Black-E before the end of the year, increasing orders from pubs far and wide and the imminent extension of our premises to accommodate larger brewery tours, life is certainly never dull and the world of financial services – and Tesco – is an increasingly distant memory.

Mark Hensby, managing director, Liverpool Organic Brewery

Liverpool is home to the oldest Chinese community established anywhere in Europe

Cuts taking their toll on community services CHINESE WELLBEING was founded in 1989 by, among others, Lord Michael Chan, under the banner Merseyside Chinese Community Development Association.

Through its Chinese Carers’ network it helps the elderly in the community, including a twice-weekly luncheon club in Duke Street’s

New Star restaurant every Tuesday and Thursday.

As well as the social aspect, this event also acts as an opportunity to interact with community members often described as hard to reach on issues such as health, social care, and community events.

Staff are bilingual and culturally aware in

working with the Chinese community on a range of different platforms.

The aim is to provide support and care to individuals to reduce social isolation and support independent living.

Other services offered by the group included a befriending scheme, a skills devel-

opment project and an outreach programme, as well as a bilingual community newspaper, Silk Road News.

However, due funding and grant cuts over the past few years, all these services have had to be withdrawn, leaving just the luncheon club, domiciliary care and sheltered accommodation projects.

Mark Hensby, Liverpool Organic Brewery

20 post business professional

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Tech expo to teach moneysaving tip

From left, Matthew Dobbs, Julian Chillingworth and James Hedley

Investor: Potholes lie ahead on Britain’s road to recovery

by Joshua Taylor

POST BUSINESS STAFF

joshua.taylor@trinitymirror.com

NEXT year will be a year of recovery but there could be “potholes on the road ahead”, a Liverpool wealth management group’s chief investment officer has warned.

Julian Chillingworth made the claim at Rathbones’ 2014 economic outlook workshop, during which he gave his national and global economic forecasts for the year ahead.

Mr Chillingworth told the audience of investment experts and business owners that issues in the US and eurozone economies – such as the debt crisis in America that was narrowly avoided last week – could continue to pose problems next year.

Speaking at Rathbones’ offices in

the Port of Liverpool Building, he said: “2014 will be a year of recovery and the year when economic growth in the round will be stronger than it has been in 2013.

“There may be potholes on the road ahead.

“We have just circumvented one by kicking the can down the road in terms of the American deficit and renegotiations over the debt ceiling.”

In an 11th hour deal last Wednesday, Congress extended the US Treasury’s borrowing powers until early next year – a move Mr Chillingworth said could “prolong the problem so the pothole to come may be bigger than the one we have just dodged”.

But he described the China as the “key for general global growth” in 2014 and criticised the eurozone countries for making little progress on resolving their debt problems. He said it was “difficult” to imagine the

single currency’s membership would still be the same in five years’ time.

Turning his focus to the British economy, Mr Chillingworth said Chancellor George Osborne had “defied all logic and managed to deliver a recovery despite pessimism from some that he would be unable to do so”.

He said: “We will see the housing market continuing to improve and the feelgood factor among consumers will continue to grow. Interest rates will remain low. This will be good for consumer confidence.

“The UK will be one of the stronger players in 2014 in terms of growth.”

Other speakers at the economic outlook workshop included Matthew Dobbs, head of global and international small capital equities at Schroders, James Hedley, investment director for Rathbone Brothers in Liverpool, and Claire McGuckin, invest-

ment manager for fixed income at Kames Capital.

Mr Dobbs spoke to the audience about the future for Asian economies.

“Long-term, Asia has tremendous potential,” he said, before claiming growth in the continent was generally “good news for growth” globally.

The speakers also debated the alternative forms of investment to shareholdings.

Mr Chillingworth said equities remained his “favourite asset” and criticised other forms of security, singling out retail bonds because companies that sell them do so because of balance sheets problems that mean “they can’t necessarily raise money easily elsewhere”.

Ms McGuckin said: “The main reason people are fearful (of bonds) is because of inflation. Nobody was fearful when the banks were lending. The bond market isn’t dead just yet.”

A DATA company is due to host a specialist event at Aintree Racecourse to teach businesses how new technology can significantly reduce the cost of telephone systems.

Stack Group, based in Aintree, will stage its unified communications and mobility expo on November 13.

Attendees will be encouraged to replace their existing telephone infrastructure with the Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) system.

Stack chairman Jeff Orr said: “VOIP systems allow desk phones and mobiles to be fully integrated with a user’s computer, allowing complete synchronisation with calendars and messaging with monitoring of presence.

“These systems can even automatically manage calls based on employee’s diary entries, such as when they are scheduled to be in meetings or are out of office.

“In addition, a user’s location becomes irrelevant as wherever they are they remain a connected part of the system. In effect, the systems are more advanced and cheaper.”

The expo, which is aimed specifically at IT or telephony managers, will begin at 9.30am and finish at 2pm.

Among the exhibitors will be integrated VOIP specialist Shoretel, hardware provider Icon, system operator Daisy Communications, video conferencing firm Nimans and call logging outfit Oak. It is claimed by VOIP providers that the system is $20m a year cheaper for a 1,500employee firm than traditional models.

on the move ■

A FORMER chairman of Liverpool Central Citizens Advice Bureau has been appointed to head a legal firm’s finance department.

Patrick Kent, a qualified management accountant and solicitor, is joining GT Law, which has its head office in Castle Street, Liverpool.

He has previously worked for Royal and Sun Alliance, AI Claims Solutions, and was most

recently a life and pensions consolidator for ReAssure, part of Swiss Re.

■

RUGBY League club Widnes Vikings has appointed Ian Cheveau as its head of communications.

Mr Cheveau, 32, will join the club after he has finished his commitments as publications editor at Rugby League World Cup 2013.

Mr Cheveau is no stranger to Rugby League in Widnes. He started as a junior working within the club as a media student and later progressed to become a dedicated Rugby League correspondent for local, regional and national press.

■

LAW firm Hillyer McKeown has appointed a solicitor as its new head of insolv-

ency. Paul Marsh will join the firm, which has offices in Birkenhead, Chester and Deeside, next month.

He will move to the firm from DWF, where he is currently a partner and head of the insolvency litigation team.

Steve Harvey, partner at Hillyer McKeown, said: “Paul will be a welcome addition to the firm.”

Patrick Kent – now with GT Law

Ian Cheveau – joins Widnes Vikings

Paul Marsh – head of insolvency

networker post business 21

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Christmas party is making a comeback after a dire 2012

Joshua Taylor talks to event planner Kerrie Routledge about the Christmas do

B

USINESSES across Merseyside are currently in the process of planning their staff Christmas nights out, but to what extent has the economic slump put people off celebrating the festive season with their colleagues?

The clocks move back one hour this weekend, a growing number of venues are beginning to advertise Christmas events and festive merchandise is slowly creeping into our shops. The season to be jolly is increasingly coming to the forefront of people’s minds.

However, last year was, according to one Liverpool-based event organising company, among the worst the city has ever seen for corporate Christmas party uptakes.

Kerrie Routledge, director of the Crosby-based Big Event Group, said the number of Christmas events her firm organised in 2012 was down 50% on the previous year. This slump has been reversed this year, however.

“We are really busy at the moment,” she said. “Corporate parties are definitely on the increase this year. We are seeing a lot of event theming this year.

“A lot of our corporate clients are doing things like best of British, winter wonderland and Hollywood nights. It’s good because last year was the worst I have ever seen for Christmas dos.

The number of Christmas parties halved last year, according to one organiser, but is recovering “Everybody really struggled due to the economy, but it is definitely on the increase so far this year.”

But Ms Routledge said the number of Christmas events being organised by companies has still not returned to its pre-recession levels.

“People have not got as much money to spend,” she said. “A lot of companies are struggling so one thing they cut back on in that situation is Christmas parties.

“Every business is striving to get through the tough times, as opposed

to having extra money to be able to spend.”

While times are still undoubtedly tough for many people and firms, it’s clear the Christmas party is making a comeback and fulfilling one of its main roles – to cheer us all up.

Party time is upon us ■

THE best time to organise a Christmas party is as early as September, an events firm has claimed.

DesignMyNight.com said price hikes imposed by venues and a lack of availability later on meant September was the best month to organise a festive bash.

The website said as many as 75% of those who left it until December to book their party venue missed out because it was too late.

Nick Telson, co-founder of DesignMyNight.com, said: “We’re all guilty of leaving things until the last minute but, when it comes to arguably the biggest party of the year, we’re urging people to get planning now.

“The Christmas party is a way of thanking people, celebrating a good year and toasting to the next, so it should be special for everyone.

“Price differences over the month can be twofold.”

The company also said December 14 was the most popular night for a Christmas party, therefore the most expensive at most venues.

Mr Telson said: “There is definitely a need for something a bit different this Christmas.

“We’re noticing a trend in activity-based nights, such as ping pong evenings, which instantly bond people and boosts morale.

“A themed event such as 1920s fancy dress, a ski theme in chalet-themed bars or pop-up, or a James Bond affair would be an absolute winner.”

past business – nostalgia

Dial F for Fashion – how a plastic phone inspired a Space-Age Hawk

Lucy Jardine, Andre Distell and Kim White in Williamson Square in 1984 with Owen Owen’s British Telecom-inspired fashion range

EVERY so often we must endure an 80s revival – so maybe it’s time for a fashion range inspired by a plastic desktop telephone to come strutting back into the spotlight.

Back in 1984, Liverpool department store Owen Owen organised a fashion shoot for the Echo to show off a range of clothes inspired by, of all things, British Telecom.

And, in a piece billed “Dial F... for fashion”, the Echo said: “Top international fashion designer Antony Price – whose clothes are worn by stars including Mick Jagger, Pamela Stephenson and Duran Duran – has created six spectacular outfits to complement British Telecom’s Inphone range.

“Special fabrics have been used to reflect the ‘feel’ and texture of plastic, from the Rhapsody in Blue to the Space-Age Hawk.”

Two years later there were no phones in sight when the Echo met “the man who dictates what we will be wearing this autumn”.

In September 1986 it said Rem

Henry, Owen Owen’s new controller of ladies fashion, was travelling to London fashion shows “to take a close look at separates and the overall look for spring/summer ‘87”.

Mr Henry and his six-strong team were charged with filling the shelves and racks at Owen Owen’s 18 stores, including those in Clayton Square, Liverpool, and Chester.

Mr Henry, who had only joined Owen Owen months earlier, had already chosen his Christmas separates for 1986 – “a strong black evening line, godet and fishtail shirts and shoulder-padded easy jackets.” The paper noted that the range was “quite fashionable, but still safe – they have to temper fashion to their customers.”

But Mr Henry pledged that in the future, the store would offer: “A lot more fashionability, a lot more life.”

Sadly for city shoppers, Owen Owen only had seven years of life left in it – the Liverpool store closed in June, 1993.

ALISTAIR HOUGHTON

Rem Henry, controller of ladies’ fashions at Owen Owen, in September, 1986

22 post business networker

trading gossip ■

“ASK not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” said John F Kennedy.

Lindsay Ashworth has clearly taken this on board. The development director for property giant Peel last week addressed an invited audience at Princes Dock, Liverpool, to launch its new serviced offices.

Lindsay, below, also spoke about collaborations with Chinese investors over Liverpool and Wirral Waters and the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Birkenhead.

Present at the event was one of those investors – Stella Shiu –

Peel’s 50% partner in the ITC scheme.

Lindsay told the assembled throng: “In the course of establishing Chinese relations, I came across a Chinese lady called Stella Shiu.

“One of the reasons we accepted her as a partner was her ability to drink.

“I have never known a woman who could drink so much alcohol and not get drunk.

“When I have been on the floor in China with a drink called moutai, that is 70% alcohol, she continues to drink my share – that is the Chinese tradition of showing respect.”

How gallant of Lindsay to reveal this and as for his own self-sacrifice, he added: “I don’t enjoy the drinking – I do it out of a sense of duty towards Peel.”

POST BUSINESS DAILY

Download today for your free 30-day trial www.liverpool dailypost.co.uk/ businessdaily

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Tax apprentice hits the right notes with operatic society myday off Rebecca Hulse, 18, is an apprentice at Wirral chartered accountants McEwan Wallace and in her spare time she is a member of Wallasey Operatic Society

I

CAUGHT the acting bug when I was 11-years-old, when I enjoyed a lead role in my primary school’s end of year production.

When I started senior school in 2005, I wanted to maintain my interest in the performing arts and so I auditioned for Wallasey Operatic Society (WOS).

The society was established in 1910 and opened with a production of San Toy, a musical comedy.

Today WOS is recognised as one of the leading amateur operatic groups in the North West and each year stages an annual production at the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton.

Since joining WOS I have been in a range of musicals including Scrooge, Annie, Gypsy, Oliver, Thoroughly Modern Millie and West Side Story.

The cast is also just coming back down to earth following our successful 2013 production of The Producers – which took place at the Floral Pavilion in early October.

Auditions for the production took place in the Spring with rehearsals taking place three times a week over the last four months.

The cast would meet in a range of venues including Harrison Hall and the United Reformed Church in Wallasey Village.

There were a total of 30 performers in the cast and a large committee that work behind the scenes.

I am a dancer, singer and actor and I had several roles in The Producers although my main character was that of an usherette.

I am currently undertaking a tax apprenticeship with Wirral-based chartered accountants and business advisers McEwan Wallace.

‘I relish meeting up with the cast to perform’

Rebecca Hulse says performing provides the ‘perfect antidote’ to the pressures of work I am actually the first student in Merseyside to undertake a pioneering Association of Tax Technicians (ATT) Higher Apprenticeship in Tax, so I spend a great deal of time studying and revising.

I am really enjoying being part of a thriving company and helping other businesses and entrepreneurs, but

being a member of Wallasey Operatic Society gives me a break from the intensity of my work and studies.

Singing and dancing with WOS really provides the perfect antidote and I relish meeting up with the cast and performing.

In addition to developing my performing skills, the society has also

given me enormous confidence.

If I can get on stage and dance at the Floral Pavilion, I can do anything.

This also helps massively with work presentations and meetings. So while sad to have hung up my dance shoes for six months, I will recharge my batteries and look forward to auditioning again in 2014.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

networker post business

23

networking

Host in Hope Street, LIverpool city centre

my favourite lunch

Firework launch

PEEL marked the launch of its latest flexible office scheme, The Quay, with a firework display at Princes Dock.

Guests heard from

Peel’s Lindsey Ashworth, pictured, .

From left, Paul Chappels, Liza Marco, Ian Pollitt, Sarah Syvret, Chris Foran and Sarah -Jane Wright.

Treble celebrations BOOTLE-based property maintenance group Sovini is celebrating being presented with three awards from TPAS (Tenant Participation Advisory Service) – during a special ceremony to mark it becoming the first organ-

Otto kids get baking

THE newly-opened Otto Lounge in Telegraph Road, Heswall, launched with the help of some very special young guests.

Children from Marigold Day Nursery joined execut-

FRIDAY, OCT 25

CELEBRATE Cheshire 2013 is holding a breakfast networking event at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, from 7.30am until 11.30am. It will feature Ewan Sturman, BNI executive director for the region, Perception director Graham Dobbin and PR expert speaker Mary Murtagh. Tickets cost £25+VAT. For further details please contact Laura Evans on 01244

405630 or l.evans@ marketingcheshire.co.uk

MONDAY, OCT 28

THE Employability and Skills Group of companies is holding a series of open days at its Liverpool operation, which is situated in the city centre’s Bold Street. It invites schools and pupils, parents, teachers, heads of departments and careers advisors, training providers, job centres, com-

Q What is your favourite lunch venue?

A My favourite venue is Host on Hope Street.

Q Why is this your favourite venue?

A They do the most amazing pan-Asian Food, with that real East West fusion. You can get some great lunch deals there, the staff are welcoming and the food has always been top quality.

isation to have achieved the trio of accreditations.

Sovini’s Customer Empowerment Team, pictured , invited customers, partners and staff to its head office to enjoy the festivities with them.

business diary

Kirsty Lockwood, from Joe Black Coffee

munity agencies, and employers to its informal events which run from 10am to 4pm, on the second floor of Link 19 in Bold Street’s Central Village. Refreshments are included. The organisation says the open days provide a chance to find out how ESG staff can help individuals obtain full time jobs via the apprenticeship programme. For further details contact Jules Westbrook or Pauline O’Brien on 0151-702 6111.

ive chef, Theo Guy, in a cookie-baking demo. The children also took part in a colouring competition won

by Bethany Poval, three, who won a birthday party for herself and five friends.

TUESDAY, OCT 29

HOPE Business Gateway, at Hope University, is hosting a workshop on presentation skills, delivered by business psychologist Paula Raper. For further details please contact Carol Buckman on 0151-291 3285 or buckmac @hope.ac.uk

WEDNESDAY, OCT 30

INVEST in Sefton, in partnership with Graduate to Merseyside and the University of Liverpool, is staging the latest Sefton Economic Forum at the

Q What is your favourite dish and why?

A My favourite dish is the sati chicken salad, the flavours’ are amazing and it is a really nice summer dish. It comes with roti and I always have a non alcoholic cocktail, Ti lemonade with ginger alereally cools you down on these hot afternoons.

Q What is the best bit of business you have done over lunch?

A That would be with the Liverpool museums. We had lunch in the Maritime dining rooms and finalised our contract to supply. We have been working with all the Liverpool museums ever since.

Ramada Plaza Hotel in Southport, from 11.30am to 2pm. It will feature Dr Paul Redmond, director of employability and educational opportunities at the university, who will talk about the new generation of employees, and Alan Welby, executive director of key growth sectors with the Liverpool Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). A series of seminars and masterclasses focusing on key areas of business improvement will follow from 2.15pm to 4.30pm.

To register please email events@investsefton.com

Kirsty Lockwood Q Who would you most like to have lunch with?

A Keith Lemon, as he is one of the funniest people on TV. Q Where else do you like to go?

A If lunch meant a coffee and a pastry I would head for Central Perk. It’s new, quirky and fun. If I was looking for somewhere in between a restaurant and a café , then I would go to Leaf on Bold Street. I love the place, it has such a great atmosphere, the staff are all so friendly, the food is great and the loose leaf tea is the best I’ve had.

or call 0151-934 3450.

THURSDAY, OCT 31

PUB company Punch Taverns is visiting Chester Racecourse as part of its annual roadshow to explain to potential licensees what is involved in running their own pub. Recruitment manager Jason Gracey said: “We have a range of around 4,200 pubs, from community locals to gastro pubs, for licensees to take on with the freedom to run them as their own individual business, as well as having the backing and

support of a trusted partner. The roadshows are a great opportunity for business people thinking about leasing a pub to talk to Punch representatives who will be showcasing the network of support we provide, including training, catering and marketing.” The roadshow is from 10.30am to 4pm. Call 0844 848 3264 to pre-register.

■ Send your diary events to neil.hodgson @liverpool.com

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