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AN
ANNUAL REPORT ON THE NORTH WEST BUSINESS REGION
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t r o p p u s Need for your ? s s e n i s bu We can help
Building a business in uncertain economic times can be tough. Knowing where to turn for help isn’t always easy either. That’s why we offer a range of support to help Northwest companies emerge from the downturn stronger than before, including: Business Finance to support start-up expansion and growth plans. Innovation and Efficiency to improve working processes and make more efficient use of resources. Training and Development including support to improve workforce and leadership skills. Advice for new and high growth businesses, intensive assistance for new start-ups and potential high growth companies. International Trade for expansion into overseas markets.
To access our range of support, visit businesslink.gov.uk/northwest or call 0845 0066 888
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CULTURE TRIUMPH Liverpool’s year as 2008 European Capital of Culture was a huge success
Sleeves rolled up, to get on with the job The North West is, like all regions, being tested by the downturn but those left standing are still optimistic When the credit crunch started to bite at the start of 2008, but the full ravages of the slowdown hadn’t, it was common to hear a note of optimism around the North West. Credit was tight and confidence was creaking, but orders were stable. There was a sense – captured by Robert Hough, one of the region’s elder statesmen and the deputy chairman of Peel and now chairman of the Northwest Regional Development Agency – that the region was better placed to cope with a downturn than, say, the South East with its dependence on financial services and consumption. Hough said: “The extremes are not as evident in Manchester and the North West. Our economy is more balanced, more diverse and more sustainable.” At the same time Liverpool’s year as Capital of Culture lifted the city and wider North West region, and there’s no doubt that with the opening of the Liverpool One retail complex and its new arena, Liverpool is now fully embraced into the mainstream UK economy. During the last recession that wasn’t so. And Peel itself unveiled ambitious plans to develop Liverpool’s docks, the waterfront, the Wirral and the Ship Canal corridor between the city and Manchester. Peel chairman John Whittaker has called for sweeping planning reform to assist his ambitions. Manchester has had to refocus its inward investment efforts during the course of the recession. While Bank of New York Mellon have become an entrenched part of the city’s financial economy, relocations of major US banks to the city have been put on hold. In the last ten years the region has secured over 900 inward investment projects, creating or safeguarding over 85,000 jobs. Manchester also attracted 317, 000 sports fans to the city during World Sport 08, which included top
championships in squash, swimming and cycling. For manufacturers in the region times have always seemed tough – fuel prices, competition from China and India, the high value of sterling or rising commodity prices. But that has bred a fighting spirit that has served the businesses well as the next challenges emerged. Export sales are now more favourable. In September 2009 UK Trade & Investment reported that the North West has moved up in the league table of exporting regions to 2nd in the UK, from 6th. Elsewhere there are two sectors that effectively underpin the economies of Lancashire and Cumbria, defence and nuclear waste. Just under 3 per cent of all knowledge-intensive private sector jobs and 12 per cent of knowledge intensive production sector jobs (nearly one job in eight) in the North West are directly generated by BAE Systems for instance. The building blocks of support for the recovery were put into place in 2007 when the Northwest Regional Development Agency launched the one-stop regional Business Link Northwest. In its first year of operation, over 86,000 Northwest businesses accessed the new service, a figure which rose to more than 92,500 in 2008/09. This is a 30 per cent increase on the previous service in 20005/06. During the first quarter of 2009/10, the service had already engaged with 23,000 businesses. By the end of 2009 the NWDA and the European Regional Development Fund for the region will have put in place over £200m of support. And while details of a new long-term £140m Venture Capital Loan Fund for the region are worked out, an interim fund has brought forward £25m since December 2008. Michael Taylor is editor of North West Business Insider
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Editor Michael Taylor Research Rob Mayfield Design Damien Wiehl Production director Bob Stoney Commercial manager Lynn Barnett
Boulton House 17-21 Chorlton Street Manchester M1 3HY Tel: 0161 907 9711 Fax: 0161 236 9862 Email: insider@newsco.com www.insidermedia.com ©2008 newsco-insider No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form of advertising or promotion without written permission of the editor
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NORTH WEST
A69
CARLISLE
A596 A595
A66
A591
WHITEHAVEN
A595
A590
A66
BARROW-IN FURNESS A683
LANCASTER
POPULATION 2008
Source ONS
6,880,000 GROSS VALUE ADDED 2007
A59
A585
BLACKPOOL PRESTON A582
BLACKBURN A56
A59
Source ONS
£119,700,000,000
BURNLEY
A59
A583
A666
ROCHDALE
A49
A565
BOLTON WIGAN
A59
A56 A670 A580
AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE (EXCLUDES CUMBRIA) Q3 2008
MANCHESTER
Source HBOS
£121,311
A57
LIVERPOOL
WARRINGTON RUNCORN
A6 A34
A537 A556
CHESTER
A54 A54
A55 A41
PRIME RENTS £/sq ft TOWN/CITY
OFFICE
RETAIL
INDUSTRIAL
Blackpool
£12.50
£120.00
£4.50
Carlisle
£12.00
£125.00
£4.25
Lancaster
£13.50
£60.00
£4.75
Liverpool
£18.00
£360.00
£5.00
Manchester
£28.50
£315.00
£5.50
Preston
£14.50
£160.00
£4.95
Source Jones Lang LaSalle Q1 2009
PERCENTAGE OF WORKING AGE POPULATION WHO ARE ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE 2008
76.3% Source ONS
A6
A530 A51
A523
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NORTH WEST
TOP NORTH WEST COMPANIES by turnover TURNOVER £M
PREVIOUS TURNOVER £M
PRE-TAX PROFIT £M
PREVIOUS PRE-TAX PROFIT £M
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
1 COOPERATIVE GROUP
9,361.4
2 AMEC
2,606.4
6,453.0
115.9
150.6
80,658
76,710
Jan 09
2,356.2
306.6
151.6
19,026
17,368
Dec 08
3 UNITED UTILITIES 4 EUROPEAN METAL RECYCLING
2,362.9
2,323.0
478.3
676.0
8,909
16,868
Mar 08
2,243.1
1,690.9
119.3
104.0
2,365
1,959
Dec 07
5 TOTE BOOKMAKERS
2,196.2
1,916.7
13.6
19.1
1,960
2,760
Mar 08
6 ICELAND FOODS
2,080.9
1,789.1
86.9
34.7
19,406
18,014
Mar 09
7 MARCH UK
1,795.9
1,765.7
(148.0)
(37.9)
17,810
19,296
Apr 08
8 LOOKERS
1,775.9
1,680.0
(14.9)
23.0
6,073
5,203
Dec 08
1,128.2
443.5
10.2
2.5
1,254
665
Mar 08
1,103.5
949.1
38.9
7.9
2,282
1,975
Mar 08 Dec 08
RANK COMPANY
9 GB OILS 10 DONE BROTHERS (CASH BETTING)
PREVIOUS NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
YEAR END
11 BIBBY LINE
1,034.1
618.7
23.0
59.3
4,911
4,160
12 MATALAN RETAIL
1,020.0
1,017.5
53.8
53.2
15,041
14,407
Feb 09
13 MARLOWE
979.2
978.4
75.6
57.8
3,877
4,252
Dec 07
14 PHOENIX HEALTHCARE DISTRIBUTION
949.2
985.9
26.3
20.5
1,430
1,463
Jan 08
15 PRINCES
946.4
1,110.5
38.0
40.2
3,248
3,295
Mar 08
16 BENTLEY MOTORS
941.4
911.7
93.4
69.1
3,726
3,907
Dec 07
17 MAKRO SELF SERVICE WHOLESALERS
924.1
1,037.5
(19.4)
(3.5)
6,113
6,390
Dec 07
18 LEYLAND TRUCKS
885.0
513.8
25.2
20.2
1,140
998
Dec 08
19 PZ CUSSONS
838.1
660.9
84.4
76.5
8,596
8,697
May 09
20 TNT UK
828.7
810.5
45.5
69.3
11,069
10,899
Dec 08
21 OPAL TELECOM
767.9
696.9
40.1
(0.4)
974
714
Mar 08
22 JJB SPORTS
718.3
811.8
(189.2)
10.8
8,123
8,833
Jan 09
23 PILKINGTON AUTOMOTIVE
681.8
540.9
33.6
23.9
993
770
Mar 08
24 MBNA EUROPE BANK
671.0
-
(44.0)
284.0
5,741
5,691
Dec 08
25 JD SPORTS FASHION
670.9
592.2
38.2
35.0
5,737
4,951
Jan 09
Source Insider Top 500 Note Banks, building societies and insurance firms use a turnover equivalent
EMPLOYMENT GROWTH by sector
INCREASE IN NUMBER OF JOBS 2004-2008
1 Public admin, education & health
1.3%
2 Banking, finance & insurance etc 3 Construction 4 Other services 5 Agriculture & fishing Note Sectors with the highest employment growth 2004-2008 Source Insider research, ONS
GVA PER HEAD 2007 London
£30,385
South East
£22,624
East of England
£20,524
Scotland
£19,152
South West
£18,195
East Midlands
£17,698
North West
TOP URBAN CENTRES TOWN/CITY
POPULATION
Greater Manchester
2,244,931
Liverpool
816,216
Birkenhead
319,675
Preston
264,601
Blackpool
261,088
WORKFORCE WITH HND/DEGREE OR HIGHER
Wigan
166,840
Warrington
158,195
25.6%
Burnley/Nelson
149,796
Blackburn/Darwen
136,655
Southport/Formby
115,882
Source ONS
TOP UNIVERSITIES by students
£17,433
INSTITUTION
£17,161
The University of Manchester
ALL STUDENTS POSTGRADUATE 2007-08 STUDENTS 2007-08
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS 2007-08
NUMBER OF HIGH† QUALITY RESEARCH DEPTS
37,360
10,515
26,845
53
Yorkshire & the Humber
£16,880
The Manchester Metropolitan University 33,155
5,330
27,635
12
Northern Ireland
£16,170
The University of Central Lancashire
31,245
3,925
27,325
8
North East
£15,688
Liverpool John Moores University
24,445
4,465
19,980
11
Wales
£14,877
Edge Hill University
20,140
7,335
12,805
0
United Kingdom
£19,956
The University of Liverpool
19,380
2,970
16,410
37
West Midlands
Note GVA=gross value added, GDP is equal to GVA plus taxes less subsidies Source ONS
The University of Salford
19,180
3,530
15,650
14
The University of Lancaster
13,720
3,495
10,230
21
University of Chester
13,515
2,975
10,540
3
University of Cumbria
12,045
2,165
9,875
1
8,590
1,465
6,380
4
The University of Bolton
Source HESA, RAE '08 Note † Average research quality profile is 2* and above
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Chairman’s vision More than 20 years at Peel Holdings gives Robert Hough the solid business background necessary to drive forward the vitality of England’s Northwest. The NWDA’s new chairman explains his ethos and ambitions for the region
Robert Hough, the new chairman of the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), sums up his ethos in just three words – purpose, pace and delivery. “Purpose is about defining and communicating our objectives effectively; pace is about getting on with them in a timely manner; and delivery means ensuring we achieve what we set out to achieve,” he explains. Sat across the table at the NWDA's headquarters in Warrington, the Urmston-born Hough is setting out his vision for the future. A future in which the Northwest's knowledge-led, low carbon economy competes on a global level, supported by a modern, well-trained labour force, thriving cities and towns and vibrant rural communities. It is a grand vision, but Hough has a track record in turning big ideas into practical realities. Born in the west Manchester suburb in 1945, he is the classic local boy made good. After university, he became a corporate lawyer, specialising in mergers, acquisitions and flotations. The most significant point in his career was 1974. Not only was it the year he became a Partner,
fulfilling every young lawyer's professional ambition, but it was also the year he met a young commercial property developer called John Whittaker. Whittaker was helping to run his family's small, fast growing business, Peel Holdings. “John was referred to me by another Manchester law firm. They couldn't advise him because they were advising one of competitors, so they gave him my name instead,” recalls Hough. A fortuitous referral if ever there was one. It was to be a career-changing development. Over the next ten-to-fifteen years, his relationship with Whittaker and Peel Holdings came to dominate his legal and professional life. Peel grew from a medium-sized commercial property developer to a major force across several key industry sectors in the Northwest, including regeneration, retail, transport, water and waste. And Whittaker obviously had a lot of respect for his legal advisor, because in 1987 he asked Hough to become executive chairman of one of his new acquisitions, the Manchester Ship Canal Company. It was Hough's first major move from the legal world to the world of business. Lawyers are sometimes accused of being too risk averse to be successful businessmen, and Hough himself says it was not a particularly easy move to make. But the Ship Canal Company was no ordinary company. Peel's acquisition of it had been viciously fought, and it faced a slew of technical challenges which Hough's legal background made him an ideal candidate to resolve. “In hindsight, I probably didn't fully realise the step I was taking. But I relished the challenge, and there were some circumstances and some natural opportunities which suited my background as a lawyer,” he says. His success at Manchester Ship Canal Company didn't go unnoticed, and more appointments across the Peel group followed, as well as numerous roles in other organisations, including the Manchester Commonwealth Games, the New East Manchester urban regeneration company, Cheshire Building Society, the University of Manchester, Provident Financial, Styles & Wood and Alfred McAlpine.
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It is a long list, but one that has recently become much, much shorter, as he resigned all his directorships except one (non-executive director of Peel Holdings) on August 15th this year. Hough's numerous business roles have led to questions over his impartiality with his role as Chairman of the NWDA, but it is a charge he is happy to challenge head on. “There are rules and processes to govern those situations where I may have a conflict, just as there are for any member of any board. It's nothing new for a member or Chairman of a board to have other interests,” he says. What is more, the very nature of his wide business experience is precisely what makes him eligible for the NWDA position. “The role requires an understanding of how the region is organised, how it works with the public and third sectors and how it interfaces with the private sector. It is precisely my diverse track record in business which makes me a suitable candidate for the job,” he says. He is not wholly new to the Agency and the way it works as he has been a board member since 2007, long enough for him to formulate his own ideas and policy priorities. His overarching aim, he says, is to enable the region to build on its strengths; strengths which it can export not only across the UK, but across the world. Perhaps surprisingly for a former stalwart of the professional services sector, it is the traditional industrial strengths of the region that are central to his vision of a globally competitive Northwest. “I believe we have a strong foundation in sectors like advanced manufacturing – aerospace, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, automotive, defence – and energy – nuclear, wind, wave and tidal - to create high value jobs and export our expertise around the world,” he says. At the same time, he emphasises the Agency's on-going focus on revitalising the more deprived areas of the North West, and on developing the skills base and the business environment for industries to flourish His appointment as chairman, taking over from Bryan Gray, runs from 2009 to December 2012. On paper, three years may not seem like a long time to make your mark on one of the most dynamic regions in the country. But Hough is confident there is plenty that can be achieved. “There's more than enough work to get stuck into and make real progress within three years, and I'm confident we can do that. Although of course, there may be unfinished business at the end of it,” he says, enigmatically.
Green shoots Environmental initiatives have created business opportunities Over the past ten years, there has been a growing emphasis on how businesses and public agencies can tackle climate change with practical measures that can reduce future effects. The NWDA was the first such agency to develop a Climate Change Action Plan, to ensure the region not only reduces its impact on the environment but to also capitalise on the business opportunities it presents. Recognising that businesses have a key role to play by adapting the ways in which they work, in 2001 the Agency led the establishment of ENWORKS, a programme offering specialist business support to improve environmental performance, reduce waste, improve productivity and increase cost savings. To date, for every £1 the NWDA has invested in ENWORKS’ Waste Minimisation Programme, £9 of cost savings have been either implemented or identified. Over 2,200 Northwest businesses have since benefited from the specialist advice and support offered, with £32 million cost savings identified. ENWORKS has proved so successful that it has been recognised as a model of best practice which other regions are now replicating. A second phase of the programme has since received support from the Agency and the European Regional Development Fund, which is set to assist a further 1,500 businesses and achieve an additional £31 million in cost savings. But there is also a strong emphasis in the region on greening the land. In 2002 the region was home to almost 20 per cent of the UK’s total amount of brownfield land, which have proved to be business, housing, employment and leisure opportunities. In 2003, the NWDA invested in the first phase of Newlands, a large-scale programme delivered in conjunction with The Forestry Commission to transform over 400 hectares of brownfield land across the Mersey Belt. The agency’s wider approach to tackle derelict land for new and innovative uses has already brought almost 13,000 hectares of land back into use, an area larger than the city of Manchester. Once complete, the Newlands programme will increase this total by a further 920 hectares.
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Manchester
UP AND ATOM Manchester can lay claim to a number of historic firsts. As well
Big on business, development and culture, the city offers the complete package for those living, working and investing in the North West
as being the world’s
Manchester has led the way in urban regeneration over the past decade, transforming the post-industrial gloom that existed into a stylish, modern city of growing international repute. The array of tall gleaming buildings, coupled with elegant post-modern architecture, have made Manchester a desirable place to live, work and invest. This is reflected in the Cushman & Wakefield UK Cities Monitor 2008 where the city comes out as a star performer in the UK as judged by businesses across the country. For instance it was voted the second best city to invest in only behind London, while it was also voted only second to London in terms of transport systems and links. Manchester was also regarded as the UK city doing most to promote itself, and the best in which to locate a back office function. Although the credit crunch has hampered efforts to secure big financial services firms to the city in the wake of the success in securing major investment from the Bank of New York Mellon, Greater Manchester remains the largest commercial finance centre outside London in terms of venture capital and corporate finance activity. The business and financial services sector employs about 240,000 people, generating an
Ernest Rutherford first
annual wealth of more than £9bn. At the heart of this is the city’s Spinningfields development, which has quickly established itself as a hub for the sector. Firms such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, Deloitte and Grant Thornton are located there, while BDO Stoy Hayward, Barclays and Pinsent Masons have taken space at the scheme’s 3 Hardman Street building. But sector strength isn’t restricted to financial services, particularly in the surrounding city centre boroughs. Creative and digital industries are expected to be a major driver for growth in the coming years
first industrialised city, it was the place where split the atom, where the first commercial computer was developed in 1948, and where the first British plane was designed and flown by AV Roe in 1908.
MEET FREE The University of Manchester is the largest single site university in
BEST CITIES FOR A NEW HEADQUARTERS RANK CITY
the UK. In 2007/08 it had more than 40,000
1
MANCHESTER
students. It is ranked
2
LONDON
40th best in the world.
3
BIRMINGHAM
4
LEEDS
5
READING
6
EDINBURGH
7
BRISTOL
=8
GLASGOW
=8
CARDIFF
10
SOUTHAMPTON
Source UK Cities Monitor 2008, Cushman & Wakefield
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thanks to the ambitious 200-acre MediaCityUK development at Salford Quays. MediaCityUK, based at Salford Quays lead by Peel Media, will be Europe's leading purpose-built creative and media development. An innovative complex designed to bring together companies from across the sector, the project will establish an international hub the digital media and creative industries, incorporating studios, offices, apartments, retail and leisure. As a key driver of economic growth, the NWDA is one of the key public sector partners in the project and played a crucial role in the BBC’s decision to relocate five key departments to the Northwest. In addition, the Agency has supported the MediaCityUK Infrastructure Works project which includes; Pedestrian Link Bridge; Main Piazza and Canopies; and a high tech media wall. The Agency is also working with partners to establish a Media Enterprise Centre, which will support media skills development, stimulate research activities and offer business accelerator space for cohabiting businesses. Further NWDA investment of £7.2 million is also ensuring the delivery of an additional Metrolink rail spur, providing vital connections between MediaCityUK and the rest of Salford Quays, as well as a service every 6 minutes to and from Manchester city centre. MediaCityUK opens its doors in 2011and will be home to more than 15,000 jobs, deliver £1 billion in additional net value to the Northwest's economy over 5 years, and provided workspace for more than 1,100 creative and related businesses. Firmly establishing the Northwest’s reputation as a world-class hub for media and creative industries. The project, being undertaken by Peel Media, should ensure that Salford becomes home to a media hub that will complement a growing cluster of creative and digital organisations that inward investment agency MIDAS estimates totals 5,800 businesses and 64,000 employees. As a city on the move, Manchester has a logistics sector comprising 2,600 companies which is worth more than £2.5bn a year. Although Trafford Park is the principal logistics hub in the region, Kingsway near Rochdale will become a major rival. Manchester also has a thriving biotech, medical science and healthcare industries also represent about 75 per cent of the regional total. Companies based in the Greater Manchester area include Avecia, Renovo, Intercytex and with Astra Zeneca just down the A34 in Cheshire - with key regional strengths including tissue repair, wound healing, clinical trials, neuroscience, bioinformatics, oncology, systems biology and genomics. The region’s student population reflects Greater Manchester’s position as one of the largest learning
UP AND AWAY Manchester Airport welcomes almost 22 million passengers each year and employs around 19,000 people. It now offers direct flights to 225 destinations worldwide from over 100 airlines.
GAME ON The 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in England, eclipsing London’s 1948 Summer Olympics in terms of numbers of teams and athletes participating.
destinations in the UK, with four universities and one university centre home to 100,000 students. By far the largest of the four is the University of Manchester with 40,000 students and 10,000 staff, making it the biggest university in the UK bar the Open University. According to UCAS, it is also the most popular and the most targeted by the UK’s top graduate employers. Research strength lies in its biomedical expertise, while it remains at the forefront of discoveries in science and engineering. The University of Manchester Incubator Company (UMIC) continues to support spin-out and start-up businesses, including current tenants such as pharmaceutical developer Renovo and biotechnology company Epistem. Links with business also remain strong. The Manchester Business School’s MBA course is ranked fourth best in the UK by the Financial Times and the tenth best in Europe. The same survey also places the doctoral programme as the best in the world. In Salford, the city’s university has fast become a key component of the wider regeneration plan, forging close links with the MediaCityUK development under way at Salford Quays. It estimates that £200m will be invested in new facilities over the coming years, with the £10m first phase of the Salford Innovation Park initiative opening in March 2008.
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Connectivity, Catchment, Cost. Lake District Preston M6
M65 M6
M61
Southport
M66
Bolton
M6
Wigan
M61
M60
M58
Manchester Salford
M57
M62
St.Helens Liverpool
M62
M6
M60
M62
Warrington M56
Wirral
Runcorn
M53
M6
M56 Glasgow
M56 M56
Leeds
M53
Chester
Birmingham Cardiff
London
North Wales
For more information about investing in St.Helens please contact the St.Helens Business Location Team. Tel: +44 (0)1744 742 041 Email: enquiries@investinsthelens.com
www.investinsthelens.com
Direct access to the arterial M6 & M62 The most car-friendly place in the whole region* Within 45 minutes of two, expanding, international airports and the UK's largest Freeport zone Within an hour's drive of 4.3 million prospective employees & 6.8 million potential customers A relatively low cost & cost-effective location in terms of premises, house prices, & labour *2009 Virgin Money Survey
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PHOTO: MARK McNULTY
Liverpool Its year as Capital of Culture was a triumph that changed the views of a nation
More than a few eyebrows were raised when Liverpool was awarded 2008 Capital of Culture status five years ago, with many observers saying the city would fail to deliver. But from the moment the well-received opening ceremony swung into action, there has been a buzz around the place that looks set to continue way beyond its year in the spotlight. Estimates indicate that more than ten million people visited Liverpool during 2008, ranking it as the UK’s third most popular city behind London and Edinburgh. Just about every major tourist venue in the city saw record visitor numbers, some virtually doubling their usual figures. One of the big winners was the Tate Liverpool gallery at Albert Dock, which saw visitor numbers rise 200 per cent alone between June to August thanks to its Gustav Klimt exhibition. The tourism boom created as a result of Liverpool 08 has helped shield the city from the worst of the economic downturn. The Merseyside Economic Review 2008, published by inward investment agency The Mersey Partnership, backs this up, indicating that productivity remains ahead of the UK average. Tourism figures have far exceeded the expectations of the Liverpool Culture Company while the economy has
FIRST FOR RETAIL Liverpool One
POWER OF THREE Liverpool’s famous three home-grown wealth management firms Rathbones, Rensburg
enjoyed its tenth successive year of business growth. One of the city’s most buoyant sectors has been its life sciences and biotech sector, with more than 100 companies contributing £1bn to Merseyside’s economy. A further 2,000 employees work in biomedical and clinical research in universities, hospitals and research institutes, while the region is also home to the world leading Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the National Biomanufacturing Centre. MerseyBIO, a life sciences sector support organisation, also aims to sustain growth by helping start-up companies, commercialising life science technology and nurturing a development-friendly infrastructure. Creative and digital industries on Merseyside is a
Sheppards and Tilney had combined total funds under management of more than £32bn in 2008.
ON THE PITCH Liverpool is the most successful footballing city in England. Between them Liverpool and Everton have won 27 League Championships, five European Cups, three UEFA cups, one
FASTEST GROWING OFFICE MARKETS (EUROPE) RANK CITY
Cup Winners cup, 12 FA
% INCREASE IN OCCUPATION COST
1
MOSCOW, RUSSIA
92.7
2
OSLO, NORWAY
57.6
3
WARSAW, POLAND
32.2
4
LIVERPOOL
5
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
22.8
6
LONDON (WEST END)
22.5
7
ROME, ITALY
18.7
8
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN
18.3
9
ATHENS, GREECE
17.6
BRISTOL
17.1
10
Source CBRE Global Market Rents, May 2008
30
Cups and six League Cups.
75
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justifiably confident sector, with 2,000 businesses operating in the cluster, employing 16,000 people and turning over £500m. Despite the global financial turmoil, the city’s business and professional services sector is also holding its own. Barclays Wealth, the asset management arm of the banking group, opened an office in June 2008, while the likes of Handelsbanken, Panmure Gordon and Lloyds TSB corporate have recently set up operations in the city. Traditional strengths also remain. The Port of Liverpool is the largest freeport zone in the UK and the top UK port for UK-US and UK-Canada container trade. It currently handles about 34 million tonnes each year, while plans for the first Post-Panamax container terminal (which can house larger container ships) on the UK’s West Coast have been approved. After years of underinvestment in skills, the Liverpool city region has started to close the education gap. Examination results have caught up with the national average, while 62 per cent of the working population has skills at NVQ level two. However, about 6,000 16 to 18 year-olds in Merseyside are not in education, work or training – 10.9 per cent compared with 7.7 per cent nationally. A report by Regeneris, on behalf of Liverpool Vision, estimates the city’s knowledge quarter supports 14,000 jobs and adds £1bn to the Merseyside economy, or 15 per cent of Liverpool’s GVA. This buoyant higher education sector is attracting significant levels of funding to support a world-class programme of teaching and research developments. At the University of Liverpool, £200m has been allocated for a range of enhancements including the regeneration of the Victoria Building as a public gallery and museum space, the development of an Active Learning Laboratory at the Faculty of Engineering and a £20m Biomedical Research Centre, developing one of the UK’s leading research specialisms in tackling infectious disease. At Liverpool John Moores University, work continues on the £24m Academy of Art and Design, complementing the Liverpool Science Park. Meanwhile a number of major development projects also came on stream during 2008 alongside the city’s year in the cultural headlights. Two in particular stand out. Firstly the completion of the £1bn Liverpool One shopping centre, a key component in the city’s regeneration efforts that reconnects the city centre with its historic waterfront. And secondly came the opening of the 10,600-seater Echo Arena and its neighbouring convention and conference centre, a stunning architectural addition to the Mersey waterfront and one which will crucially now bring in a whole new wave of business visitors. Elsewhere and Peel Holdings, the owner of Mersey
Docks & Harbour Company and Liverpool John Lennon Airport, is behind Liverpool Waters; a £5.5bn, 21m sq ft scheme that could result in a world-class mixed-use iconic development of more than 50 buildings, many more than 50 storeys high. The company has also unveiled a £4.5bn Wirral Waters scheme. The NWDA supported the creation of the Liverpool Commercial District which has driven office development and private sector investment in city centre property. In 2007 more than half a million sq ft of space was let to business clients, and by 2010 more than 1 million sq ft of new property will have been completed in the city. New developments and refurbishments include St Paul’s Square, Exchange Flags and 20 Chapel Street. Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture celebrations focused international attention on its wealth of tourist attractions. The magnificent Three Graces form part of the city’s world heritage site, but visitors are equally drawn to the birthplace of the Beatles and to its football teams. In 2008 the city staged more than 300 events including dozens of national and international premieres. The summer events programme, which included The Tall Ships’ Races, Mathew Street Music Festival, Go Superlambananas and La Machine also attracted 3.5 million new visitors to the city. Construction of the new Museum of Liverpool is close to completion, alongside an extension to the Leeds/Liverpool Canal. The link is expected to generate 200,000 extra visitors annually, with an additional tourism spend of £1.9 million, while the Museum itself is expected to become a major visitor attraction.
TOTALLY TROPICAL The world’s first School of Tropical Medicine was opened in Liverpool in 1898 and discovered that malaria could be passed by mosquito bite. More recently a new £26m research building has opened at the school.
CONSIDERABLE COLLECTION The eight museums and galleries that make up National Museums Liverpool possess the greatest collection of artefacts, paintings, specimens and objects collectively held under single ownership in the country.
MAKING THE GRADE The city has the biggest collection of Grade One listed buildings outside London.
WATERFRONT REVIVAL The stunning new Echo Arena and Convention Centre
PHOTO: MARK McNULTY
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Lancashire Key projects in Blackpool, Preston and Lancaster are changing the face of Lancashire’s roses
SEASIDE RIVAL Talbot Gateway
Blackpool has suffered more than most in recent years. After failing in its bid to land the licence for the UK’s first supercasino and the associated wealth of riches, the town’s regeneration efforts were hampered further by the Big Lottery Living Landmarks’ decision not to grant the People’s Playground scheme £25m of funding. But its resilient approach to regeneration is starting to pay dividends, despite the setbacks. Under the watchful eye of urban regeneration company ReBlackpool, now chaired by highly respected Manchester City Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein and supported on the board by the NWDA’s chief executive Steve Broomhead, several projects are coming to fruition including the £220m Talbot Gateway scheme. The NWDA itself has provided a range of complementary measures to attract investment and increase visitor numbers to the resort. An £8m investment has secured the Second Gate site for comprehensive redevelopment for mixed-use, including the site for Blackpool and the Fylde further education college, while almost £11m of NWDA and ERDF investment has paved the way for the remodelling of the Central Seafront and the creation of a Blackpool Tower Festival Headland, designed to accommodate a diverse range of events and up to 20,000 people. The development aims to transform the area around Blackpool North railway station into a new business
district with an attractive civic and cultural quarter. Muse Developments appointed HOW Planning in October 2008 to act as lead planning and environmental consultant, which will pave the way for a detailed planning application. An £85m upgrade and possible extension of the town’s antiquated tram system is also a priority, while construction is under way on the £10m university-style higher education campus at Blackpool & The Fylde College, designed to offer new teaching and learning provision aligned with growth industry sectors. East along the M55 from Blackpool and Preston is getting its act together to compete with Manchester and Liverpool. Preston is mounting a serious challenge to the big two with its Tithebarn scheme – a £700m project to replace the bus station and the surrounding buildings with top-class architecture. A planning application from property firms Grosvenor and Lend Lease was submitted in 2008 with a start date of 2010. One of the city’s successful business sectors is aerospace. BAE Systems leads the way with sites at nearby Warton and Samlesbury, near Blackburn. Its military aircraft operations in the county represent the hub of a huge regional aerospace sector with a turnover of £6bn, 70 per cent of which is exported. Other economic drivers include chemicals, the chemical products industry and high-end manufacturing. Higher education is provided for by the University of Central Lancashire, which has grown into one of the largest new universities with 34,000 students and 2,000 staff. Its major strength is attracting non-traditional students into higher education. Think of Lancaster and you might not immediately think of its academic credentials beyond its famous grammar school, but they are rising fast. Lancaster University, situated a few miles to the south of the city and easily recognisable from the M6, is at the forefront of upskilling the region. The university has more than 9,000 students and has won international recognition for the quality of its teaching and research. As anyone driving north will testify, the campus has also itself grown significantly in recent years. Ranked as one of the UK’s top dozen leading research universities, it now has a world-class leadership centre and business school. Key knowledge transfer projects include the Lancaster Environment Centre and InfoLab21. Meanwhile the city’s historic town centre has an appealing mix of old and modern, and looks set to boost its retail offer much further. In 2008 £150m plans by developer Centros to construct a new retail area anchored by a 97,000 sq ft Debenhams store, together with space for public open space, cultural buildings, cafes, offices and housing were approved.
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Cumbria
A new university, plans to develop air links and investment in industry have been vital
Carlisle is a well connected city. It is adjacent to the M6 and with a rail station on the West Coast mainline. Plans are also in place to develop Carlisle’s air links. Despite Carlisle Airport owner Stobart Air withdrawing its original proposals in June 2008 after a public inquiry, plans for a scaled version of the £35m development emerged in October. But the city characterised by high employment and low wages meaning it lacks strengths in higher value sectors. Where it is strong - in food production, retail, transport and services, while its tourism business is valued at an estimated £120m - it is very strong, but the key issue is skills. In 2007 Carlisle became a university city, which is hoped will raise aspirations and skills in a city that lags behind the North West and UK average. Improving the provision of Higher Education in the region is essential if the North West is to attract and retain a skilled pool of graduates. In Cumbria, a limited provision of Higher Education opportunities was a key issue, particularly in the challenge of moving its economy towards higher value employment and encouraging graduates to remain in Cumbria. The NWDA took an active role with partners to address this, and since 2007 has invested £36 million to support the creation and development of a new university, linking St. Martins College, Cumbria Institute of the Arts in Carlisle, and two of the Cumbrian campuses of the University of Central Lancashire. Recruiting 28,000 students by 2017 and adding £82 million to the regional economy over the same period, the Agency’s supporting role and funding has been instrumental in transforming the education landscape of Cumbria and driving young people’s progression from Further to Higher Education. A world pioneer of nuclear energy, the North West is home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of nuclear facilities and expertise. With West Cumbria
employing a quarter of the UK’s total nuclear workforce, the area was the natural location for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), created by the Government in 2004 as well as being Britain’s Energy Coast, with a mix of nuclear and renewable energy. To ensure the region capitalised on the major opportunities this presented the region to remain at the forefront of nuclear expertise, the NWDA led a major drive to prepare the groundwork for the National Skills Academy for Nuclear, based in Cumbria. The facility is delivering a national framework for education, training and skills across the sector. Since its launch in 2008, the Academy is already having a significant impact across the sector, having introduced key industry training standards and developing and delivering foundation degrees and almost 500 National Vocational Qualifications to date. Working closely with the NDA, the NWDA provided £6 million investment for the Academy’s flagship arm, the £20 million Energus facility. Completed in 2009, the facility has already levered in £9 million public and private sector investment and will play a vital role in attracting and retaining skilled young people. A large effort is also put into support for the defence industry, vital to the prosperity of Barrow-in-Furness. This is important during lean times and investment of £430,000 towards a wider support package for skills in submarine construction was put in place by the NWDA to help Furness College broker a specialist training programme. As a direct result of the support, the biggest employer in the town, BAE Systems, rapidly increased productivity on the £3 billion Astute submarine project, reducing its overheads by about a quarter in under 3 years. As a result, the Ministry of Defence increased its order from 1 to 3 submarines, safeguarding 850 specialist jobs for the area, which has developed a strng global reputation for engineering expertise.
CATERING FOR ALL TASTES Carlisle’s continental market
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DARESBURY setting the pace
Cheshire Following the loss of the major £600 million ‘next generation light source’ project from Daresbury to Oxford in 1999, the North West faced a serious threat to future investment in its science and innovation capability, and faced up to the possibility of closing the site. But, fast forward ten years and by September 2009 Daresbury Science & Innovation Campus (Daresbury SIC) won a prestigious United Kingdom Science Park Association (UKSPA) Award in September at a glittering award ceremony in the Museum of Science & Industry, Manchester. The long and winding road from oblivion to success has been marked by substantial challenges and it is no exaggeration to say that the North West region has been steadfast in its support for a regional jewel. Going back to 2002 the NWDA provided a comprehensive and proactive response to the loss of the light source project through a number of initiatives, including the creation of the first regional Science Council in the country. Publication of a Regional Science Strategy in 2002 (updated in 2007) was followed by a succession of projects including the launch of the Northwest Science Fund. Now, Daresbury Science & Innovation Campus, home to the ground-breaking Daresbury Laboratory, the Cockcroft Institute (the National Centre for Accelerator Science) as well as nearly 100 high-tech companies in Daresbury Innovation Centre, is a state-of-the-art facility designed to attract science and technology based businesses to the region. The NWDA has moved forward with plans to build a new 35,000 sq ft grow-on facility on Campus, for companies progressing from the Innovation Centre and for larger more established companies from elsewhere.
Daresbury laboratory, in the heart of Cheshire, is a jewel in the regional crown The Campus, which has since been identified by Government as one of two national strategic science sites in the UK, is now moving into a new and exciting phase to fully develop its potential over the next 15-20 years. The Daresbury Campus was recognised as the most Outstanding Science Park 2009 – an award for the Science Park seen to be ‘setting the pace’ and making the most significant contribution to the exploitation of the knowledge base. With substantial investment from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Daresbury SIC was established to help drive regional and national competitiveness in science and innovation, and is one of only two Government-funded science and innovation campuses in the UK; other key stakeholders are the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Halton Borough Council and the universities of Lancaster, Liverpool and Manchester. Daresbury SIC is now seen as a major driver of the regional economy, with over £20m of investment being secured to date by the Campus’ tenant companies. The Campus is now in the process of identifying a private sector partner to develop up to 1 million square feet of space for business, research and innovation, providing facilities management and other services to the Campus and realising commercial services and investment opportunities with the Campus companies. The process will see three of those public sector stakeholders - the NWDA, STFC and Halton Borough Council - enter a joint venture with a private sector business or consortium. This will continue to bring together businesses, universities, research organisations and industrial partners with the business support and investor community, to create up to 10,000 jobs. A partner will be selected early in 2010.
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