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Top story
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Rita BIDs farewell with yes vote likely
Rita Waters has left her position as chief executive of Liverpool’s Business Improvement District (BID) to become director of promotional body Chester Renaissance. She leaves as members vote on a three-year extension for the BID, whereby business owners pay an additional levy for improved civic services. She told Insider: “Some may think it’s bad timing with the BID vote looming, but I am extremely confident that the BID company has the skills and experience to build on the last three years. Indications show the BID members are fully supportive of its continuation. It is more critical now than ever before that businesses back the BID all the way.” She will remain in post until December.
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Today's news
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Culture energy needs to transfer to business
As companies gather this lunch time for the Federation of Small Businesses' (FSB) Culture of Business event, a celebration of enterprise in Capital of Culture year, leaders are calling for greater support for small enterprises. Norman Lay, chairman of the FSB for Merseyside, West Cheshire and Wigan, told Insider: “Capital of Culture’s been great, but the challenge is to transfer the energy to create new opportunities. I’d like to see more public sector support for small business, we really should be considered more by the powers that be at the early stages of strategic development.”
Liverpool businesses keep on moving
Property development may be slowing, but Liverpool's office take-up for 2008 should not show a major decline on previous years, say agents in the city. Typically, between 400,000 and 450,000 sq ft is let in Liverpool over the course of a year - the figure at the end of the third quarter is around 250,000 sq ft. Ian Steele, partner at GVA Grimley, said: "Take-up shouldn't be a million miles from the five-year average, probably between 350,000 and 400,000 sq ft. Unlike the last few years, there hasn't been a major pre-let to boost the figures - the most active sector has been between 5,000 and 10,000 sq ft. But Merseytravel's 114,000 sq ft deal will make a huge difference if it completes." Neil Kirkham of Hitchcock Wright & Partners said: "The deals are taking that bit longer but the enquiries are still there."
UEFA to kick off in Liverpool
A new exhibition exploring Europe’s love affair with football will open at World Museum Liverpool on 11 October. Running until March, Only a Game? is an exhibition organised by UEFA, European football’s governing body, and will include trophies and other artefacts from over 50 years of European football. Liverpool is the only UK city to be included on the tour of European museums covered by the exhibition’s tour. The Northwest Regional Development Agency and Preston’s National Football Museum are collaborating on the project.
Think for a minute
Lifestyle PR and marketing agency Think Publicity has secured the worldwide PR remit for a new book, Me and My Friends: Red Hot Chilli Peppers, a compilation of exclusive photographs and backstage stories from the band's photographer and constant tour companion, Tony Woolliscroft. The five-year-old Liverpool agency, which has a background in music and youth brands such as cult bar Korova and high street womenswear brand Rare, will also undertake the guerrilla and viral marketing remit for the book.
Winning Winsford
Work has started on the £10m Winsford Learning Zone, a project to devise a new educational centre led by Mid-Cheshire College which has secured funding from a range of partners including the Learning & Skills Council, the Northwest Regional Development Agency and Cheshire County Council. The development is expected to be completed by March 2010, providing education and training for 250 full-time students from local Winsford schools.
Another credit warning
In a further sign that companies need to get their finances in order, the latest Credit Conditions report from The Bank of England confirms that credit lines have tightened more than expected in the third quarter of 2008 with a further squeeze to come. Nigel Birkett, head of debt advisory at Deloitte in the North West, said: "The scarcity and expense of credit could see UK businesses paying an additional £13bn a year just to meet the cost of increased interest payments. In this environment, businesses need to manage their balance sheets and liabilities very carefully just to keep their heads above water."
Businesses go green
A new survey of over 3,000 firms, released today by the British Chambers of Commerce, says that UK businesses have made £1.1bn in energy efficiency savings over the last 12 months. The report, Business and the Environment: Challenges Ahead, surveyed companies nationwide to ascertain current opinion on climate change and the environment. Nearly nine out of ten companies reported that they recycle while just over half use energy-efficient products. A third of businesses provide training to their employees to reduce emissions while a quarter have developed energy management policies. Only a third of businesses said climate change is low on their priorities.
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Something for the weekend
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Deal of the week
Here's a niche business for you. Cleanbake, a Skelmersdale company that cleans and refurbishes baking pans, trays and racks for supermarkets, bakeries and plant bakeries, has undergone a management buyout led by father and son Derrick and Shaun Hughes. Food-related business are well placed to benefit from surrounding economic volatility as input prices have spiked and the cost of goods on the shelf have increased. The deal was backed by a £2m funding package from The Co-operative Bank.
Refreshingly honest quote of the week
Let's be honest. There is an awful lot of speculative nonsense spouted about the credit crunch, the economy and the future. When asked his view at The Liverpool Summit on Wednesday morning, Professor Phil Redmond, quoting Hollywood legend William Goldman, said: "No one knows nothing." If only every other so-called expert deployed such common sense.
She's a waterfall
If you're worried what to think should you notice a giant mobile water fountain as you're enjoying a stroll around the Albert Dock this weekend, worry not. Biennial favourite Jump Ship Rat is behind U51, a 40m-wide "endless waterfall", which pours from above as if from nowhere, circumventing a narrow boat and hiding it behind a wall of water. We're told: "Theatrical and playful this is an aesthetic and sensory delight that hypnotises the viewer into quiet contemplation." They should install it in the council chamber.
Superlambanana news
If you thought that the auctioning off of the Superlambananas was the end of all things banana shape, fear not, because the creatures are popping up all over the city courtesy of their new owners. And a press release this week tells us that there are two "grazing" at James Street Station and Liverpool South Parkway. Lamb Lines and Ba Ba Braille Sheep were originally sponsored by Merseytravel and then bought at auction.
Canapé won't pay
Full marks for quality go to the fancy canapés delivered by the Chester Grosvenor Hotel for the grand opening of Grosvenor’s Liverpool One on Wednesday night as the rain beat down ferociously on the rather substantial marquee sheltering under One Park West on Chavasse Park. Insider’s favourites were the mini Eccles cakes. But zero marks for quantity when the fizzy pop was flowing so freely. The canapés were so tiny that at least one guest had to miss the fireworks as they went in search of some greasy chips.
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