The Mersey Gateway project still has a good chance of approval, according to Steve Nicholson, Mersey Gateway project director. Nicholson told Insider he is “very confident that the project ticks a lot of the boxes” for government assessment in the next Comprehensive Spending Review, partly because it is 70 per cent private sector funded. “If you can demonstrate that you can fund your scheme without drawing heavily on the public purse then you will get priority,” he said.

Southport Theatre & Convention Centre will host the Labour North West Regional Conference from 5-7 November 2010. The event will attract about 400 delegates to the resort and will feature policy discussions and a series of keynote speeches from attending shadow cabinet ministers. Tony Corfield, assistant director of leisure and tourism at Sefton Council, said: “Major political events such as this not only bring a significant contribution to the area’s economy through delegate spend, but also play a crucial role in helping to highlight Southport’s strength and credibility as a destination for conducting business.”

Peel Ports has appointed David Huck as the head of port operations at the Port of Liverpool. He will lead operational performance at the company’s Mersey Port facilities and take responsibility for the 16,000 vessel movements it handles every year. Huck joins Peel Ports from Hutchison Ports Felixstowe, based in Suffolk, where he was senior manager for container terminal operations for five years. He is the latest appointment in the port’s management team, which is led by managing director Gary Hodgson.

The law firm DLA Piper has appointed two new associates to its employment and intellectual property and technology teams at the company’s Liverpool office. Kate Withers joins the firm from the Manchester office of Eversheds, where she has worked since September 1999. Emma Mills joins following eight years at the commercial law firm Halliwells’ Manchester office, with particular expertise in outsourcing arrangements, TUPE processes and contract law.

Law firm Brabners Chaffe Street has appointed Claire Gregory as head of the environment and regulatory team. She will be based across the company’s three North West offices in Manchester, Liverpool and Preston. Gregory will also support the property and corporate teams on compliance issues. She previously spent six years at the commercial law firm Hammonds in the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Group.

Pimbo Industrial Estate in Skelmersdale is to be marketed by property consultancy Mason Owen and chartered surveyor Altus Edwin Hill, on behalf of London and Cambridge Properties, the industrial and retail property owner. Units 8 and 10 at the estate, on Pit Hey Place, just off Pimbo Road, have 14,499 sq ft and 24,161 sq ft of space. Unit 8 has undergone a £320,000 refurbishment, with about 22,000 sq ft of grassland to the rear, and Unit 10 has a surfaced yard of about 43,500 sq ft.

Nobles Construction, based in Liverpool, has been awarded the contract to redevelop five sites in the Baltic Triangle district of the city. The sites, off Jamaica Street, are to be leased to digital and creative businesses in a move to kick-start further investment in the area. The work, believed to be worth £600,000 to Nobles in the first instance, has started, and will be overseen by the newly formed Baltic Creative. The scheme has received funding from the Northwest Development Agency and the European Regional Development Fund.

A Thursday night extravaganza in Liverpool, starting off at the Town Hall with engineers Sutcliffe, although we had to dash off to the Tate before the whisky rarebit and other treats arrived. DLA managing partner Philip Rooney made sure our canapé correspondent was well fed and even gave him a namecheck, which was a pleasant surprise - the power of the food correspondent is almighty, it seems. Unfortunately, we’ll miss today’s charity dinner at Ness Botanic Gardens, where pop artist Sir Peter Blake and his Art Bus will be in town – as will Pickled Walnut’s trio of chocolate, strawberry and lemon treats. Cor!