With a nod to Manchester's Cow Parade, we present our unique ranking of the 100 most powerful people in the North West.
With a nod to Manchester's Cow Parade, we present our unique
ranking of the 100 most powerful people in the North West
1 John Whittaker
Chairman, Peel Holdings, Manchester Ship Canal Developments,
(UP, 5 LAST YEAR)
Power base: Everywhere.
What's he done lately?: If the measure of power is to touch someone's life then the planning dog fighter Whittaker has it in spades all over the region. He influences where we work, live, play, travel and, above all, spend. And now he's taken the business off the stock market he can do so more freely than ever. So, whether watching a film in Blackburn's Lower Audley Street leisure park, or applying for work at the new printing factory for Bertelsmann on Merseyside's Estuary Business Park, thousands of us are rubbing shoulders with the head of Peel Holdings as we go about our day-to-day lives.
The range and appetite of Peel's interests are difficult to keep track of. Arguably no other company is as active in so many areas so successfully in the region.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA), one of Europe's fastest-growing airports, carried 3.2m passengers last year, up 12 per cent on 2002 and stunning compared with the less than 1m it carried just a handful of years ago when it was under council control.
A massive building programme is underway at LJLA and Peel aims to accommodate 4.5m passengers annually by 2006.
The airport's growth has influenced local policy decisions such as the vocal but so far unsuccessful lobby to have the first Merseytram route built to the airport.
Next door to the airport, Peel has secured its first tenant in Bertelsmann, the German media giant, not long after acquiring the 250-acre site and long before its marketing campaign had become as stale as other rival schemes. The deal's 1,000 jobs and 500,000 sq ft facility will surely see a few more friends and awards won in the year ahead.
Peel plans to concentrate further on its airport operations to offset the slowing performance of its flagship Trafford Centre outside Manchester.
Whittaker's love of a good planning fight has been employed again this year at the Trafford Centre where Peel is bidding to build the Salford Reds' new rugby league stadium.
The club's own consortium has also applied to do the same, paid for by a retail element that it says has angered Peel into its alleged spoiler tactic. Land and property activity are clearly the mainstay of Peel's activity, with a portfolio of 14,000 acres stretching across the North West and as far beyond as Bermuda, the Bahamas and Spain.
What next? More building.
2 Sir Howard Bernstein
Chief executive,
Manchester City Council
(UP, 3 LAST YEAR)
Power base: The undisputed heavyweight boss of Manchester.
What's he done lately?: A phone call here and a quiet word there are the hallmarks of a can-do civic entrepreneur. Bernstein is a master fixer and has continued to push the city council on to new levels of ambition. His abiding priority is to narrow the blighted doughnut around the city centre and open up areas for opportunity and prosperity.
The reshaping of Mosley Street, the development of the Green Quarter next to Victoria station and the completion of Spinningfields are all additions to his substantial legacy. Also joined the board of the London Olympic bid, which was jolly decent of him.
What next? Expect Manchester to go higher and further in the nation's standing. For a major international investor to open a European headquarters at Spinningfields must surely be the ultimate dream for 2004/05.
3 Martin Beaumont
Chief executive, Co-operative Group
(DOWN, 2 LAST YEAR)
Power base: The movement, Cheshire.
What's he done lately?: Comparing the turnaround of the Co-op to a Spanish galleon is to misunderstand the extent of the task. It's practically glacial. A born retailer, Beaumont has a major job on his hands and is finding it difficult to make acquisitions even on the home turf of convenience stores, where the bid for Londis appears to have been frustrated. That said, funerals and travel are doing superbly well.
What next? Picking some low hanging fruit. And constant change.
4 John Roberts
Chief executive, United Utilities
(DOWN, 1 LAST YEAR)
Power base: Business and government.
What's he done lately? Unfairly scolded by consumer rights groups for his largely sterling stewardship of United Utilities, Roberts has done what is required of a chief executive - driven value and protected the future of the business. For this he has been rewarded with tidy bonuses tied to the share price. And this is the key. The rights issue to raise money for upgrading the water system worked because Roberts acutely understood the needs of City institutions. He kept a dividend for an expanding business, of which 70 per cent is heavily regulated. He has also used his natural skills in lobbying and listening to push for a lifting in price restrictions. On top of this Vertex and Your Communications are on track to grow, the latter having bought Eurocall.
What next? Close enough to 60 to be thinking of his portfolio career after this job, but still plenty to do to make this job hard to fill.
5 Geoff Muirhead
chief executive, Manchester Airport Group
(DOWN, 4 LAST YEAR)
Power base Business, local government and transport.
What's he done lately? Awarded the CBE and has made Manchester Airport even more successful. He's driven the cause of transport improvements even further up the corporate agenda, suggesting he's made good use of his time as chairman of the CBI in the region. Persuasive and powerful, he's increasingly influential in the corridors of power and is a strong voice for the region.
What next? A new strategy for the airport in developing greater transport interests.
6 Sir David Henshaw
Chief executive,
Liverpool city council
(UP 8 LAST YEAR)
Power base Liverpool
What's he done lately?: Power is not always a good thing, as his unpopular insistence on projects such as New Anfield at Stanley Park and Everton for Kings Dock have proven for this controversial chief executive.
His rating in the coming year will be put to the test when the likelihood of Liverpool FC's move becomes clearer, but planners, fans and residents all disagree with him.
Often more celebrated outside the city than inside, as his recent knighthood reflects.
What next? Needs to learn how to delegate to those who know better, especially on big projects at Liverpool FC, Liverpool Culture Company and Merseytram.
7 The Duke of Westminster
(UP, 10 LAST YEAR)
Power base Property, the army, agriculture and the aristocracy.
What's he done lately? Gerald Grosvenor, as he is commonly known, or His Grace as the forelock-tuggers refer to him, continues to speak out on crime, the countryside and good causes. The £3750m plans to develop the centre of Liverpool are on track.
What next? Development plans for Liverpool become reality.
8 Trevor Hemmings
chairman, Arena Leisure/TJH
(UP, 11 LAST YEAR)
Power base Leisure businesses, new money, Lancashire.
What's he done lately? Hemmings will have been disappointed at the outcome of the gaming review as it opened a crack in the door for Liverpool and Manchester to operate casinos in competition to his plans for Blackpool.
What next? More pubs, more land assembly in Blackpool, possible expansion into gaming, even a plan B.
9 Mervyn Pedelty
chief executive, cis
(DOWN, 7 LAST YEAR)
Power base Greater Manchester, the movement and high finance.
What's he done lately? Watching Pedelty work a room is an awesome sight, especially so when he makes conversation with Prince Charles on the subject of land mines and wind farms. He continues to drive the Co-operative finance arms together to make a better offer.
What next? Expansion of Smile and the Co-operative Bank's business banking arm.
10 Tom McKillop
Chief executive, AstraZeneca; chairman,
North West Science Council
(UP, 12 LAST YEAR)
Power base Pharmaceuticals and science.
What's he done lately? Head of the one of the country's most powerful, R&D-intensive companies. Son of a Glasgow miner, he prides himself on being a plainspoken, no-nonsense, hands-on manager - an approach that has won him influence nationally and internationally. Also a non-executive director of Lloyds TSB, pro-chancellor of Leicester University and chairman of the British Pharma Group.
What next? Fitting time in his busy, busy schedule to build up the region's profile as a great place to do science. Among other things....
Also in: July 2004
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WORKING LUNCH: MICHAEL TODD
As chief constable of the UK's second largest force, Greater Manchester Police's Michael Todd leads from the front but has faced some tough challenges to his force in recent weeks. And yes, we did ask him about speed cameras.
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INSIDER PROPERTY AWARDS EXCELLENCE IN PROPERTY
The winners of the Insider Property Awards North West included representatives of the built environment from all across the region