Working Lunch
Harborow fair
This is a dream job," beams Jason Harborow, chief operating officer of the Liverpool Culture Company and the man set to take the fame, or the blame, for the city's Capital of Culture celebrations.
As the race for sponsorship and funding continues, all critical eyes are on the city.
The pressure is on but the affable Harborow, a graduate of the Insider 42 under 42 class of 2003, is full of enthusiasm and betrays not a hint of fear at the task ahead. Most importantly, he's perfected the art of weaving the phrase "Capital of Culture" six or seven times into a single sentence without stumbling. But his central concern is the perennial question: Where do you go once you've reached the top?
"I'm 35 now and I've got 30 years to go until retirement," he says. "You wonder what you're going to do in those 30 years. I've packed so much into such a short time. I can't imagine a better job than I'm doing now. I've never been someone who crumbles under pressure, but I'm also confident in the team that we've got."
After injury put a stop to a professional rugby league career at Wigan, Harborow moved into the world of sports and leisure projects, events and tournaments. He brokered the deal that took rugby league to Twickenham when England played Australia in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.
Manchester's Commonwealth Games in 2002 catapulted him into the North West limelight when he was appointed commercial general manager. Responsible for ticketing, merchandise and elements of sponsorship and licensing, Harborow managed a large team and became a driving force behind the event.
In October 2002 he joined Re:media where he set up successful sports licensing consultancy Re:activ. But when Capital of Culture headhunters came calling in early 2004, it was too good an opening to miss.
"Few people in their careers have had the opportunity to work on a World Cup and the Commonwealth Games," says Harborow. "To get the hat trick and be involved in Capital of Culture was unique. I've lived in the Wirral for 12 years, my wife's from the city and to be involved in your adopted home city is a unique opportunity."
Sporting experience, both on and off the field, has served as preparation for his new role. "Sport's an incredibly competitive world and is very focused on results," he says. "In the major events I've been involved with all over the world you've got to deliver quality on time. I am used to pressurised situations, but also used to getting it right and making sure the quality's there, the planning's in place and giving people a fantastic experience."
A large and growing team of experts and professionals surrounds him. Eighty members of staff are joined by famous names such as Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (the first person to sail solo, non-stop around the world), and ambassadors and patrons with a broad range of experience to advise, open doors and position Capital of Culture as a world-beating event. Marketing director Kris Donaldson was marketing manager for the Sydney Olympics. Artistic director Robyn Archer is one of the world's most respected festival directors.
"It's a balance between getting the experience and the passion for the place," says Harborow. "We bring experience of doing it in other cities and environments but our day-to-day team is mostly from Liverpool. It was important to me that we got the best in the business, because it's important to Liverpool, the region and the UK to have the right people."
So the enthusiasm's in place, the experience has been called in and events are already underway. But big teams and big projects require big budgets. And government, excited as it is about the economic boon that Capital of Culture will bring to the nation, is being tantalisingly slow to hand over large amounts of money.
On 19 May the Liverpool Culture Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Liverpool City Council, launched its 2005 to 2006 delivery plan to a captive audience on the House of Commons Terrace. The plan, which details six key objectives, is broken down event by event, initiative by initiative, with all the details on how much money will be invested and in what ways. Over the next 12 months £319m will be invested into the programme.
If there's one thing you cannot accuse the Culture Company of, it's lack of transparency. The delivery plan lists all the estimated costs for every single piece of work and every piece of funding to be placed by the team in this financial year. From £32.71m of revenue support for the city's key creative partners through to £33,000 for the annual Silver Stars senior citizens' talent competition, it is all encompassing, all inclusive and all clear.
Spending will be stepped up each year to climax in a budget-busting 2008. Harborow expects to gather just short of £3100m in total from grants and sponsorship.
"For that we will have a fantastic programme and a fantastic Capital of Culture," he says. "What we want though is as much money as possible, to ensure that we make an even bigger impact. Although we're comfortable that the funds we've identified in our business plan are achievable, we would like to generate more.
"We've got just short of 20 funding partners to date, ranging from the Environment Agency to English Partnerships to English Heritage. Some give us £320,000 a year, others give us millions a year, but we've got that secured now."
So far the Culture Company has won a small slice of funding from central government: £35m from the Arts Council, £35m from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) until March 2007, another £3280,000 from the DCMS for the growing Friend Ship programme and £31.2m through the Urban Cultural Programme for this financial year. Because the government had not promised any money to go with the Culture title, any cash is welcome. And Harborow is confident of obtaining more.
"We are encouraged by the support to date and we're still only in 2005," he says. "There's a long way to go until 2008. With all these major events, there's not a defined amount of money that you'll get. Government will see how the programme develops and how it meets their initiatives."
Five commercial partners have already been secured, offering £32m of support each: law firm Hill Dickinson, major North West plc United Utilities, local radio station Radio City 96.7, support services group Enterprise and the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). A sixth is waiting in the wings and Harborow aims to secure 12 sponsors at this level. Three out of 12 supporters have also been secured at a £31.2m tier.
"Commercially we're well ahead of schedule," he says. "People are getting on board and then others are beginning to talk to us. There's been no cold calling or sending out of letters or proposals. Commercial head Chris Green and I are dealing with people at the top level so when we make a phone call we're not being passed on to the agencies; we're dealing directly with the directors and chairmen."
The Culture Company is preparing to launch a business club, with partners Business Liverpool, the Chamber of Commerce and the NWDA. "We've learnt a lot from what happened in Manchester with the Games," he says. "Inward investment company Midas is still operating the North West business club and it's envisaged that we'll put the two together and have an innovative and exciting club. Ours will run for a lot longer and so we hope there'll be longer term benefit."
The club will have a physical base,
"like a business class lounge in an airport in a cultural building in the city, linking business to culture", an environment where people lunch and hold meetings. It will also have an online presence.
It is easy to draw parallels between Harborow's previous role in Manchester and his responsibilities in Liverpool and the same expertise is relevant to both. But while the Games extended only partially beyond the bounds of the sporting world, the Liverpool Culture Company is preparing to be involved in a wide range business activities, not just arts and culture, such as the tourism agenda.
"We will actually run a very small part of the Capital of Culture," he says. "We are responsible for the glue that pulls everyone together, enabling all the different stakeholders in the city to deliver. Capital of Culture won't be successful if places like Piccolino's don't offer high-quality food and service, if the trains are late, if the airport's not a welcoming place, if the retail environment hasn't got a great offer and isn't welcoming and diverse. It needs all those different ingredients to make a successful Capital of Culture."
Harborow's message is clear. Capital of Culture is not just about money, government grants and corporate sponsorship. It is about the businesses and people that make up the city. And neither is it all about waterfront arenas, glass tower blocks and fancy cruise liner facilities.
"Capital of Culture will still be a fantastic success without all the new buildings," he says. "Liverpool, without all the rebuilding, is a great destination. It has already got buildings second to none; we're a World Heritage City. We will work with what we've got and we will work to ensure that the offer is of the highest quality."
