... certainly not. Liverpool is halfway through its year as European Capital of Culture and appears to be proving its harshest critics wrong. But what more does the city have left to do? Neil Tague takes a look at its progress so far.
Liverpool was something of a surprise winner over Newcastle/Gateshead as European Capital of
Culture for 2008. The cynics went into overdrive with all the tired old jokes and lazy prejudices, and plenty of observers still felt deep down that somehow the city would contrive to make a hash of it. The hoo-hah in 2007 over the Mathew Street festival and the resignation of Culture Company chief executive Jason Harborow didn’t do much to calm the nerves.
But it’s all turning out quite well. From the well-received opening party , the city has continued to increase its visitor numbers, while the number of locals stepping over the thresholds of Liverpool’s arts venues has multiplied.
Bryan Gray, chairman of the Northwest Regional Development Agency (RDA) has provided a steadying hand on the tiller in one of his other roles, that of chairman of the Culture Company. As Harborow and Liverpool city council leader Warren Bradley very publicly fell out as 2007 unfolded, he and Phil Redmond took over as the voices of Liverpool 08 and have done a fine job of it.
He says: “The midterm report is generally very positive. Things have gone better than could have been expected. In the first three months of the year, 2.75 million people attended a cultural event while the TV coverage has helped increase exposure overseas. We’ve commissioned studies and all the evidence indicates that Liverpool is firmly back on the world stage. We are confident the anticipated economic benefits of £400m will be exceeded.”
If cultural events are to truly succeed, there has to be a certain amount of pride taken by locals. There will always be those cynics who will gripe “There’s nothing in this for the ordinary Scouser”, but Gray says the Culture Company is winning over those prepared to open up.
“I think that largely the people of the city are buying into it. Museum visitor numbers are up 40 per cent in the first three months of the year and the cathedrals show similar visitor numbers. It’s an inclusive thing – two thirds of the events are free to attend. We’re also yet to experience the major open air events of the summer.”
Sean Beech, who takes over this month as senior partner at the Liverpool office of Deloitte, says: “What it has done really is to remind people of Liverpool’s attributes, such as the fantastic old buildings that are really unique, and a lot of them have been improved. People who hadn’t been given reasons to visit Liverpool for some years are being given cause to do so by the events being pulled in by venues such as ACC Liverpool.”
In the main, people have spoken of Liverpool 08 as being a catalyst – a means to the end of driving investment, rather than an end in itself. The tourist economy will, over the course of the months leading up to June 2008, benefit from three major staging posts – the cruise liner terminal that opened in September 2007; the ACC Liverpool conference and concert centre at Kings Waterfront; and Grosvenor’s £1bn-plus Liverpool One shopping district, which opens its doors on 29 May.
Paula McGrath, partner at accountancy PKF, says: “Those are the three big factors in increasing visitor numbers. ACC, in particular, has been a massive boon for Liverpool. It has meant that dinners and events of a large scale can come here, whereas previously they had to go to Manchester.”
Eliot Lewis-Ward, area director of English Partnerships, which owns the 36-acre Kings Waterfront, says: “We sat down in 2003 and asked ‘where’s the gap in the economy?’ and the answer was in concerts and conferences.
“We’re delighted with the reception ACC Liverpool has received. The beauty of Kings Waterfront is the mixed-use nature of the scheme and we’ll now bring the other development parcels to the market.”
Bob Prattey, the chummy Brummie who heads ACC Liverpool, has quickly earned the respect of the city by landing a solid series of events such as the MTV Europe Awards 2008.
He says: “To get the MTV Awards is a massive coup – I don’t think we’ve yet realised the significance of it. It’s pan-European, massive TV coverage, huge interest from all walks of life and it is truly a blue-chip European event. To attract that to Liverpool even before we were open was a massive deal.
“It’s really bizarre that a city with such a heritage in popular music and sports has never had an arena with which to celebrate those activities. In terms of our business plan, it was very much a fertile soil in which to launch an arena. It has been equally as successful on the conferencing side as well. We’re starting to understand how to use the two buildings together.
The convention centre might spin off more economic impact because of increasing restaurant visits, hotel stays and so on,” he adds.
The Kings Waterfront has given a boost to business at neighbouring Albert Dock, where a couple of empty leisure units have been filled. It’s also set to provide a new style of hotel to the UK market with the Staybridge Suites, a US concept where each floor of the hotel features a lounge areas and fully-stocked kitchens, providing a home from home.
Other hotel projects include Kingsgate London’s plans to redevelop the historic Royal Insurance Building into a £17m boutique hotel and spa, and Cocoon, which is now open. Modelled on Japanese capsule hotels, it’s an idea of appeal in top world cities, according to creator David Mahoney.
“The pod hotel theme has been popular in Asia for decades and more recently proved a big hit in London and New York and we are confident Cocoon will prove just as popular with visitors to Liverpool,” he says. “We are aiming at the trendy traveller market – modern travellers, complete with iPods and laptops, who may not have a lot of money to spend but do not want to compromise on luxury.”
PKF compiles regular reports on hotel occupancy across UK cities and Liverpool has bucked a sluggish market in the early part of 2008. Rates have grown at 10.2 per cent, while occupancy has climbed 4.6 per cent – the strongest growth in the UK.
McGrath says: “Liverpool is a maturing market – it still only has 1,200 hotel bedrooms, compared with 4,300 in Manchester and 2,200 in Leeds. But it comes between those two in rates. The challenge is to maintain room rates while growing the occupancy figures. I would expect shopping trips to contribute heavily when Liverpool One opens.
“One key aspect for the city to look out for is managing public space properly, to reinforce the positive images Liverpool is giving off. Liverpool Vision anticipates an additional 1,400 rooms across the wider Merseyside area, so the hotel industry clearly feels this is a growth market.”
What 2008 did for Liverpool, says Mark Beardwood, real estate partner at DLA Piper, is bring about a sense of urgency: “Capital of Culture meant the city was faced with real deadlines.
It concentrates the mind when people think ‘we’re going to look stupid if we don’t pull this off’.
“People have been scurrying round and it has given the city momentum. The arena is doing brilliantly and Liverpool One looks positive as well,” he says.
Liverpool One’s first phase opened on 29 May, with phase two set to open in September.
Chief executive Joanne Jennings said on the big day: “I think that when somebody writes the history of this phase of the city’s development, the question will not be ‘why did they do this’ as much as ‘what on earth took them so long to get started?’
“What I believe will leave the most lasting impression is that we have rejected the conventional shopping-centre approach. Liverpool One is as different to the Trafford Centre as a Renoir is to a poster of the Spice Girls. We passionately believe people like streets and individual shops.”
Michael Brabner, managing partner of law firm Brabners Chaffe Street, says the process is just starting: “The city is moving in the right direction, but I feel there is much still to do to get us back where we belong. In many ways, the hard work starts now.
“What businesses and the city must do now is focus their sights on the future and to the decade beyond 2008. We must not allow ourselves or Liverpool to rest on our laurels or the successes of recent years and Capital of Culture will ultimately have been for nothing,” he says.
The granting of Capital of Culture in 2003, combined with a more confident property market and some European funding, has contributed to a fevered period of growth that will continue. But Liverpool still has issues to resolve. The city council needs unity, the football clubs need to resolve their stadium moves and the city needs to find a way to work with Peel Holdings to bring forward the regeneration of the northern part of the city’s dock system.
And it needs to convert its new fans into repeat business. As Beech says: “What Manchester did after the Commonwealth Games is an example. The city took that can-do attitude on and has hosted the Champions League final and the UEFA Cup final. This year has to be a springboard for Liverpool.”
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