LDP Business Magazine July 2010

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M O N T H L Y R E G I O N A L B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E

BUSINESSLDPLDPBUSINESS

Transport tycoonSteveO’ConnoronStobart’sgreendream

●Britain’sbanks:Open forbusiness? ●Cloudcomputing:Preparing fora rainyday ●Business lunch:Ahiddengem

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POST-BUDGET Britain is not agreat place to be for manymillions of public sector workers.

Chancellor of the ExchequerGeorge Osborne’s Budget speechlast month included plans to cutfunding for some governmentdepartments by as much as 25%.There will be a corresponding cullin staffing levels within thosedepartments.

Indeed, I have already comeacross examples of public sectorbodies showing nervousnessabout recruitment to existingvacancies. Such apprehension isunderstandable, given thelikelihood that all departmentswill shortly be asked to freezerecruitment.

However, the current

uncertainties afflicting the publicsector will not just bring a stop tothose programmes to be cut butwill also, for the time being atleast, leave all the good work thatisn’t to be cut in limbo. The wholeof Britain’s public sector hasentered a period of stagnation. Itcould be many months yet beforeit ends.

Only once the big decisionsabout where the cuts are actuallygoing to fall have been finalised

and announced as part of thepublic spending review in autumnwill there be any clarity aboutwhich programmes are to be cutand which will continue.

The recruitment freeze is likelyto last, in some departments atleast, until Britain’spublic sector borrowingrequirement is back inbalance, a process thatcould take four to fiveyears to complete.

Given the profounddisruptive effect thefinancial uncertaintyis having on allbranches ofgovernment,it is all themore

necessary that the task of sortingthe mess out is undertaken asswiftly as possible so as to shortenthe pain and bring an early end towhat will be some dark andwasted years.

There are serious questionmarks about whether the privatesector will be able to generate

sufficient employment growth toabsorb what surely will behundreds of thousands ofgovernment job losses over thenext four years.

Indeed, the cuts themselveswill have a knock-on

effect on the privatesector asconstructionprojects and facilitymanagement

projects are terminated. Somenew source of economic growthwill need to be found to replacethe GDP lost from the publicsector.

What could this possibly be?Can we, for example, increase ourexports to make good the loss?Somehow I doubt it.

What is more, as HarrietHarman said on Budget day, someof the biggest retrenchment willtake place in Merseyside becauseof the region’s over dependenceon public sector jobs. Sadly, manyof the civil service departmentshere are not among those whosefunding has been ringfenced.

4NEWSHonour for Birkenhead ex-pat

9BIG FEATUREAre the banks open for business?

16PROFESSIONAL SECTORSSociety’s new president

17BIG INTERVIEWSteve O’Connor, Stobart Group

23ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTFocus on Sefton

27COMMERCIAL PROPERTYBetter times for 20 Chapel Street

28SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYThe future is in the cloud

30INTERNATIONAL TRADEOpportunities in Saudi Arabia

32HOW GREEN IS YOURBUSINESS?A favourable wind from Whitehall

34TRANSPORTSouth Parkway success

36EDUCATIONUniversity’s online first

38RESTAURANT REVIEWBlackburne House cafe

39THE LIST

40NETWORKERNeil Hodgson goes East

42SOCIAL DIARYCarolyn Hughes out on the town

EDITOR’SLETTER

BILL GLEESON

INSIDE

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32 23

LDPBUSINESS

EDITORBill Gleeson0151 472 [email protected]

DEPUTY BUSINESSEDITORTony McDonough0151 330 [email protected]

BUSINESS WRITERSAlistair [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

HEAD OF IMAGESBarrie Mills

MARKETINGEXECUTIVECath Reeves0151 285 8428

ADVERTISEMENTDIRECTORDebbie McGraw

ADVERTISEMENTMANAGERJackie McMahon0151 330 5077

ADVERTISEMENTSALESJulie Cowley0151 472 2311Neil Johnson0151 472 2705

PHOTOGRAPHYTrinity Mirror

PUBLISHED BYTrinity Mirror NW2,PO Box 48,Old Hall Street,Liverpool,L69 3EB.

TELEPHONE0151 227 2000

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COPYRIGHTLDP Business is printedmonthly and distributed withthe Liverpool Daily Post. Nopart of this publication may bereproduced without permissionof the publisher.

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NEWS

Begbies Traynor chairman Ric Traynor

Birkenhead-born Terry O’Connor, an OBE recipient

Network manager Colin Ling

Ex-pat businessmanachieves OBE honourB

IRKENHEAD-born TerryO’Connor, who is now aprominent figure inSingapore’s business world,has been awarded the OBE

for his services in promoting UKbusiness interests throughout theregion.

Former St Edward’s pupil MrO’Connor began his career as a buyerwith former Liverpool TV retailerColorvision in Smithdown Road.

He arrived in Singapore in 1993 asbuying director for electronics andfurniture retailer Courts and is nowtheir regional chief executive.

He is also president of the BritishChamber of Commerce in Singapore,which has evolved into one of the mosteffective British Chambers overseasunder his guidance.

Paul Madden, British HighCommissioner in Singapore, said: “Iam delighted that Her Majesty hasrecognised Terry O’Connor’scontribution in this way. He is anoutstanding business leader and aleading figure in the Britishcommunity here in Singapore.

“His personal drive and dedicationhave helped the British Chamber tobecome one of the best chambers wehave anywhere in the world.”

Mr O’Connor, who returns toLiverpool two to three times a year tovisit family and friends, said: “I seethis as not only a proud personalmilestone, but also a reflection of theimmense support I have had from anoutstanding team involved with theBritish Chamber, as well as theamazing commitment shown by mycolleagues at Courts.”

Under his leadership, the BritishChamber has grown as an activeorganisation with more than 1,000members, delivering valuable servicesto the British business community.

Begbies extendsoffshore growthINSOLVENCY expertand professionalservices consultancyBegbies Traynor hasexpanded its offshorepractice by openingan office in theCayman Islands andsetting up a teamingagreement with anestablishedinsolvency practice inthe Isle of Man.

The Cayman Islandsoffice will specialise ininsolvency andforensic services foroffshore clients suchas funds and specialinvestment vehicles.

The teamingagreement in the Isleof Man with ShimminWilson & Co willaugment the existingChannel Islands basesin Jersey andGuernsey to create atri-island practicespecialising in riskmitigation withcorporaterestructuring andinsolvency, forensicaccounting and

corporate intelligenceservices for thefinance industry.

Ric Traynor,executive chairman ofthe group whichoperates a Liverpooloffice in Old HallStreet, said: “Thesedevelopmentsrepresent anotherstep in our strategy togrow our insolvencyand restructuringpractice through bothorganic investmentand acquisitions.

“They will furtherenhance the group’sexisting presence inthe important andrapidly growingoffshore markets,giving the group theresources andexpertise to carry outcomplex and cross-jurisdictional work.”

Paul Shimmin, ofShimmin Wilson & Co,is also a director ofBegbies Traynor andwill head up thegroup’s team inDouglas.

New Chinese network offers hand of friendshipLIVERPOOL ChineseBusiness Associationhas set up a dedicatednetwork to open uptrading links in the cityand as far as China.

The Liverpool ChineseBusiness Network,backed by LiverpoolCity Council and privatesector partnersincluding law firmKirwans, will promotecollaboration betweenChinese and non-Chinese companies.

Network managerColin Ling said: “Ouraim is to help growprofitable relationshipsbetween Chinese andnon-Chinese

enterprises and assistbusinesses who wish totrade with China byproviding a friendly,accessible environment.

“Our network eventswill be designed toallow people to get toknow one another, ourmotto is ‘let’s firstbecome friends then dobusiness’.”

Last month theassociation establishedlinks with municipal andcentral governmentleaders during a week-long trade mission toLinyi, a city of 10.3million people situatedin north east China.● The Networker P40

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

Funding key to successOrganbuilders play ahappy tune, thanks tomuch-neededboost fromStepclever

David Wells – company is developing a new website

STEPCLEVER is an initiative togenerate an enterprise culturein North Liverpool and SouthSefton, by offering freebusiness advice and support, aswell as grants and otherfinancial assistance for existingenterprises, start-up companiesand individuals. Here we lookat an exciting venture which isbeing helped by Stepclever.

THERE’S one company inMerseyside that works hard atmaking sure its clients hit theright note.

Established in 1981, David WellsOrgan Builders Ltd is one of just ahandful of companies across theUK that specialises in building,restoring and tuning pipe organs.

Clients are located nationwideand include Liverpool’s AnglicanCathedral (which is the proudowner of one of the largest pipeorgans in the UK), Liverpool’sMetropolitan Cathedral, StGeorge’s Hall, LiverpoolPhilharmonic Hall and LiverpoolParish Church.

Restoration and rebuilding oflarge instruments, left, can takeup to nine months, and tuning canrange from half a day to six days.

David said: “Most of our workcomes from recommendations –you’re only as good as your lastjob, after all – and we prideourselves on providing anefficient service which is of anextremely high standard.”

However, during the difficulteconomic period, David Wells

Organ Builders found it achallenge to attract new businessand looked at ways to spread thepositive message about theservices they could provide.

Thanks to Stepclever, theysecured a grant of around £2,000,which has been invested in a vitalmarketing tool.

David added: “We went througha very lean time, but thankfullywe’re coming out on the otherside and Stepclever has given usthe boost we needed.

“With the money we received,we’re in the process of developinga brand new website which willnot only attract new clients butwill give us the opportunity topromote all of our services whichis great news.

“I’d definitely recommendStepclever to others, as thesupport they offer can really giveyour business the boost it needs.”

The new site, www.dwob.org, iscurrently being developed andwill be launched soon.■ TO FIND out more aboutDavid Wells Organ Builders,contact [email protected]

David WellsDavid WellsOrgan BuildersKirkdaleGrow your business

Call 0151 207 6304or visit stepclever.co.uk

“The support they offerreally gives your businessthe boost it needs.”

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NEWS

Saturn looks to go into orbitSecurity systems firm isworkingwithBusiness LinkNorthwest to grow its business

Lawrence Gregory of Saturn Security Installations with Nigel Toone, his Business Link Northwest adviser

SATURN SecurityInstallations is aiming to setoff alarm bells among itscompetitors by embarkingon a high-growth strategy.

The Grassendale securitysystems firm currentlyemploys 16 people and islooking at potentialacquisition targets to spreadits geographic reach andreplicate its success in theNorth West.

Lawrence Gregory,managing director of SaturnSecurity Installations, whofounded the company in1987, has been working withBusiness Link Northwest toplan growth for the firm.

He has also joined theNorthwest RegionalDevelopment Agency’s highgrowth programme.

Mr Gregory said: “Ourturnover is already veryhealthy but my aim is to hitthe £1m mark. By workingwith my Business Linkadviser and my high growthmentor I find I am able tobetter prioritise the ideasthat will help me achieve anincrease in turnover.”

Business Link Northwestgrowth adviser Nigel Toonesaid: “The high growthprogramme offers freesupport to create anddevelop new and existing

businesses with high growthpotential through coachingfrom mentors experiencedin the business world.

“Lawrence was keen toget take advantage of thescheme as he saw thepotential to expand hishorizons on a professionallevel and I had nohesitations in putting himforward.”

Mr Toone has alsosuggested acquiring asimilar company to SaturnSecurity Installations in adifferent region.

He added: “This could bea very good option forLawrence because it will

give him a head start in anarea that Saturn SecurityInstallations may not beparticularly well-known andaccelerate his growthplans.”

Saturn and Business Linkhave also looked at MrGregory’s role, as heacknowledge that hishands-on nature made itmore difficult for him tolook at long-term strategiesthat would aid growth.

They considered thebenefits of employing aadministrative manager butMr Gregory decided to lookto employ a sales managerto find new business and

look after existing clients –and enable Mr Gregory tofocus on Saturn’sdevelopment.

● BUSINESSES canaccess face-to-face supportfrom a Business Linkadviser with specialistindustry expertise.

The service can beaccessed by telephone andemail from 8am to 8pm,Monday to Friday, and from8am to 2pm at weekends andon bank holidays.

Call 0845 00 66 888, e-mailadvisers [email protected] visit businesslink.gov.uk/northwest

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prices from

£94,950

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

True cost of the budgetThe financial experts atCoutts breakdownhow theChancellor’s cutsmight affect you

John Price, Senior PrivateBanker at Coutts in Liverpoollooks at the economicimplications of the budget

CHANCELLOR George Osbornehas delivered the mostsignificant UK fiscal tighteningin almost 30 years, announcingswingeing cuts to departmentalbudgets, cuts/freezes in variouswelfare payments, a VAT taxincrease and a two-year freeze inpublic sector pay amongst othermeasures.

Although painful, theemergency budget suggests theUK government will bring thisyear’s budget deficit of 10.1% ofGDP under control, therebyavoiding a Greek-style sovereigndebt crisis and instead allowinglong-term interest rates to staylow.

The Bank of England is likely

to offset tight fiscal policy bykeeping short-term interest rateslower for longer. Gilts andsterling are therefore the clearestwinners from the budget. Theimplications for equities and thehousing market are mixed.

Investment implicationsThe measures substantially

increase the chances that the UKwill keep its triple-A creditrating. In particular, the fact thatconsolidation is being drivenprimarily by cuts in governmentspending increases the chancesof success in terms of achievingthe aim of consolidating thepublic finances

International historicalevidence shows that fiscalconsolidation is easier to achievewhen it is driven primarily bylower spending rather thanthrough tax increases. Thisshould reassure internationaland domestic investorsconcerned about the UK’s fiscalsituation, helping keep long-terminterest rates low and supportingsterling.

Investors will also bereassured by the fact that thegovernment is using morerealistic growth and inflationforecasts provided by the newlycreated and independent Officefor Budget Responsibility (OBR),when deciding how much fiscalconsolidation is needed tostabilise the public finances.

Indeed, if the government issuccessful in consolidating thepublic finances, the UK couldeven come to be viewed as a safe

haven for internationalinvestors.

Bond marketsThe offset to extremely tight

fiscal policy is likely to beextremely loose monetary policy,with the Bank of England set tokeep interest rates lower forlonger. UK government bondmarkets should therefore getsupport from both lower long andshort-term interest rates.

SterlingThe emergency budget is

positive for sterling, particularlyagainst the euro where thepolitical risks surrounding fiscalconsolidation are greater.Sterling is also still undervaluedon a long-term purchasing powerparity (PPP) basis against theeuro. The implications forsterling versus the dollar are lessclear, given the lack of significantundervaluation, but probablystill positive for sterling.

Equity marketsEquity markets will get some

encouragement from a onepercentage-point per yearreduction in corporation tax overfour years, gradually bringingthe UK corporate tax rate from28% to 24%. However, this will beoffset by weaker growth at leastin the short-term from lowergovernment spending, theincrease in capital gains tax andan increase in other taxes suchas VAT, which could hitconsumer spending. The biggestimpact on equities could come at

a sectoral level, between thesesectors most and least exposed tospending cuts, given that theywill not fall uniformly across alldepartments.

HousingThe UK housing market should

benefit from interest ratesstaying lower for longer.However, this will be offset by alikely increase in public sectorredundancies, which areinevitable given the scale ofgovernment spending cutsenvisaged.

The regions most dependenton government spending will behit hardest. Wales, the NorthEast and Scotland are the threeregions with the highestproportion of the labour force inthe public sector, while Londonhas the lowest proportion. TheLondon property market alsobenefits from being viewed as anattractive place for internationalinvestors, suggesting the Londonproperty market will outperformother regions.

EntrepreneursThe extension of the 10%

capital gains tax rate forentrepreneurs to £5m is awelcome sign that this vitalsector of our economy will besupported further through thesedifficult times.

ConclusionAlthough painful, the 2010

Emergency Budget will go a longway in reassuring investors thatthe government can bring the

sizeable budget deficit undercontrol and stabilise the publicfinances. Long- and short-terminterest rates should thereforestay low, supporting the bondmarket. However, the price to paywill be slower growth for someyears because of lowergovernment spending. Sterlingshould nevertheless benefit fromthe UK’s greater deficit fightingcredentials, especially versus theeuro, against which it isundervalued on a PPP basis, andwhere political risks are higher.

■ For more information aboutbecoming a Coutts client inLiverpool, contact John Price [email protected] or 0151236 1068 or visitwww.coutts.com/liverpool.

The information in this documentis not intended as an offer orsolicitation to buy or sell securities orany other investment or bankingproduct, nor does it constitute apersonal recommendation. Theinformation shown is believed to becorrect but cannot be guaranteed.Any opinion or forecast constitutesour judgement as at the date of issueand is subject to change withoutnotice.

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▲

BY PETER ELSON

THE BIG FEATURE▲

Swedish quartet Abba sang Money Money Money – and that’s also been the cry of small firms looking for bank funding since the credit crunch

Banking on change

Stung by public criticism andgovernment censure, the banking

industry wants to regainour confidence

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THE BIG FEATURE

Noel Edmonds phones The Banker every day in Channel 4 show Deal Or No Deal – a task with which many small business

WHILE the banksmay not have beenin a hurry to takethe blame for thecredit crunch and

recession, they have shown areadiness to knuckle down to thenew economic order.

Whether this co-operation withthe government to restructureand agree new financialregulation amounts to anadmission of guilt from thebanking industry is open todebate.

The proof is in the fiscalpudding and Liverpool Chamberof Commerce found far morepositive responses in theirbanking questionnaire than mighthave been expected by the layman.

It seems that British banks aregenuinely trying to be moreuser-friendly than assumed by thepublic, who were understandablymade cynical by the nearcataclysmic events of autumn2008.

Liverpool Chamber memberswere surveyed in the secondquarter of 2010 and 63% ofbusinesses said that they feltsupported by their bank in thecurrent climate.

Only a small minority (6%) ofbusinesses reported they hadswitched banks in the past yearand 16% reported that they areconsidering following suit – areduction on the previous threequarters.

Over half of those surveyedreported their banking facilitieshad been recently reviewed. Ofthese, more than half wererenewed at the same level andcost, and 28% were renewed at thesame level but at a higher cost.

Nearly one third reported thatthey were asked for more risk-related information thanpreviously.

Some 17% had recently appliedfor new facilities; of these 61%said that the process was easy,58% said they got a quick positiveresponse and 47% that they werehappy with the result.

Only 18% said that their lenderhad made them aware of agovernment backed loanguarantee scheme. Some 45% saidthey would consider this a viablemethod of supporting theirbusiness.

In responding to tighteningworking capital, 45% said thatthey had cut capital expenditure,32% made later payments, and33% made no changes.

There were 43% who reportedan increase in time taken toreceive payment over the pastthree months.

Brian McCann, the chair of theChamber’s finance committee anddirector of Vanguard CorporateFinance based at LiverpoolScience Park, said: “Theresponses to our bankingquestions do support theanecdotal evidence we have fromtalking with members and fromour own experience in workingwith our clients here at VanguardCorporate Finance.

“The demand for new orincreased facilities has beenconstrained.

“In some cases businesses don’tbelieve they will succeed with anapplication for new funding andare simply trying to managewithin their existing facilities.

“To some extent, this does leadto the credit taken from suppliersbeing stretched, which means thatthe pressure on cash feedsthrough the supply chain.

“Very few businesses are able to

switch banks at the moment. Mostbanks appear to have respondedto the credit crunch by focusingmore resource on managingpotential problems within theirexisting customer base and lessresource on winning additionalcustomers away from theircompetitors.

“The credit crunch is stillhaving a serious impact on thefunding of many small to mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) althoughwe are seeing a gradualimprovement in the availability ofcredit, including the availabilityof funding under the EnterpriseFinance Guarantee.”

Peter Stoney, honorary seniorfellow in economics at LiverpoolUniversity, said: “The future

lending environment will improvein the UK as the major emergingmarkets grow.

“For example, China isinvesting in the Midlands’ carindustry and Japan is shaping up.

“Lending will follow economicgrowth. But everything could gopear-shaped if we have a globalupset, like an attack on Israel.

“The banks are nowretrenching and regrouping.

“Northern Rock is makingin-roads by putting bad loans intoa ‘bad bank’ area and seeingdaylight with redemption of theseloans or writing them off. Therecession is over, but the creditcrunch is still a questionablesituation. Banks are now muchmore wary of over-lending.”

Fifty years ago, fewer bankswere quoted on the stock market.Instead, many were based onmutual principles, seeking to lendto borrowers on the back ofmoney saved by depositors.

“Now they’re quoted, whichcreates pressures and incentivesfor their management to makeprofits to improve theirshareholders’ returns,” said MrStoney.

“Therefore the banks are moreexposed by taking on financialobligations like credit defaultswaps and structured investmentvehicles, collateralised debtobligations (i.e. secured againstproperties).

“When the system blew up,these sophisticated or complicated

sequential inter-bank lendinginstruments came onto thewholesale market, which neverused to happen.”

The Bank of England’s modelshowed Northern Rock’sbehaviour was destined to end intears.

“It existed on such marginalprofit rates, dicing with death andin the end it died. The bad loansshowed up their fragility,” said MrStoney.

“The government is now intoprudence throughmacro-prudential regulation.”

The government will nowrestore the Bank of England (BoE)as the chief regulator of thefinancial system.

Traditionally the regulator of

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THE BIG FEATURE

the system, the BoE lost itspowers under the former Labourgovernment through theexpansion of the role of theFinancial Services Authority(FSA).

After recent failures, thegovernment will no longerdirectly regulate the banks.

The FSA will be removed,leaving the BoE to govern itself,the high street banks andinvestment banks.

“The banks now play muchsafer,” said Mr Stoney.

“The BoE got to within days ofall the cash points (ATMs) failingand the entire collapse of thewhole banking system.

“All banking is totallyinterlinked on a global basis,

which is why there’s now all thetalk of taxing banks with a levy tobail out any problems.

“There will be more regulationof interbank transactions in orderto reduce the chances orprobability of bank failures.

“The German ChancellorAngela Merkel abolished shortselling in Germany, which isanother device used by financialplayers to hedge their bets.

“The whole hedge fundindustry grew like topsy, soGermans are trying to preventlosses in certain circumstances.

“Businesses must work harderto prove a good case for getting aloan. There is nothing new inbank failures – remember theSouth Sea Bubble of 1720.”

No complacency –but much cautionNorthWest businesses fear theunknownBUSINESS confidence in theNorth West fell to the lowestlevel since the third quarterof 2009, despite relativelystrong growth expectationsfor the next twelve months.

One hundred seniorbusiness professionals in theNorth West were interviewedand recorded a confidenceindex score of 14.4 in thesecond quarter of 2010 by theInstitute of CharteredAccountants in England andWales (ICAEW) UK BusinessConfidence Monitor (BCM).

The confidence index forthe North West has decreasedby 9.9 points from the lastquarter, the steepest fall forany region in the UK.

In spite of being lessconfident than the rest of theUK, firms in the North Westhave relatively strongexpectations for growth inkey performance indicators.

Turnover is projected torise by 5.4% in the coming 12months, following a decline of0.4% over the last 12 months.

This is the strongestforecast for turnover growthsince the first quarter of 2008.Firms in the North West alsoexpect the steepest rise insales volumes since the firstquarter of 2008, with 5.1%growth forecast for thecoming 12 months.

A number of housebuilders in the North West,including Redrow Homes, arepredicted to return to profitfor the first time in threeyears, the region’s firmsforecast profits growth of4.4% over the next 12 months.

This is the most positiveforecast for profits growthsince the third quarter of 2008and follows a contraction inprofits of 1.2% over the last 12months.

Melanie Christie, ICAEWNorth West regional director,said: “The North West resultsof the latest BCM show that

businesses are not allowingthemselves to becomecomplacent and remaincautious about the outlook.

“The economy still facessignificant challenges, manyof which are outside ofbusinesses control.

“Until prospects for thefuture become clearer, UK plcis continuing to manage risk,cut costs and not expose itselfto potential risks outside itscontrol, leading to a slowerthan expected recovery. ”

Reflecting their region’sstatus as one of the two leastconfident regions, businessesin the North West have thelowest expectations forgrowth in employeeheadcount of any part of theUK.

The number of employees

in the North West is expectedto grow by only 0.5% over thenext 12 months, compared to1.1% growth for the UKoverall.

A similarly cautiousoutlook for staff developmentbudgets is also expected, withprojections of 0.7% growth inthe North West – again thelowest of any part of the UK.

However, compared to someother regions, the labourmarket in the North West hasheld up relatively well overthe last year.

Headcount has fallen by1.7% over the last 12 months,compared to a 2% fall for theUK overall. Official statisticsalso show the employmentrate in the North Westsuffered the smallest fall ofany UK region in 2009.

ICAEW North West regional director Melanie Christie

NorthWest access to capital tougherTHE challenge ofaccess to capitalpersists for firmsin the North West.

In contrast tothe trend seen inmost other UKregions, accessingfinance has stillbeen a majorproblem forbusinesses in theNorth West in thepast 12 months.

One third (34%)of firms in theregion report

access to capitalposes a greaterchallenge to theirbusiness than ayear ago.

This is the worstpicture for thismeasure recordedby the BusinessConfidenceMonitor (BCM) inthe region, and isup from 29% inthe first quarter of2009 when creditmarkets froze andthe economy

suffered its worstever quarterlycontraction ofoutput.

This finding isalso notconsistent withresults from theBank of England’srecent CreditConditions Survey,which showed theavailability ofcredit tocorporatescontinued to easeat the start of

2010, with demandfor credit by smalland medium-sizedprivatenon-financialcorporations(SMEs) rising morestrongly thananticipated.

It was alsonoted in the samereport thatspreads and feeshad widenedslightly for SMEsover the first threemonths of 2010.

owners will be all too familiar

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THE BIG FEATURE

Is UK’s credit crunch at anUncertaintymeansmarkets arepricing inmore risk to cover all eventualities, says leading

DISAGREEMENT over whetherthe credit crunch has ended stillplagues the banking world.

As a result, says Steve Sankson,RBS and NatWest regionaldirector of business & commercialbanking in Merseyside, marketsprice in more risk.

“There seems to bedisagreement over whether thecredit crunch has ended,” he said.

“The events of the last twoyears have left everyone nervous,not only about the stability offinancial markets, but also aboutthe sovereign debt problems weare seeing in Europe and the scaleof government deficits in manycountries.

“Naturally, this means thatmarkets price in more risk,volatility increases anduncertainty returns in certainareas.

“The measures taken by banks

and governments across the globemean banks are now much bettercapitalised, have access todifferent markets and have morecertain and stable fundingstructures.”

In spite of the markets’volatility, Mr Sankson does notexpect the issues which causedthe last credit crisis to resurface.

“Banks are opening up theirfunds to small and medium-sizedbusinesses (SMEs),” he said.

“Credit is available tobusinesses which candemonstrate they can afford torepay the debts they take on.

“What has changed is thatbusinesses will need to be able toshow how they are trading in thecurrent climate by having anappropriate level of up-to-datemanagement information.

“This doesn't have to be costly,or, indeed, even complex – in most

cases, internal figures are fine.But it is not unreasonable for alender to want to assess thecurrent trading performance of abusiness they lend money to.”

RBS and NatWest arecommitted to the SME sector andhave provided a number oftangible commitments todemonstrate this, he said.

“For example, the bank’s SMECustomer Charter, introduced lastNovember, gives businesscustomers the chance to renewtheir overdrafts at the same orlower rate for a further 12 months.

“It also introduced a cap of 1.5%on overdraft and loanarrangement fees for businesseswith a turnover of up to £25m, andextends the NatWest offer of twoyears’ free banking to RBScustomers.

“Furthermore, in March, weagreed with the Government to

make available £50bn in gross newfacilities for business customersduring 2010-11.”

Credit insurance tightenedacross many sectors during2008-09 due to the worldwideeconomic uncertainty.

However, government schemesto provide “top-up insurance” didemerge.

“Via RBS Invoice Finance (thebank’s invoice discounting arm),we could provide credit insurancealongside funding to many of ourcustomers, despite the marketturbulence. We saw a significantincrease in numbers of companiesusing invoice discountingspecifically to obtain creditinsurance on their customers.

“Credit insurance has notdisappeared. Many insurancecompanies still provide creditinsurance, and our own InvoiceFinance businesses provides a

significant number of businesseswith additional credit protection.”

Banks are in the risk business,said Mr Sankson, and lendingmoney carries a risk ofnon-repayment.

“That has always been the case.In more volatile or depressedeconomic conditions, these risksrise, but that is part of the cycle.

Our attitude honestly hasn’tchanged. We judge a business onits merits and its ability to repaythe debt.

“We account for sector trendsand outlooks, the quality ofmanagement, the profitability andcash generation of a businessbefore we lend.

“All these factors contribute toour view of ‘risk’, and I think it’sright that they should.

“If anything has changed, it’sour desire to be closer to ourcustomers, so we understand

Steve Sankson, of RBS and NatWest – keen to stimulate small businesses

13

THE BIG FEATURE

end?Merseybanker

better the risks they face and arebetter placed to help if things dochange.”

RBS and NatWest has led theway in the region, he claimed,providing over 60% of allEnterprise Finance GuaranteeScheme (EFG) loans approved anddrawn. It has agreed loans worth£67.15m, of which £59.07m havebeen drawn.

“It is a very useful scheme andhas proved an invaluable resourcefor SMEs that are looking foradditional working capital orinvestment funding,” he said.

“RBS and NatWest has issued acomprehensive customer charterthat gives a very specific pricepromise.

“Our maximum arrangementfee is 1.5%, and there will not beany increase in the overdraftmargin, provided the risk has notdeteriorated.”

Banks dismiss critical ‘it’s business as usual’ reportTHE British Bankers’Association (BBA) hasrobustly defendedcriticisms aimed at bankingin an influential report.

The BBA believes thebanking industry alreadyhas far better ways oftackling problems thanthose set out in the Which?Future of BankingCommission report.

The industry has mademany significant changesto the way it operates, andthe far-reaching nature of

regulatory change meansthere has not been a returnto “business as usual” asthe report implies, it said.

Action already takenextends not only to banksholding more, better qualitycapital resources, but tonew requirements on thecash they need,governance, risk control,accounting, conduct ofbusiness and enhancedsupervision.

Angela Knight, BBA chiefexecutive, said: “Banking is

integral to the modernglobal economy and, as UKbanking is trulyinternational, effectivereform needs to workacross borders.

“UK banks are a majorexport earner and paytaxes locally. Our universalbanks assist investmentand help the economygrow, so it is vital decisionstaken here do not talk thecountry down or damageour recovery.

“We must guard against

making it more difficult todo business in the UK asfinancial services are amajor contributor to GDP,employment and tax.

“Competition in the highstreet has driven pricesdown and has providedexcellent value forindividual customers andbusinesses alike.

“Change is necessary,with banks at the heart ofreform. Banks are veryconscious of theirresponsibility to society.”

Companies in need of loansurged to show clear plansBanks ‘keen to support businesses in the toughenvironment’BANKS are opening up their funds to smalland medium-sized businesses – but withspecific caveats attached to any loans.

Brian Colquhoun, Yorkshire Bank’sNorth West regional director, said: “We’reentering another crucial stage of theeconomic recovery.

“On the whole, banks are keen tosupport businesses in what remains atough environment.

“From a Yorkshire Bank perspective,we’re as keen as ever to support tradingbusinesses that have strong managementand clear plans for growth.

“From a customer point of view,management teams are emerging strongerfrom the experience of the downturn.

“They’re looking to create lastingrelationships with a partner that has theambition and vision to provide a solutionto financing needs.

“Banks with clear appetite to lend willbenefit from this.”

For their part, banks need to be ready tosupport businesses that have qualitygrowth opportunities.

“That’s why Yorkshire Bank launched itsInvesting for Growth initiative in May.

“Investing for Growth offers a dedicatedplanning service and a flexible approach toinvestment finance, including paymentholidays or interest-only loan periods,”said Mr Colquhoun.

“Our aim with this initiative is to helpsupport business cashflow while easing thecustomer’s debt commitments.

“We’re responding to growing customerdemand for flexible support as businessconfidence returns.”

Mr Colquhoun is fairly confident aboutthe future lending environment and feelsthere are many lending opportunities.

He predicts a strong period ofrefinancing of good business.

“In the immediate future, we're seeinggood growth and demand for products suchas invoice discounting and asset-basedlending.

“With balance sheets weakened andproperty prices depressed, real value canbe driven from facilities secured directlyagainst the asset being funded, removingthe need for personal security to bepledged.

“The recovery is presenting numerouslending opportunities in the form of

businesses looking to start a newrelationship with a funder, a requirementto finance increased activity, and theopportunity in the current economicconditions to make acquisitions.

“The key growth area will be fatiguedmanagement teams looking for a solid long-term bank partner that understands theirfinancing needs and can provide a tailoredsolution.”

This month, the Department for BusinessInnovation & Skills released figures for theEnterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme.

Nearly £1bn has been approved and morethan £800m drawn since the EFG schemewas introduced, just over 12 months ago.

In the North West, £111m-worth of EFGloans have been approved across all banks,and £96m drawn to date.

The Confederation of British Industry(CBI) is enthusiastic about the scheme.

John Cridland, CBI deputydirector-general, said: “We welcome theproposal to extend the National LoanGuarantee scheme to more medium-sizedbusinesses. This would help improve accessto finance as demand recovers.”

One of the UK’s leading asset-basedfinance providers, Lloyds TSB CommercialFinance, has given its support to NorthWest businesses by enhancing its ClientCharter and launching its first IntroducerCharter for the professional community.

The revised Client Charter now enablesprospective clients with a turnover of up to£15m to obtain an indicative lendingdecision within 48 hours and the funderpledges to match any competitive offer.

Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance’sCharter offers the option to conclude afacility at any time, by giving 28 days’notice without incurring termination fees.

Brian Colquhoun – banks want to create lasting business relationships

14

THE BIG FEATURE

Unemployment ‘still not at its peak’Topaccountantwarns therewill bemore necessary pain before anybeneficial gainTHE good news, according to one of theNorth’s top accountants is that thebanking system didn’t – and won’t – fail, inspite of the horrendous economic turmoilof the last year.

The bad news is that private sectorunemployment has yet to reach its peakover the next year.

Jonathan Hurst, chairman of KPMGNorth, said: “I think there’s a differencebetween the credit crunch and a potentialdouble dip.

“The big question regarding the creditcrunch was would the banking system fail?

“It didn’t and it wouldn’t.“Although the credit crunch has eased,

it’s still difficult to get credit, as banks arenot assessing risk in the same way.”

The risk of a double dip happening isless than 20-50%, and probably towards thebottom end of that range, he believes.

The avoidance of a double dip is drivenby taking into account three major factors,said Mr Hurst.

Firstly, the austerity spending cutswhich will come have not just a directimpact, but along all of the supply chain.

Secondly, the sovereign debt issues ofdeveloping European countries are not yetquite played out and will have an impact.

Thirdly, unemployment in the privatesector has not yet hit the levels whichpeople expect, and it will go up.

“The recovery is fragile and we’re notout of it yet,” said Mr Hurst.

“However, we have got some really goodsigns; for example, no bank has gone bust,and they are forced to keep lending.

“At last we’ve seen far more merger andacquisition activity for the first time intwo years.

“It’s now going to be the better assetmanagers and teams which come tomarket first.

“Private equity has got a hole in itspocket with money to burn and funds toutilise,” said Mr Hurst.

But the 90-10 (as in percentage loan toshares or equity) model is gone and it ismoving towards 50-50 or even 40-60, hesaid.

The big issue for the banks is the SpecialLiquidity Scheme (SLS), whereby £185bnwas lent to UK banks by the governmentand to be repaid by the January 1, 2012.

“All those banks are in the process ofagreeing plans with the Financial ServicesAssociation for repayment, but I wouldn’tbe surprised if there is slippage,” said MrHurst.

Basel 3, the plans on internationalbanking laws and regulations to set theamount of funds banks need to put aside toguard against major bank collapse, willbring in more stringent capital

requirements (although the amounts havebeen pared down after bank lobbying).

“So we could have a situation where thefirst recession is over but could double dip,then the SLS has to be repaid, capitaltightens and banks’ level of capitalreserves are regulated,” said Mr Hurst.

“There is a natural tension and we’venot found the equilibrium yet.

“Some smaller businesses will getknocked back when needing to be financedcorrectly if their approach is not right.

“Their plans must be simple and clear,with professional advice on presentation.”

Plans and figures have got to be rock-solid and controlled by a qualitymanagement team, he advises.

Borders bookshop and Ethel Austinwent down partly because their equitycapital model was not quite right.

Problems included being over-retailed(too much square footage) and over-rented(paying too much for premises).

“Therefore, the business models wereexposed in the recession and this would bethe reason why credit was not available,”said Mr Hurst.

“Had their models been better, theywould have been refinanced.”

The overall interest bill to “UK plc” hasnot changed much over the last year, asLIBOR reduced variations significantly.

LIBOR is the London Interbank OfferedRate, which is a daily reference rate basedon the interest rates at which banksborrow unsecured funds from other banksin the wholesale money market.

“Banks who have shareholders tomanage are getting their money back inthree areas,” said Mr Hurst.

Firstly, their margin over LIBOR(interest rate on debt); secondly, thearrangement fees on maintenancemonitoring; thirdly, the “tenor” of the loan.

“In the heady days, the latter would havebeen, say, five years; now it’s only twoyears,” said Mr Hurst. “So, as soon as yourefinance, you’ve got to refinance again.

“The attitude to risk has changed andrightly so, with a lending culture based on,for example, property.

“The loan-to-value (LTV) was totallypredicated on asset value.

“While that’s a factor, it has to throw upcash, so the quality of tenant, the covenantand servicing the loan is crucial.

“One of the real gripes is there is nolong term certainty, which is really a keyfactor. Until that’s in place, you don’t havethe certainty to make the businessdecisions.

“The future lending environment isgoing to get steadily better, but we will notsuddenly get liquidity booming and hugelending.”

Optimistic: Jonathan Hurst, chairman of KPMG North

Small and medium-sized businesses blame banks for economic woesMORE than two-thirdsof the North West’ssmaller businesseswant to see far tougherregulation of thebanking industry,whom they blame forthe economic crisis,according to a newsurvey.

In research by theCheshire-based Forumof Private Business,68% of the region’ssmall and

medium-sizedbusinesses (SMEs) saidthere must be strongerregulation of banks andutility companies.

After the priority oftackling the debt crisis,this emerged as thesecond most popularconcern, finding favourwith 68% of businessowners polled. Thiscompared to 62%across the wider UK.

Forum spokesman

Phil McCabe said:“Business owners inthe North West seemparticularly keen to seestronger regulation ofthe banks.

“This perhaps showsthat they have hadparticular problemswith accessing creditthrough the recessionand are especially keento see the bankingindustry being held toaccount for the

financial crisis.” Taxsimplification was thethird most popularpriority for the newGovernment amongsmall firms in the NorthWest, with 67% ofrespondents listing itas a concern.

“This research showsmost small businessowners in the NorthWest appreciate theneed to tackle the UK’srecord public debt and

are behind the newGovernment’s efforts todo so,” said MrMcCabe.

“”usiness owners willsuffer some pain frombig spending cuts, butit’s important thatcrucial small businesssupport services aren’tsacrificed in the driveto cut costs, as SMEswill be crucial toBritain’s economicrecovery.”Phil McCabe

16

PROFESSIONAL SECTORS SECTOR

Change at the topAccountants’ president named,writes TimGleesonJAN McDERMOTT, owner andfounder of Jan McDermott & Co, isthe new president of the LiverpoolSociety of Chartered Accountantsduring it 140th anniversary year.

She takes over from MichaelSale, of Liverpool-based Kemp &Co, who, in 2009/2010, led the localsociety.

Ms McDermott is a long-standing Liverpool Societycommittee member, and is also apast president of the LiverpoolChartered Accountants StudentsAssociation.

Her main role will be to providesupport for the 4,264 members ofthe oldest local society in thecountry and one of the foundingsocieties of the Institute ofChartered Accountants in Englandand Wales (ICAEW).

By her side will be Martyn Best,co-founder of Paver Smith & Co,and vice-president Paul Christian,audit and advisory director atglobal accountancy firmPricewaterhouseCoopers.

Ms McDermott said: “I amincredibly proud to be able torepresent the Liverpool Society ofChartered Accountants.

“During my term in office, Ihope to raise the profile of theInstitute and the Liverpool Societyacross Merseyside by ensuringthat members’ views are promotedeffectively on accountancy andbusiness issues.

“I also aim to build on theexcellent work of the Society overrecent years by continuing todeliver high-quality events to helpsupport local members whether inpractice or business, and especiallythose affected by the recession.”

Liverpool Society of CharteredAccountants vice-presidentPaul Christian, president JanMcDermott and deputypresident Martyn Best

Jan McDermott, new president of the Liverpool Society

LEGALLYSPEAKING

With Derek Millard-Smith, associate andtrading standardsspecialist atHill Dickinson

QI AM the owner ofa medium-sizedbusiness and amconcerned thatlaws rushed

through by the lastgovernment before thegeneral election couldresult in me riskinginvestigation by TradingStandards.

Could I be facingcriminal proceedings foroffences that didn’tpreviously exist?

ATHERE were anumber of lawspassed in GordonBrown’s six-day“wash-up” (the

period between a generalelection being announcedand the Queen proclaimingthe dissolution ofParliament).

To prevent unreasonablelaws being passed hastily,their becoming statuterequires co-operation fromboth theHouses ofCommons andLords.

While it isright that youare concernedto know thedetail of thenew laws, it isunlikely thatthere has beena “wash-up” –“stitch-up”. Thenew Govern-ment willreview alllegislation and have vowedto remove unnecessary“over-regulation”, but, dueto the reasonable ideologyof the new laws (some ofwhich are outlined below)they are likely to remainrelatively unchanged withmost of them already inforce.

Most of the DigitalEconomy Act 2010 cameinto force on June 8, 2010;it extends copyrightlicensing and createsmeasures to deal withonline copyrightinfringement, while alsoincreasing the maximumpenalties for copyrightoffences. It enablesregulations to allow courtinjunctions to disableaccess to websites thatinfringe copyright. The act

also restricts the age forpurchasing of video gamesto 12 years or above.

Most of the Crime andSecurity Act 2010 cameinto force on April 8, 2010;it makes it an offence forthe owner of an air weapon(airgun) to fail to takereasonable precautions toprevent it being used by aperson under 18. Clampingcompanies must now belicensed; if not, they willbe committing a criminaloffence and licensingauthorities will be able torestrict the sale and supplyof alcohol between 3amand 6am.

The Sunbeds (Reg-ulation) Act 2010 is likelyto come into force on April8, 2011. This Act followedthe sad case of 10-year-oldKelly Thompson suffering70% burns after 15minutes of unsuperviseduse of a coin-operatedsunbed in a tanning salon.

It will be anoffence for theowner of asunbedbusiness tooffer, allow orfail to prevent aperson underthe age of 18from using asunbed on thebusinesspremises.

ConclusionThese new

laws, amongothers passed, create newcriminal offences thatdidn’t previously exist.Local Trading Standardsare the first port of call forany legitimate businessconcerned as to laws thatapply to them.

They can and should beapproached on a withoutprejudice basis to provideassistance as to legalcompliance. Businessesmust remember that theselaws are new to TradingStandards, too; they mustget to grips with theirincreased enforcementburden, so, provided youmake sure you are awareof your obligations and areduly diligent in trying tocomply, then you need notbe concerned, should theinspector call.

‘RemembernewlawsarenewtoTradingStandards,aswell’

17

THE BIG INTERVIEW

BY BILL GLEESON

▲ ▲

Keep on trucking

Steve O’Connor sold his haulage firmfor £23m. So why did he choose to stayat work when he could have enjoyed the

easy life somewhere sunny . . . ?

18

THE BIG INTERVIEW STEVE O’CONNOR

TWO months ago, Widneshaulier Steve O’Connorwas namedBusinessperson of theYear at the Liverpool

Daily Post’s annual RegionalBusiness Awards.

He was given the accolade inrecognition of the way he hadbuilt the family business,O’Connors, into a major force inthe trucking world before sellingit to docks firm Westbury for£23m in 2007. Westbury, includingO’Connors, was shortlyafterwards sold to the stockmarket-quoted transport firm,Stobart Group.

Despite being in receipt of sucha hefty windfall, Mr O’Connor,who also owns Widnes VikingsRugby League Club, chose to stayat his desk in the role ofmanaging director of StobartPorts, taking a 4% stake in thegroup’s shares. The Carlisle-headquartered group then gavehim the job of overseeing thedevelopment of its MerseyMulti-Modal Gateway (3MG) atWidnes, in the shadow of thetown’s Silver Jubilee Bridge.

O’Connor said: “I would nothave done that if I did not thinkthere was an enormousopportunity going forward. Icould have walked into the sunset.There’s a genuine momentum andenthusiasm and plenty ofpotential for us to develop thisbusiness.

“This is not just a job to keepme out of mischief. It is exciting.It’s given me a new lease of life –it’s reinvigorating.”

O’Connor was born andbrought up in Widnes, theyoungest of four brothers and onesister. He attended St Joseph’sHigh School and originallyplanned to become an architect ora draughtsman, but his elderbrothers showed little interest intheir father’s haulage business –which was at that time runningfour trucks – and so at 16 heentered the firm, helping with theadministration.

In the spring, Stobart Portsannounced that it had securedTesco as its first tenant of the3MG site at Widnes. But theycouldn’t just build a Tescowarehouse. The land neededassembling and a 25-acre moundhad to be flattened first.

“That meant we had to shovelaway 400,000 cubic metres ofrubble,” said O’Connor.

The rubble from the mound wasused to fill in a hollow in theadjacent land acquired in 2008 toaccommodate the firm’s hugelyambitious expansion plans. Usingthe rubble in this way fits inneatly with the group’s policy ofletting nothing go to waste.

Tesco’s new 3MG warehousesits where part of the mound usedto be.

The supermarket’s facilityoccupies 540,000sq ft of space. Asbig as it is, the group hopes thateventually it will form just asmall part of a 1.5m sq ftdevelopment of distribution spaceat the 250 acre site.

Tesco has planning permissionalready to expand its unit byanother 160,000 sq ft at any timein the next 10 years.

O’Connor said: “That mighthappen sooner rather than later.There is an appetite forexpansion.”

The aim now is to use Tesco tolever in other retailers and createa distribution hub like that at

Daventry, in the West Midlands.To do that, the firm needs tocreate facilities that will beattractive to retailers.

O’Connor explained: “We arelooking at establishing a vehiclemaintenance unit. The retailersmay see a value in a vehiclemaintenance unit on this site. Ittakes away some road miles. Itprevents them needing to goelsewhere to be repaired.”

But there is a long way to go, ifWidnes is to match Daventry.

That site has 16 retailers, plus

four major logistics players.O’Connor believes there is apowerful logic that can enticeretailers to cluster together in asingle large site, rather thanhaving their separate locations.

He said: “There is value incollaboration. That’s the Stobartmodel. It revolves around sharingvehicles. Some retailers need touse vehicles in the morning,others in the afternoon orevening.

“Stobart vehicles are notbranded with one or other

retailer’s logo. They can takegoods from a retailer and collectgoods from another retailer on theway back.

“It’s a pay-as-you-go model andthey share the costs.

“But it wouldn’t work to have aTesco-branded vehicle movinggoods for another supermarket.”

Stobart, which operates 1,900vehicles, works hard to ensurethat as few as possible returnempty from a trip.

He said: “About 84% of ourtravel miles are laden, whereas

the industry as a whole strugglesto reach 60%.

“We share the benefits withretailers. They get the benefitswithout having to put the work in.Their main effort goes intobuying and selling the productsthey are retailing.

“If we can put the sharing ofvehicles together withoutaffecting their brand values, theycan do it for cheaper. For example,we work for United Biscuits andNestlé. We can carry similarproducts the other way.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

19


“The costs of distribution havebeen rising. More and more goodsare travelling globally.”

As well as lorries, Stobartoperates freight train services toand from the south coast ofEngland and around Europe. Intotal, the group runs nineservices a day.

Trains arriving at Widnes arecarrying South East Asianmanufactured products, mostlyclothing and electrical goods. Railfreight containers are lifted offthe back of trains by large gantry

cranes that straddle the tracksand a parallel roadway.

O Connor adds: “Retailers needto make sure they are utilising usas much as they can to keep theircosts down. These goods comethrough Felixstowe and theThames Estuary, then they comethrough to us by rail. Only thelast leg is by road.

“The retailers see consumersstarting to take note of theenvironmental impact of bringingproducts to supermarket shelves.

“We have 1,000 lorry

movements a day at Widnes. Forevery one lorry movement, thereare 350 cars driving goods awayfrom supermarkets.”

“We have a Valencia-to-Barkingtrain service that brings in freshproduce such as salad and citrusfruits. It’s picked in Spain on theTuesday, leaves Valencia on theWednesday, arrives in Barking onthe Friday and is bought in theshops in the South East on theSaturday and Sunday.

“It is currently once a week,but is set to rise to three times a

week. In Widnes, we currentlymove 1m cases of fresh producteach week. Two-thirds of ourbuilding is kept at one degreecentigrade, the other third at 12degrees.”

About 500 farmers and growersbring their produce directly toTesco’s warehouse at 3MG. Itleaves in wheeled cages whichalready have the supermarketaisle number on them.

“It’s military precision.“It’s a 24-hour, seven days a

week operation.

“All the jobs we’ve created aresustainable.

“The smart added-extraingredient we offer here is that wetake waste food back from thesupermarkets to this site whichthen goes into a biomass plantand the energy from that biomassplant is used to power the coldstore. That building is only sevenmetres high.

“We’re putting £30m into thebiomass business. We plan aseries of biomass plants aroundthe country. Vehicles that wouldotherwise be empty bring biomasswaste back here.”

The developments at Widnesreflect the fundamental changesaffecting transportation.

Stobart currently offers 8m sqft of warehousing space. Itoperates a port at the nearbyWeston Point docks, on theManchester Ship Canal.

It even owns an airport atSouthend, which has received£100m of investment in recentyears, money used to build acontrol tower, a new terminalbuilding and runway extension.The firm hopes to have 2mpassengers flying through it whenit opens in 2012.

O’Connor said: “Southend waslike Liverpool’s JLA 20 years ago.We want to develop air freightservices there so we can becomemore multi-modal, offering, air,sea, road and rail.”

O’Connor added: “We arebreaking old ways of doingbusiness.”

O’Connor believes the UK needsmore railway infrastructurebecause the railways are every bitas congested as the roads.

The other big development hewould like to see is the creation ofin-river post-Panamax quays atSeaforth. At the moment, theworld’s biggest vessels, ploughingthe seas between the Far East, callin at Le Havre, Zebrugge andRotterdam, but not Liverpool.Goods are then transferred tosmaller ships to be brought here.

“That adds time to the journey,and adds costs, too. Anyencouragement to send freightdirect to the North West wouldhelp. It would encourage morepeople to move to Widnes. A lotwould still go to the South East,but three or four vessels a weekcoming here would be goodnews.”

Another part of the grandstrategy is to try to replicate thesuccess of a major distributionhub at Daventry in the Midlands.

“We need to persuade morefreight firms to use the NorthWest, rather than the EastMidlands. We need a joined-upfreight strategy. It’s gone off theagenda in the last 18 months. Weneed to find a way to keep supplychain management sector andtake costs out.

“There’s a great opportunitywith the joined-up thinking that’sgoing on.

“We are creating sustainableemployment where the boroughcouncil is keen to tackledeprivation. The Tesco deal hascreated 600 new jobs now, and thatwill be 1,200 in 12 months’ time.Stobart is creating 260 jobs, andthat’s before the others in thechain, such as caterers, areincluded.

“We are hoping for the clustereffect of Tesco. They are theanchor client and hopefullyothers will follow. It’s logical thenext client will follow.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

Steve O’Connor wins the Business Person of the Year awardat the Daily Post’s Regional Business Awards in May

Steve O’Connor at the Mersey Multi-Modal Gateway site inWidnes, above; and, below, addressing the crowd from thepitch at the Stobart Stadium Halton – home of his belovedWidnes Vikings club

20


Tackling some big issues: businessmanand Widnes Vikings Rugby Club ownerSteve O’Connor

“We have three differentretailers speaking to us at themoment. They are very keen butthis sort of thing is a quantumleap and it takes them out of theircomfort zone. It takes some timeto get it right.”

The new jobs are very welcomein a borough that has seen its fairshare of job losses in recent times.These include 600 jobs that maysoon be lost if, as expected, B&Qleaves the borough for Swindon.

“That was reallydisappointing,” said O’Connor.

“B&Q were in old buildingswhich were not fit for purpose,similarly Tesco at Middleton.“Therefore, new buildings makethe difference. We need to keep upto date with our distributionspace in the Liverpool CityRegion. We need to stay up tospeed with the right quality ofspace.”

“B&Q’s centre was aninappropriate facility. It had vastfloor space but it was not good for

distribution and the economies ofscale of having four facilitiesconsolidating into Swindonswayed them.

“It’s quite a challenge. There’s alot of retailers out there, but youcan’t work with everybody.

“There’s a greater sense in thelast two years that they don’tcompete on the distribution bit,but do so on the shelf, andtherefore there is morewillingness to accept a holisticapproach to distribution.”

O’Connor claims that Stobart’s

brand has a high level ofrecognition. He cited a recentstudy which placed Stobarts justbehind mobile phone group O2and ahead of Virgin Atlantic asthe 23rd most recognised brand inthe UK.

“The Eddie Stobart name hadabout 97% recognition frompeople in the transport sector and94% recognition from people whoare not in it,” he said.

“The brand is very valuable atopening doors.”

O’Connor is heartened by the

backing he has had from theStobart people since they tookover the business.

“When Stobart came along,they gave me the comfort ofknowing that I was very muchpart of the future here,” he said.

“When you first talk to people,you have to convince them aboutthe dream and I think they havequickly understood my vision forthe business.

“They told me to carry on withwhat I am doing, and have givenme the freedom to do it.”


22

www.investsefton.com

Taking yourbusiness toAnotherPlace

23

ECONOMICDEVELOPMENT

No.1 Atlantic Park provides 46,000 sqft of Grade A office space

Weathered by the stormSefton’s ironmenaim to avoid lastingdamage from theeffects of the harsh economicwind

IT IS five years ago today thatartist Antony Gormley unveiledhis 100 iron men on Crosby beach.

Originally planned to continuetheir global voyage 15 monthslater, heading to New York, theartwork has now become apermanent feature on the Seftoncoastline.

The passage of time is markedon the statues, becomingweathered with every rising andebbing tide.

Looking out to sea, the ironmen have watched the shipscoming in and out of the Port ofLiverpool carrying slightly lesscargo in each of the last fouryears.

The port handled 33.78m tonneswhen Another Place was installedin 2005. That became 33.55m, then32.26m and 32.20m, before theimpact of the recession hit thesector and Liverpool’s volumedropped 7% in 2009 to a decade-low level of 29.89m tonnes.

However, Sefton Council’sassistant director forregeneration, Mark Long, is keento emphasise that the short-termeconomic problems don’t detractfrom the borough’s continuingadvantages.

He said: “We are in the middleof a recession and that’s having aneffect.

“Sefton has the natural assets –

the coast and the countryside –the locational advantages, theport next to a big city. We are a bitof Europe that faces the Atlantic.

“We have still got thoseadvantages.

“We are a reasonably resilientborough, we have the people,place and the assets to do that.

“Our forecasts are that it willbe a period of jobless growth inthe next three to four years. Therewill be growth.”

But there continues to be muchuncertainty about what willhappen in the future, withconsiderable changes beingdriven by spending cuts enforcedby central government affecting

existing and planned schemes – asituation that will almostcertainly be exacerbated by thedetails in the spending reviewthat will be announced in October.

In a report to Sefton Council,its planning and economicdevelopment director, AndyWallis, said: “The landscape foremployment and skills has shiftedrapidly over the lifetime of ourlocal programme, and there hasbeen fundamental change to themachinery of government.

“The dissolution of theLearning and Skills Council, thetransfer of 14-19 duties to localauthorities, the expansion ofJobcentre Plus capacity in

response to the hike in benefitsclaimants and the end oftransitional arrangements forMerseyside to access Europeanfunds are only some of the majorshifts which has left the wayforward uncertain.

“The new Government hasstated there will be furthersignificant welfare-to-workreforms including the end ofFuture Jobs Fund, the creation ofa single work programmereplacing the New Deal and othercontracted provision, andsimplification of the out-of-workbenefits system.


IN ASSOCIATION WITH

BY ALEX TURNER


24

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SEFTON

Workersavoidworstof jobcutsUNEMPLOYMENT hasrisen more slowly inSefton than the restof the UK, despiteleaping 80% in twoyears.

The number ofpeople claiming job-seeker’s allowance(JSA) rose sharplythroughout thesecond half of 2008 –in line with regionaland national trends –but the relative in-crease in Sefton hasremained signific-antly lower.

But the number ofJSA claimants perjob centre vacancy inSefton has risen, andstayed around 10 forthe last year, spikingat 19, in January,2010.

Borough’soutputfallsbehindTHE gap between theeconomic perform-ance of Sefton andthe rest of Mersey-side has widened infive years.

The most recentmeasurement ofgross value added(GVA) per head – ameasure of econom-ic output – in 2007was £12,017.

This was 85% ofMerseyside’s figure –£14,155 – and 59% ofthe UK average, of£20,430.

However, fiveyears earlier, Seftonwas achieving 92%and 65% respect-ively, and had main-tained these levelsduring the five pre-vious years.

Housepricesbackto2005levelSEFTON’S housingmarket has faced aturbulent few years.

Data from theLand Registry showsthat average houseprices, in April, 2010,were almost identic-al to those of April,2005 – £134,271 com-pared with £135,423.

The period inbetween has seenhuge changes, withhouse prices peakingat £154,757, in May,2008, falling to£127,831 just 11months later.

Prices across Eng-land and Wales havealso fluctuated, but,at £165,596 in April,they are more than£8,000 higher thanfive years ago.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

TOTALLYFRANK

Frank McKenna isthe chairman ofDowntownLiverpool InBusiness

The business club withinfluence!THE decision of the newLabour administration atLiverpool City Council toorder an independentreview of its economicdevelopment activities,including the work ofLiverpool Vision and TheMersey Partnership(TMP), is the latest in aseries of high-profileannouncements that havebeen made at local andnational government levelwhich endorse the policypositions taken byDowntown Liverpool.

In the space of a month,we have seen Liverpool’snew council leader, JoeAnderson, take on the rolein a full-time capacity,something we haveadvocated since 2004. Wealso called for a “BusinessChampion” to be appointedto the council executive sixyears ago; an aspirationnow met by the proposal tohave a private sectorrepresentative on the citycouncilcabinet.

On theback of oursuccessfulcampaign tostop theintroductionof eveningcar parkingcharges inthe citycentre lastyear, thebusiness clubwith attitudeis quicklyestablishingitself as the business clubwith influence.

Nationally, too, withproposals for electedmayors in England’s majorcities; and the coalitiongovernment’s businesssecretary articulating theview that the NorthwestDevelopment Agency does,indeed, have a future,Downtown policy is beingendorsed.

On the issue of theBusiness Cabinet member,may I explain my reasonsfor ruling myself out of thejob.

While DLIB obviouslywelcomes this move, itwould be whollyinappropriate for me totake on the role.Downtown will have a

positive relationship withthe council, but I believe itis essential that we shouldsit outside of the council’sofficial structures,enabling us to maintainour independence, andcontinue to constructivelycriticise when the needarises.

I am surprised thatleading figures from otherbusiness organisationshave not taken the sameview, but that is a matterfor them. Personally, Iwould like to see abusiness representativewho could commandrespect from across thebusiness community, andwho has to run her or hisown business on a day-to-day basis; and has thescars to show fromrunning and managing aprivate enterprise at theirown risk.

That said, I will supportwhoever is selected, andonce again celebrateanother tick in the box forDowntown’s change

agenda.One of the

big issues they,and the newadminist-ration, willface in thecomingmonths is thethorny issueof procure-ment. For allthe millions ofpounds thathave pouredinto LiverpoolfromEuropean

funds and governmentprojects, there has been areal difficulty in ensuringthat Liverpool people andLiverpool businesses havebenefited directly.

The rules andregulations governingprocurement have beenused as an excuse for this,yet, in other places, mostnotably Salford, there hasbeen genuine inclusion oflocal labour and the localprivate sector in workundertaken. If they canfind ways to make therules work for their ownlocality in other parts ofthe region, why not here?That is the next big issuethat Downtown will beturning its attention to, sowatch this space.

‘DLIB isestablishingitself as thebusinessclubwithinfluence’

25


“On the demand side, theGovernment is reducing publicexpenditure on industrialinvestment and housing, allowingfor the abolition of RDAs, andcancelling major infrastructurecontracts.”

Working to support businessesthrough their difficulties has beena priority, with events and directactivity providing advice andinformation.

“Our strength in Sefton is ourraft of SMEs,” said Mr Long.“90-95% of businesses have lessthan 250 employees.

“That’s where most of our

activity goes on. We have beeninvesting quite heavily inreaching those businesses.

“The Sefton Economic Forum,which meets three times a year,regularly has 150-plus attendees.

“We have bolstered that withthe annual Sefton BusinessSurvey. Last year it had 880responses, which was fantastic,and we expect that to be repeatedwhen we do this year’s survey inSeptember.

“We asked businesses where itwas hurting and they told us.From that, we have held tworesponse events, which have gonereally well, with more than 100attending each one.”

The events form part of theresponse to the economicdifficulties, and they also supportthe longer-term work that goes onthrough the council’s businesssupport function, Invest Sefton.The agency is based in theinvestment centre in Bootle.

Mr Long said: “We are meant tocome over as someone who isthere to help businesses. We workclosely with Business Link.

“We concentrate our efforts onparticular areas, especially thedeprived areas and those with anentrepreneurial gap.”

“Our biggest project has beenStepclever,” he said. “It has justbeen given a contract extension to

the two years to March, 2012. Ithink it will be a major plank forthe economic renewal of thatarea.”

Stepclever is part ofregeneration efforts in six wards,four in North Liverpool and twoin South Sefton – Linacre andDerby.

The £21m programme, which isfunded by the Local EnterpriseGrowth Initiative, has three mainobjectives – to increaseentrepreneurial activity, tosupport businesses’ sustainablegrowth and reduce the failurerate, and to attract investment.

A mid-term review ofStepclever by economic

consultants Regeneris found thegross impact had been to increasethe total turnover of the firms itassisted by £22-26m, whichgenerated additional profit of£3.5m-£4.2m and created between1,450 and 1,730 additional jobs.

Mr Long said: “The reviewpoints out that Stepclever beganclosing the gap with the rest ofMerseyside at the top of a 10-yearboom, and is now attempting toclose the gap at the bottom of theworld’s worst recession for 80years.

“Clearly the credit crunch andeconomic downturn haveconstrained the growth of new



BOOTLE GLAMOURSTEPH LAVERY, left, has just openedbeauty salon Glam Rock Studios, inBootle, which offers hair and nails stylingand treatments.

Glam Rock has been financed withparental, but no public, support – and MsLavery has plans to cut a swathethrough the established ranks.

She describes her ambition as wantingto “build a bit of an empire really, sopeople can just come into one place”.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

26


starts, restricted access to credit,slowed down investment, andcreated tough external tradingconditions.”

During the first two years of theprogramme, the businesspopulation had grown slightly, by0.4% a year, although thiscompared with a 7% fall acrossEngland.

Mr Long said: “We have createdabout 250-300 businesses in acouple of years, that’s in an areathat’s been written off in terms ofentrepreneurial activity.

“We are putting a lot of effort inreaching people withentrepreneurial ambitions,motivating them and helpingthem through the first steps.

“First of all, we providefinancial incentives for businessesto get engaged. Then they get towork with a business adviser onthe longer-term needs as well ashaving access to specialistsupport.”

Some of the council’s focus hashad to shift fromentrepreneurship to employmentas the number of people claimingjobseeker’s allowance increasedby nearly 4,000 people in two years,to a peak of 8,856 in February.

Mr Long said: “We have tar-geted most of our employmentsupport at the deprived com-munities. The JobCentre aren’tgeared up enough – essentially,they are policing benefits.

“We wanted something thatgave them more time and had

funds they could tap into to helpthem get into work and then stayin work.”

One aspect of the recession hasbeen that it has hit thewhite-collar workforceproportionately harder than inprevious economic slowdowns.

Mr Long said: “While theimpact of the recession was delay-ed and at a lower level, the prop-ortionate increase has been inSouthport – the middle-class shopand office jobs. It has created anew set of demands for us, as wehave previously tended to concen-trate on people with multiple bar-riers to entering employment.”

Sefton only has a smallmanufacturing sector, accountingfor about 8% of jobs, but it doeshave a large public sector, which

is around five times larger. Thereis a cluster of data processingcentres in Bootle which includesthe former Girobank and Alliance& Leicester centre, which nowoperates under Santanderownership. Nearby, with similaroperations, are HSBC, theNational Lottery and theValuation Office. In the north ofthe borough, Paymentshield andExperian are among the biggerprivate sector employers.

Sefton’s commercial propertysector, along with most of thecountry, remains subdued as thewaiting game continues.

Previously, public sector dealshad been among the highlights,with Bootle benefiting from theHealth & Safety Executive moving100 yards into a £40m

headquarters, and HM Revenue &Customs also relocating a shortdistance into a new building.

South Sefton Investment Centrewas officially opened in January,2009, with Sefton Council’seconomic regenerationdepartment as its first tenants.

In Southport, the focus ofdevelopment is the SouthportCultural Centre, which isexpected to take several years. Itwill bring together the SouthportArts Centre, the Atkinson ArtGallery and Southport Library,and adding three museumgalleries, a craft gallery, a localhistory centre and space forcommunity groups.

Southport has the eighth-largest seaside economy in England and Wales, which supports 5,300 jobs

SOUTHPORT HAS £94M

SEASIDE ECONOMY

SOUTHPORT’S seaside tourism

contributes £94m to the town’s

economy – the eighth-largest seaside

economy in England and Wales.

A year-round average of 5,300 jobs

were directly supported by seaside

tourism in Southport, according to

researchers at Sheffield Hallam

University’s Centre for Regional

Economic and Social Research.

The report, The Seaside Tourist

Industry in England and Wales, argues

that the relatively high jobs figure is

influenced by other factors.

It said: “The figures suggest that

Southport is high up on the list

because its retail offer is part of its

seaside appeal, and pulls in visitors

from Merseyside and other

surrounding areas.”It estimates that 39% of all

tourist-related jobs and 13% of all

jobs in the town were directly

supported by seaside tourism.

The report’s authors rejected the

idea that because Southport was

“originally developed purely for

seaside tourism rather than from a

pre-existing coastal settlement . . . it

could be argued that the whole of the

employment should be attributed to

tourism.”They added: “Over the years, other

sectors have grown up alongside

tourism so that the economies of the

towns are no longer wholly dependent

on this one sector alone.

“These days, there are universities

and colleges, hospitals, government

offices, manufacturing firms and

countless service sector businesses

that support local jobs independently

of seaside tourism.“What the estimates presented in

this report show is the extent to which

jobs in seaside towns remain directly

dependent on seaside tourism.”

IN ASSOCIATION WITH


■ STEPCLEVER feature:Page 5

27

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Finally a towering successAfter a slow2009, 20Chapel Street hasnowsecuredanumber of key lettingsSINCE its completion in 2007,Rumford Investment’s 20 ChapelStreet office development has hadmixed fortunes.

Offering almost 155,000 sq ft ofoffice space over 15 floors, it wasthe biggest single source of GradeA accommodation in Liverpoolcity centre.

Shortly after opening, therewere a number of promising earlylettings to architects BroadwayMalyan, stockbrokers PanmureGordon and accountancy giantErnst and Young.

Early in 2008, Bank of Irelandtook 6,350 sq ft of space on the13th floor, followed shortly byfurther lettings to BarclaysCorporate and Barclays Wealth.

However, as 2008 progressed, theUK and global economy suffered adramatic downturn and this hitthe commercial property market.

Not surprisingly, 2009 was atough year for the market and 20Chapel Street was no exception.

Rumford director Mike Staresannounced that its sister

residential building, Unity, wasfull, but there were just a handfulof smaller lettings of thecommercial space.

These included accountancyfirm Jackson (which later vacatedits space), design agency Finchand Poole PR.

Up-market furniture outletBoConcept also took up residencein the ground-floor retail unit.

As 2010 dawned, there wererumours in the local market thatLiverpool Football Club waseyeing space in the building.

Shortly afterwards, the clubannounced it would be taking the9th floor – 9,132 sq ft – with anoption to take two further floors.That option was exercised in Maywhen LFC announced that LFChad taken occupancy of 10th and8th floors – 9, 122 sq ft and 10,222sq ft respectively.

In recent days, stockbrokingand investment management firmCharles Stanley has taken 7,600 sqft on the first floor.

This deal means the building isnow around 60% let, andRumford’s marketing managerWilliam Coleman, said: “We willbe announcing further lettingssoon. 20 Chapel Street has firmlyestablished itself as Liverpool’spremier commercial HQ.”

20 Chapel Street ,in Liverpool’s central business district, has established itself as a favourite with blue-chip tenants

Mike Stares

28

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Cloud cover: the next big thingChrisHughes reports onanew IT venture offering local firmsprotection against disastersASK any IT expert for a definitionof cloud computing and, whilethey will all agree it is the next bigthing, you will not find anyconsensus about what it means.

However, one thing is forcertain, Professor Dennis Kehoe,chief executive of Liverpool-basedAIMES Grid Services, intends tosell it to Merseyside firms. Its partof a wider initiative to encouragelocal businesses to make plans tocope with any disasters that mightstrike, such as severe weather,floods or power cuts.

AIMES (which stands forAdvanced Internet MethodsEmergent Sectors) is building anew business continuity suiteutilising cloud computing services.

AIMES already owns a datacentre at Liverpool InnovationPark on Edge Lane, which is itshead office. The centre is designedto house and store commercialdata on behalf of its businessclients.

According to Prof Kehoe, cloud

computing techniques can be usedby companies to back up their datafrom their own servers onto onecommon server shared by multiplebusinesses. This can be used as asafeguard in an emergency or indisaster recovery, giving thebusiness a higher chance ofsurvival. Indeed, he points tofigures from the Department forBusiness, Innovation and Skillsthat show 70% of firms that suffera major data loss are out ofbusiness within 18 months. Headded: “Merseyside needs morevery high density data centres. Alarge part of 21st century society isbased on the digital infrastructure,but the UK is 23rd in the worldleague table of connectivity. Ourbandwidth is falling behind ourcompetitors.

“The business world is going tostimulate demand for highcapacity bandwidth from the needto back up data systems.

“What is more, data systemshave to be resilient.”

As well as operating a datacentre, AIMES is building abusiness continuity suite. It willbe housed in the former highquality factory buildings on EdgeLane that used to belong toMarconi.

Prof Kehoe said: “Data centrecapacity is an area that Liverpoolhas fallen behind in. Most of theUK’s digital infrastructure is inLondon and the South East andthere is some in Manchester.Indeed Manchester has five timesmore than Merseyside and thisaffects our ability to compete inthe knowledge economy.

“Investing in these facilities isas crucial to the city’s future asinvestment was in Liverpool’sdocks or in its airport.

“In Liverpool, we have anopportunity to create aninfrastructure, but we have notdone that. That means we are notgetting investment.”

The planned continuity suitewill be 10,000 sq ft and will house

100 desks. The service is sharedwith five to 10 other businesses.Typically it costs £250 per desk peryear. This allows businesses toquickly house their workers afteran incident.

Rapid access to computers anddata could prove to be a life saverfor threatened businesses.

Prof Kehoe is keen to emphasisethat his business continuityservice is different to that offeredby firms such as Sun Guard basedin Leicestershire. They store allthe kit a business would need in abig warehouse and promise todeliver and install it in the event ofan emergency.

“Typically, it takes 72 hours, butincreasingly the world has movedon and people want to be down foras short a time as possible,” ProfKehoe said.

“Our service here is costeffective. We have plenty of carparking. It is just outside the citycentre and close to the M62.”

Cloud computing works by

using the internet to link togethera number of geographicallydisparate data centres.

This helps overcome a numberof risks to businesses who mightotherwise be relying on just oneserver. If any organisation’s mainserver fails, it would risk losing allits data which in the case of ahospital, for example, could bedisastrous for the delivery ofhealthcare. AIMES is hosting aseries of city council sponsoredevents to promote disasterplanning.

For small companies, it can beexpensive to have even one server,never mind their own back-uphardware, and can also wastespace and time.

Lack of expertise and equipmentcan also mean that private serversare difficult to maintain.

Cloud computing technologysolves these problems by askingwhy a server can’t be moved froma firm’s building to a saferenvironment while also allowing

Cloudburst: Where can businessesturn when disaster strikes?

29

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ADVERTISEMENT

in computingthat could threaten their survivalmultiple firms to use it for databackup. AIMES does exactly that.

Prof Kehoe said: “Cloudcomputing uses the internet toshare resources. With Cloudcomputing, you buy processingpower when you need it. It’s a veryscalable, consumption-basedmodel.

“It addresses some of the keyproblems we have in our businesscommunity.

“The volume of information isincreasing exponentially. Theimportance of this information isincreasing exponentially. The timeany organisation can do withoutits information is shrinkingexponentially.

“The world is less reliable thesedays, whether it’s snow storms inJanuary, swine flu in October orenergy capacity reducing in thefuture as we move towardsdecommissioning power stations.The world is less and less stable.

“Cloud computing comes to ourrescue. We can move virtual

servers around more than physicalservers.”

A client’s data is backed up inreal time as it is being processed atthe client’s business premises,ensuring the business’ survival.

The data stored at AIMES issecure and cannot be read byanyone unless specified by thecompany that owns the data.That’s because blade technology isemployed, which means that thehard drives are physically separateand so one client cannot seeanother client’s data.

In the new business continuitysuite, costs are kept to a minimumbecause the same desk space isshared by between five and 10businesses.

The suite was opened last weekand is already filling up nicely, somuch so that AIMES now wantsfresh space for expansion and is intalks with potential landlords inother parts of the region. Thesenew sites would not only open newdoors for AIMES, providing them

with a source of back-up for theirown data, but would also lead tothe development of similarbusiness continuity suites tohouse the growing number ofclients.

AIMES moved to the Edge Lanesite in 2007, the main attractionbeing its “resilience”. TheInnovation Park is served by 10megawatts of power supply andhas three separate electricitysub-stations of its own with theadditional benefit of having twohigh bandwidth pipes coming in ateither side of the site.

AIMES is confident that the newdata centres, business continuitysuite and the investments anddevelopments in its cloudcomputing branch will beprofitable and is an opportunitynot to be wasted.

Prof Kehoe said: “Cloudcomputing is the next big thing.It’s a move towards sharedarchitecture for computing thatprovides economies of scale.”

Professor Dennis Kehoe, chief executive of AIMES Grid Services

To advertise here contact Julie Cowley.Telephone 0151 472 2311 or [email protected] or Neil

Johnson, Telephone 0151 472 2705 oremail [email protected]

30

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Kingdom of opportunityReport points to$129bnSaudi constructionmarket for region’s firms,writesChrisHughesSAUDI ARABIA presents multi-billionpound opportunities for exporting firms inthe North West.

UK Trade & Investment’s recent report,Building Saudi Arabia, highlights thechances there are for the region’sconstruction and infrastructure firms. Thekingdom of Saudi Arabia has the MiddleEast’s largest economy and claims 16thposition for Ease of Doing Business, withmore than 4,400 new schools, five airports,3,000 km of rail track and six new citiesunder construction.

The kingdom possesses one of the fastestgrowing and largest construction marketsin the Middle East, based around a $129.7bnprogramme of mega-projects, including theKing Abdullah Economic City which, whenfinished, will be the size of Hong Kong.

UKTI chief executive Sir Andrew Cahnsaid: “Saudi Arabia controls a quarter ofthe world’s oil and gas reserves, and is acountry that thinks big.

“Major projects are matched by majorinvestment, which offers hugeopportunities for North West firms.Whether it is building infrastructure tohelp pilgrims in the Hajj or new cities tohelp diversify the economy and providejobs for the growing population, the rateand pace of development in Saudi Arabia isastounding.”

One Merseyside firm trading in Saudi isE-Tech Components. The firm went toSaudi on a trade mission two years agowhere it developed relationships with localprojects and became aware of large growthpotential in the country.

Richard Klein, from E-Tech Components,said: “There was huge investment in trainlines and metro systems in Dubai and someE-Tech Components’ parts were used inthat. That formed a good platform forbusiness.”

Having become aware of the investmentin Saudi Arabian projects, the firm wasquick to start trading there. One suchproject involved a $16bn investment ineducation.

Mr Klein said: “The size of the projectwas mind boggling. There are alsoinner-city developments and there is lots ofmoney to invest there. Saudi has amazingpotential.”

The recent report sheds light onopportunities for firms across theconstruction and infrastructure sectors in

a range of areas including water and power,railways, airports, seaports, educationconstruction, housing and retail.

Mr Klein said: “The UK has an excellenttrack record of managing majorinfrastructure projects and experience indesigning and managing the type oflogistical projects that will be integral tothe future of the economic success of theKingdom.”

Helping thousands of construction andinfrastructure companies to break into newmarkets every year, the UKTI’s report ispart of its programme of practicalassistance for UK based companieswanting to enter overseas markets. Inorder to help companies make the rightconnections, the UKTI has a network ofadvisers in the UK and abroad.

Experts gather to advise NorthWest businesses on trading with AsiaA GROUP of public andprivate-sector specialists intrade with Asia will be in theNorth West next week to offeradvice and insight to theregion’s companies.

British Ambassadors andHigh Commissioners to 10Asian countries will bringNorth West businesses themost up-to-date marketintelligence available.

UK Trade & InvestmentNorth West’s internationaltrade director, CliveDrinkwater, said: “The DoingBusiness in Asia event willbring together a Who’s Whoof experts on Asia.

“As we look to grow ourbusinesses, nobody canafford to ignore theopportunities which arerepresented in that part of the

world. Attending this event issure to give any business afantastic head start.”

British diplomats fromChina, India, South Korea,Japan, Thailand, Taiwan,Vietnam, Indonesia,Singapore and Hong Kong,along with six Asia-baseddirectors from Royal Bank ofScotland, will also look atfinancial issues affecting

trade in the region.In addition, there will be a

special workshop onintellectual property rightsprotection.

Lord Powell of Bayswater,the co-chair of the Asia TaskForce will also speak at theevent at Manchester’s HiltonHotel on July 9.

To book a place visitwww.businessinasia.co.uk

Chris Montgomery, second left, MD of Merseyside’s E-Tech Components, collects the North West Passport to Export award in 2010, organised by UK Trade & Investment

The Hong Kong skyline

32

HOW GREEN IS YOUR BUSINESS? IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Man on a mission to persuade tourists to go greenTOURIST attractions acrossMerseyside are to receivefree business support fromthe Merseyside TransportPartnership (MTP) to helpvisitors consider moreenvironmentally-friendlytravel options.

On behalf of the MTP,Merseytravel has appointeda dedicated visitoreconomy officer, Andrew

Elliot, who will be workingwith a number of the mostpopular attractions inMerseyside to overcomeissues such as car parkovercapacity.

He will help attractionsinform customers how bestto reach their sites viapublic transport, walking orcycling.

Mr Elliot’s remit extends

the existing work that MTP,through TravelWise, isdoing to support attractionsin putting travel plans inplace. He aims to work withat least 50 tourism andleisure sites over the next12 months.

He said: “Encouragingvisitors to consider greenertravel options will result intangible business benefits

to tourist attractions,helping to tackle carpark overcapacity andimproving their existingmarketing activity tomake sites moreaccessible to morepeople. By workingclosely with tourismsites, we can help theenvironment and makeit easier for everybody.”

Andrew Elliot –will be workingwith tourist sites

A favourable wind blowingTurbine companywelcomescoalition government proposals for lower carboneconomyA COMPANY operating a windfarm in Liverpool Bay haswelcomed the coalitiongovernment’s plans for a lowercarbon economy.

West Coast Energy, which isbased in North Wales, has giventhe thumbs-up to the coalition’sproposals to establish a fullsystem of feed-in tariffs inelectricity and a reform of theplanning process to allow greatercontrol at local authority level.

The strategy is designed todecarbonise the economy bymaking planning more efficient,creating new green jobs andfast-tracking sustainabledevelopment programmes.

However, West Coast Energywarns that, in order to effect“meaningful” change, therenewable energy industry willneed to work closely with councilsto ensure that the new policyplans are implemented fully.

Managing director Robert Tatesaid: “Prior to the election, lessthan 10% of prospectiveConservative candidates agreedstrongly that the expansion ofonshore wind was essential if theUK was to deliver on itsrenewable energy targets.

“The percentage was muchhigher for the Liberal Democratcandidates, and given that thenew Secretary of State for Energyand Climate Change, ChrisHuhne, is a Liberal Democrat, ouraim will be to work with localauthorities and local communitiesacross the UK to implement someof the new green initiatives of thecoalition government for ourfuture energy security.”

Feed-in tariffs allow house-holders with wind turbines toearn cash by exporting energy tothe National Grid.

West Coast Energy is seeking topartner with landowners todevelop single turbineinstallations of 250kW to 1.5MW.

Chairman Gerry Jewson said:“I am very pleased that thecoalition agreement has madespecific mention of the need toincrease the target for energy –from renewable sources as well asthe full establishment of thefeed-in tariff mechanism to boostrenewable energy electricitygeneration.

“Going green can strengthenthe economy and create jobs thatlast.” Wind turbines operated by West Coast Energy, located out in Liverpool Bay

33

HOW GREEN IS YOUR BUSINESS?IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Energy assessor trainer sets up solar businessTHE Merseyside-basedmanaging director of theenergy assessor trainingbusiness is setting upanother firm selling solarpanels to homes andbusinesses.

Peter Bladen runs TheEnergy Foundation, basedin Halsall, near Southport.

He is now also setting upa separate firm calledBSOLAR that will supplyand install the panels.

Mr Bladen believes thatwith the rising cost ofenergy bills, theGovernment introducingmore environmental policiesand technology improving,there is a good opportunityfor the new venture.

He said: “As managingdirector of the EnergyFoundation, I have beenworking in theenvironmental sector foryears and seen the

technology and the marketdevelop.

“There is definitely ademand in the North Westfor some of the new greentechnologies available,particularly the solarphotovoltaic panels.

“These types of solarpanel convert sunlight intodirect current electricity.

“They are now soadvanced that they cangenerate huge amounts of

power and, with recentchanges in governmentlegislation, represent anexcellent investment, givingmajor savings on bills.”

“Typically, if you spend 10to £12,000 on solar panels foryour property, you will makeat least £800 a year saving onyour electricity bill. Thesolar panel technologyrepresents one of the bestinvestments you can makein the current market.”

Carbon cutters will attract businessLiverpool’s convention venues adopt environmental agenda in bid to outshine rivalsAN ORGANISATION set up topromote Liverpool as a conferencedestination claims the greencredentials of the city’s facilitiesare a major selling point.

Liverpool Convention Bureaucommissioned a survey whichshows environmental issues arenow high on the agenda ofemployees of firms across thecountry.

According to the survey of 2,014UK adults, 56%of employedrespondents said green issueswere important to their company,compared with 15% who feltgreen issues were unimportant intheir workplace.

Companies in the North Westand the Midlands took the mostnote of green issues, with 59%agreeing that a green ethos wasimportant to the business theyworked for.

Meanwhile, 54% of respondentssaid it was important that thecompanies they purchased fromhad good green credentials.Women were most concerned withthe green credentials ofcompanies, with 59% saying theywere important compared to 49%among males.

The survey was conducted aspart of a bid to promote the city asa green business destination and

its own green economy. CarolO’Reilly, of Liverpool ConventionBureau, said: “As a city, Liverpoolembodies green principleswholeheartedly with carbonemissions per person lower thanthe national average.

“There are already 8,000 peopleemployed in the energy andenvironmental technology sectorgenerating £1bn of value, but afully low carbon economy cangenerate a further 7,000 jobs by2015.

“In winning major events,conferences and meetings toLiverpool, we have to offersomething our competitors don’t

and, for many, green issues are animportant decision in thepurchasing process.

“A number of our venuesparticipate in the green tourismfor business scheme and we havealso launched a carboncompensating scheme withFoundation for event organisers.

“We were also the first city tohave an ISO14001 accreditedconvention centre in the form ofthe Echo Arena and BTConvention Centre.”

The ISO14001 accreditation isawarded to organisations thatdemonstrate a strongcommitment to reducing their

carbon emissions. Internationalmeeting planner and founder ofQuint Strategies, Wendy Parsley,said: “The decision to host PPITransport Symposium 18 at theBT Convention Centre was a riskyone considering the venue wasstill under construction when wefirst visited.

“It turned out to be an excellentchoice.

“As an added bonus, the venue’sgreen initiatives tied into ourgoals to create a ‘green’ meetingfor our delegates.

“Nearly all of the hotels weused were within walkingdistance of the venue.”

Peter Bladenwith one ofhis solarpanels

Liverpool’s BT Convention Centre takes its green credentials seriously, and Liverpool Convention Bureau believes this is a major selling point

34

TRANSPORT in association with

MARKDOWD More get ticket

to park and rideMerseytravel hubsees20% rise in passengers

LIVERPOOL South Parkway (LSP)transport hub has recorded itshighest-ever weekly figures.

Owner Merseytravel is also inadvanced discussions to expandservices there from December.

More than 32,700 passengers usedthe station when surveyed over arecent week. This was an increaseof more than 5,000 on the same timelast year.

A leading example of investing inmodern transport infrastructure,the station hub now carries 300%more passengers than the originalAllerton and Garston stations itreplaced four years ago.

Cllr Mark Dowd, Merseytravelchairman, said: “Liverpool South

Parkway is a spectacular success.We’ve seen an increase inpassengers of more than 20% in thepast two years.

“The hub now draws customersfrom all over the north of Englandand the Midlands, including peoplewho are either flying fromLiverpool John Lennon or aretourists to the region.

“We are in detailed discussionswith train operators about newtrain services to be introduced inDecember this year and nextspring.”

Over the last year, an additional60 new free park and ride spaceshave been created to meetincreased demand and a new, fully

accessible Travel Centre, plus apassenger lounge and smart-cardenabled ticket gates have beenintroduced.

Hooton Station, anotherimportant Merseyrail park andride interchange, has benefitedfrom Access for All, a national fundto improve station accessibility.

Work has started on a £4mproject to give passengers usingHooton station step-free access tothe station building and platformsby installing lifts and a newoverbridge.

The work is being carried out byJ Murphy & Sons Ltd for NetworkRail, in partnership withMerseytravel and Merseyrail.

Liverpool South Parkway. which replaced the original Allerton and Garston stations

PUBLIC transport is at thereceiving end of thedeepest Government cuts,and our most urgentpriority will be to maintainwhat we have achievedover the past decade.

Electrification of the linebetween Liverpool andManchester is now highlyunlikely, despite the factthat it would reducetravelling time, improveeconomic prospects andeventually pay for itself.

Rail companies are alsoexpressing concern that,across the North West, wewon't be getting additionalrolling stock to ease theovercrowding and ChrisDale, chair of thepassenger watchdog,TravelWatch NorthWest,claims "things are goingfrom bad to worse.”

He says: "Potentialpassengers are alreadybeing discouraged fromtravelling at busy timesbecause of overcrowding.The Department forTransport appears to becompletely out of touchwith passengers' needs inthe North West."

To add to our problems,the £10m promised by LordAdonis in the lastGovernment to improve theten worst stations in thecountry, which includesLiverpool's Central Station,is no longer on the table.But here, at least, all is notyet lost . . .

We are making strenuousefforts to salvage theCentral Station scheme,which is not a cosmeticfacelift, but vital for thewellbeing and safety ofpassengers using thebusiest station on ournetwork.

Meanwhile, there is alsoa possibility that we couldimprove our bus networks,which are in the hands ofprivate operators.Currently, we have nocontrol over them and itwould be foolish to assumethey would wish other thanthemselves to be in control.

Under deregulation, wehave no power to influencethe quality and frequency

of services, fares or routesand there is no law sayingthat private bus operatorshave to consult the publicover changes they want tomake.

It's too easy foroperators to chop andchange services at theirown convenience ratherthan passengers'convenience, and far tooeasy to bypass locallyaccountable transportauthorities in the process.

Indeed, services changewith such frequency thatbus timetables are out ofdate as soon as they areprinted.

As chair of the group ofsix Integrated TransportAuthorities in England,which includesMerseytravel, I have askedthe Department forTransport to impose a 70-day notice on operatorswho want to change aservice. It will give buspassengers the stabilitythey want.

We also want theDepartment to considerestablishing national“service change days”, andwe believe passengersshould be given threeweeks’ notice of anychanges to their services.

Operators should berequired to provide localtransport authorities withdetails of the fares thatapply on their services, andwhen they do deregister aservice they should providepatronage and revenuedata to local transportauthorities.

These suggestedimprovements are amongour responses to theDepartment for Transport'sconsultation on ImprovingBus Passenger Servicesthrough the RegulatoryFramework.

Chris Dale says theDepartment appears to becompletely out of touchwith passengers' needs inthe North West. I hope he'swrong, but I believe histhoughts are valid.

Mark Dowd,Chair,

Merseytravel

Central Station – in urgent need of a facelift

35

TRANSPORTIN ASSOCIATION WITH

Cruise line courts agentsPrincessCruises holds first cruise convention for travel agents onboard ship in LiverpoolPRINCESS Cruises is holding itsfirst cruise convention inLiverpool for travel agents onboard one its megaliners.

More than 100 agents will visitthe 113,000 gross ton CrownPrincess when she visitsLiverpool Cruise Terminal onSunday, June 27.

Princess Cruises took theopportunity to hold the event onCrown Princess while making herfirst of four calls at Liverpoolduring this summer’s round-Britain cruise programme.

Although aimed at USpassengers, Princess Cruisesbelieves the brand has big UKappeal to be tapped.

The event is planned in tandemwith the Association of CruiseExperts (ACE) and Liverpool willbe its first regional event location.

Agents from Merseyside andthe North will receive a tour ofthe ship, video footage from theConvention in Southampton,first-hand reports of Princesscruising and a three-course lunch.

John Cooper, Liverpool Cruise

Club sales and marketingmanager, said this was just whatLiverpool and cruise lines shouldbe doing to exploit the city’spotential cruise industry role.

“This the first great big roll-outprogramme for northern travelagents by Princess Cruises.

“Crown Princess is aspectacular ship and it’s a terrificidea to gives agents anunparalleled chance to see theship and experience her facilities.

“This is all about buildingproduct knowledge and is fareasier than getting agents ontocruises, which is very expensive.

“This is very helpful for thenorthern travel industry and Ithink Cunard Line is likely tofollow suit in July with QueenVictoria’s Liverpool visit.”

The Liverpool event is, in effect,an extension of Princess Cruises’Southampton Cruise Convention.

Crown Princess, which cancarry 3,600 passengers, is on hersecond season of round-Britaincruises calling at Liverpool.

Such has been the success of

these cruises, starting fromSouthampton, that the liner isalready booked to call atLiverpool over the next two years.

Crown Princess was the largestliner to call at Liverpool untilQueen Mary 2’s visit last October.

Flo Powell, ACE director, said:“We want all agents interested in,or currently selling cruises, to beoffered as many opportunities aspossible to gain first-handexperience of the incredible valueand service that cruising offers.

“The UK Cruise Convention inSouthampton and this additionalregional visit will ensure thatagents can ‘get on board’ withcruising and talk enthusiasticallyto their customers to boost sales.”

Peter van der Schee, PrincessCruises head of brand marketing,said: “We’re delighted to be ableto offer agents from theMerseyside area this additionalopportunity to be part of the UKCruise Convention.

“They can experience one ofour spectacular ships in a moreconvenient location.”

At Liverpool Pier Head, the statue of King Edward VII looms over the mighty Crown Princess during a call on a round-Britain cruise

Making a splash on Crown Princess

36

EDUCATION

Popular online programmeSeptember sees a significantmilestone for theUniverity of Liverpool’s extended learning

ANEW business degree

will mark the 10thanniversary of theUniversity ofLiverpool’s online

programme – the biggest inEurope – and herald a £200,000investment in 10 newscholarships.

The university’s Doctorate inBusiness Administration (DBA)will be the first wholly onlinedegree of its kind in the UK, andwill continue a decade of progressin the field.

Not only will the newprogramme build on the successof the University’s online Mastersin Business Administration(MBA), which has graduated 1,500students around the globe since itwas launched in 2000, it will beunique in being entirely deliveredby “action learning” and “actionresearch”.

Students will apply theory andresearch findings to solveproblems they are dealing with inthe workplace.

The degree will be launched inSeptember with main subjectareas including changemanagement, leadership,innovation, global issues andsustainability.

University vice-chancellor ProfSir Howard Newby said: “As aglobal university, our onlinedegree provision is a key part ofour commitment to offer studentsaround the world the opportunityto study for a Liverpool degree.

“Liverpool already offersdegrees through partnershiparrangements with universitiesin Chile, Mexico and Spain;through Xi’an Jiaotong-LiverpoolUniversity, our joint ventureuniversity in China; and online.”

He added: “The new DBA willoffer students the opportunity tostudy with other seniorexecutives from a wide variety ofcompanies all over the world.”

The University is also markingthe 10-year anniversary of itsonline degrees with theintroduction of 10 scholarships,worth up to £20,000 each, fundedby its online learning partnerLaureate Online Education.

The scholarships will fund anentire degree programme for 20students from developingcountries.

The university’s first onlineacademic class took place in 2000when 18 students – mostly fromthe Netherlands – began an MScprogramme in InformationTechnology.

Today, the University has 5,300online students studying in 175countries across the globe.

It runs online Mastersprogrammes in Management,Medicine, IT and Law.

Over the course of the 10-yearprogramme, the average age ofstudents studying for onlinedegrees is usually 32 to 38.

The most popular course is theMBA, with 2,100 (39%) of enrolledonline students undertaking theprogramme – 65% of online

students are studyingmanagement programmes.

Much of the student body isfrom Europe and Africa, althoughthere is a significant percentagefrom the US and Canada. Moststudents work in the fields offinance and marketing.

Last year 2,924 students wererecruited to University ofLiverpool online programmes.

Liverpool has delivered itsonline degrees in partnershipwith Laureate Online Educationsince 2004.

Laureate is a US-based globaleducation provider with anetwork of universities offeringgraduate and undergraduatedegrees in more than 21countries.

The University is constantlyevolving its provision to meet theneeds of working professionals ina demanding global marketplace,and in 2009 it launched a newMasters programmes in a rangeof areas including computersecurity; internet systems;software engineering; corporate

finance; project management;international business law;international finance andbanking law; and technology andproperty law.

The courses bring the portfolioof online Masters courses up to19, with some of the most popularprogrammes continuing to be theMBA and the Masters in PublicHealth (MPH).

Liverpool’s online coursesattract students from a largenumber of global blue-chiporganisations. The MPH, inparticular, attracts many studentsfrom African countries such asSudan, Zambia and Malawi withcurrent students includingsurgeons and HIV projectco-ordinators.

The University now has thesame number of onlinepostgraduate students as oncampus.

Alan Southern, director ofe-learning at the University ofLiverpool, said: “The beauty ofour online degrees is thatstudents who would never have

considered coming to Liverpool tostudy, due to work or homecommitments, are able to benefitfrom our academic excellence.

“There is a real vibrancy in thevirtual classroom.

“Our students are encouragedto analyse theory, and compare itto their personal experiences inthe workplace.

“With students in manydifferent countries talking abouttheory in the context of their ownculture, it is a truly globalexperience that is difficult toreplicate in any otherenvironment.”

He added: “Our online degreesare very much tailored to theneeds of the global economy – ourrecently launched programme inproject management with aspecialisation in oil and gas hasattracted a great deal of interestfrom the petrochemical industry.

“A significant number ofstudents who have enrolled areworking in that field in countriessuch as Saudi Arabia and Nigeriawith companies such as Shell and

Mobil. Students studying on ourprogramme in operations andsupply chain management –which has recently become thefirst wholly online programme tobe accredited by the CharteredInstitute of Purchase and Supplies(CIPS) – are from a real mix ofcompanies, from the likes ofAirbus and Boeing to Nestlé andCoca-Cola.

“Chief executives wantmanagers with the highest levelof business education, but don’twant to lose their staff for a yearwhile they study. Online degreessuit that need perfectly.”

Students studying onlinedegrees hail from diversegeographical locations, but DavidMeadows, 56, chose the onlineroute of learning because of theflexibility of the programme.

As chief of technical servicesand officer in charge ofadministrative services for theKosovo Peacekeeping Mission inthe United Nations, David,originally from Neston, in Wirral,opted to follow the online MBA as

37

EDUCATION

Liz Thompson

it enabled him to study while onthe move – often in remote andchallenging locations.

He said: “As a mature studentwho had been away fromeducation for some considerabletime pursuing a busy career, itwould have been easy to not gothrough with it, but theprogramme has enabled me tobecome ‘au courant’ with modernbusiness practices, which hasbeen extremely useful within mymanagerial role with the UnitedNations.”

He said the programme was notwithout its challenges: “Due tomy constant mobility from thebeginning of the three-yearprogramme, working in ademanding peacekeepingenvironment and moving fromone country to another, it wassometimes challenging toparticipate in the daily andweekly inputs required, as well asthe weekly submissions.

“Finding suitable internetaccess in all the countries I wasworking in was not always easy,

but was extremely important. Mymotivation was driven by theencouragement of my wife andchildren, as well as my ownambition to finish the course.

“My three daughters weregoing through undergraduatestudies in the UK at the sametime as I was studying for myMBA, so that was greatencouragement for me. Igraduated from my MBA at thesame time my youngest daughtergraduated at Bachelor’s level.”

David’s role took him toSwitzerland, France, the US,Lebanon, Sudan, Tanzania,Ethiopia, Libya, Chad, Kenya,Eritrea and Kosovo during thetime he was studying.

Moving somewhat fartherafield from Neston, LizThompson, 48, began her MBA asMinister for Housing, Lands andEnvironment in Barbados.

Having been a lawyer for manyyears, Liz wanted to study for anMBA to strengthen her criticalanalysis and management skills,but did not want to leave the

country to take up full-timestudy overseas. She said: “Ineeded to find a reputableuniversity which had high stan-dards but was fully accessibleonline. I found the online class-room a major tool of learning.

“Being able to shareexperiences across disciplinesand cultures was invaluable tome and provided a knowledgebase from which I continue todraw.

“The MBA has dramaticallyimproved my critical analysisskills, allowing me to bring a newset of analytical tools to all myprofessional endeavours.

“It has increased my level ofdiscipline in terms of the way Iwork and has given me a lensthrough which I can view issuesand problems in the workplace.

“I think the online MBA buildsa higher degree of performanceand responsibility since workingin a team with people all over theglobe whom you have never met,to deliver an assignment within adeadline, is more demanding than

working with someone face-to-face or whom you have seen inthe classroom and can easilytelephone.”

Liz chose the management ofenergy policy for her dissertationtopic.

“My studies and extensiveresearch for my dissertation

served to put me at the cuttingedge of this very important globalissue and in a very practical way,along with my work experience,better equipped and positionedme for professional and specialistroles in energy andenvironment.”

She now leads an energy andenvironmental consultancy whichworks across the Caribbean and isa winner of the United NationsEnvironmental Programme’sChampion of the Earth Awardwhich she shares with a numberof international leaders includingPrince Albert of Monaco, formerNew Zealand Prime MinisterHelen Clark, former Presidents

Thabo Mbeki and MikhailGorbachev, and formerVice-President Al Gore.

Liz is also a senator, leadingopposition business in theBarbados Senate.

The Barbados governmentrecently nominated her for thepost of Executive Secretary of theUnited Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change.

casts its net on global scaleoffer asNeil Hodgson reveals apioneeringqualification tomark adecadeof progress

David Meadows, who worked for the United Nations in Kosovo, studied for his MBA onlineAlan Southern, director of e-learningat the University of Liverpool

38

Blackburne House Cafe BarBlackburne PlaceOff Hope Street,Liverpool L8 7PETel: 0151 708 3929email: [email protected]

THE NETWORKER

BUSINESSLUNCH

DETAILS

DavidedeMaestri tells Bill Gleesonwhyhe likes the informality of theCafeBar, at BlackburneHouse

BLACKBURNEHouse CafeBar describesitself as a“hidden gemoff HopeStreet”.Situated in aGrade II-listed

building, it provides an informalalternative to the usual, pricierlunch haunts. It was suggested bymy guest, Davide de Maestri, whopreviously worked for Saatchi &Saatchi as an account director,and for Liverpool Football Club asa brand director before becominga business coach with theLiverpool-based InternationalCoaching Academy.

On meeting us, Davide extolledthe grand scale of thearchitecture. He said:“Blackburne House is a beautifulbuilding. I would love to live here!It’s surrounded by other lovelybuildings opposite and downFalkner Street.

“It used to be a girls’ school.That’s what’s inspired the legacy,and it’s now a charitable trustthat provides education, trainingand business support services forwomen. It helps to create anoverall nice ambience.

“They have different artexhibitions here. Today, there area lot of flower and plant pictureson display. You can buy them. Twomonths ago when I was last here,the theme was portraits ofwomen. They were very strikingand in keeping with the trust’saims.”

A social enterprise whichreinvests its profits intoBlackburne House to support itsservices, the cafe is spacious andlight. Plenty of other peopleappear to have discovered this“hidden gem” as trade lookedbrisk as we arrived, though therewas plenty of room. It was doingwell despite the fact it’ssurrounded by a dozen alternativevenues.

The menu, prepared withlocally sourced ingredientswhere possible, is extensive andincludes soups, salads, hotpaninis and sandwiches, aswell as hot dishes. It is alsofully licensed, offering beersand bottles of wine, with thewines typically pricedbetween £10 to £14 a bottle.

Reading the menu, Davidecommented: “The food is freshlymade up in the morning and theprices are very reasonable.”

For his starters,Davide chose aceleriac,roquet and

carrot, peppers and parmesansalad. I opted for one of the soupsof the day, butternut squash andchilli, while my wife and sightedguide Frances chose the leek andpotato.

While we ate our first course, Idiscovered that myself and Davideshare a link to events that hit thefront pages of the newspapers 15years ago.

Davide witnessed first hand thebreak up of the original Saatchi &Saatchi advertising agency. Hewas one of those staff whomMaurice Saatchi lured away toform a new agency. At the sametime, I was busy attending courtto report these events for TheIndependent. Oh, happy days!

Davide joined Saatchi & Saatchias a graduate trainee in 1987. Heworked on the famous Silk Cutaccount.

He said: “It was the mostpressurised account for creativesto work on because the standardswere set so high.

“I remember visiting the sixthfloor of our Berkley Square headoffice, which we all called theMaurice and Charles floorbecause they had it to themselves.It was incredibly opulent.Charles’s office was the biggest Ihad ever seen. There were artworks everywhere and wheremost offices have plants, they hadtrees. There was an enormousstatue of a bulldog. He wasmaking a statement. The wholeplace made you feel very small. Itfelt quite intimidating. We had topresent outstanding ideas toCharles, who was ruthless inselecting them. And then we hadto present them to the chairmanand chief executive of Gallagher.”

Of his starter, Davide said: “Itwas very nice and fresh.” Ithought my generous serving ofsoup was flavoursome, whileFrances said hers had a nicetexture.

For his maincourse,

Davideselectedfisher-

man’s pie, Frances had a goats’cheese and red pepper quiche, andI had Thai fishcakes with a sweetchilli dip.

While we ate our main course,Davide explained that, afterleaving Saatchis, he joinedLiverpool Football Club as branddirector. He said this was verydifferent from working for thelikes of Gallagher or Proctor &Gamble. Football Clubs, heexplained, are not big businesses.

Davide said: “They employabout 200 people. The vast major-ity of them are there to stage afootball match. The majority oftheir revenue comes from acouple of sources: gate receiptsand television. About 30% of theirrevenue comes from commercialactivities and sponsorship – shirtsponsorship and kit manufactur-ing was the lion’s share of whatwas left. All the other stuff thatcomes after that is relativelysmall. The total revenue of all theother stuff that remains is no morethan £200,000 to £300,000 a year.

“Things like mugs andcalendars that you might see in

the shop. People read too muchinto them and build them up intomore than they are.”

Nevertheless, he believes thatbig football clubs like Liverpoolstill have huge, untapped com-mercial potential and that thelikes of the Glazer family, RomanAbramovich and the Americaninvestors in Liverpool becameinvolved in English football be-cause they had an eye on theprofits to be made from clubsscreening their own games on apay-per-view basis over theinternet.

“They are doing it for themoney because they think thatthe huge explosion of broadbandand interactive TV means that inthe future there will be no need togo through a distributor such asSky or the BBC to sellprogrammes to customersbecause Liverpool FC will selltheir rights directly to fansaround the world,” he said. “Theycould earn £100m a game, forexample, more than £1bn a year.That would transform thebusiness of football.”

Davide said his fisherman’s piewas excellent as he could taste theseparate flavours of the seafood.

My Thai fishcakes were nicelybrowned and were also veryflavoursome. Frances thought herquiche was very tasty, as the goats’cheese didn’t get lost in the quiche.

Over coffee, the recentlyappointed chairman of the NorthWest branch of the CharteredInstitute of Marketing describedhis latest venture, theInternational Coaching Academy,which offers coaching andtraining services to businesses ofall sizes. Through the Universityof Liverpool’s ManagementSchool, the academy providesadvice to 25 owner-managedbusinesses. Davide said hepreferred this type of work to bigagencies, because: “I can makemore of a difference to people.”

Blackburne House Cafe Bar describes itself as a “hidden gem” off Hope Street

Davide de Maestri

39

THE NETWORKER

THEBUSINESSLISTWednesday, July 7A SEMINAR on the legal issuesinvolved in intellectual property(IP) and licensing, and how theyapply practically, is being held atDaresbury Innovation Centre.

The free event, which is aimedat business owners and chiefexecutives, is from 11am to1pm. To book, visithttp://tinyurl.com/IPjuly7

Thursday, July 8Knowsley Chamber ofCommerce is holding a one-dayseminar on tendering. The eventspeakers are Dr Brian Farringtonand Stephen Ashcroft,co-authors of Contracting in thePublic Sector. It is at the VillageHotel, Whiston, and is free toattend. To book, visithttp://tinyurl.com/tenderjuly8

Thursday, July 8A workshop, 10 steps to growingyour business in uncertain times,is being held by St HelensChamber. This half-day event willbe delivered by DTC Associatesand begins at 8.45am. It costs£11.75 for members and £23.50for non-members. To book, visithttp://tinyurl.com/tipsjuly8

Friday, July 9Rippleffect managing directorBen Hatton will be speakingabout the internet and howbusinesses can help to improvetheir websites to maximise theirreturn on investment and reachtheir target audiences effectively.

It is the latest event inLiverpool Chamber ofCommerce’s 60 really usefulminutes series. It is from9am-10am and is free tomembers and £5 for non-members. To book, visithttp://tinyurl.com/webjuly9

Tuesday, July 13Halton Women in Business isholding its next meeting at TheHeath Business Park, Runcorn,from 12pm-2pm. It is £5 forHalton Chamber members and£10 for non-members, andincludes a light lunch. To book,

call Nicola Holland on 01928516142, or email [email protected]

Wednesday, July 14A business breakfast is beingheld at Inglewood Manor,Ellesmere Port, from7.30am-9pm. The event,organised by West Cheshire andNorth Wales Chamber ofCommerce, costs £11.75 formembers and £23.50 fornon-members. To book, call01244 669988.

Thursday, July 15St Helens Chamber is holding anevent for would-beentrepreneurs, bringing themtogether with specialist advisers.

The free event is from6pm-8pm. To register, visithttp://tinyurl.com/bossjuly15

Friday, July 16The Daresbury BusinessBreakfast brings together around100 people working for hi-tech

companies and their supply andsupport communities.

It is an informal,presentation-free event.

The breakfast is at DaresburyInnovation Centre, starting from8am. For more details, seehttp://tinyurl.com/bfastjuly16

Tuesday, July 27The Area 51 business breakfastwill this month be held at the topof Liverpool’s tallest building,West Tower.

Organised by LiverpoolChamber of Commerce,networking will take place almost500 feet above the ground.

It costs £15 for members and£20 for non-members and startsat 7.30am. To book, visithttp://tinyurl.com/westjuly27

LIVERPOOL Chamberof Commerce andIndustry is celebratingits 160th birthday instyle with an eveningof entertainment.

Stanley Park’swonderfully restoredIsla GladstoneConservatory, in

Anfield, has beenchose as the venue forthe birthday barbecue.The Chamber promises“a summer evening ofGatsby-esqueopulence and a realnight to remember”.

The elegant Victorianconservatory is set

amid gardens andlakes, surrounded byhistoric stone pavilionsand adjacent to a fairytale bandstand.

The evening willinclude Pimms, livemusic and dancing, abarbecue banquet,magicians and

fire-eaters, a charityauction and a midnightsnack. There will alsobe some specialawards marking thecontributions thatsome members haveplayed throughout itshistory.

It costs £65 for

members and £75 fornon-members, withdiscounts for a tablebooking.

For details, contactMelissa Bush atLiverpool Chamber on0151 224 1860 or [email protected]

Ben Hatton, MD of Rippleffect

Liverpool’s West Tower

FRIDAY, JULY 16/ LIVERPOOL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’S 160TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

‘Summer evening of Gatsby-esque opulence’ – the Isla Gladstone Conservatory, in Stanley Park

40

NEILHODGSON

THE NETWORKER

Ever felt in the minority? One can be alonely number, especially when you’reone among 10.3m people . . .

Spot the odd one out! A reception for the LiverpoolChinese Business Association party, by local andnational Government officials, in Linyi

ISUPPOSE the ultimate aim

of the consummatenetworker is to getthemselves noticed, and inthis respect I recently hitthe target – scored theproverbial one hundred andeiiiigghhhtttty, notched that“back of the net” moment.

I was in the fortunate position ofhaving been invited by LiverpoolChinese Business Association toaccompany a visit by a three-manteam to assess the tradeopportunities between our region andthe North Eastern Chinese city ofLinyi.

Situated between Shanghai andBeijing, the second-tier city of Linyiis a burgeoning economicdevelopment area with a populationof 10.3m people.

That’s bigger than London, whichis pretty impressive for a city I hadnever heard of before.

Our reception from first to last bythe municipal and centralGovernment was nothing short ofastonishing.

We were whisked from meeting tomeeting in a blacked-out peoplecarrier escorted front and back bysleek black VW Government Passatswith hazards flashing to denote thespecial status of the motorcadesweeping through the city andsurrounding countryside on visits todevelopment zones.

Gatehouse security guards inpristine uniforms stood bolt uprightto attention and saluted as we sweptby on a hectic four- day programmeof morning, daytime and evening

meetings and functions. Then, onSaturday, our itinerary afforded us afree afternoon which myself and mythree Liverpool Chinese companionsused to see something of Linyi citycentre.

Earlier that week, we had transitedthrough Shanghai, where “Gwailos”are relatively commonplace, and Ihad only been vaguely aware ofseeing no other westerners in Linyi.

So far we had been cocooned in aworld of hotels, motorcades andair-conditioned offices, and it wasonly when traffic came to a standstillon the streets of bustling Linyi citycentre that I was aware of my noveltyvalue.

Clearly, I was the first foreignerthousands of Linyi citizens wereexperiencing, in the flesh, so tospeak.

Much to the amusement of myfellow travellers, cars came to a haltand drivers and passengers gawped,slack-jawed, at this fair-haired, whiteskinned oddity among them.

As we passed, small childrenfrowned in puzzlement in anencounter they will probably telltheir own grandkids about.

Strolling through a public park Iwas urged, sotto voce by mycompanions, to take a quick glancebehind, whereupon, in a visible trailin our wake were scores of locals whohad stopped in their tracks, turned,and were watching us – me – insomething akin to suspiciouswonderment.

The following day, as we stoppedfor 15 minutes at a very cheap andcheerful roadside eaterie in the

middle of nowhere on our 300kmdrive to Quing Dao airport, one of theowner’s family told our interpreterthat I was the first outsider he hadencountered in his 80 years of life sofar. I just hoped he wasn’tdisappointed.

OF COURSE, the officialswe met took my presencevery much in their stride,but nevertheless thenetworking process over

15-course breakfasts and 25-courselunches and dinners still presentedus with our fair share of dilemmas.By this stage, I had alreadysuccumbed to a particularly nastybout of food poisoning in Shanghai,after a brush with a fish which myLCBA companion Colin Lingdiplomatically described thus: “If itwas meat, I suppose you coulddescribe it as ‘gamey’.”

Obviously, my wussy westerndigestive system was having none ofit, and for the following day and nightI had been re-enacting THAT scenefrom The Exorcist in a darkenedLinyi hotel room.

Luckily, the following day I wasable to fall into step with ourschedule, but lunch with several highranking government officials and thecounty mayor presented anunforeseen quandary, even for theLiverpool Chinese.

Our hosts were generous to a faultand the table was groaning under theweight of soups, side dishes, meats,fish, scorpions (yes), wasps (I kid younot), grubs (oh yes) and eggs which atfirst we thought were quail’s butcontained – reminiscent of MontyPython’s famous “Crunchy Frog”sketch – something altogetherunexpected.

Some of this food was not for thehoi polloi, nor, it has to be said, forus. But how do you explain thatpolitely?

Colin attempted, along the lines of:“I know some food, like greens, isgood for me, but I don’t eat it becauseof the taste or texture. And I knowsome things are bad for me, like beer,but I drink that.”

I don’t think that really cut any icewith our hosts.

So, what is the solution to such apotential social faux pas?

Well, I’m afraid to say, I took thecoward’s way out.

I politely allowed my small plate tobe loaded with various exotic items,then engaged in deep conversationuntil the ever-attentive serving staffreturned to clear the table for theinexorable next course.

Not very gallant, I know, buthaving come off second best in atussle with a “gamey” fish, I wasn’ttaking any more chances.

42

CAROLYNHUGHES

SOCIAL DIARY THE NETWORKER

Liverpool City Council leader Joe Anderson, left, and DLIB chairman Frank McKenna

Rachel Haugh from Ian Simpson Architects with AnnieAtkins and Charlotte Myhrum from Places Matter at theRIBA Architecture Festival 2010 launch

From left, Mike Carr of NSG UK, Roy Gronow ofEntwistle and Dave Blackman of Venmore at theDLIB event

Mark Barsoum, Dineka Gray, Stephen Kane andDonna Friend at 60 Hope Street

Emma Carvell and Gareth Lewis enjoy the winetasting at 60 Hope Street

Christine and Bill Ainslie in the privatedining room at 60 Hope Street

Sharon Tagoe and Brenda Chukuma at the 60Hope Street wine tasting event

Dr Rob McDonald from the LiverpoolArchitectural Society and Rod Holmes, chairmanof The Mersey Partnership, at the RIBA event

Kate and Graeme Creer, of Weightmans, withIrene and John Borley at the wine tasting event

LOBBY group DowntownLiverpool in Business(DLIB) hosted its thirdannual Business Weeklast month.

Among the events wasa question and answersession at the HiltonHotel, when DLIBchairman Frank McKennawas joined by newLiverpool City Councilleader Joe Anderson.■ RIBA held the launchof Architecture Festival2010 in Downing’s Port ofLiverpool Building.Speakers at the launchincluded RIBA’s BelindaIrlam-Mowbray, SteveBroomhead of the

Northwest DevelopmentAgency and Rod Holmesof The MerseyPartnership.■ Last month more than40 guests attended aspecial Spanish winetasting evening at TheMersey Partnership’srestaurant of the year 60Hope Street.

The evening, hosted byColin Manning of 60 HopeStreet and Efrem Mallol,general manager ofBodegas Ca N’Estrellaincluded a four-coursemeal, with each coursebeing matched with adifferent wine from theestate.

44

YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS

Egerton House is a visually stunning andbeautifully restored former trade warehousesituated on the south quay of Egerton Dock inBirkenhead.

We offer affordable, flexible serviced offices andconferencing in prestigious surroundings and provide arange of facilities that we believe make us the location ofchoice on the Wirral.

Our service includes

• East in easy out license agreements

• On site parking and staffed security 24/7

• Free meeting rooms and preferential rates on• Free meeting rooms and preferential rates onconference rooms

• Welcoming reception staff• Welcoming reception staff

• Rates inclusive of all overhead costs• Rates inclusive of all overhead costs

• Call us today for a viewing• Call us today for a viewing

0151 650 0555Egerton House (Wirral) LtdEgerton House (Wirral) LtdEgerton House, 2 Tower Road,Egerton House, 2 Tower Road,Birkenhead, Wirral, CH41 1FNBirkenhead, Wirral, CH41 1FN

www.egertonhouse.co.ukwww.egertonhouse.co.uk

Fantastic watersidelocation offering manydifferent types ofconference facilities to suitall sizes and budgets

A one-stop facility to offercompanies of all size a base togrow their business with accessto comprehensive on-sitesupport and advice

MICROBASE (£10 per session*)OPENBASE (£50 per week*)BASEONE (from £140 per week*)* EXCLUDING VAT

Newly opened contemporarystyle bistro for use by on-sitebusinesses as well as othercompanies looking for a relaxedplace to meet and do business

CONFERENCING

THE BUSINESS HUB

THE BISTRO

LDP Business Magazine July 2010

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Transcript of LDP Business Magazine July 2010