Deep WaterHow Peel Ports deep water terminal will attract the world’s largest container vessels to the Mersey

New BeginningsLiverpool School of Tropical Medicine’s pioneering work in

maternal and newborn health

Single MindedWhy the most exciting car in Britain is heading this way

The Liverpool ONe EffectThe retail success story of a generation

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Confounding expectations. We’re used to that in Liverpool. But sometimes we even surprise ourselves.

Few can deny that it’s been a difficult year for the nation’s high street. Big names have vanished from city centres at an alarming rate, as the retail industry struggles to redefine its offer. In Liverpool, this summer, sales surged 7.4 percent in August – much higher than the UK figure of just 1.8 percent. Our cover story looks at the Liverpool ONE effect - and asks ‘how did we get it so right?’

Not that we’re complacent. We know how quickly the world turns around here. Our docks were once the most advanced anywhere in the world - up to 40 percent of the world’s trade passed through here. Those days are over. But we’re turning the tide here, too. As I write, a channel is being gouged out of the Mersey river bed, deepening our port in readiness for the arrival of the world’s biggest ships: the post-Panamax leviathans whose shipping containers move 80 percent of the world’s exports. They’re calling the new dock Liverpool 2 . From shopping to shipping, we’re joining the dots.

Turning a city round isn’t as easy as 1, 2, 3 - but hopefully, next year, when the inaugral International Festival for Business gets underway in our city, the world’s sharpest business minds will meet to share their ideas on how we can all navigate a course for a more prosperous future.

Enjoy the magazine.

Max Steinberg CBE, Chief Executive, Liverpool Vision

WELCOME

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CONTENTS

6 SIx APPEAL Your instant briefi ng on the city

8 IFB ThE STOrY SO FAr How the biggest UK business event of 2014 is progressing

12 SINGLE MINDED Why Britain’s most exciting car is

heading this way

16 ThE LIVErPOOL ONE EFFECT The biggest retail success story in a generation

20 WE CAN FLY FrOM hErE The new team ready for take off at

Liverpool John Lennon airport

24 NEW BEGINNINGS Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine is providing healthcare across the globe

28 SMArTEr, BETTEr, FASTEr The Liverpool digital company building super connected highways

30 AYrE’S AMBITION How Liverpool Football Club meets the challenge of returning to the top

34 DEEP WATEr The next big thing in the development of the Port of Liverpool

37 IT’S WhAT WE DO The surprising and interesting

connections of our region across the globe

38 LES DENNIS Profi le of Liverpool’s famous son

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it’s magazine is produced by

itsliverpool.com

Twitter: @itsliverpool

Front cover:

Editorial Team: Mike Allanson, Peter Smith, Jonathan Caswell, David Lloyd.

Writers: David Lloyd with additional features by Jonathan Caswell

Photography: Peter Getting out of Nick’s Pool 1966 Acrylic on canvas 84 x 84” © David hockney Collection Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Photo Credit: richard Schmidt.

Transformer Transformed by TradeMark

Ian McCarthy photograph by Dave Ball Photography

Neil Briggs of BAC Mono by Tom Ziora

Liverpool One (Donna howitt), LJLA ( Mathew Thomas), LSTM (hazel Snell) by Matt Thomas

LFC photographs courtesy of LFC

Published by: Liverpool Vision, The Capital, 39 Old hall Street Liverpool L3 9PP

Tel: +44 (0)151 600 2900

© Liverpool Vision 2013. All material is strictly copyright and all rights reserved. reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of Liverpool Vision is strictly forbidden. Care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information in this magazine at the time of going to press, but we accept no responsibility for ommissions or errors. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Liverpool Vision.

This document is printed on Essential Velvet, FSC, ISO 14001 accredited. Sourced from fully sustainable forests. Printed using vegetable based inks.

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ThE UK’s leading festival of LGBT culture and creativity, Homotopia celebrates ten boundary-pushing years this year, and has curated a festival as thrilling as it is diverse. Encompassing theatre, art, talks, film and music, the festival showcases ‘queer culture’ at its dizzying and colourful best. ‘Boy George and Trademark in Conversation’ will take a look at this pop icon’s strident new visual art, enfant terrible of the film world, John Waters brings his one man show to the Philharmonic, and punk’s defiant take on identity is explored in ‘England’s Erotic Dream’. All human life is here.

Oct-Nov, throughout Liverpool

homotopia.net

BrITAIN’S pre-eminent painter, watercolourist and pop artist of the 20th century, David hockney never stands still for long, and is as prolific these days as he was as a student at the royal Academy in the 60s. ‘Early reflections’ offers a rare chance to re-appraise the hockney’s earliest works, navigating the artist’s progress from scratchy, experimental - and intensely personal - student works to his sensual, bold and sunny canvases following his move to Los Angeles.

Oct-Mar 14, Walker Art Gallery

liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

It’s beamed into 26 million homes, ships 15 million packages a year, stocks over 17,000 products across 600 brands in a warehouse the size of eight Wembley football pitches and employs almost 2,000 people. It can only be QVC. And, at the heart of this modern day retail success story lies its 650,000 sq ft fulfilment centre in Knowsley. This October sees the channel’s 20th birthday, and with last year’s net revenue of £403.7m, they’ve a lot to celebrate. “QVC will continue to develop and evolve going forward,” says CEO of QVC UK, Dermot Boyd, “and our Knowsley distribution and call centre is where most of the action takes place.”

qvcuk.com

SIX APPeALYour instant briefing on the city...

Picture: Transformer Transformed by TradeMark Picture: Peter Getting out of Nick’s Pool 1966

CULTUrE ArT BUSINESSPUSHING THe eARLY ReFLeCTIONS TODAY’S

BOUNDARIeS SPeCIAL VALUe

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IT WAS 50 years ago today….well, close enough. Next spring (February 9 to be precise) the Beatles appeared in the first of three live performances on the Ed Sullivan show. The event has gone down in history - and it signalled the start of the British pop culture invasion into the US. “I Want To hold Your hand” swiftly rose to the top of the charts, and, in its wake, scores of British bands (and many MerseyBeat ones) found their fame and fortune there. Expect celebrations and concerts on both sides of the Atlantic. Will One Direction elicit the same response in half a century’s time? We’d rather not comment.

visitliverpool.com

The Betfred Old roan Chase is always eagerly anticipated, and being the first quality 2mile 4furlong race of the new jumps season on Saturday, October 26, it is regarded by those in the know as a highlight of the autumn National hunt calendar. It’s a race that has been littered with names of racing stars, since it started in 2004, such as Kauto Star, Albertas run and Poqulin as well as three-time winner Monet’s Garden and the field this year will surely not disappoint.

Autumn racing at Aintree is about enjoying the spectacle and the social, from one of Aintree’s many indoor course facing bars, as one general admission ticket gives access to all public grandstand areas. A great day out that anticipates those warmer days at Aintree in April.

aintree.co.uk

Two anniversaries bookend the rLPO’s latest season. On the eve of what would have been Benjamin Britten’s 100th birthday (21 November) and as part of the royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s contribution to the national celebrations, Vasily Petrenko conducts Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, which received its premiere concert performance by this Orchestra on 15 October 1946.

The 150th anniversary of the birth of richard Strauss in 2014 is commemorated by the Orchestra’s year-long Strauss Edition. Petrenko conducts the composer’s Ein heldenleben, Don Quixote and horn Concerto No. 2, a showcase for the playing of Liverpool Philharmonic’s Principal Horn Timothy Jackson (22 & 23 January); and Don Quixote (27 February), a showcase for the orchestra’s Principal Cello, Jonathan Aasgaard.

liverpoolphil.com

MUSICBeATLeS 50

EVENTSOLD ROAN CHASe

MUSICRLPO CONCeRT

SeASON

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Ian McCarthy, Festival Director

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“We’ve reached the tipping point,” says IFB’s Ian McCarthy, when it’s calls to see how things are shaping up for next year’s inaugural International Festival for Business.

“We held our ‘one year out’ dinner recently, and there was a real sense that we’ve moved on from the ‘concept and ambition’ stage to something that’s tangible and real. We’re getting lots of interest on a daily basis, with national organisations bringing their events here, many moving them out of London for the first time.”

It’s a vote of confidence that hints at just how keenly next year’s 55 day showcase for British business has been received. And the event’s promising to start with a bang...

“We managed to secure the British Business Embassy, a two day event here, which really sets the scene for the weeks to come,” Ian says of the expo which showcases the best of British businesses - a hugely successful part of Britain’s 2012 Olympic business legacy, delivered by UKTI and officially endorsed by the Prime Minister.

“The event will help businesses to develop vital connections with established and emerging international markets including China, India and the US,” says Ian.

hot on its heels, MADE is the premier event for the UK manufacturing industry, and a celebration of the best design and product development across the UK.

“We’ve arranged something of an enormous scale in 18 months, when, usually events of this magnitude take three of four years to pull off,” he adds. “Having said that, we have a track record of turning things around quickly. We launched Capital of Culture in September, and were set to go in the following January!”

Presently, the team at Clarion Montgomery - charged with delivering the programme - is constantly adding new events, tied into the Festival’s key strands (which include Maritime Logistics, Knowledge, Manufacturing, renewables and Creative and Digital).

“The pace is really picking up,” Ian says, “and we’re looking at having three major national events every week of the Festival’s run, and a dozen or so smaller events every single day. That’s the scale we’re dealing with.”

Pointing to a recovering international economy, and a slow but steady track northwards on the UK’s balance of trade sheets, Ian’s certain of one thing:

“This is the perfect time to have this platform, a shop window for the UK’s world class entrepreneurial and business minds.”

Latest figures released from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the UK goods trade deficit has shrunk to its smallest amount in almost a year, helped by a rise in exports.

Further ONS figures show that manufacturing output rose this June at the strongest pace since the end of 2010, while other surveys have also pointed to strong growth in the service sector and in retail sales.

With UK manufacturers urged to trade with countries outside Europe - many of whose economies have been growing far more quickly in recent years - the IFB is set to be a lucrative and essential pit stop for any business, large or small, with its eyes set on expansion.

“It’s the UK’s first international Festival aimed at all businesses, whatever sector they happen to be in,” Ian says. “This is an international showcase, supporting business growth, enabling new connections to be made, and securing new routes to market. It’s happening in Liverpool, and we’ll ensure it’s a Festival we can be proud of, but that the whole country can benefit from.”

Ian talks of the event being a ‘catalyst’ to double UK exports by 2020, of attracting 250,000 global business professionals, and of securing £100m in direct investment into the UK. And, with eight months left before the city opens its doors, the signs are looking good for a summer to remember.

With less than a year before it opens, it’s all systems go for the organisers of next summer’s International Festival for Business 2014.

caught up with Festival Director Ian McCarthy to see how things are shaping up

ThE EVENT WILL hELP BUSINESSES TO DEVELOP VITAL CONNECTIONS WITh ESTABLIShED AND EMErGING INTErNATIONAL MArKETS INCLUDING ChINA, INDIA AND ThE US

THe STORY SO FAR

IFB

ThIS IS AN INTErNATIONAL ShOWCASE, SUPPOrTING BUSINESS GrOWTh, ENABLING NEW CONNECTIONS TO BE MADE, AND SECUrING NEW rOUTES TO MArKET.

“And it’s not too late to get involved,” Ian adds, “If you’ve an idea for the festival, or want your business to stage an event, come and talk to us, be part of our programme and connect your brands to national and international audiences.”

“We’re Delighted To Be Involved!” Sara Geater, CEO, Fremantle Group

responsible for over 9,000 hours of programming across 62 territories - including x Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and The Apprentice - Fremantle Media Group is one of the world’s largest and most successful creators, producers and distributors of prime time TV, entertaining millions around the world.

“The UK is probably the most important market for international formats,” Geater says. “ We are absolutely delighted to be a part of IFB 2014. I think the idea of an international business festival is brilliant. Being a signifi cant part of the creative industry in terms of the programmes we produce, this is really important for us. We export a lot of our programmes, so having the opportunity of showing people what we can do on an international scale, and to actually listen to what the requirements of others are, and understanding their businesses more will be really interesting to all of us.”

FROM DReAM TO SCReeNStuart Ford, founder and CEO of IM Global Films will be curating the Dream Factory segment of IFB 2014.

“I’m excited that another prestigious world event is coming to my home town,” says Ford, whose company fi nances, sells and distributes major box offi ce hits, from its offi ces in Los Angeles, London, and Mumbai.

“I was delighted to accept the challenge of curating the Dream Factory strand of the Festival,” Ford says, explaining that: “we’re calling it the Dream Factory because dreams are at the core of this industry, but they’re sparked into life

by the inspiration and creativity of exceptional individuals. Their dreams, and their unique visions are realised by dedicated teams of collaborators. Events like the IFB are the perfect opportunity to bring these dreams to life.”

Born in the heart of Liverpool city centre, Ford now heads up the IM Global group, which has backed critical hits such as A Single Man, Dredd and Insidious.

After meeting with the organising team and learning about the concept, Ford was keen to curate the Dream Factory segment of the Festival, a three day event combining movie premieres, expert master classes and its own gala dinner.

running 15-17 July as part of the Festival’s “Creative Industries” theme, Dream Factory will profi le the region to international fi lmmakers as an outstanding location and production centre - backed by the tireless work of the Liverpool Film Offi ce.

The Dream Factory will be hosting discussions, networking events and screenings: bringing a touch of Hollywood to the banks of the Mersey.

ON YOUR MARkSYour company may be fi t for purpose - but what about your colleagues? The World Corporate Games aims to fi nd the hidden athletes in the accounts department.

The World Corporate Games will prove that IFB 2014 won’t be all hard work and networking next

summer. The prestigious event (held between the 26-29 June) will see companies from 25 countries compete in an Olympian-style sports championship.

“We’re delighted that the games are coming to Liverpool,” says the Games’ Global Partnership Director, Doug White.

“The Corporate Games are the world’s largest sports festival for businesses, and we’ve had over a million participants representing over 20,000 unique organisations across fi ve continents.”

Doug estimates next summer’s games will attract thousands of participants, in a sports programme thatwill feature 20 diff erent events.

We see the link between the corporate games and the IFB as the perfect partnership. The fi rst World Corporate Games was held in San Francisco in 1988 and, since then, over 170 Games have been held in the world’s leading cities.

Many of the world’s most successful companies - from Deloitte to Ernst & Young and IBM - have taken part.

“Health and Fitness in the workplace, team building and networking are obvious key benefi ts,” says White.

“We can’t wait for the games to commence!”

IFB2014.com

I’M ExCITED ThAT ANOThEr PrESTIGIOUS WOrLD EVENT IS COMING TO MY hOME TOWN,

WE SEE ThE LINK BETWEEN ThE COrPOrATE GAMES AND ThE IFB AS ThE PErFECT PArTNErShIP.

WE ArE ABSOLUTELY DELIGhTED TO BE A PArT OF IFB 2014. I ThINK ThE IDEA OF AN INTErNATIONAL BUSINESS FESTIVAL IS BrILLIANT.

MEET YOUR GLOBAL NETWORK

Stuart Ford

Doug White

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SINGLe MINDeDI

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WHY THE MoST EXCITInG CAR In BRITAIn, THE BAC Mono, IS HEADInG THIS WAY....

Some say the only non-British component in the British-built BAC Mono is your iPod. Some say the car turns so many heads it comes with complimentary neck braces for your neighbours.

... We really couldn’t comment.

But what we do know is this: the car won the coveted BBC Top Gear ‘Stig’s Car of the Year’ award, is the only track-day car that’s perfectly legal to drive on the highway, and is the latest win for Liverpool’s resurgent automotive industry.

The curvaceous single seater is the grin-inducing result of Brigg’s Automotive Company’s desire to create a car that, as Managing Director Neil Briggs admits, owes as much to blue sky thinking as red light taunting.

“We started by thinking about how it should look, and took our inspiration from science fi ction, spaceships, robots, and we kept our surfaces to a minimum, so that you can see the machinery beneath,” Briggs says.

So far so F3. But the most impressive feat of engineering? The car, which started life in deepest Cheshire, is heading our way.

In a deal which further cements the region’s newfound swagger in all things automotive (car of the year Evoque and and Vauxhall’s productivity-blasting Ellesmere Port plant straddle both sides of the Mersey) BAC is moving production of their BAC Mono to Speke, in the south of the city.

WE’rE ThrILLED AT OUr rELOCATION TO LIVErPOOL, ThE CITY hAS A rICh hISTOrY IN ThE MOTOr INDUSTrY AND WE LOOK FOrWArD TO ADDING OUr OWN ChAPTEr TO ThIS SUCCESS STOrY.

NGLe MINDeD

Neil Briggs (right)

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The move is set to create almost 60, high-end manufacturing jobs by 2014, including apprenticeships, as well as new regional supply chain opportunities.

“We’re thrilled at our relocation to Liverpool,” Briggs tells It’s. “The city has a rich history in the motor industry and we look forward to adding our own chapter to this success story.”

BAC expects its new production site in Speke to be up-and-running this autumn, and projects that it will be producing more than 100 cars a year by 2015.

To that end, Briggs is currently on the hunt, recruiting a new team: a highly skilled workforce with experience of working on high-performance and new model launch cars, as well as apprenticeship opportunities. Form an orderly queue...

“We’re also looking to source components locally and we’re in talks with a number of suppliers from the region over potential opportunities,” Briggs adds, explaining how his production site’s aims are to be as seamlessly engineered into the area’s infrastructure as its finely tooled components are to each other, in the Mono’s sleek four cylinder 2.3 litre engine.

“Liverpool is a great place to do business,” Briggs adds, “and with the wealth of highly skilled individuals in the region we believe we’re perfectly positioned to take the company to the next level.”

BAC IS AN AMBITIOUS, VISIONArY COMPANY, AND ThEIr DESIrE TO rELOCATE TO OUr CITY SPEAKS VOLUMES FOr OUr BUSINESS OFFEr.

“This expansion and job creation will allow us to meet sales demand around the world, and build on the fantastic interest Mono has received since it was launched.”

And, when the car steals the show - as it undoubtedly will - in car expos around the globe, Briggs is in no doubt that he and his tight-knit team of designers will be, resolutely, of one voice.

We’ll all be extremely proud to say that ‘Mono is built in Liverpool! Briggs says. “The car will be a great ambassador for the city,” he adds, revealing that Liverpool’s city logo will be emblazoned on the vehicle’s body as it takes part in high profile international racing events around the globe.

The car will, specifically be a made-in-Speke hall Industrial Estate model: the Mono being hand crafted practically in the same postcode as its more ruggedly handsome neighbour, the range rover Evoque. A pattern is definitely emerging: of Liverpool as an automotive centre of excellence.

“It’s good news for Liverpool,” confirms Mayor, Joe Anderson, “BAC is an ambitious, visionary company, and their desire to relocate to our city speaks volumes for our business offer.

WE’LL ALL BE ExTrEMELY PrOUD TO SAY ThAT ‘MONO IS BUILT IN LIVErPOOL! ThE CAr WILL BE A GrEAT AMBASSADOr FOr ThE CITY,

The support we’ve provided will help create new jobs and apprenticeships,” he adds.

“The Jaguar Land rover plant in halewood has been a real success story for our city in creating jobs in commercial car production – BAC-Mono is a prestigious brand, and it’s fantastic that motoring and racing enthusiasts will know that it’s made in Liverpool.”

Low centre of gravity, exceedingly aerodynamic, as fun to drive on mountain passes as racing tracks, and nought to 60 in 2.8 seconds. Make no mistake, the BAC Mono is a car that’s making all the right moves.

But the best move it’s made to date? That short, but crucial drive to the banks of the Mersey.

Now watch it fly.

bac-mono.com

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100+ EVENTS : JUNE-JULY 2014, LIVERPOOL UK

ThIS IS gOINg TO bE aN EVENT ON aN UNPREcEdENTEd

ScaLE aNd a ShOP wINdOw LIKE NO OThER. MaKE SURE YOU’RE ThERE TO MaKE ThE MOST Of ITPRIME MINISTER RT hON daVId caMERON MP

MEET YOUR GLOBAL NETWORK

FESTIVALPaRTNERS

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LIVeRPOOL ONe

eFFeCT

THe

It’s online shopping. It’s the recession. It’s out of town malls. Ask a retail expert, and chances are they’ll give their own diagnosis on the causes of this year’s high street meltdown.

Ask them how we can turn it around, and there’s a little less discord: more animation. Manicured parks. Pop-up events and mixed use developments. The future of retail? It looks a lot like Liverpool, circa 2013.

How did we get it so right?

With one in ten high street shops lying fallow, and big names from Comet to Jessops disappearing, there’s no denying it: few experts could have predicted the seismic year we’ve seen.

Yet, way back in 2000, Liverpool, and developers Grosvenor, saw something what few other cities saw: shoppers wanted more out of their Saturdays. They wanted more fun.

They didn’t, especially, want to be in an air-conditioned mall. They wanted Gok Wan and a catwalk. They wanted an ice bar and a water chute. They wanted open air piano recitals and al fresco lunches. And they wanted to see local traders given a chance to show their goods alongside anchor department stores.

And so an ambitious plan was hatched. Liverpool

Turbulent times on the high street? No-one seems to have told Liverpool. how did 40 windblown acres become the retail success story of a generation?

was going to reimagine city centre shopping. It was going to create lush gardens above a car park, it was going to look to the romans for inspiration: with double height shopping streets open to the elements, yet sheltered from the vagaries of the weather. And it was going to do it all on 42 acres in the heart of the city - connecting city with river, ancient with modern, day with night.

And, with occupancy levels at an all time high, it’s safe to say: it did it brilliantly.

It’s a sunny September afternoon as It’s takes a stroll across the manicured grass of Chavasse Park (still green and perky after that summer). From our vantage point, the development wraps confidently around us: a third green space, a third residential and hotel, and a third retail and leisure.

Is this the Liverpool ONE secret, we ask our guide, Liverpool ONE’s Marketing Director Donna Howitt?

“Yes, in a way, it’s about balance,” howitt says, “...and understanding the changing needs of the customer. The experience is all important. Shopping needs to be about more than just the transaction. We recently had Malibutique, offering free manicures on Paradise Place, and events like Tickle the Ivories create a great

Donna howitt, Marketing Director, Liverpool ONE

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13 to 5 in the UK’s retail hit parade. Sales performance has comfortably outstripped British averages for each of the past three years. And 98 per cent of those who come say they intend to return.

“Liverpool ONE gives the customer all those things a soulless mall can’t provide, and it’s helping the city too ” Yes, the view from Chavasse Park is looking rosy, and the statistics even rosier: half a million visitors a week, with the one hundred millionth visitor strolling down South John Street almost exactly one year ago. Footfall figures this summer surpassed the national average by a tidy 5 percent. But Donna’s adamant: there is more to be done.

As we walk, we talk of Liverpool ONE ‘building bridges between online and off-line shopping’ of harnessing social media to create real world events, and of the return of the hugely popular ‘Stalls in the City’ fair (in partnership with Open Culture, local designers and makers showcase their work here, on the second weekend of every month.)

“Almost half of our visitors enjoy dining or coffee here, and we think that’ll continue to rise,” howitt says, hinting that the high street will continue to morph into the city’s principal recreational zone. “Shops, cafes, galleries and restaurants will sit side by side with great architecture and landscaping,” she says. “That’s what we have to embrace.”

It could all have been so different. Scattered

across the country - from Edinburgh to Basildon - lie new shopping developments that have failed to elicit the love, and loyalty, of shoppers, forcing developers into administration. But they all have one thing in common - they’re all indoor ‘box malls’. By taking us outside, Liverpool ONE - the biggest city centre project of any European city since the second world war - was as radical as it was expensive...

hard to believe now, but as Grosvenor’s Miles Dunnett confirms, the project represented the biggest gamble the developers had ever undertaken.

“In pure investment terms, it was the largest, and most costly regeneration project we’d ever embarked on,” he says, “the masterplan came in not far short of £1 billion.”

More radical still was that fact that Liverpool City Council was presented with other, more economical schemes when, following a feasibility study, a sizeable chunk of land - prime for redevelopment - was identified. The Paradise Street Development Area was born. Its role? To reverse the city’s ailing retail fortunes.

At the end of the 20th century, Liverpool’s retail

ThE ExPErIENCE IS ALL IMPOrTANT. ShOPPING NEEDS TO BE ABOUT MOrE ThAN JUST ThE TrANSACTION

atmosphere, giving visitors an incentive to return.” Free manicures, and impromptu recitals of Barry Manilow’s ‘Mandy’ on an upright Joanna? Beat that, Amazon dot com.

“It’s true, online doesn’t provide the social experience that we as human beings need,” Howitt adds, with a smile.

“Shopping destinations are focussed more than ever on whole customer experience. Stores are becoming the showroom, and the shopping destination is focussing on the quality of its environment,” Donna says, as we stroll through Chavasse Park’s sun-dappled paths, heavy with the summer scent of herbaceous borders: leafy lanes that quietly confirm everything you need to know about this surefooted incursion into the heart of the city.

Five years ago, as the flower beds were still being planted, the global financial system went into reverse gear. Liverpool ONE couldn’t have opened in more interesting times. That it’s flourished, hugely increased its offer, and worked its way into our hearts is a modern day success story that, we’ve no doubt, will earn its own chapter in the story of retail.

The postscript? Liverpool’s shot from number

4.1 MIllIon people in the total catchment

£3 BILLION available spend on clothing

Sales and footfall in Q1of 2013 up by 5.4% and 4.4% respectively

LIVeRPOOL’S catchment spends more per head on clothing than Manchester’s

ABOUT LIVErPOOL ONE - FABULOUS FACTS & FIGUrES

36% of the city’s fashion offer floor space is at Liverpool ONE

Liverpool ONE welcomed its 100,000,000th visitor in August 2012

Stores in Liverpool ONE trade 26% ahead of UK averages

99.3% of the retail spaces are let or under offer

Source: liverpool-one.com

IN PUrE INVESTMENT TErMS, IT WAS ThE LArGEST, AND MOST COSTLY rEGENErATION PrOJECT WE’D EVEr EMBArKED ON

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offer was in the doldrums, having slipped out of the premier league it was in real danger of losing its pull as a regional shopping centre. Big name stores were swerving the city in favour of its reinvigorated northern neighbours, Manchester and Leeds, and the city that loved to shop was reduced to a slither of retail opportunities centred on Lord and Church Street.

“We said, ‘what’s Liverpool got going for it? What makes it unique? And, pretty quickly we realised - it was the waterfront, and the city’s relationship with it. Or, rather, the fact that it had turned its back on it,” Dunnett says.

The Paradise Street Development Area - consisting of a windblown grassy wasteland (scars left behind from the Blitz), car park, warehouses, 1970’s hotel and grim bus exchange - was eventually given over to The Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor estates in 2003, with Laing O’rourke chosen as construction partners. It was a seismic moment in the city’s shape-shifting history: a competing scheme, consisting of a traditional boxed-off, Trafford Centre-style mall was abandoned. Liverpool was heading outdoors, and creating something a little bit different...

“We know our plan wasn’t the most financially attractive,” admits Dunnett, “and it’s credit to the city that it bought into our vision.”

The vision? To create the largest open air shopping mall in Britain. A masterplan that incorporated elevated parkland, stylish new

apartments and hotels, and unobstructed views to the wharfs and colonnades of Albert Dock. And to the shimmering river Mersey beyond.

“We never saw any benefit in parachuting in a big boxy mall,” recalls Dunnett, “and we knew that what the city needed was something that ties it all together.”

“We took the city’s original grid of streets, and worked from there. This was a project that began with the first principles of urban planning,” Dunnett says, explaining that, to succeed Grosvenor realised that they’d have to build an environment that was open and engaging, that celebrated mixed use, and that invested in quality public realm architecture.

Grosvenor’s masterplan ticked all these boxes - as evidenced when the development was shortlisted for a rIBA architecture prize, the only time a masterplan, rather than a single building, has ever been shortlisted.

“We knew that vibrant, successful mixed use schemes are the places where people like to be,

and are happy to spend more time in,” Dunnett says, “and we knew that, increasingly, leisure, coffee-shop experiences and special events were forming the core offer of successful new retail schemes.”

It’s part of the reason Liverpool ONE’s leisure offer has increased by a third, and why the development is a key cornerstone of the city’s visitor economy, we attract over 27 million visitors every year.

“I read an article recently about how retail schemes are bringing in more evening-based attractions, in the hope that people will make a day of it there. We’ve done that from day one,” he says.

“We always believed in a development that evolved over time, and that was organic,” he adds, “that’s why we invested heavily in materials that would last - marble and granite - and would weather beautifully. For this project to work, it had to feel like it was part of the fabric of the city,” he says.

Five years later, it’s hard to see Liverpool ONE as anything but the heart of our resurgent city. The flow and the rhythm of the streets, the mature planting along the paths and flower beds, and the animated bustle of Chavasse Park’s family entertainment create a cityscape as complete, and assured, as any. In short, it’s hard to image Liverpool without this 42 acre intervention.

“Most of these things don’t make money in and of themselves,” Dunnett says. “Our theatre dome held shows every day of the holidays, and our gardeners are constantly keeping the grass conditioned. These things take time, and money, but they contribute to the general sense of a place where people want to come, and come back to.”

Fanning out from the park, and the restaurants of the leisure terrace, the retail offer of Liverpool ONE has never been in better shape. “We’re about 99.3% full,” Dunnett says, “and we’re looking at buying some new property adjacent to the development.”

“What we sought to do is to listen to what shoppers actually want.” Dunnett says. “They told us they found enclosed shopping centres too hot, and too crowded. They wanted to be outside. They also told us that they liked it when shopping was fun, and offered something for all the family, so we’re always working hard at creating entertainment programmes that allow people to linger, and have a laugh here too.”

It’s a curious moment. We’re talking about the future of retail.

And we look around. It’s sort of..here.

liverpool-one.com

WE SAID, ‘WhAT’S LIVErPOOL GOT GOING FOr IT? WhAT MAKES IT UNIQUE? AND, PrETTY QUICKLY WE rEALISED - IT WAS ThE WATErFrONT, AND ThE CITY’S rELATIONShIP WITh IT.

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21

Strolling the beautiful grounds of Speke Hall off ers one of the most curious, and head-turning experiences in our contrary city. You’re deep within the estate of one of Britain’s fi nest Tudor mansions when, suddenly, screaming overhead, you’ll spot the fuselage of an Easyjet 737, en route to Malaga.

Skirting the reed-lined banks of the Mersey, Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s runway has had a history more chequered than the wattle and daub walls of the National Trust-owned hall. renamed rAF Speke during the Second World War, the airport played a key role in the Battle of Britain, and back in civilian hands, the old ‘Speke

Easyjet’s on-off relationship with neighbouring Manchester Airport (it’s ‘on’ again) has seen numbers plateau.

Undaunted, Vancouver’s Vantage Airports Group (which acquired a 65 percent share from the Peel Group in 2010) is embarking on an ambitious programme of improvements, new routes, new retail, and new connections.

it’s spoke to President and CEO of Vantage Airports UK, Matthew Thomas, to learn more about the journey ahead.

Vantage Airports Group has a great track record in realising the potential of smaller airports. Where does Liverpool sit within your strategy?

Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) is of strategic value to the Vantage Airports Group in a number of ways. Key for us is to connect the Airports within the Group, from Cyprus to our Airports on the East Coast of North America and in the Caribbean. LJLA is ideally situated geographically and we’re really excited that in November, we will commence fl ights between LJLA and Larnaca Airport in Cyprus.

We really believe we can bring our experience from operating in other parts of the world to benefi t Liverpool.

WE TAKE GrEAT SATISFACTION ThAT 95 PErCENT OF OUr PASSENGErS TELL US ThEY WILL STrONGLY rECOMMEND LJLA TO ThEIr FAMILY

In recent year’s it’s been one of Europe’s fastest growing airports, and customer surveys regularly place John Lennon at the top of an intensely competitive league table. Now part of the Vancouver based Vantage group, the airport’s ready for take off .

Airport’ was busier than Manchester’s until 1950. Since then, the airport’s been fi ghting more of a battle for survival - until, with the arrival of ‘no frills’ fl ying in the 90s, its fortunes began to reverse.

Between 1997 and 2007, John Lennon Airport was one of Europe’s fastest growing, and it’s now in the top ten busiest in the United Kingdom, although, in recent years,

Matthew Thomas, CEO of Vantage Airports UK

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Passenger numbers are down a little since 2008 - what challenges does this bring with it for Liverpool?

While it’s true that the economic downturn, coupled with the introduction of new aviation taxes, has resulted in little or no passenger growth in the UK over the last five years, the product at LJLA has improved significantly for our passengers and it is now positioned for growth.

Competition for passengers between UK airports is intense. But we take great satisfaction that 95 percent of our passengers tell us they will strongly recommend LJLA to their family and friends.

Liverpool has the cheapest parking of any airport in the UK, the shortest queues at check-in and security control and has the best on-time performance for plane departures. These things matter, when people choose which airport they want to use.

...and what opportunities?

We see real opportunities for Liverpool to grow as the economy comes out of recession. In addition, the International Festival for Business 2014 provides an opportunity for the City and the airport to showcase itself to people who may be visiting the region for the first time. Our research clearly shows that people living in Liverpool and the City region have a strong preference to fly from Liverpool if flights are available. We’re working very closely with our airline partners to identify new route opportunities, and in the short term, we see opportunities to increase the number of routes to leisure destinations in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The key to unlocking these opportunities will be the strength of the collaboration between the airport, our airline partners and key regional stakeholders, such as the city councils and the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Can you tell a little about your immediate plans for the airport’s development?

It seems as though the cycle of development at the airport is never ending. Having increased the amount of retail space by 40 percent in 2010, we see opportunities to add to the portfolio with more restaurants and shops that our passengers tell us they would like to see. We are working with key stakeholders in the region ahead of the IFB next summer to create an arrivals experience at the airport that gives a taste of the city of Liverpool.

How critical is Manchester’s proximity to Liverpool’s growth?

The close proximity of Manchester Airport means that our passengers have real choice in the airport they fly from. This simple reality drives the team at the airport to work harder in order that the obvious choice for passengers is to fly from Liverpool. We understand and appreciate the strong loyalty that our

23

passengers have to fly from here, and it’s our role to convey this passion to our airline partners.

How important is it that the airport diversifies its offer further - and relies less on low-cost operators?

Liverpool was the fastest growing airport in Europe in the 2000’s, riding the wave of the rapid growth in low cost air travel. We became synonymous with great value flights and saw market share in the North West grow from 6 to 22 percent. Both the low-cost model and Liverpool John Lennon have now entered a more mature phase, but critically, the airport has a critical mass of passengers that make it attractive to airlines. Bringing complementary hub traffic to the airport, enabling our passengers to travel to long-haul destinations, is definitely a strategic priority. Our goal is to make it possible for our passengers to fly wherever they want to in the world from here.

Where do you see the airport in ten years time?

I would like to think that in ten years’ time the airport will have grown significantly, with even more choice of destinations. More than anything though, I would like Liverpool to be seen as the most welcoming airport in the UK and an airport that the people of Liverpool are proud to call their own. liverpoolairport.com

JLA is one of the UK’s top 10 busiest airports and handled more than 4.5 million passengers in 2012

A £12 million development programme has recently been completed providing a new larger passenger security screening area and an expanded departure lounge

In June 2010, Vantage Airport Group (formerly Vancouver Airport Services) acquired a 65 percent majority share from The Peel Group

JLA is situated seven miles South East of Liverpool City Centre and adjacent to the river Mersey

Passenger numbers have increased ten-fold since the mid-1990’s, with the airport moving from 20th to 10th busiest airport in the UK

Source: liverpoolairport.com

Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA) is one of the UK’s longest established operational airports having been officially opened on 1st July 1933

LIVErPOOL hAS ThE ChEAPEST PArKING OF ANY AIrPOrT IN ThE UK, ThE ShOrTEST QUEUES AT ChECK-IN AND SECUrITY CONTrOL AND hAS ThE BEST ON-TIME PErFOrMANCE FOr PLANE DEPArTUrES.

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BeGINNINGS

NeW

hazel Snell, Operations Manager - Maternal and Newborn health Unit

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Think of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and what comes to mind? Pre-holiday jabs? Intensive anti-malarial research? Venoms extracted from exotic creatures? Well, yes - the world’s longest running Tropical Medicine research body is all this. But it’s much, much more too.

Over the past decade and a bit, LSTM has been at the forefront of pioneering new work improving maternal and newborn health in sub Saharan Africa and South-East Asia: its ‘Making It happen’ programme sees UK volunteer midwives and doctors, working with health care providers in places such as Malawi and Sierra Leone, teaching best practice, empowering midwives to step in when emergencies strike, and guiding mothers towards a healthier maternity.

“Uniquely, our research unit, designs intervention packages, implements them in real life settings, and follows through with monitoring and evaluation, to see how effective they are, why they’re effective and how they could be replicated,” says LSTM’s hazel Snell, explaining

that, the success of the work has been evidenced: “in the facilities we’ve implemented and evaluated these interventions, the results can be striking. More women receive quality emergency obstetric care leading to decreasing Maternal Mortality and still-birth rates. It’s incredibly positive.”

“Maternal mortality is a major global health concern, with 300,000 women dying every year as a result of complications in pregnancy and childbirth,” Snell says. “Not only this, but for every death, 30 further women survive with lifelong morbidity.

For 115 years, LSTM has been quietly making a name for itself as the preeminent tropical medicine research centre, but recently, it’s been growing its operations research arm too: moving out of the labs of its Liverpool hub, and applying its knowledge at the sharp end, with projects delivering real, tangible results in the field.

“We’re now the largest academic institution in Europe working in maternal and newborn health,” Snell says.

“In the countries in which we work, there’s been a move towards facility delivery, with free health care and education encouraging more and more women to give birth in local hospitals, rather than at home,” Snell explains. “That’s great, until you realise how overwhelmed these facilities can become.”

Working with local governments, professional

Liverpool’s School of Tropical Medicine is engaging with governments and health care providers in developing nations across the globe. The plan? To become an internationally recognised centre of excellence for maternal and child health.

MATErNAL MOrTALITY IS A MAJOr GLOBAL hEALTh CONCErN, WITh 300,000 WOMEN DYING EVErY YEAr AS A rESULT OF COMPLICATIONS IN PrEGNANCY AND ChILDBIrTh,

BeGINNINGS

hazel Snell, Operations Manager - Maternal and Newborn health Unit

associations and health care providers, LSTM is excelling in this move towards hands-on help, so much so that the Department for International Development stepped in with a £16m grant last year to further develop the ‘Making It happen’ project.

As well as this, work is underway to create a new £7m modern maternal and child health building, opposite LSTM’s Pembroke Place HQ: a striking new building that signals a robust future for one of Liverpool’s most august institutions.

26

who’d like to get involved in supporting our work,” Snell adds, explaining that equipment for a typical training course costs around £18,500.

“Improving maternal and child health is one of the United Nation’s Millennium Development

Goals, and while we’re a long way from achieving those goals, our role in tackling them has been recognised by organisations like the World health Organisation,” Snell says.

It’s a mark of LSTM’s vision that Liverpool is leading the field. Their work in this crucial arena of health care is the result of foundations being set, back in 1997, by Professor Nynke van den Broek.

It was van den Broek’s interest in maternal and newborn health in developing countries, that strengthened the School’s bonds in this life-saving sector.

The development will create more than 100 new posts, and will become an internationally recognised centre of excellence, allowing the School (which has just been granted higher Education status - allowing it to attract the brightest post-graduates from across the globe) to develop further its vital work.

“We’re keen to link our work in maternal and newborn health with corporate responsibility, and we’re always interested in talking to businesses

IMPrOVING MATErNAL AND ChILD hEALTh IS ONE OF ThE UNITED NATION’S MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

It was her simple belief that women needed to have improved availability and quality of emergency obstetric care.

van den Broek says “More than 80 percent of these deaths are caused by conditions which we are very able to prevent or treat - bleeding, obstructed labour, eclampsia, infection and unsafe abortions,”

Professor van den Broek

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MAkING IT HAPPeNThe ‘Making It Happen’ Programme (MiH) aims to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity by increasing availability and improving the quality of Skilled Birth Attendance (SBA) and Emergency Obstetric and New-born Care (EmONC). It’s estimated that, during its lifetime:

Additionally, by training over 17,000 health care workers to provide emergency maternal and newborn care, and 1,025 national facilitators in participating countries, the benefits of the programme will be sustained beyond the immediate funding period and original facilities.

It will visit 800 health facilities

191,720 maternal disabilities will be avoided

9,586 maternal lives will be saved

10,490 newborn lives will be saved

12,690 stillbirths will be averted

3 million women and babies will benefit from birth care

MOrE ThAN 80% OF ThESE DEAThS ArE CAUSED BY CONDITIONS WhICh WE ArE VErY ABLE TO PrEVENT Or TrEAT

“We hope our alliance will help to mobilise efforts so that we can make a dent in these horrific figures, and keep the issue of women’s health high on the global agenda.

“What is clear is that all women need to have access to emergency obstetric and newborn care. They need to have a skilled birth attendant - not just a relative.”

Snell agrees: “The majority of maternal and newborn deaths that occur within the first 24 hours of birth can be avoided if women and newborns receive the appropriate interventions from a skilled health worker.”

We have, in this city, a proud history of leading the way in delivering healthcare to the world’s most in-need communities. With LSTM’s focus on bringing scientific, academic and collaborative best practices together, we’re committed to a future as ambitious, and as caring, as our past.

mnhu.org

28

“Liverpool has always built downwards, the city is laced with underground tunnels, pipes, burrows... we’re doing the same, only with fibre connections.”

We’re standing in a gleaming white server room, a 10,000 square foot data centre humming with connectivity - the latest addition to AIMES Grid Services ever-expanding grid of cloud computing hubs.

Professor Dennis Kehoe, our guide, oversees this digital success story in our city - AIMES having recently opened its first London office and data centre, connecting Liverpool to the capital, and onwards to the world’s always-on cities. Want to travel from Liverpool to Moscow in 34 milliseconds? Kehoe’s your man.

AIMES’ Innovation Park hQ is deceptive. On the surface, all is calm and unassuming - but, buried deep in their racks of monolithic, air-cooled

servers hides swirling synapses of intelligence: the collected data streams of hospitals, transport and logistics companies, financial institutions and digital start-ups: data stored, secured, sifted and served to some of the region’s smartest organisations.

“We sell storage, whether that’s to Alder Hey, or a new start up in Elevator Studios, but at our core, we’re about stimulating the market, to come up with new applications. Innovative new ways to help organisations store, retrieve and make sense of data,” Kehoe says.

With security an ever-increasing area of concern, Kehoe’s company is well placed to show clients just how valuable the right storage, and the right data processing software can be.

“Health informatics is a good example of how cloud-based storage can have real-world benefits,” Kehoe explains: “Our C-Cloud (the C

How one Liverpool company is in the digital driving seat, and building super-connected routes from here to all points of the globe.

FASTeR

SMARTeR

BeTTeR

stands for ‘clinical’) allows paediatric surgeons from Alder Hey access data on their patients anywhere, whenever they want, and it tracks changes so that the hospital can monitor its performance.”

It is, Kehoe says, safer, cheaper, better and faster than any system that’s gone before it: ‘and far preferable to large paper-based files being manually transported across the City region and beyond..”

For Kehoe, AIMES represents the realisation of some very smart thinking, a generation ago,

hEALTh INFOrMATICS IS A GOOD ExAMPLE OF hOW CLOUD-BASED STOrAGE CAN hAVE rEAL-WOrLD BENEFITS,

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when the only clouds over Liverpool were the ones blown in from the Irish Sea.

“High energy physics needed hundreds of computers to deal with the vast quantities of data, and in the 90s, we realised that the internet needed to be a computing platform too,” Kehoe explains, of his company’s origins. “Data was getting bigger, and we saw there were commercial opportunities. That Liverpool could be a centre of excellence…”

Fortunately, the North West regional Development Agency saw the same thing, and supported AIMES through its early years - when Kehoe was Professor of e-Business at University of Liverpool.

“In those days (the early noughties) the cloud was known as the grid, but the seeds were there. We knew that grid computing could provide as much data processing power as anyone needed

at a given time, and seamless access to data held in vast data storage facilities,” Kehoe explains.

Ten years later, AIMES is now set to turn over £2million this year, with a forecast turnover of £7million in three years’ time. It’s moved from its Duke Street incubation space into vast new offices in the Wavertree Technology Park. And its latest acquisition, of neighbouring Kilby house, points to a future where Liverpool can compete with the UK’s two big digital hubs: London and Manchester.

“Kilby House is the start of a new phase of our Cloud Computing Campus, providing data centre space that’s highly resilient, and more cost effective than Manchester or London,” Kehoe explains. “There is much work to be done,” he adds, “but Liverpool has a more resilient power supply than Manchester, is less congested than

DATA WAS GETTING BIGGEr, AND WE SAW ThErE WErE COMMErCIAL OPPOrTUNITIES. ThAT LIVErPOOL COULD BE A CENTrE OF ExCELLENCE…

Professor Dennis Kehoe, CEO of AIMES Grid Services

London, and we’ve got some real momentum behind us.”

Kehoe talks of Aimes’ three ongoing projects - iMove, iTrac and iPort - designed to make our city’s infrastructure work harder, our traffic to flow better, and our resurgent port operate smarter.

“Put these new systems together and you’ve got a 21st century city that just works,” he says.

aimesgridservices.com

30

DOING IT FOR THe FAMILY

AYRE’S AMBITIon -

Arguably the most interesting football season for many a year beckons for fans of the Premier League – all change in Manchester; the return of the ‘Special One’; Martinez moves in at Goodison; Suarez stays at Anfield: but some things never change – the media-driven rumour mill and the sizeable pot of money spent during those football fallow summer months. In the first of a two part feature on the city’s Premier League clubs Jonathan Caswell talks to the men at the top

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FOOTBALL is big business and when the summer transfer window closed on August 31, Premier League clubs had spent a record £630m. On deadline day alone, spending was up by £30m on the 2012 figure - with £140m spent.

Further, during the window, the top-flight clubs’ net transfer spend was also a new record at £400m.

Since the introduction of the transfer window system by FIFA during the 2002–03 season gross player transfer spending has exceeded an eye-watering £5.3bn.

It almost goes without saying that football is big business in the city of Liverpool too - a serious business – the most successful footballing city in England and a massive global brand despite the top flight trophy not having been paraded around the city’s streets since 1990.

Liverpool FC played its own part over the summer, reams were written on the Suarez saga and the club spent £44.8m on players and generated £28.15m in selling others on. But what sum is enough to land the honour that has eluded the club for more than two decades, especially in the era of the overseas oligarch?

Ian Ayre, born in Liverpool with football allegiance passed down from his father, landed the top job as Managing Director in 2011, having previously been the club’s Commercial Director. he says it’s not all about cold hard cash: “For all their money

WE LIKE TO ThINK OF OUrSELVES AS ThE WOrLD’S GrEATEST FOOTBALL FAMILY

32

Manchester City didn’t win the league last year, Manchester United won it and their wealth is based on success and not on somebody writing a big cheque every year, so I think the ability to compete is there for everyone.

“Of course the teams with the most wealth and the most investment and the biggest squads largely do better in the end and it’s challenging when certain clubs have infinite wealth and are able to spend that, but hopefully the way the game’s trying to be managed by UEFA and the Premier League in terms of financial fair play will try and rein some of that in.

“We all have money to spend and we all have an opportunity to invest and it’s about how wisely you invest that and what you get out of it. If we are going to plot a course to be successful then we have to do that by making

most of the revenue and the opportunity we have and making the most of the size of our fan base.

“It’s no secret we are not playing in Europe this year but you haven’t seen any lack of investment in our squad and you haven’t seen us suggest that we can’t compete, so the opportunity is still there and there would be nobody turning up for work at LFC if we didn’t think we had a chance of winning.”

For Ian Ayre there are other important factors at play, which will always ensure this famous club will be there or thereabouts, and they concern the lifeblood of the club - the fans and the importance of LFC’s role in the community: “We like to think of ourselves as the world’s greatest football family.”

he adds: “I think it’s a city thing not just the football club. The city of Liverpool is very like that and I think the foundations on which the club were built, the way people like (legendary manager Bill) Shankly and others talked about the club, it’s all being in this together, being as one and looking after each other and showing respect and they lend themselves to lots of cultures around the world. I think for that reason we have a fantastic following, second to none.”

Ian Ayre believes this explains the sheer scale of support overseas, particularly in Asia, where he once lived and worked: “Family is everything, family comes first, respect to elders all those things are very deeply ingrained in Asian culture. So the sort of things that Liverpool represents over the years, the way the club, for instance, came together around the Hillsborough tragedy, they are all real key markers about the way people act and are expected to act in Asian culture and I think that bodes well for Liverpool.”

There is no doubt that Liverpool’s global appeal is a revenue generator, but prudent financial management is the mantra of a club once heralded as the model for all, but which nonetheless flirted with disaster under previous ownership: “Probably the biggest single challenge of my job here at Liverpool is to make sure that we don’t spend beyond our means, that we invest wisely and run a tight and effective business.

IT’S NO SECrET WE ArE NOT PLAYING IN EUrOPE ThIS YEAr BUT YOU hAVEN’T SEEN ANY LACK OF INVESTMENT IN OUr SQUAD AND YOU hAVEN’T SEEN US SUGGEST ThAT WE CAN’T COMPETE

NOBODY IS GETTING CArrIED AWAY WITh WhAT hAS BEEN A GrEAT STArT, BUT I ThINK IT BODES WELL FOr ThE FUTUrE, IT ShOWS ThAT WE ArE MAKING PrOGrESS

Ian Ayre, Managing Director of Liverpool FC

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“We want to compete, but there is nobody involved in this football club who is going to allow the club to get into the sort of financial mess it was in two and half years ago. Of course you come under pressure from the fans and the media and the like to invest more, but we are going to do what’s right for the long term interests of the football club and that’s what, I think, the majority of fans would want.”

What the fans crave of course is a silver pot that says Liverpool are champions of England and already this season it appears that stability in the boardroom is being echoed with performances on the pitch. After 24 years and the rise of the mega-rich club can it happen?

Ian Ayre is unequivocal: “Nobody is getting carried away with what has been a great start, but I think it bodes well for the future, it shows that we are making progress, our best start in many years and we have to keep building on it, but we will do it in the right way, we will do it with one eye on success and one eye on the effective running of the business and as long as we keep doing it we will crack it at some point and start getting back to the top and winning trophies.”

liverpoolfc.com

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This summer, a new chapter in the never-ending story of the Mersey began to unfold.

It was a blazing hot day and, as M People’s heather Small sang out ‘what have you done today, to make you feel proud?’, footballing royalty from either end of the Manchester Ship Canal - Kenny Dalglish and Sir Bobby Charlton - pushed the button signalling the beginning of an awfully big adventure.

Somewhere out of sight, fathoms deep below the cheering crowd, the dredging of the Mersey river bed began. Construction on the £300 million Liverpool2 deep water terminal was underway.

The terminal will see post-Panamax vessels

LIVErPOOL IS CLEArLY IN AN ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION FOr VESSELS COMING IN TO EUrOPE ON ATLANTIC SEA rOUTES

WATeR

Liverpool2 will see post-Panamax vessels - the biggest ever to take to the seas - call directly at the Port of Liverpool when it opens in 2015. And, this year, the landmark development began to reshape the course of our river, for good.

DeeP

The shape of things to come...

of up to 13,500 TEU (20 foot equivalent - the measurement unit used to size out container ships) call directly at the Port of Liverpool when it opens in 2015 – the same year the widening of the Panama Canal is due to be completed.

The deep water terminal will attract some of the world’s largest container vessels to a centrally-located UK distribution hub and a population of 35 million consumers within 150 miles. Make no

Gary hodgson, Chief Operating Officer of Peel Ports

35

ThE DEEP WATEr TErMINAL WILL ATTrACT SOME OF ThE WOrLD’S LArGEST CONTAINEr VESSELS TO A CENTrALLY-LOCATED UK DISTrIBUTION hUB AND A POPULATION OF 35 MILLION CONSUMErS WIThIN 150 MILES.

mistake. Just like those ships, this is huge.

But before we see the first goliath of the seas head up river, dredging operations have to scour out a 16.5 metre berthing pocket creating the necessary deep water to allow them to find safe harbour here.

Everything about Liverpool2 is spoken of in super-sized terms. A new 854 metre-long quay wall with some 30,000 cubic metres of concrete will be constructed, and three million cubic metres of infill will be needed to create the planned new container area. We’re going to a lot of trouble to welcome these leviathans. So it’s spoke to Gary hodgson, Chief Operating Officer of Peel Ports to find out why…

How does Liverpool’s position stand to benefit from the widening of the Panama Canal?

It’s no coincidence that Liverpool2 opens for business at the same time that the Panama Canal re-opens after being widened in order to enable the transit of larger vessels. Liverpool is clearly in an advantageous position for vessels coming into Europe on Atlantic sea routes, and the expansion of the Panama Canal means we are likely to see increased volumes of vessels coming from the Far East via the Panama Canal to serve the East Coast of the USA and then on to Europe.

Liverpool’s traditional overseas customer base has been dominated by Ireland and

North America, but there is also substantial opportunity in the rapidly growing markets of South America. We are seeing more shipping from the South America region coming in to Europe.

Visualisation of Liverpool 2

36

If we don’t have this work carried out, what do we stand to lose? How important are these new, bigger ships going to be?

It’s less a case of what we stand to lose and more a case of what we stand to gain.

At the moment the Port of Liverpool cannot accommodate large container vessels (anything over 4,500 TEU). This is because it is a locked port, and any vessels entering the port have to be small enough to enter the Gladstone or Langton Locks. These were built in the 1920s when ocean-going vessels were considerably smaller than they are today.

As vessels have become larger a freight imbalance in the UK has developed. 90 percent of containers entering the UK now do so through southern ports (Southampton and Felixstowe) which do not have lock restrictions. But 50 percent of those containers end up in the northern half of the UK, at a destination closer to the Port of Liverpool. Containers are transported to and from the South by rail and road at additional cost. Obviously this has implications for the congestion of our railways and road network too.

These ships are important because more bulk equals more efficiency. The current trend in shipping is for ever bigger ships which transport larger number of containers. Maersk, for example, has just launched the first of its triple E class vessels. To give you some idea of its enormity, it is a quarter of a mile long and 195ft wide – the equivalent of an eight lane motorway.

In summary, the driver for the investment in the new Liverpool2 deep water terminal is to expand Peel Ports’ market share. To do so the port needs to be able to accommodate larger vessels.

Who are our major competitors? And will this give us the edge?

The main competitors are Felixstowe, Southampton and, when it opens next year, London Gateway. In terms of whether it will give us the edge; Liverpool2 will certainly give us an opportunity to increase our market share. An importer can move their product from the Far East to the heart of the UK – within a stones’ throw of Manchester – without touching an inch of UK road tarmac. That is very appealing to many businesses both for its carbon and its cost-saving advantages. Kelloggs, Tesco and Princes Foods are just some of the major brands that use this route.

Does Peel see L2 having major ‘knock-on’ benefits to Liverpool Waters and its larger plans for the area?

I’m sure there will be plenty of knock-on benefits – 5,000 new jobs that come with Liverpool2 will have an effect on the economy of the local area, for example. Any upgrade to transport infrastructure will be to the benefit of all. And

confidence in the fortunes of the city, generated from increased employment and growth at the port, ditto.

What about onward transport links - how key are they to L2’s success?

Clearly a port does not operate in isolation because a port is a hub, not a terminus. road, rail and inland waterway (Manchester Ship Canal) infrastructure are crucial to the efficiency of the port. Peel Ports would like to see the UK Government consider whether it might subsidise inland waterway freight transport in the same way it subsidises inland rail freight transport. This would level the playing field in terms of costs to move goods around the country.

The Atlantic Gateway strategy has identified several key priorities for the North West, which include the development of the port and canal network and the Northern hub rail improvement scheme.

peelports.co.uk

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IT’S

WHAT We DO

liverpool is a city that loves to connect to all points on the globe. It’s in our blood. Whether it’s trade, culture, architecture or our best commodity - our people - our tendrils reach far and wide....

Liverpool tendering experts TeNDeR MANAGeMeNT CONSULTANCY has recently been advising the Quatari Government on procurement.

Liverpool law firm HILL DICkINSON has offices in the Greek port of Piraeus and an Asian office in Singapore

Shanghai is Liverpool’s twin city and home to LIVeRPOOL VISION’S Asian office.

Liverpool based PLeXUS COTTON has significant cotton growing, manufacture and warehousing presence across the globe. Plexus’ African operations are in Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda and Zimbabwe

Liverpool Christmas decorating company THe CHRISTMAS DeCORATORS received their most prestigious ever commission in 2012 - dressing the tree in Manger Square in Bethlehem

Plans are underway to take Liverpool’s music and digital conference to the home of rEM, Captain Beefheart and co, as SOUND CITY shakes the deep south at Athens, Georgia in 2014

LIVeRPOOL is Mexico’s largest chain of department stores. It was so named by its 19th century founder, Frenchman Jean Baptiste Ebrard when he began importing to Mexico from Liverpool.

LIVeRPOOL FC owners Fenway Sports Group are based in Boston, USA

CReAMFIeLDS music festivals continue their long and successful South American party with November dates in Peru and Argentina.

Birkenhead marine electrical engineering firm SeAkING boasts clients in russia, Africa, the Middle East, Singapore and the US.

UNIVeRSITY OF LIVeRPOOL’S Shanghai campus is an eye-catching new addition to this 21st century city - further uniting our two cities with its internationally focused, research-led initiatives.

Liverpool games developer THUMBSTAR is the sole provider of Android games on China Telecom’s mobile platform. It signed a one-year contract last year, and recently signed a four-year extension.

Liverpool architectural practice BROCk CARMICHAeL collaborate with hong Kong’s Oval Partnership, establishing a joint venture brand called the Octagon Partnership. This has helped them to share locations, skills and knowledge and allows both practices to bid for larger projects.

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For someone who is Liverpool through and through, it’s to Manchester that Les Dennis owes his name.

Born ‘Les heseltine’ in 1953 in Garston, south Liverpool, he followed his dad’s football allegiance of Liverpool FC on whose books (and Tranmere rovers) he had been in the 1930s. But his other parent followed a different shade of red: “My Mum loved the whole Busby Babes thing and was a big Dennis Law fan and she suggested ‘Les Dennis’ as a stage name and it stuck.”

It’s the only ‘blot’ on his Scouse copy book though – Liverpool born & bred; same school as John Lennon; football fan; favourite band, The Beatles; Comedian.

He also has, in bucket loads, the ability to laugh at himself. He has needed it in recent years: “If you ever believe your own publicity and get above your station, a Scouser will always tell you to: ‘Be’ave, have a word with yourself’, and that has been the biggest thing the city has given me - it keeps your feet firmly on the ground.”

It helped with his rehabilitation after baring his sole in the Big Brother house following the very public breakdown of his marriage. On the back of it he landed a role in the ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant skit, Extras in which he was cast as a “twisted demented version”, of himself, literally baring all.

“When I came out of the Big Brother house, I had a hard time for about two or three years over my celebrity marriage – it went on and on and every interview was about that, so Extras was a chance to show I had a sense of humour about it all and also to prove that I could act.”

And act he can. His theatre work includes big shows such as Chicago, Me and My Girl, Hairspray and Legally Blonde and he is currently starring as King Arthur in Eric Idle’s West End smash-hit SPAMALOT. his one-man play Jigsy, a darkly comic drama about an ageing stand-up comedian, played at the Assembly rooms on the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012, earning him a Best Actor award at the Liverpool Post Arts Awards, and a stack of 4 and 5 star reviews from the national press.

“To win an award like that in my own city is no mean feat when you are up against the likes of David Morrissey (Macbeth). I’d dearly love to come back and do Shakespeare at the Everyman theatre, which was where my love of theatre was first fired when I was at school.

“The number of people who have come through there - Jonathan Pryce, Bernard hill, Alison Steadman, Julie Walters, Antony Sher, Bill Nighy, Matthew Kelly - is quite amazing, that’s for me where it all started and gave me a desire to act.”

He has, of course, recently delighted audiences with his warmth and humour battling to a runner up spot in Celebrity Masterchef and he appears in the Boxing Day special of Midsomer Murders. On the stage he is taking on the lead role of Victor in the adaptation of the Peter James’ novel The Perfect Murder which will tour the UK.

It amounts to one thing for Les: “I won New Faces in 1974 and my biggest achievement is that I’m still here, it’s a hard business to have longevity in and keep trying to reinvent.”

he credits his Liverpool up-bringing with that

too: “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again which the city has in abundance, which I think I have inherited.

“Liverpool is an amazingly courageous city. When you look what we’ve been through with the 96 (hillsborough tragedy) and how we were proved to be right and the courage and conviction of the city to always be heard.”

Forty years an entertainer, 60 years a great ambassador for Liverpool .

WHO IS

LeS DeNNIS ?

FAVOURITe ReSTAURANT:

Yuet Ben: The oldest Chinese in Liverpool, been going there since 17 - the best ribs anywhere.

Everyman Bistro: I loved this place and I hope they reinvent it.

FAVOURITe PLACe:

Anglican Cathedral: The most awe-inspiring building

Anfield

Everyman Theatre: One of the most atmospheric and exciting theatres in Britain

FAVOURITe CHARACTeRISTIC:

Bouncing back. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off start all over again.

One of the UK’s best known entertainers - impressionist, comedian, TV presenter, game show host, actor, celebrity chef, all round clever dick – who is Les Dennis really?

liverpoolconventionbureau.com

CONFIDENTCONFERENCINGIT’S LIVERPOOLCITY OF THE BEATLES, CULTURE AND SPORT, WORLD HERITAGE SITE AND HOST OF THE WORLD-FIRST INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL FOR BUSINESS IN 2014. FAST-GROWING, WELL-CONNECTED AND FAMOUSLY FRIENDLY, WE’RE CONFIDENT IN LIVERPOOL AND WE’RE CONFIDENT THAT YOU WILL BE TOO.