Liverpool has enjoyed a fabulous seven weeks in the sun as the city has played host to the International Festival for Business. So successful have we been in the execution of what was a challenging gig, the government have announced that they will let us do it all over again in 2016. The ambition now, rightly, is that this will become a biennial event and IFB18, 20, 22, and so on will all be held here.
On the back of a ten year regeneration and renaissance that has included the total transformation of our world famous waterfront; the European Capital of Culture celebrations; the Liverpool One development; the establishment of a first class arena; a myriad of new, quality hotels; the Super Port; the giants and let us not forget, the return to Europe of our two Premier League football clubs, and it is absolutely right that Liverpudlians should be encouraged, confident and have a bit of a swagger.
However, a strong word of warning against this extremely positive backdrop. The city is at the start of a comeback journey – nowhere near at its end. The narrative we should embrace ought to be one of aspiration and ambition. We are aiming to build on recent successes after a generation of struggle. We want to be taken seriously on the national and international stage again and regain our reputation as a smart city that you can do business with. We want to attract more people – many, many more people to work, play and most importantly live here.
We are not, however, as some of the more over excited ambassadors for Liverpool have been increasingly claiming in recent weeks to delegates from all across the globe, the ‘best city in the world’. In fact, we are not even in the top 100!
A city that has a much higher number of unemployed people than the national average, a startlingly low rate of business start-up’s, and a worrying skills shortage cannot and should not claim to be the best in the world.
Does the hyperbole matter? Well, in my opinion, yes it does. The biggest asset of any business, and of any city, is knowing your strengths, knowing your weaknesses, and being able to engage with potential investors in an honest and open manner that will get them to take you seriously.
Standing up and saying ‘welcome to the best city in the world’ may impress the indigenous business community, though my guess is not that many of them. To an international audience it is at best a bit of a joke; at worst over the top, unnecessary hype.
Liverpool has a huge amount to shout about. We should do that in an effective, consistent and realistic fashion – then we can continue the momentum and fantastic success that we have enjoyed during the past decade, carry on tackling the very real and serious challenges that we still face; and one day, maybe one day, actually be able to stand up and say ‘Liverpool is the best city in the world’ and be taken seriously.