Lancashire

Time for a serious EU debate

EU

According to opinion polls following both the radio and television debates between Nigel Farage and Nick Clegg on the UK’s future in Europe, the UKIP man won fairly handsomely.

This should surprise nobody who knows a little bit about how the media works, and how much easier it is for a non – politician who talks in populist sound bites to impress over a much discredited Deputy Prime Minister who has forgotten that his advantage as a fresh faced alternative, back in the day of the first televised party leader skirmishes in 2010, has long disappeared.

The Farage bluff and bluster bears no scrutiny and, as UKIP probably counted on, it got none from his Liberal Democrat opponent who offered two performances that aspired to bland.

As a pro European my heart sank the moment I heard Clegg would be ‘batting’ for my side. No credibility, no substance, no chance sums up ‘I don’t agree with Nick’ nowadays.

In truth we learnt little about the real issues facing Europe or the UK’s membership of the European Union from these two debates. Insults were traded and outrageous claims made, but no real analysis of a UK isolated from Europe was undertaken. That type of serious discussion wouldn’t have suited either Farage or the media channels who acted as the event hosts.

The poll results, for what they are worth, demonstrate that pro EU politicians do need to start to articulate the positive benefits of European membership rather than simply saying we will ‘reform from within’.

Outside of Europe we would lose jobs, investment and influence, which is why the Prime Minister and the Leader of the opposition both support our continued involvement in the EU. They need to start to explain to us why they support EU membership in much clearer terms between now and next year’s General Election. The minor players have had their moment in the sun, a spat of little consequence in my view. It’s time the grown up’s got involved in a debate that, worryingly, currently fails to register as a key issue of interest among the vast majority of the British electorate.

Who is ‘Everyone’?

Everyone

I am sure I am not the only business owner who gets feedback from colleagues and clients alike that starts with the immortal word ‘everyone’!

‘Everyone’ said that event was great; ‘everyone’ thinks we are wrong about that particular issue; ‘everyone’ is complaining that we haven’t delivered a date with Beyonce for them; ‘everyone’ thinks David Moyes is doing a great job at Manchester United.

It takes little probing to realise that ‘everyone’ is the last person they spoke to, or the author of the last tweet they read. But in an age where we increasingly get our news from Twitter and other social media networks, and conversation and considered opinion is becoming a lost art, ‘everyone’ is having a much bigger influence on everyone’s thinking than ‘everyone’ should.

A snap on line poll of a hardly watched debate between the UKIP lummox Nigel Farrage and the increasingly irrelevant Nick Clegg had many people declaring this week that ‘everyone’ thinks the UK should pull out of Europe. At an event I took part in on Thursday morning about the International Festival for Business I was told that ‘everyone’ thinks it is an event that will be a damp squib. In my office last week one of my team told me that ‘everyone’ thinks that Downtown should stop hosting sexy networking evenings.

It is all nonsense of course. The overuse of ‘everyone’ has infiltrated everyone’s vocabulary and we need to challenge and push back when someone’s evidence is ‘everyone’.

I hope everyone who is reading this agrees with me, and vows to abandon using the phrase ‘everyone’ in the future.

A blog dedicated to a number of Downtown staff – you know who you are

Lancashire United

Lancashrie Rose

Last night over a thousand business leaders packed in to the Winter Gardens for the annual Red Rose Awards to celebrate the success of a diverse and impressive number of companies who have enjoyed a successful twelve months.

The event, hosted by the excellent publication Lancashire Business View, was no doubt a fabulous evening, and one I was really sorry to miss due to commitments today.

As they sat celebrating the wonderful business stories from across the county guests can be forgiven for not giving too much thought to the discussion and debate that I referred to in my blog here last week, whereby cities and city regions are increasingly seen as the future of economic growth in the UK.

So, how should Lancashire respond to the notion of cities exclusively taking the mantle of economic growth hubs, and indeed the idea presented by Evan Davies in his excellent BBC programme ‘Mind the Gap’ that to compete with London a Northern ‘super city’ ought to be created, consisting of Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds.

There is much merit in these three giants working more collaboratively, as I pointed out last week, but it then leaves the question as to how places like Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria will be supported.

If national policy continues to drive city hubs as the solution to relative economic decline in the North, then counties can only suffer – unless they create a fresh operating environment themselves.

There has been near irrational resistance from the various components that make up the Red Rose County to accept a hub city or an attack brand that can lead the marketing and business development agenda for Lancashire.

The Local Enterprise Partnership has performed remarkably well in bringing the disparate parts of the area together, but the underlying tensions between Blackburn, Preston and Blackpool still exist.

As the surrounding boroughs of Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds buy in to the inevitability of city hubs being the only way to drive city region wealth, albeit some more enthusiastically than others, Lancashire continues to insist on equal distribution of resource across its vast expanse, therefore diluting the offer that a united Lancashire would offer.

Both the private and public sectors need to address this problem before it’s too late. Ninety nine councils, hundreds of councillors and several Chamber of Commerce organisations representing one county cannot be right. A combined approach to our collective challenge will help enormously, and we’ll be approaching you soon to ask if you’re up for helping Lancashire overcome that challenge.

Flagship Finance Initiative Needs a Shake Up

RGF

In 2010 Michael Heseltine came to a Downtown event and waxed lyrical about the newly launched Regional Growth Fund.

This new financial pot would be available to businesses that were looking to grow and employ more staff. Essentially it would be aimed at the SMEs who are the crucial drivers of the UK economy, and the fund would be business friendly in terms of its processes and delivery, and as free from bureaucracy as it could possibly be.

Four years later and Hezza will be as disappointed as anyone at the latest report on the progress, or rather lack of it, of the RGF.

The National Audit Office has revealed that more than three quarters of the fund remains unspent, with only £492m of the allocated £2.6bn actually reaching business. The average cost of creating or safeguarding a job now stands at £37,400. And of the £917m paid out from the fund at the end of December last year, £425m is being held by intermediaries.

Bad though these statistics are, Downtown members’ experience on the ground is what is really concerning about RGF. Far from being ‘red tape free’ as the former Deputy Prime Minister intended, those companies who have applied to the fund have found it one of the most challenging and bureaucratic routes to finance.

Of those who didn’t give up part way through the cumbersome process, the few companies that were eventually successful have had to wait an age for their money, and have never received the business support and mentoring that was supposed to be part of the package.

Small and medium enterprises also question why companies such as AstraZeneca, Jaguar Land Rover and Lloyds Banking Group are being supported through a fund that was promoted and marketed as support for them.

What should have been a really positive and innovative addition to business support is turning into a bit of a damp squib. I hope Michael Heseltine and his government colleagues review how this important initiative can be shaken up and put back on track. The economy may be improving, but growing businesses still need all the help they can get.

Tom Finney

It was with huge sadness that I learnt of the great Tom Finney’s death last week.

When I was a Member of Lancashire County Council I had the privilege of meeting Tom on three separate occasions, and very fortunately ended up at one particular dinner in his company.

He obviously noticed my dulcet ‘scouse’ tones and started to wax lyrical about one of his former teammates Bill Shankly, telling me what a great player he was and how he knew he would go on to be a fantastic manager at Liverpool.

On learning that I was actually an Evertonian, he quickly began to regale tales of a young Howard Kendall, who had appeared in an FA Cup final for Preston North End at the tender age of just 17. Tom told me that Howard was the best footballer never to be capped by England, and again he was eager to praise Kendall for his achievements as a manager at Everton.

Tom Finney

When I asked the affectionately know ‘Preston Plumber’ about his own England career, he won over 70 caps scoring 30 goals for his country, he quickly moved the conversation on to some of the players he played alongside at international level. He was keen to avoid talking about himself, far more comfortable talking in praise of others. To say he was a humble man is an understatement.

And as much as he clearly loved playing for his country, he loved his club more, once saying “North End was a love affair for me. All I ever wanted to do was play for Preston.”

Of course we have players in the modern game who proclaim their love for the club who are currently paying their wages (‘Once a Blue always a Blue, hey Wayne), but we all know that they are, quite literally, playing the game.

It could be argued that there wasn’t as much money in football back then of course. But consider this. In 1952 Finney was offered the opportunity of joining an Italian club for a signing on fee of £10,000. That was a big figure back then, a record fee in fact. That he remained a one club man until the end of his career tells you all you need to know about one of our greatest footballers, a genuine legend and a true gentleman. RIP Tom.

To see the DQ Icon feature on Tom Finney please CLICK HERE