Leeds

Work Hard, but Play Hard too

Work Hard Play Hard Too

Over the past couple of months Downtown has hosted hugely successful business awards events in Manchester, Lancashire and Liverpool.

Every gala dinner has been a sell out. The response to the on line polls that we run were busier than ever. The winners and nominees were absolute quality.

In terms of the day to day stuff that Downtown does as an organisation, awards dinners may be seen as the fluffier end of the business – but they are no less important for that.

Throughout the year we work hard to provide B2B introductions that enable businesses to grow through sales and improving their connections across the business community. This work has led to literally hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of business being done across our network.

In addition, we provide the private sector with a genuinely independent voice on issues that matter to them, whether it is the way our city regions are governed, through to what type of business support initiatives ought to be offered.

On the strategic agenda we have discussed and debated governance structures, the UK’s future within the EU, transport and digital infrastructure, business finance, regeneration and HS2.

For business development purposes, our members have had the opportunity to hear from leading entrepreneurs and business gurus such as Deborah Leary, Andrew Rosenfeld, Michael Finnigan, Emma Jones, Ajaz Ahmed and Andy Bounds.

We have facilitated direct engagement with the public sector with key decision makers regularly addressing Downtown forums, with contributions from the city leaders and chief executives from Liverpool, Lancashire, Manchester and Leeds; plus regular meeting with government ministers and shadow ministers.

Indeed, through the course of the year, we have hosted over 120 events – and less than a dozen of them have been awards events, or indeed ‘sexy networking’.

But awards, sexy networking, playing hard and celebrating success are all as equally important as those more obviously serious elements of what we are about.

Because if you can’t let your hair down and have a good time; if you can’t say a big ‘well done’ to the business leaders and entrepreneurs who have kept going and excelled through the toughest recession we have known; and if we just did the lobbying, straight business deals and politics, Downtown would not include that vital ingredient that marks us out from the crowd – FUN.

Footnote: A great comment from leading entrepreneur Andrew Rosenfeld, who spoke at our Liverpool conference yesterday. In the UK we are too quick to write off those who fail in business. In the States, they see failure as part of the entrepreneurial journey. He’s not the first one to point this negative British attitude out, but he is the first one who has made the statement having sold a company for £600million!

Grow your business with BOOST

Boost Business Lancashire

Whatever you thought about the now defunct Business Link, and let’s be honest its performance was hit and miss at best, the fact is that at least it offered an impartial ‘one stop shop’ as a sign posting agency for business support.

The coalition government scrapped Business Link, along with Regional Development Agencies three years ago, and ever since there has been a general concern about the lack of focus as far as business support programmes in the North West is concerned.

Indeed, one of the more regular conversations I have with Downtown members is around their confusion about the myriad of business support projects, initiatives, funding and agencies that have sprung up over the past twenty four months.

The absence of an organisation that can offer you genuine impartial support and guidance on what is out there and what will suit your business best has been sorely missing – until now.

The Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership has launched an absolutely fantastic initiative to help the county’s business community identify what business support exists and how we can access that support. Everything from how to access finance to marketing and sales is covered through the excellent ‘Boost’ project.

Aimed at those entrepreneurial companies who are determined to grow, Boost offers a range of services, including an exciting events programme and a comprehensive website outlining how you can access business advice and support from leading private and public sector agencies.

‘Boost’ is underpinned by the Business Growth Hub, and in the coming months I am confident that this will significantly contribute to the county’s ambitious agenda of economic improvement and an increased appetite to encourage enterprise and entrepreneurship across Lancashire.

As part of the ‘Boost’ events programme Downtown Lancashire has teamed up with Lancashire Business View to host what promises to be a first class conference in the autumn. The ‘Lancashire Business Growth Conference’ will feature presentations from business leaders, academics and decision makers – and offer delegates the opportunity of voicing their opinion on what a ‘growth’ agenda for Lancashire should include.

To learn more about Boost and the Business Growth Hub go to www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk

Old solutions won’t solve new problems

Trolleybus

There is no doubt that the proposed Trolleybus scheme in Leeds will be controversial as it is  modern, unique, innovative and will inevitably, like any major infrastructure scheme, cause some disruption whilst it is being developed.

I have explained why I believe the project is a good thing for the city region here, and I posed the question to opponents ‘what would offer a better solution?’

This week another business organisation, alongside a local MP, criticised Trolleybus, and argued that there were other ways in which Leeds could tackle its increasing congestion problem.

I read on with bated breath hoping to find the new transport panacea option that had been presented as a practical alternative – only to have my hopes dashed when realising that ‘more buses and more park & ride schemes’ was the non-solution being offered.

Whether we like it or not, buses and park & rides are not seen as an attractive proposition by many people in the twenty first century.

Lack of security, cleanliness, poor reliability and standing in the rain, sleet and snow waiting for one are good reasons why many folk see buses as an antiquated, unattractive mode of transport.

The de-regulation of the industry back in the eighties certainly hasn’t helped, and many of the fleet that you see trundling around, often dirty , tired looking and empty, don’t fill you with the enthusiasm and confidence to hop onto one at the next opportunity.

Likewise, there are more white elephant ‘park & ride’ schemes throughout the country than you can shake a stick at. They cost fortunes and few of them deliver.

For me, any alternative to Trolleybus has to be more modern, more advanced, with an eye to the future; not a cry to go back to the past and attempt to make out that those modes of transport and transport initiatives that have failed us dismally since the huge rise in popularity of the motor car can somehow be the answer.

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. More buses and park & ride schemes? You may as well let Manchester have the money for its next tram development.

CCG condemns Miliband’s HS2 negativity

HS2

The Core Cities Group (CCG) fired a major warning shot across Labour leader, Ed Miliband’s bow this week about his party’s increasing negativity towards HS2. The threat of “open warfare” came from the Labour chiefs of its members, which includes Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds.

What has become clear during my many conversations in Leeds is just how important big infrastructure schemes like HS2 are to the private sector in the city – it is the number one priority.

There is a real strength of feeling that we cannot allow this, and projects like NGT and the Northern Hub, to be hijacked by political wavering.

So it comes as a surprise that there are Leeds MPs and councillors quietly doing exactly that, willing to jeopardise the future prosperity of their city, seemingly  in favour of chasing the ‘not in my back yard’ vote.

If Leeds is going to take advantage of its current position as an economic success then only a concerted and cross-party effort to apply pressure on the Government will see it win investment in these and future projects, rather than chasing crumbs from the Westminster table.

Remember, there remain question marks over the ability of Leeds to deliver major infrastructure projects, in the same way that London was questioned about its ability to deliver the Olympics. Whilst Trinity and the Arena have shown ambition, it is the HS2s and NGTs of this world that show the commitment and determination to get things done.

If Leeds finds itself in another five years without significant progress on HS2 and an integrated transport system (the only major UK city without one) then the finger of blame will rightfully fall on the councillors and MPs who fiddled whilst the future prosperity of Leeds went up in smoke.

Having a word with the bank

John Young

The excellent Bank of England agent for the North West, John Young, appeared in the second leg of his ‘Downtown tour’ at a private dinner in Manchester this week, having spent a few hours in the company of our Lancashire members last week.

His job on these occasions is to give a brief overview of where the Bank believes the economy to be, but more importantly to take the temperature of the regions business community.

So what are Downtown members telling John Young at the moment?

Confidence is improving, but there is still reluctance for companies to grow and invest in their business as much as they could because that confidence is fragile.

Banks are still not felt to be genuinely ‘open for business’ with over the top guarantees and assurances being demanded for relatively modest applications for lending.

The construction and property market is showing real signs of improvement, in both the housing and commercial sectors.

Red tape, bureaucracy and the tax system are still huge barriers to growth and if anything are getting worse rather than better.

Austerity has been painful, particularly in this part of the world, but it has been a necessary evil.

These were among the highlights from the conversations we have hosted so far, and the key messages that John will be taking back to his London colleagues and the Monetary Policy Committee. A mixed bag of positives and negatives, but nonetheless useful for that.

The Bank’s Governor now is a rather different character than predecessor Mervyn King. Mark Carney, a brash, confident Canadian – and an Evertonian – has already demonstrated a more astute use of media, and seems to be more politically savvy than King. His announcement on interest rates is one of the reasons that confidence is on the up, whilst his manner suggests a robustness that will enable the Bank to retain its independence from government.

John’s final tour date will happen in Liverpool soon. Perhaps he can bring his new boss with him, and we’ll take him to Goodison Park afterwards!