Liverpool

When a ‘Market’ is not a ‘Market’

Freezing Energy Prices

There has been much furore this week from certain sections of industry and the press following Ed Miliband’s announcement that a future Labour government would freeze energy prices for eighteen months.

Opponents have suggested that this move is ‘Red’ Ed’s attempt to interfere in the market and with market forces. But that’s a load of codswallop.

Instinctively, as a business owner and the chief executive of a private sector lobbying organisation, I am against the notion of imposed price caps, or of politicians attempting to skewer the market place with unnecessary interventions.

I would not be best pleased if Mr Miliband was proposing that business organisations had to set the same level of subscription, and that this price would be frozen, for example.

However, the difference between the products I sell, and that of the owners of utility companies, is that if you choose not to buy from me, then you don’t have to.

In the arena of utilities we have allowed a cartel of sorts to be established. They have different brands, different management structures, different bank accounts, and on occasion price differential too. But they are nowhere near as diverse or competitive enough, because they don’t have to be.

I don’t have a choice as to whether I heat my home, cook my food, use my laptop to write my always ‘on the deadline’ blog from my armchair.

We were promised by a Tory government in the eighties that the sale of our nationalised assets to ‘Sid’ would lead to more robust competition – not only on energy prices, but in the water industry and telecoms as well. That may have been the intention, but it has never materialised, and we have been royally ripped off by the big energy companies ever since.

Miliband’s proposal isn’t anti competitive; it won’t lead to a blackout; it’s certainly not Socialist. But it is long overdue.

New generation transport solutions needed for modern cities

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20 September 2013 at 10:11

It was good to read this week that business leaders from across Leeds have spoken up for the proposed Trolley Bus project in the city.

Public agencies, local transport authorities in particular, are grappling with the ever increasing challenges of traffic movement and congestion right across the UK.

Getting in and out of Leeds city centre can be a nightmare at the moment, and as the city’s growth plans gather momentum it is vitally important that this problem is addressed sooner rather than later, before it gets any worse.

A visitors overall experience of a place maybe positive, but if they have a nightmare journey in or out of their destination then they are far less likely to return.

From a purely business perspective the development of Trolley Bus is a no brainer.

Improved connectivity across the city and city centre will make it easier for people to travel to work, and access the great range of attractions Leeds boasts in both the retail and leisure sectors.

The scheme will create up to 4,000 jobs, and offer opportunities to local firms as a result of the construction, operation and maintenance of NGT.

The project will also provide greater incentive for potential inward investors, whilst giving more confidence to indigenous businesses that have plans to grow, knowing that they can expand in Leeds as their ambitions are matched by infrastructure schemes such as NGT.

All major regeneration projects, particularly those that are offering new, innovative solutions to old problems, have opponents and sceptics. To them I would ask ‘what is the realistic alternative?’

A city that has gone through the sort of transformation that Leeds has enjoyed in recent times needs modern, twenty first century facilities to match its status as the economic driver for the city region. Trolley Bus is an essential addition to Leeds’ growth plan.

The week that was…

19 July 2013 at 10:25

The chief executive of Everton Football Club; the Managing Director of Liverpool Football Club; the soon to be commissioning editor of Radio Five Live; a leading journalist from the Guardian; a bestselling author; David Moyes mentor; the leader of Manchester City Council; the cabinet member for housing on Liverpool city council; the city’s head of regeneration & employment; the shadow secretary of state for Education; around 400 business delegates – and a campaign to regenerate one of the key areas of Liverpool city centre. That, in a nutshell, has been ‘the week that was’ as far as Downtown Liverpool in Business is concerned.

Liverpool Business Week has now become an integral part of the business events calendar in the city, and this week was inspirational, challenging and rewarding.

From the first event at Novotel with the two senior executives from our two football clubs, through to this morning’s breakfast roundtable at Liverpool Community College with Stephen Twigg, we have generated a debate and discussion that has identified problems but, mostly, found solutions too.

There were too many opinions, ideas and tips to report in one blog, but for me the 2013 Liverpool Business Week provided the following:

A recognition that though ambitious for the future, both Everton and Liverpool are struggling to keep pace with the Premier League’s ‘new order’. If new stadia, or extended stadia in the case of Anfield, are not forthcoming soon, then that gap will simply grow, making a genuine challenge for a place in the elite top four a distant dream. Can the clubs afford to be scrapping to be ‘the best of the rest’ or does something have to give? Indeed can the city accept that we will no longer boast potential champions in our national sport? Many concluded after Monday’s conversation with Robert Elstone and Ian Ayre that the issue of a shared stadium is dead. I’m not convinced that this is the case. Watch this space.

Traditional media isn’t dead either – but it is changing dramatically and maybe not for the best in the long term. The explosion of social media, free online news sites and rolling 24/7 TV news channels means that we have better access than ever before to news. But what is the quality of that news and who, in future, will pay for investigative journalism?

If you believe in yourself, have a clear personal vision and goals, read Andy Bounds excellent ‘The Jelly Effect’ and can catch an hour a week with Michael Finnigan, you will undoubtedly succeed in business. The 100 plus Downtown members who attended Wednesday morning’s event at the Hard Day’s Night Hotel were absolutely buzzing from the presentations made by our guest speakers and you could feel the energy and optimism in the room. If you missed it, you missed out!

Manchester is, in the main, the exemplar in terms of city regeneration, growth and governance because it has outstanding leadership, and has had now for over a quarter of a century. Nobody who attended yesterday’s Property & Regeneration conference could be anything but impressed with Sir Richard Leese who gave a fascinating insight into how he and his team have delivered a dynamic, entrepreneurial and ‘joined-up’ city region.

The regeneration of Ropewalks, Downtown’s latest campaign as reported in our Top Storyhere can happen if we demonstrate the same ‘can do’ attitude as Leese and his colleagues, believe in ourselves as a city, draw up a vision and a plan – and create a genuine private-public sector partnership to provide a solution to a problem that has blighted Liverpool for far too long.

It was a busy week, and a hard one for the Downtown team. But it was most certainly worth it, mostly because of the final thing I was reminded of. Liverpool’s business community is vibrant, energised, confident – and it’s got its mojo back big time.

The Liverpool ‘Quid’? No Thanks

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28 June 2013 at 09:35

The introduction of a Liverpool Pound is being discussed and debated in the city at the moment, and I have to say I am far from convinced about the merits of such an initiative.

The fact that it appears to add zero value to the economy is bad enough, but worse I think it is a project that says Liverpool is parochial and inward looking, rather than promoting the image that we have been striving to create in recent years of a global, outward looking city.

At best the Liverpool Pound is a gimmick; at worse it amplifies the stereotypical view of the outside world of scousers.

On a practical level you would have to ask where this would leave the city region agenda – I can’t see the good folk of Wirral and St Helens being wowed by the idea; and given the entrepreneurial talents that exist in our fine city, you have to wonder how long it would be before counterfeit Liverpool notes would be circulating in the local economy.

The only positive reason I have heard for the notion is that notes with the pictures of local celebrities, the Beatles being the obvious ones, would be bought and taken home by tourists. But couldn’t a smart retail outfit do this without the complicated creation of a new currency?

It is a bad idea, and one that should be consigned to the ‘delete’ bin as soon as possible.