Lancashire

2014 is going to be a good ‘un

2014

Unemployment down, inflation down, predictions of growth up and Everton riding high in the Premier League playing a brand of football not seen at Goodison Park sine the halcyon ‘school of science’ days, 2013 has ended up being quite a decent year – but I’ll predict that 2014 will be even better.

The economy has turned the corner, business confidence has returned, and during the next twelve months that confidence will deliver enterprise, jobs and growth for UK Plc and for the North of England.

In the regions where Downtown operates, there is even more reason to be optimistic.

Leeds will host the Tour de France, a tremendous coup for the city region and an event that will elevate Leeds’ international standing and generate significant interest in Yorkshire. With the new Trinity shopping mall now open, and a 13,000 seat arena, Leeds will be looking to build its visitor economy, whilst maintaining its position as a leader in the professional and advanced manufacturing sectors.

Lancashire has been working hard to put in place a business support package that is private sector friendly and can deliver for ambitious companies in the county. Its BOOST initiative is the most comprehensive project of its kind that I have seen, and Lancashire County Council and the Local Enterprise Partnership deserve huge credit for genuinely listening to business and establishing a programme that will really work for Lancashire firms.

Manchester continues to deliver major regeneration and infrastructure schemes, and its plans for Airport City will take the city to another level again. Greater Manchester continues to demonstrate the importance of good civic leadership, private-public sector partnership that work, and the ability to avoid complacency and continue to drive forward with visionary strategies that build on past successes. I expect Manchester to lead the pro HS2 campaign and lobby for the acceleration rather than cancellation of a project that will benefit the North, but arguably Manchester in particular.

Liverpool will host the biggest international business event the UK has seen since 1951. Max Steinberg and his team at Liverpool Vision are organising a six week jamboree of activities that will take place in June and July of next year, with Downtown holding a significant series of high profile events during the International Festival of Business’ ‘Cities & Enterprise’ week. Over 140 countries are already signed up to IFB, and some top speakers have been booked. Again as a showcase for what the Liverpool city region has to offer, it couldn’t get much better.

As for Downtown, well 2014 see’s us mark our tenth anniversary. As you can imagine we have a whole host of special events, parties and celebrations in store for you, so watch this space.

Have a fantastic Christmas – and look forward to an absolutely fabulous New Year.

We should all be concerned about decline of regional newspapers

The Liverpool Post

This week it was announced that a Liverpool institution, The Post, would be ceasing publication. The newspaper, which switched from a daily to a weekly in 2012, has been running for more than 158 years, and has been particularly good at business coverage, in depth reporting of some of the bigger issues that have affected the Liverpool city region and local sport, namely Everton and Liverpool.

In recent times, as with all regional papers, its quality has declined along with its circulation figures, but nonetheless it is a significant news platform that will be missed.

Its closure, though sad, was not entirely unexpected, and the city will still be served with a regional newspaper via the Echo, though this is more tabloid in its approach to reporting.

However, the Echo too has seen a significant drop in its circulation figures in recent years, and it seems that even giants like Trinity Mirror, who own a healthy chunk of the regional newspaper market, are struggling to find a way of overcoming the challenge of the World Wide Web.

Digital editions have been launched and scrapped, news teams have been cut back and dumbed down, increased amount of content is ‘scraped’ from other rival news agencies. The days of investigative reporting, considered and constructive analysis and local exclusives are, at best, hanging by a thread.

Readers of the Lancashire Evening Post, the Yorkshire Post and the MEN will be conscious of the decline in the quality of what they are reading in general news terms. As far as business news is concerned, it is pretty woeful.

Those journalists assigned to ‘do’ business often have several other roles within the paper and are increasingly reliant of PR agencies to fill their daily e bulletins or their weekly business supplements. Otherwise, it is those with the big advertising budgets that tend to enjoy lots of column inches.

Does this matter? I think it does. For a lobbying organisation like Downtown, we were highly reliant on the Post to shake things up in Liverpool when we launched nine years ago. The shambles of the management in the run up to Capital of Culture year, poor planning policy and too many QUANGOS were all issues that we were able to have debated and discussed through the pages of our local newspaper.

We have grown enough to be able to use other tools to raise such issues now, but are they as effective as print media to hit the wider community?

And in terms of the broader agenda, who will be holding to account our big Corporates regionally; speaking up for our towns and cities; highlighting the good and the bad; scrutinising what our local politicians and officials are up to? Is this an agenda that will interest the London centric press?

I think regional papers are caught in a vicious circle. To maintain economic viability in the short term, they cut overheads. In doing so they make their proposition less unique and less attractive. This leads to a fall in circulation. This leads to the next round of cost cutting. And so it goes on.

I believe there is a market for quality regional publications that have an agenda for good solid reporting, sticking up for their local area and providing good business coverage. There are few if any of the existing stable of regional newspapers that do this nowadays, and as a result I expect that the Post will not be the last one to be announcing closure.

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

Lancashire finds its voice

Lancashire Finds Its Voice

During the past month Downtown Lancashire has hosted two of the best events we have organised in the seven years since we launched in the county.

The Lancashire Business GROWTH conference held at Brockholes Nature Reserve in October was followed by our annual Lancashire Business Awards gala dinner at Stanley House last week.

I have never witnessed so much optimism, energy and confidence from a Lancashire audience for many a year.

The reasons for this may be multiple; an upturn in the economic outlook, confirmed by the Bank of England Governor on Wednesday being the most obvious one.

But I hope there is more to it than that. I have often argued that Lancashire is a county that has more opportunity and potential than anywhere else in the region. In terms of location, skills, quality of life and a strong business foundation, the county has much to offer.

The problem has been a reluctance to shout about the great things that are here; an inability to coordinate a cohesive marketing message to provide the narrative of the successes and investment opportunities that exist.

If our recent events are anything to go by the private sector has finally found its voice. There was no shortage of budding entrepreneurs, start up’s and growing businesses represented at both the conference and the awards dinner who were more than happy to tell people how great they are!

That is something that many Lancastrians have been shy of doing in the past. Perhaps we have learned from Manchester and more recently Liverpool that telling your story is as much a part of the success journey as the hard work, blood sweat and tears that go into it.

Equally, the public sector through the Local Enterprise Partnership is shaping policy around business support that matches the business community’s needs. With the exciting BOOST initiative signing up its 200th customer this week, it is clear that Lancashire has businesses with aspiration and ambition to grow – with a programme of support that genuinely helps them achieve their objectives.

The glass in Lancashire is more than half full. We are ready to take full advantage of the economic upturn that is ‘taking hold’ according to the Bank’s Governor this week. Bring it on!

To learn more about the BOOST project visit – www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk

Lancashire has the ‘Feelgood’ factor

Lancashire Business Growth Cofnerence

The energy, dynamism and confidence that was evident from Downtown’s Lancashire Business GROWTH Conference last week provides our county with a fantastic platform to progress as we come out of a deep, long recession and head into 2014.

Around one hundred delegates packed into the fabulous Brockholes nature reserve to hear from some top speakers about sales techniques, marketing and the comprehensive BOOST business support programme that has been recently launched by the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

However, the most impressive thing about the half day event was the delegates themselves. Great though all the contributors were, it was the buzz created by the business leaders and entrepreneur’s present, along with their challenging and constructive remarks that made the day special.

I have often said that Lancashire is the hidden gem of the North West, and the range of businesses and products showcased at this gathering more than proved it.

From the traditional manufacturing and professional services through to an ever increasing innovative creative sector, there was no shortage of business talent in the room. It was with some satisfaction that many of the messages we have been articulating for several years now appear to have been taken on board not only by the LEP but by the county’s leading educational establishments too.

By working in partnership, the private and public sector can progress Lancashire’s economy at a faster pace, and it was clear from contributions made by Lis Smith (Preston College), John Lonsdale (UCLan) and Andy Walker (Lancashire County Council) that they have put together a range of services that have genuinely taken account of the views of the business community.

This can only assist those with high growth ambitions, and the feeling within the room was that there is an environment within the world of commerce in Lancashire that can really prosper in the next twelve months and beyond.

One note of doubt remains around the ability of our politicians to put aside parochial issues for the more strategic benefit of the county. In Ruth Connor, it is evident that we have a strong leader in charge of the ‘marketing Lancashire’ agenda. She effectively stated to the conference her determination to bring cohesion and co-operation into this crucial area of work. That she must be supported by senior council officials and members is not doubted. The same co-ordination must also be applied to the economic development and regeneration arenas.

Lancashire’s private sector is feeling good. They will not forgive easily local politicians who stand in the way of future progress.