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Mayor extends Liverpool’s ‘business embassy’ to 2014
The ‘Liverpool in London’ project is to be extended until July 2014, following further support by Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson.
Mayor Anderson has pledged a further £330,000 to ensure that Liverpool can capitalise on the progress made since the city’s London offices opened for business in January 2011.
In that time the ‘business embassy’ has been the venue for more than 170 meetings, including visits from several overseas delegations; 26 high profile events; 16 significant investment leads; and around £1m of deals done for its supporters.
Mayor Anderson said: “From a standing start Liverpool in London has been a great success and remains central to our ambition to promote Liverpool as an international outward-looking city brimming with talent and enterprise.
“Since becoming Mayor I’ve clearly indicated that we are business friendly. Hardly a day passes where I am not talking to investors, business departments in government and business leaders.
“It is a priority of mine to investigate every avenue open to us to talk the city up, to remove barriers to growth and ensure the right conditions exist for business to invest, set up and grow in the city.
“The challenge we all face is delivering in tough times and it is for these reasons that I have taken the decision to signal our on-going intent by funding our London presence until 2014.
“And while thanking those who are already supporting us, I strongly encourage others to do the same. The private sector tells me it will back us if we stay open in London for longer, so now I urge them to. This facility exists for their business, it is a business base in London and I want our private sector to use it as theirs.”
Mayor Anderson added: “In a short time it has brought considerable benefit to Liverpool. We have been able to meet with key government and industry people more easily. It helped us to secure sponsorship for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in March and it will play a central role in the planning and delivery of the International Festival for Business, coming to Liverpool in 2014.
“And just as significantly by using it Liverpool in London members have won deals totalling almost £1million, which has repaid our initial investment many times over and is also a reflection of the huge opportunity that exists for our business community in London.”
The news comes as Liverpool prepares to meet with an international audience at the City of London Mayor’s residence, Mansion House, as part of the government’s attempts to win £1bn worth of trade and export deals at a ‘Business Olympics’.
It also comes in the same week that two more Liverpool in London members reveal they have won big contracts in the capital.
Brand communications agency Uniform and market researchers Curiosity Research have reported contracts in excess of £500,000 since joining Liverpool in London, which brings the total business won by members of Liverpool in London to around £1m.
Max Steinberg, chief executive of Liverpool Vision, which operates the London base, said: “Our aim at the start was to increase the city’s standing in the capital, to explain and demonstrate how vibrant and dynamic Liverpool is again and to make it easier for the city’s businesses to meet key decision makers and create their own business networks.
“Our members are feeling the benefits and seizing the opportunities in the south east and winning big business while enhancing their reputations and that of Liverpool.”
In the forthcoming months, Liverpool in London will be holding four high-profile events, as well as four Liverpool in London business club events, membership of which now stands at 280 people, with the next on September 11, featuring Mayor Anderson.
Guy Wallis, founding partner at DWF and the chair of the Liverpool in London steering board, added: “Our presence in London combined with having an elected Mayor gives us great advantages over our competitor cities. Both have made government and others sit up and take notice of Liverpool and understand that we clearly mean business.
“It is the job of all us to keep pushing the Liverpool messages about the excellence of our business sectors and to keep changing outdated perceptions. Even those who have an office in London should support the ‘embassy’, because it attracts the quality and profile of high-level people you would want to meet.”
Membership of Liverpool’s London office gives an organisation a London office address, from where they can work, use the meeting facilities and more easily plot an expansion into the London market.
The office is supported full time by Liverpool staff who act as a point of contact and ensure meetings run smoothly. Staff can also provide business connections and invitations to relevant events.
For membership information call Chris Heyes at Liverpool in London on 0207 977 1434 or cheyes@liverpoolvision.co.uk or by visiting www.itsliverpoolinlondon.com
Image: L-R Max Steinberg and Joe Anderson alogside Thames Jan 2011
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