Yes, another thread to add to the other 300! However, I believe that this issue above all others is so important to the future of Liverpool that it deserves its own thread. If this city; its leaders, its businesses, its people do not embrace a business-friendly, free enterprise culture the way Manchester has then all of the current developments will ultimately be meaningless.

Public investment, be it in new commercial and residential developments is important for attracting inward investment- but in the long-term Liverpool needs to be energetically marketed as a business friendly place- where it is easy to start a business and easy to run a business- a place where it is easy and worthwhole to invest money. There is NO REASON WHATSOEVER why such a state of affairs cannot be achieved in Liverpool.

There are too many bureaucrats and too much red tape in Liverpool- FACT! Why did the Bank of New York go to Manchester? Why does Manchester tend to attract more private investment than Liverpool?
Because Manchester's council, to their credit, have gone to great lengths to seek the advice of commercial consultants and to market the city as a place to do business. This is the primary reason Manchester is richer than Liverpool.

Read the following article from today's Echo... if these issues aren't urgently addressed then in 30 years we will still be poor and trailing our urban neighbours, CofC or no CorC, Objective 1 or no Objective 1.

'Put quangos on a bonfire' Apr 5 2005


By Neil Hodgson, Liverpool Echo


SMALL business chief Len Collinson has called for a "bonfire of the quangos" on Merseyside.

The Forum of Private Business national chairman says there are too many quangos and publicly-funded agencies and calls for more private sector workers and fewer bureaucrats.

Knutsford-based FPB, with 25,000 members, says apart from council-backed services for business, it has identified at least 17 quangos concerned with regeneration and working with the business community.

These include a Liverpool office of Government Office North West - which employs 19 people - and an office for the Northwest Development Agency.

Mr Collinson, a Merseyside-based businessman, backs a campaign by lobby group Downtown Liverpool in Business against "excessive govern-ment" in the city, saying businesses are fed up with having to deal with so many agencies and quangos.

The excess of public sector bodies was a barrier to inward investment, job creation and regeneration.

"We are concerned the economy of Liverpool is too much weighted towards the public sector. Recent figures showed 38% of Liverpudlians worked for the state, compared with a national average of 25%."

"We know productivity in the public sector has fallen by 10% since 1997.

"One of the problems in Merseyside is that the increase in gross added value is from the public sector and gross added value in public sector jobs is lower than gross added value in manufacturing jobs."

Businesses resented the fact that quangos took key decisions behind closed doors and there was little opportunity for the business community to make its voice heard before decisions were taken.

"Complexity and a lack of transparency and accountability make it hard for local business people and residents to influence events.

"If Liverpool is to prosper, we need more workers in the private sector, less bureaucrats and a simplified system of government help that the wealth creators find easy to access."

Liverpool is neither capital of enterprise or capital of red tape. I can see exactly where this is going...

Preston- I don't have a clue what you're talking about. I wasn't speaking literally with the title, nor am I trying to make any political statements. I want to discuss something that causes me great concern and which I believe is important to the city's future development. I'm sure anybody who cares about Liverpool's future will have something meaningful to add, or suggest, on the topic.

A tricky one, there is a lot of public money going in, and a need to spend that wisely and accountably, so its hardly surprising a lot of agencies are present on the ground.

It probably could do with tidying up, and certainly external representation is a total mess. Doesn't help that tourism is officially regionalised now, with the ludicrous "England's North West" concept and campaign that doesn't even apply to a real region (real as in accepted by those who supposedly live in it).

I am not sure it is true that Manchester's public agencies have actually been smarter or more streamlined than in other places, the city has locational advantages for some businesses and has enjoyed some good fortune in recent years. There are other cities that might be regarded as having enjoyed better quality co-ordination of public and business support agencies - such as Sheffield - that have failed to attract many quality private sector relocations. So we should be careful about putting two and two together and making five here, the business support and public agencies may have been piss poor but a business was just going to go there anywhere.

There is a lot of boasting in regeneration and local government, and bandwagons - thus if a city has a spot of luck or good fortune and receives a couple of prestige projects, suddenly the sun shines out of the public agencies who were around to take the call and send out the leaflet etc.

Don't you think that if the Chinese car company had done a deal with Rover in the past week, that Government ministers, Advantage West Midlands (the West Midlands RDA) and everyone else with a potential stake would have been crowing about how they had secured this triumph for Birmingham and the UK? Because the talks have stalled, there is not a peep - people walk away and say "nothing to do with me" when things don't go so well. So we don't have to suffer any nauseating full page adverts in The Economist from Advantage West Midlands crowing about how they have secured "World Class Leadership in Auto Engineering for a World Class Region" or whatever insane bullshit they would have used public money to boast with if a deal had gone through.

Although unrealistic, the englandsnorthwest group has poured a lot of money into Liverpool and promote it far more than they do Manchester. The same goes for the Lake District.

I'm not sure that Manchester has a locational advantage in attracting big banks (for example)- most of their business is done electronically. And Liverpool has a locational advantage in other respects, e.g. as a port. I really do think that the enterprise culture could be stronger in Liverpool- just look how much employment is dependent on the public sector. Just to take a random example, look on the Royal Town Planning Institute website- and go to the consultancies section. Liverpool has the same number as Warringotn and Chester- Manchester has a about 10 times as many as the three put together.

Look at West Tower and BQ- the former only just got passed and look at the way Maro has been treated for wanting to build a world class structure in the city- no public dole money needed!- it gets turned down.
... fuckin 'ell what a goal 2 NIL OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...Sorry, and didn't the Bank of New York initially favour Liverpool- what cock-up went on there?

Liverpool is neither capital of enterprise or capital of red tape. I can see exactly where this is going...


Yes? Tell us please.

... fuckin 'ell what a goal 2 NIL OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...Sorry, and didn't the Bank of New York initially favour Liverpool- what cock-up went on there?
LOL! :hahaha:

Rates likely to rocket Apr 6 2005

By Sophie Freeman, Daily Post


BUSINESSES in Merseyside are facing crippling rate increases as a result of the region's regeneration and the successful Capital of Culture bid.

Rates could rise by up to 40% for some businesses in the city.

The new ratings list, which comes into effect month, reflects the huge increases in commercial property rents in Liverpool over the past few years.

Martin Howard, a partner of property agents Knight Frank in Liverpool, said: "These inflation-busting rises are down to the continuing successful regeneration of Liverpool and the Merseyside region, which has seen rental levels rise significantly.

He added: "The successful Capital of Culture bid has also had a big impact. Areas in Liverpool will see rises of up to 40% in the office market alone.

"Retailers will also be hit hard with shops in Church Street facing rises of up to 55% and department stores such as BHS rising 31%. Industrial occupiers outside of the city centre can also expect similar increases."

Neil Kirkham, associate partner at Liverpool commercial property consultants Hitchcock Wright and Partners, said: "There are a couple of properties that I've just put on the market which have seen a 50-80% increase in their rateable value."

But he is confident that the increase in rates will not deter potential tenants.

"You've got to look at the bigger picture. Liverpool is still at a lower base rate in terms of combined rent, rates and service charge, than alternatives such as Manchester. So the overall

occupancy costs will still be significantly less than counterpart cities and therefore we are still good value."

Last month, the Government announced that new arrangements would make the system both faster and fairer for businesses wishing to appeal against their rates.

Ratepayers have been able to appeal against their valuations in the past but for a limited period. Under the new system, businesses will be able to appeal against the rates at any time during the five year life of the rating list and any change in value will be backdated.

If a business doesn't make any extra money how can you justify increasing rates?
Same goes for home owners if the value of your house goes up but your income doesn't why should the rates increase?
Doesn't make sense to me.

At the end of the day, large companies that have offices/stores in most cities will just pay it. Such companies are used to paying such amounts with having a presence in the likes of London, Birmingham & Manchester, with Liverpool still intending to be lower than these. It's the small, local businesses who will get bamboozled from this.