Business in Liverpool

[Scarecrow]

Well, even when the bbc are given correct information Kurt, they choose to ignore it. For example, where the fuck is 'Royal Hoylake'? if the Yanks can get it right, why can't our media outlets?

Mr Stopforth might've done, if he only knew what a sectioin was.

[Metrolink]

WTF has the BBC got to do with anything????

This report is from the BCC!!!!

[Scarecrow]

Quite right too Kurt! Thought it was another of you typos.

[Metrolink]

Membership of the Common Market in 1973 gave a further turn of the screw, as
customers of the Port of Liverpool lost the benefits of Imperial Preference and had
to compete with smaller and cheaper ports on the east coast.

Who is going to explain to me the outsider whT Imperial Preference was all about?

Surely not Liverpool getting statist help???

[Veinticinco]

Originally Posted by Metrolink

Who is going to explain to me the outsider whT Imperial Preference was all about?

Surely not Liverpool getting statist help???

Not sure what that is, but we were quite popular with the government up until about the 60s weren't we? Being such an enormous money maker and all.

[kung_fuzi]

Originally Posted by Metrolink

Who is going to explain to me the outsider whT Imperial Preference was all about?

Surely not Liverpool getting statist help???

I think it refers to Liverpools traditional trade routes with the Empire,as shown in this extract below.



“And if you know your history….”

During the Second World War, Liverpool was bombed relentlessly and saw much of its housing and public infrastructure destroyed, yet it briefly regained something of its pre-Depression prosperity under the wartime economy and Liverpool Corporation’s policy of building out-of-town industrial estates for munitions industries provided a foundation for a new industrial future into the 1950s and beyond.

The post-war years showed that many of Merseyside’s fundamental problems
remained. Returnees and rapid population growth were too much for a faltering labour market and the port lost ground to competitors in the South and South East.
This was not just about the impact on dock workers but also on the professional heart of the city - shipping services, ships’ chandlery, freight forwarding, marine insurance, commodity trading, distribution services, transportation and dozens of ancillary activities.

The regional economy remained over dependent on trade patterns with the Empire that were already being threatened as the war ended. But for the granting ofDevelopment Area Status in 1949 these problems would have seemed even moreformidable. As it was, remarkably good progress was made during the 1950s. Thepremiership of Harold Wilson, MP for Huyton, was instrumental in creating themotor vehicle cluster in Merseyside in the early 1960s and new jobs weregenerated. However, unemployment remained obstinately high as the port andshipbuilding industries decasualised, rationalised and modernised. Nevertheless,the 1960s was an optimistic decade, with Liverpool and Everton FC dominating thefootball world and, of course, The Beatles putting Liverpool at the epicentre of theSwinging Sixties.

Swinging Sixties, Troubled Seventies

However, by the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s the inherent conflict
between the disciplines required by the new manufacturing sector and the area’stradition of casual employment led inevitably to workplace strife and it was in this period that the city’s reputation for poor labour relations emerged.
Membership of the Common Market in 1973 gave a further turn of the screw, as customers of the Port of Liverpool lost the benefits of Imperial Preference and had to compete with smaller and cheaper ports on the east coast.
At the same time, the docks themselves were shedding thousands of men as the changing technology of shipping meant bigger vessels, fewer bulk cargoes and increased containerisation. Liverpool’s dock estate, incorporating both sides of the River Mersey, constituted some eleven linear miles of docks – easily the biggest in the world, including New York and London. The physical ramifications of these changes were hugely significant to future economic development. The bigger tankers and container vessels needed deep water berths and mechanical handling that could not be accommodated in the oldest parts of the dock system, south of the city centre. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company allowed acres of redundant docks, many war damaged, to silt up and become derelict.

[Metrolink]

Post 65 -

Arf, the analogies are endless.

[Metrolink]

Kung - I have googled the term 'Imperial Preference'.

From what I can tell, the government of the day charged shipping companies less to use Liverpool than other smaller ports.

[kung_fuzi]

Originally Posted by Metrolink

Kung - I have googled the term 'Imperial Preference'.

From what I can tell, the government of the day charged shipping companies less to use Liverpool than other smaller ports.

''Imperial Preference was a system of reciprocally-levelled tariffs or Free trade agreements between different dominions and colonies within the British Commonwealth of Nations. The purpose of such practices was to ensure the wealth, and thus unity, of allied imperial nations.''



I think the above explains it better.
As you can deduct from this all British ports would have benefitted from it.

Liverpool suffered most of course because it was the biggest trader with the Empire (Commonwealth).

[Metrolink]

Not all ports benifited from it in the same manner, if they did Liverpool would not have suddenly had to compete with the smaller and cheaper ports on the east coast following joining the EEC in 1973 (which presumably outlawed such anti-competitive practices).

[kung_fuzi]

Originally Posted by Metrolink

Not all ports benifited from it in the same manner, if they did Liverpool would not have suddenly had to compete with the smaller and cheaper ports on the east coast following joining the EEC in 1973 (which presumably outlawed such anti-competitive practices).

More a case of geography.

[Eastisleast]

Originally Posted by Metrolink

Kung - I have googled the term 'Imperial Preference'.

From what I can tell, the government of the day charged shipping companies less to use Liverpool than other smaller ports.

Just the kind of skewed, biased and downright incorrect information we have the pleasure of receiving from a tireless Scouse basher.

Imperial Preference was a Trade Agreement between NATIONS (not Cities) of the British Commonwealth to fix trading prices and practices. Protectionism, which was designed to benefit anywhere in the Commonwealth, not just Liverpool. No doubt the cotton trade benefited from this arrangement also.

[Eastisleast]

Originally Posted by Metrolink

Not all ports benifited from it in the same manner, if they did Liverpool would not have suddenly had to compete with the smaller and cheaper ports on the east coast following joining the EEC in 1973 (which presumably outlawed such anti-competitive practices).

Crap. Liverpool lost trade when we joined the EEC because of being situated on the West Coast. As our trade with Europe increased, East coast ports were in a better position, geographically, to take advantage.

By the way, Liverpool now handles more tonnage than ever before in it's history, so is not a port in decline, it is a successful and growing port.

[Eastisleast]

Originally Posted by Metrolink

The Liverpool section was written by Jack Stopforth from the Liverpool Chamnber of Commerce and Industry.

Interesting it's not a Merseyside Chamber???

It was changed back to Liverpool from Merseyside because nobody outside the UK recognised that phoney concoction of a name. On the other hand, Liverpool is known throughout the World and is met with instant recognition rather than the blank looks of bewilderment 'Merseyside' receives.

Another example of a Whitehall imposed Millstone.

[PhilG]

ONE of Europe’s biggest providers of credit management services has created almost 200 jobs in Liverpool, and could add another 200.

Swedish-owned Intrum Justitia has relocated its UK headquarters from Stratford-on-Avon to Liverpool’s Plaza office block.

A handful of staff moved, but most of the 200-strong workforce are Merseysiders, said Liverpool-born marketing manager Simon Frost.

He said there was plenty of capacity for further expansion in its office, which covers the entire fifth floor of the Plaza: “The future is positive for us in Liverpool.

“There are 200 people here and that is likely to expand.

“There are a lot of new clients coming on board. The floor here has the capacity for expansion, probably room to double.

“The firm has ambitious growth plans and the move here shows that, and the way that people view Liverpool generally now.”

He said Intrum’s global headquarters in Stockholm, which oversees 24 centres across Europe, was keen to relocate its 30-year-old UK operation to a north west site: “I would not be surprised if the Capital of Culture played some part in their decision.”

Mr Frost reckons the Liverpool office is now the biggest operation of its kind in the north west.

[Metrolink]

East - my point is each authority in Merseyside still have their own chamber, this is not the case in GM.

[Joe the red]

Originally Posted by Metrolink

East - my point is each authority in Merseyside still have their own chamber, this is not the case in GM.

Not a very interesting point

[the golden vision]

Originally Posted by Eastisleast

Crap. Liverpool lost trade when we joined the EEC because of being situated on the West Coast. As our trade with Europe increased, East coast ports were in a better position, geographically, to take advantage.

By the way, Liverpool now handles more tonnage than ever before in it's history, so is not a port in decline, it is a successful and growing port.

Protectionist,subsidised trade within the EU.It is funny though,our Manchester friends like Metrolink,jrr and others,always on here.You can smell the fear that their little Government imposed regional priveledges might be under threat.

[kung_fuzi]

A quick history of Liverpool chamber of commerce.



http://www.liverpoolchamber.org.uk/about/history.asp

[sloyne]

I have noticed that BBC Newsworld (Canada-USA) will report the Grand National as being run at Aintree, Northwest England, Royal Birkdale likewise and also Royal "Hoylake" as being played in Wirral, Northwest England. However, all North American by-lines identify the location of each of the above as being in Liverpool. Some NA TV golf reporters even include Royal Lytham & St Annes golf course as being in Liverpool.

Paranoid? Maybe, but just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean their not after me.