Liverpool Population

[WirlieG]

Evertonian - Forgemasters in Sheffield was setup to supply the nuclear industry.

It hardly was the basis for a regions economy though.

Yes, possibly a couple of hundred jobs at absolute most, certainly not 10,000's.

[Evertonian]

Originally Posted by WirlieG

Not a chance.

Japan has higher wages than Sunderland.

All the other examples are factories where the natural resource is, or in Camerons example, where the contract probably said the buses must be built.

The Chinese are investing all over the world. I see no reason why Liverpool can't win some of that investment.

You're living in a dream world if you imagine that Chinese (why Chinese when no other nation is pouring money into anywhere in the UK) are the saviour to the Merseyside economy.

Very pessimstic and negative. I'm glad the council, Peel and Liverpool Vision have a very different view and are out there trying.

[Evertonian]

Originally Posted by WirlieG

Evertonian - Forgemasters in Sheffield was setup to supply the nuclear industry.

It hardly was the basis for a regions economy though.

Yes, possibly a couple of hundred jobs at absolute most, certainly not 10,000's.

Hundreds of jobs feeds and cloths tens of thousands of people though.

[Awayo]

Originally Posted by Evertonian

Are the Chinese as skilled at Marine technology as the folks in Merseyside (Camell Lairds, hundreds of years of ship building and heavy industry, etc)???

No, they are more so, never having stopped making ships in the first place. Locally even the last incarnation of Laird's as a ship-building outfit went kaput a decade ago. China has an enormous ship-building industry, employing hundreds of thousands (really! Google it) of highly-skilled men on salaries that are a fraction that would be paid even on Merseyside.

And ironically, as this is the point that you made, and to which I was responding, Nissan set up a plant in Sunderland, amongst the other reasons I mentioned above, exactly because there was no history of auto manufacture in that region. Therefore, a new and non-unionised workforce could be trained up to work its line. They weren't going anywhere near Birmingham, Coventry or Dagenham with their skilled workforce and century of car making.

[WirlieG]

Christ, note it in your diary.

I agree with Awayo!

[Evertonian]

Originally Posted by Awayo

No, they are more so, never having stopped making ships in the first place. Locally even the last incarnation of Laird's as a ship-building outfit went kaput a decade ago. China has an enormous ship-building industry, employing hundreds of thousands (really! Google it) of highly-skilled men on salaries that are a fraction that would be paid even on Merseyside.

And ironically, as this is the point that you made, and to which I was responding, Nissan set up a plant in Sunderland, amongst the other reasons I mentioned above, exactly because there was no history of auto manufacture in that region. Therefore, a new and non-unionised workforce could be trained up to work its line. They weren't going anywhere near Birmingham, Coventry or Dagenham with their skilled workforce and century of car making.

Ahh right. And the history of large scale green tech manufacture in Liverpool....or Britain for that matter has been what???

[Awayo]

Originally Posted by Evertonian

Hundreds of jobs feeds and cloths tens of thousands of people though.

1000/100 = 10.

Crammed your house, Toni.

[WirlieG]

But there are loads of places in China that they could do this themselves, for a fraction of the cost.

[Evertonian]

Originally Posted by Awayo

1000/100 = 10.

Crammed your house, Toni.

I am Catholic.

Anyways my point still stands that if hundreds of people are employed their families will be fed and clothed.

[WirlieG]

Evertonian - why is it equally not likely a German company will set up in Guildford to develop a massive green energy manufacturing plant?

[Awayo]

Originally Posted by Evertonian

Ahh right. And the history of large scale green tech manufacture in Liverpool....or Britain for that matter has been what???

Eh? Is your argument that the Chinese will build factories in Birkenhead because of the area's skills or because it lacks them?

[Evertonian]

Originally Posted by WirlieG

But there are loads of places in China that they could do this themselves, for a fraction of the cost.

They're setting up plants in the US mate. Theres money to be made for them investing in different countries.

[WirlieG]

The are setting up where the natural resources exist in the US to turn the raw product into something.

This is not what you are suggesting.

[Evertonian]

Originally Posted by Awayo

Eh? Is your argument that the Chinese will build factories in Birkenhead because of the area's skills or because it lacks them?

It was argued that the Japanese built Nissans in the North East because there was no competiton in the UK.

Theres no competiton for green tech elsewhere in Britain since we don't build turbines anywhere in the UK. So they might as well build a manufacturing plant in Liverpool. It's as good a place as anywhere in Europe if not better because the product can be shipped directly from the port from a central world location.

[Evertonian]

Originally Posted by WirlieG

The are setting up where the natural resources exist in the US to turn the raw product into something.

This is not what you are suggesting.

They have plenty of steel plants in China and slave labour to work in them, yet they are investing in American steel.

[Evertonian]

The natural resource here is the marine environment and off shore.

[Awayo]

Originally Posted by Evertonian

They have plenty of steel plants in China and slave labour to work in them, yet they are investing in American steel.

Investing, yes. China is investing money all over the world, where they think they can make a profit.

However, chinese manufacturers aren't insanely setting up manufacturing plants in first-world countries where the wage bills aren't many times higer.

[Awayo]

Originally Posted by Evertonian

The natural resource here is the marine environment and off shore.

Fair point. Merseyside is one of only three places in the world on the coast. The other two are Bali and the Isle of Wight.

[Evertonian]

Originally Posted by WirlieG

Evertonian - why is it equally not likely a German company will set up in Guildford to develop a massive green energy manufacturing plant?

We need private investment in Liverpool is all I am saying. We're out in Shanghai trying to get some. We should look all over for any foriegn investment.

Doesn't have to be the Chinese. If the German's want to build green tech plants I can think of no better blank canvas than Liverpool's docks.

I have a lot of faith in the assets we have here.

[WirlieG]

There was a wind turbine factory that went bust recently on the Isle of Man.

It employed about 20 people.

Why would a plant on Merseyside have any more success and why would more people be employed?