LDP Business - 30th November 2011

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FIRMS in Liverpool’s recently-createdenterprise zone will benefit from 100%capital allowances on new plant andmachinery, Chancellor GeorgeOsborne revealed in his Autumn State-ment yesterday.

In March, Mr Osborne said the Liv-erpool Waters and Wirral Watersschemes, either side of the Mersey,would form an enterprise zone.

The zones will offer 100% businessrates relief for the first five years andwill also benefit from simplified plan-ning restrictions and Government-sup-ported superfast broadband.

Yesterday, Mr Osborne offered a fur-ther incentive for companies lookingto relocate to the zones, saying theywould qualify for 100% capital allow-ances on investment in plant andmachinery.

The allowance means the full cost ofthe investment can be written offagainst a single year’s profits.

Catherine Fairhurst, a tax partnerat accountants Ernst & Young in Liv-erpool, welcomed the move but saidthe Chancellor could have gone evenfurther.

“Tax depreciation of 100% of theexpenditure on plant and machinerywill now be available, rather than thenormal rate of 18% or 8% in somecases,” she said.

“If the Government is convincedthat these zones are a good idea, theycould have gone further.

“The last time they were introduced,

30 years ago, they included tax reliefon the cost of buildings.”

She added: “We are still a long wayfrom that sort of major incentive.”

Mr Osborne also announced a fur-ther £1bn for the Regional GrowthFund. This adds to the £1.4bn alreadycommitted.

He told the House of Commons: “Forevery one pound we’re putting in,we’re attracting £6 of private sectormoney alongside it.”

Osborne’staxboostforenterprisezoneINVESTORS shrugged

off a gloomy AutumnStatement from Chan-cellor George Osborneas optimism over asolution to the euro-zone crisis pushed theLondon market higher.

Traders were encour-aged by a stronger-than-expected responseat a closely watchedItalian debt auction.

Meanwhile, on WallStreet, the Dow JonesIndex rose 32.62 (0.28%),to reach 11,555.63; theS&P rose 2.84 (0.22%),to close at 1,195.19;and the Nasdaq fell11.83 (0.47%), to closeat 2,515.51.

MARKET REPORT:PAGE 15

FTSE-1005337

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insideLancashireTea moraleboosterSPEKE-BASED LancashireTea brewed up a treat forthe Armed Forces by donat-ing thousands of its tea bagsto the Duke of LancasterRegiment as part of lastSunday’s Lancashire Daycelebrations.

Presenting the boxes toCommanding Officer RobbieBoyd and regimental mas-cot Rory the Lion, Lan-cashire Tea’s Paul Needhamsaid: “As a Lancashirebrand, we’re really proud tobe able to support our localtroops, and when you’re farfrom home there’s nothingmore comforting than adecent cuppa.”

Commanding OfficerBoyd said the local brewwill boost troops’ morale.

BUSINESS EDITOR:BILL GLEESON0151 472 2319

DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR:TONY McDONOUGH0151 330 4918

BUSINESS REPORTER:PETER ELSON0151 472 2502

BUSINESS REPORTER:ALISTAIR HOUGHTON0151 472 2449

BUSINESS REPORTER:NEIL HODGSON0151 472 2451

Regimental mascot Rory,Commanding OfficerRobbie Boyd, centre, andPaul Needham

■ FULL coverage: Pages 4-7

byTonyMcDonoughLDPDEPUTYBUSINESSEDITORtony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

Architects winreprieve insurvival bidCREDITORS of Aus-tin-Smith:Lord agreeextension to companyvoluntary arrange-ment deadline.

PAGE 2

Euro debateAN MEP and businessleader share theirviews on how the EUaffects the UK.

PAGE 10

Creative moveWORK starts on sec-ond phase of Baltic

Creativescheme.

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TONY McDONOUGH’S BUSINESS BEAT

‘We’re still looking to borrowour way out of trouble – is achange in mindset needed?’

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Updatesthroughoutthe day

ASLwinsreprieveinbidtosealCVAdealwithcreditors

Virgin inplea forWCMLrepairsVIRGIN Trains isurging infrastructuregroup Network Rail tospeed up repair workon the West Coast MainLine (WCML) which leftthe operator bottom ofthe industry perform-ance table for punct-uality between Octoberand November.

The group, whichruns the Liverpool toLondon link and hasrecently forged closerlinks with the city’sbusiness community tohelp drive the economy,said speed restrictionsdue to repairs on thesouthern end of theWCML were creatingdelays to services.

Virgin Trains chiefoperating officer ChrisGibb said there waslittle likelihood theissue will be resolvedbefore the end of theyear, with repair workalready behind sched-ule.

“Network Rail is toofar behind,” he said.

He agreed withclaims by the Office ofRail Regulation thatNetwork Rail will beunable to deliver itspunctuality targets forWCML operators forthe current year.

Network Rail saysthe problems are due totrack conditions causedby ballast under raillines that had shiftedslightly during thisyear’s dry weather.

Its spokesman, KevinGroves, said teamswere working on cor-recting the “dips” everyweekend, and workwould continue overthe Christmas break.

He said the trackfaults were causing25% of all delays on thesouthern half of theWCML, second only tofatalities and cablethefts, which cause 31%of delays.

He said the organ-isation has also com-mitted £25m for WCMLrepairs, including anextra £16m to tacklethe track faults.

AwardssuccessallowsRSClaretoincreasecapacity

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

ARCHITECT Austin-Smith:Lord (ASL)has won a reprieve in its battle forsurvival, after creditors agreed anextension to a deadline for its proposalfor a company voluntary arrangement(CVA).

The group, which has a city base atthe Port of Liverpool Building, haduntil Monday to reach a deal withcreditors to avoid insolvency proceed-ings.

But the deadline has been moved tothis Friday, December 2, after ASLreceived a proposal of interest from athird party to assist with funding andfuture work.

ASL appealed to creditors earlierthis month to consider a CVA, afterpayments worth £11.3m from an AbuDhabi client dried up.

A CVA allows a company to con-tinue trading on the understandingthat creditors will receive a percent-age, if not all, of monies owed over anagreed term, but it needs the approvalof 75% in value of outstanding pay-ments from creditors.

Liverpool-based ASL partner NeilChapman said: “We are giving thereceived proposal serious considerat-ion and assessing the merits of theoffer for the practice, the project andour creditors.”

Last week, ASL received £2.4m ofoutstanding funds from its client, theAbu Dhabi Authority for Culture &Heritage (ADACH).

But the company said the paymentwould not affect its CVA proposal.

Mr Chapman added: “While the feesreceived to date are not sufficient toavoid entering into a voluntaryarrangement, it is incumbent on us toensure we explore all possible avenuesto recover and improve the situation tomaximum effect and for all con-cerned.”

The fees received so far will bereserved for “the purposes of thearrangement”.

ASL claims ADACH has pledged tomake further payments in December“against agreed invoices raised”.

But the client has told ASL a num-ber of its invoices require “additionalinput” from the practice before furtherpayments can be made and that thesepayments may take longer to recover.

Mr Chapman welcomed the part-payment, saying: “It does offer obviousencouragement for both ASL and itscreditors going forward.”

ASL, which dates from 1949 and isinvolved in the £50m redevelopment ofLiverpool’s Central Library, has beenprincipal architect for four years onthe Qasr al Hosn Cultural Quarter, inAbu Dhabi.

But ADACH told the firm earlierthis year it was unable to settle itsinvoices because of delays to its budgetfrom central government.

The problem dates back to May andhas led to 70 redundancies at ASL’s

London office and in Abu Dhabi, des-pite the assistance of the Foreign andCommonwealth Office in the dispute.

The problem has also caused delaysin salary payments for ASL staff.

However, Mr Chapman said 24 jobssplit between ASL’s Liverpool andManchester offices have been unaf-fected by the fall-out from the AbuDhabi contract, adding: “We have hadtremendous support from all our cred-itors.”

LDP BUSINESS

Work progresses on the Picton Library, part of the £50m redevelopment of Liverpool Central Library, inwhich ASL has played a key role Picture: JAMES MALONEY

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LIVERPOOL’SINVESTMENTSPECIALISTS

LIVERPOOL’S oldest estab-lished manufacturer will mod-ernise its facilities and investin new plant to increasecapacity, after winning theregional heat of a nationalbusiness competition.

Toxteth-based lubricants

specialist RS Clare has wonthe North West HSBC Busi-ness Thinking prize, whichprovides access to up to £6mof discounted loans.

The firm, which was estab-lished 264 years ago, beat hun-dreds of regional contenders.

Fourth generation chiefexecutive and chairman IanMeadows said: “To have won aQueen’s Award for Enterprisethis year was a fantastic accol-ade for the whole workforce,who have transformed ourbusiness in recent years, but

this prize will enable us tomodernise our factory andequip it with the latest equip-ment to optimise efficiencyand increase capacity.”

He added: “At a time whenfunding is hard to come by, adiscounted loan of up to £6m

is very welcome. Our reputat-ion as a specialist lubricantand surface coatings manufac-turer will now be furtherenhanced as we penetrate theworld’s fastest growing mar-kets in Brazil, Russia, Indiaand China.”

Read the Decemberedition of the LDPBusiness magazineldpbusiness.co.uk

3Wednesday, November 30, 2011

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NewBrightonrockingagainasHerMajestydropsinforavisit

TonyMcDonoughmeetsDanielHynd,projectdirectorofNeptuneGroup

LDPbusiness .co.uk

Daniel Hynd has led the £60m Marine Point scheme, in New Brighton, Wirral, which will see the creation of more than 700 jobs

Age: 27Highest educational qualification:Masters in construction projectmanagementBiggest achievement in business:Managing the successful bid for theWolverhampton InterchangeBiggest regret: No regretsBest advice received: Speakyour mindMain unfulfilled ambition: To helpmake Merseyside economicallycompetitive

q&a

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WHAT’S often referred to as Liver-pool’s economic renaissance canprobably be traced back to 1999 andthe completion of the regeneration ofQueen Square.

Neptune Group was behind thatscheme, which saw the constructionof the Marriott Hotel, a number ofbars and restaurants, a 600-space carpark and a bus station.

That was constructed in the midstof tough economic conditions, and,12 years on, Neptune has repeatedthe feat with the Marine Point devel-opment, in New Brighton.

Leading the scheme, at the age of27, is Neptune project director DanielHynd, son of company founder, PeterHynd.

Tomorrow is a proud moment forthe Hynd family and everyone atNeptune.

Her Majesty the Queen will offic-ially unveil the £60m mixed-usescheme, which has been 11 years inthe planning and execution.

It began with the creation of thenew Floral Pavilion theatre and con-ference centre.

Following that was the construc-tion of a 1,200-seat The Light cinema,a 69,000 sq ft Morrison’s supermar-

ket, a 66-bed Travelodge Hotel, acasino and other commercial outlets.

“Bringing Marine Point to fruitionhas been a long process,” said theyounger Hynd.

“Other developers have come andgone, and then there was a publicinquiry which delayed it for threeyears.

“The decision of the inquiry wentagainst us so we had to start theplanning process from scratch.”

In the early to mid 20th century,New Brighton had been one of north-ern England’s foremost seasideresorts.

Its decline in the latter half of thecentury was rapid, and a regener-ation scheme was urgently needed.

But the plans caused much con-troversy among local people, withsome concerned about the aestheticsof the scheme.

However, now the development isalmost complete, Hynd believes themajority of people are now startingto see the benefits.

“I think now we have won localpeople over,” he said.

“People are really seeing howbeneficial it is – other local busi-nesses are really behind it becausethey are seeing an upturn in trade.

“Both Morisson’s and Travelodgeare really pleased with how thingshave gone.

“The whole scheme is creatingmore than 700 jobs.”

A major feat in itself for Neptunewas securing bank funding for thescheme. In the current environment,many banks will not touch propertyschemes with a bargepole.

Hynd added: “We managed tosecure £23m from HSBC – we havemade up the rest ourselves.

“It was the only major propertyscheme in the north of England thatHSBC has committed to in 2011.

“Getting that backing was a realachievement for us, as negotiatingwith banks in this climate is verydifficult – many of them won’t evenconsider backing a speculativescheme like this.

“There is only around 8,000 sq ft ofspace to be let, and we are confidentwe can fill it in the coming months.”

Hynd was born and brought up inLiverpool and from an early age wasdetermined to go into the familybusiness.

He attended St Edwards College, in

West Derby, and then went on tostudy at Liverpool John Moores Uni-versity.

He did his degree in real estatemanagement and a masters in con-struction project management.

“I never really envisaged doinganything else, other than working inthe construction industry – all myGCSE and A-Level choices weregeared towards that,” he said.

Hynd was working for Neptunepart-time while he was doing hisstudies, and, in the latter stages ofhis university course he was almostthere full-time.

He said: “At first I was doing smal-ler jobs day to day, but then I wasgiven my own project to manage – ascheme by Liverpool’s MetropolitanCathedral.

“I looked after the whole thing –from development right through tosale. That was when I picked up a lotof the skills that I am using now.”

Those skills are now being put togood use.

As well as Marine Point, Hynd isalso overseeing a huge scheme in theMidlands – the WolverhamptonInterchange. This is a joint venturewith Wolverhampton City Council torebuild its bus and train stations.

Neptune is also currently still fin-ishing off the Mann Island Schemeon Liverpool’s waterfront.

This comprises three black granitebuildings with 376 apartments, 75,000sq ft of retail space and 114,000 sq ftof office space which is to be occu-

pied by transport authority Mer-seytravel. The residential elementwas sold to Dylan Harvey early in2008, but Neptune is now backinvolved again in the marketing ofthe apartments.

Hynd is now overseeing the finalpart of the Marine Point scheme –the building of 24 apartments.

He said: “We had originallyplanned to build 36 smaller apart-ments to be marketed to the invest-ment market.

“But after what happened to thatmarket we had to change the planand we are now building largerapartments aimed at owner-occup-iers. They will all offer fantasticviews across the River Mersey.”

Joint ventures with local author-ities have been a key part of Nep-tune’s business model over the lastfew years, but public sector cutbacksmean that approach is now having tobe modified.

Hynd added: “We are in discus-sions with banks that have distressedproperties and we are looking toform partnerships with contractorsin order to mitigate the risks. We seeourselves as helping to make Mersey-side more economically competitive.

“People say Queen Square devel-opment was one of the things thathelped pull Merseyside out of a verydifficult economic period.

“I think we are going in the rightdirection, but we need the continuedsupport of the Government to helpthat process along.”


More austerity onas Osborne paintsPUBLIC sector workers and poorerfamilies felt the pain of yesterday’sbleak mini-Budget, as the Chancellorannounced an extra £30bn of spendingcuts – and was warned of the risk of afresh recession.

George Osborne delivered anAutumn Statement that was unremit-tingly gloomy and was forced to admitthe economy will barely grow at allnext year – and to borrow an extra£111bn by 2016.

Just hours before today’s TUC Dayof Action, public-sector workers – cur-rently in the middle of a two-year payfreeze – were told their pay would becapped at 1% for a further two years,until 2015.

And it could be worse for many inMerseyside, because the Chancellorannounced a shake-up that appeared topave the way for further years of payfreezes.

Local pay awards would replacenational bargaining as early as 2013,he said – amid evidence that pub-lic-sector pay was 10% too high insome areas, “squeezing out” privatecompanies.

Mr Osborne pointed to a think-tank’s recommendation that there was“room for further freezes withoutendangering the recruitment process”in areas – such as Merseyside – withlower private-sector wages.

The Chancellor also:■ Froze the working taxcredit and axed plans for a£110 rise to the child taxcredit – saving £1.3bn ayear – by 2015;■ Promised to support theAtlantic Gateway develop-ment, in the Port of Liverpool;■ Brought forward the increase in thestate pension age to 67 by a decade, to2026;■ Capped increases to bus fares inLondon, but not elsewhere in England,where they are projected to rise by24% above inflation between 2009 and2014;■ Released an independent forecastthat total public sector job losses willbe 710,000 – not 400,000;■ Announced that Air Passenger Duty(APD) will rise by more than 10% fromApril – double the rate of inflation.

Mr Osborne slashed his growth fore-casts for both 2011, down to 0.9% (from1.7%), and for 2012, down to 0.7% (from2.5%).

And he announced that spending cutswould continue for a further two yearsuntil 2017, to allow him to hit his eco-nomic targets – an extra £30bn of cuts.

But it was clear the forecasts restedon an end to the eurozone crisis.

The independent Office for BudgetResponsibility (OBR) warned therewas still a one-in-three chance of reces-sion next year, if the crisis continued.

The bleak message drowned out thegood news, most of which – cappingrail fare rises at 6% in January, ratherthan 8%, scrapping next month’s 3pfuel duty rise and extra childcare

places for two-year-olds – had beentrailed in advance.

Mr Osborne did find an extra £1bnfor the Regional Growth Fund, hikedcapital allowances for investments inLiverpool's new enterprise zone to100% and announced a £250m supportpackage for energy-intensive indus-tries, such as steel.

The basic state pension will rise by£5.30 to £107.45 next April – “thelargest ever cash rise” – and benefits

by 5.2%, instead of beingcapped below inflation.

Turning on Labour’s callfor more spending andslower cuts, Mr Osbornecondemned “the promises ofa quack doctor selling a mir-acle cure”.

And, pointing to the crisisin Europe, he told MPs: “We will dowhatever it takes to protect Britainfrom this debt storm, while doing allwe can to build the foundations offuture growth.”

But shadow chancellor Ed Balls saidthe Government’s economic and fiscalstrategy was “in tatters” and the coun-try had “all of the pain and none of thegain” from Mr Osborne’s austerityprogramme.

“After 18 months in office, the ver-dict is in,” said Mr Balls. “Plan A hasfailed and it has failed colossally.”

He also attacked the “cobbled-together package of growth measureswhich don’t address the fundamentalproblem”.

He added: “His rapid, reckless anddeflationary plan is choking off recov-ery and pushing up borrowing.”

Ratings agency Fitch said the OBR’srevised fiscal projections signal a “sig-nificant deterioration” compared toMarch.

The agency warned the UK’s abilityto absorb economic and financialshocks while retaining its covetedAAA rating was being “exhausted”.

TUC general-secretary BrendanBarber said public servants were beingasked to accept “a permanent deep cutin their living standards” which wouldtotal more than 16% by 2015.

But CBI director-general John Crid-land welcomed “practical and immed-iately available help” offered to smallbusinesses by the Chancellor.

The influential Institute for FiscalStudies (IFS) highlighted the prospectof further spending cuts in 2015-16 and2016-17 to balance the books.

Director Paul Johnson said MrOsborne had ended up in “exactly theplace he wanted to avoid” by beingforced to extend austerity beyond thenext general election.

“Until now, we had been thinking offour years of cuts as unprecedented inmodern times,” he said. “Six yearslooks even more extraordinary.

“Mr Osborne has had to pencil in£15bn of additional cuts by 2016-17 inorder for his plans to be consistentwith his own fiscal mandate.

“And even with these plans the OBRthinks there is only a six in 10 chanceof reaching cyclically adjusted currentbudget balance by that time.

“The OBR’s forecast also suggests hewill only meet his supplementary tar-get, to have public debt falling by theplanned date of the next general elec-tion, by a whisker.”

Mr Johnson suggested that MrOsborne was “keeping his fingerscrossed” that the economy’s fortuneswill change before he was to spell outthe detail of more cuts.

“Mr Osborne will wait beforeclarifying his position; one presumesthat he is keeping his fingers crossedthat something will turn up which willmake such deep cuts unnecessary,” hesaid. “He has ended up in exactly theplace he wanted to avoid – promisingfurther spending cuts in the periodafter the next election.”

Mr Johnson said the OBR hadproved “credible” and the Chancellorhad found himself “bound to respond”.

“The five-year forward-lookingnature of the fiscal mandate allowshim to plan the required adjustmentwithout the need to respond immed-iately with even deeper cuts or taxrises while the economy remainsweak,” he said. “But we have also seenthe weakness. It is very easy to pencilin unspecified cuts four and five yearshence. What will that mean in practicefor policy in 2015?”


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on themoveHotelsgroupappointsheadLIVERPOOL-BASEDhotels group SanguineHospitality has appoin-ted travel industry vet-eran Robin Wicks aschief executive.Mr Wicks spent 16years with Intercontin-ental Hotels Group(IHG) in a variety ofsenior roles and will

work with Sanguine’sboard on its expansionstrategy that includesthe launch of six newvenues in the next 12months.■ SURVITEC Group,the Birkenhead manu-facturer and distrib-utor of survival tech-nology for the marine,defence and aerospaceindustries, has appoin-ted Amit Singh andDavid Forrest asinternational salesmanagers.

■ STEPHENSONSSolicitors LLP, whichhas a St Helens office,has appointed MichaelBlack to the role of riskmanager. He has joinedthe firm after aneight-year term at theSolicitors RegulationAuthority, where heworked as a practicestandards adviser.■ HESWALL charteredaccountants Stone-bridge Stewart hastaken on Sam Gelling,18, and Kane Harding-Jones, 17, as traineeaccountants under theNational Apprentice-ship Scheme, takingstaffing levels to 11.

Robin Wicks

Michael Black

your viewsEMAIL us at [email protected],or write to PO Box48, Old Hall Street,Liverpool L69 3EB

Chancellor George Osborne delivers his AutumnStatement to a packed House of CommonsChancellor George Osborne delivers his AutumnStatement to a packed House of Commons

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George Osborne on the way todeliver his speech

■ BILL GLEESON: Page 8;■ OPINION – Main paper: Page 15


the way for Britaingloomy picture


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MorepainforverylittlegainTWENTY-ONE years ago thisweek, Margaret Thatcher leftDowning Street in tears.

Yesterday, her politicalgrand-nephew delivered anAutumn Statement she must beproud of.

It was not just ChancellorGeorge Osborne’s promise torevive the right-to-buy socialhousing scheme credited, in part,for her 1979 election victory.

It was more the broad thrust ofhis deficit-busting package,including major infrastructureprojects which will boost theprivate sector and which will bepaid for by the squeeze on thepublic sector and the less well-off.

Pure genius, not just smoke andmirrors but also, Mr Osborneinsisted, “British savings for Brit-ish jobs.”

Mrs Thatcher would also

approve of his red rag to the 2.6mpublic sector workers due tostrike today over the raid on theirpension.

Not only did he reveal that,once a two-year pay freeze endsnext year, future rises will becapped at barely a third of theinflation rate, he also signalledthat future deals will advantagethe South above the North.

That will be particularly hardon Merseyside, where more thanhalf the workforce are in the pub-lic sector at the lower end of thewage scale.

Mr Osborne, a small man in allbut physical stature, told the uni-ons: “Bring it on, if you thinkyou’re hard enough.”

Which is pretty much whatMaggie said to the miners . . . butshe had sense enough not to ali-enate to this extent teachers, NHSstaff, local government, sewageworkers, binmen and all the oth-ers who effectively provide a dailylifeline to millions.

Jim Callaghan did that beforeher, and she learnt that lessonfrom the Opposition benches.

Whether Cameron and Co are

facing a new-style winter of dis-content is problematical.

Broad swathes of the public aretoo broke, too depressed and tooscared for their own jobs to takesuch action. For now at least.

But this economic strategy hasall the hallmarks of beingscribbled on the back of a CarltonClub menu.

As former Treasury Chief Sec-retary Angela Eagle, MP for Wal-lasey, said: “The pain inflicted inausterity budgets since the lastelection clearly isn’t working.

“The Chancellor has admittedthat he is extending borrowing tobeyond what Labour was plan-ning.

“Why does his plan for growthdepend entirely on cutting wagesand reducing the lifestyles ofthose who can least afford it?”

Why indeed?

ThatchermustbeproudofGeorgeOsborne,herpolitical successor,sayscorrespondent IanHernon

Treasuryrevealstax reliefmeasuresEMPLOYERS face acrackdown on tax reliefgained through asset-backed pension cont-ributions, the Govern-ment said yesterday.

Measures will beincluded in the FinanceBill 2012, backdated toyesterday, to ensure thevalue of tax reliefaccurately reflects theamount of paymentsactually received by apension scheme.

In a written state-ment to Parliament,Financial Secretary tothe Treasury MarkHoban said the measurewould prevent employ-ers getting “uninten-ded, excessive taxrelief”.

The Government con-sulted on the measureearlier this year.

Mr Hoban said: “TheGovernment is keen tocontinue to allow theuse of asset-backed con-tributions, given theflexibility they canoffer to employers andtheir pension schemesin managing pensiondeficits, while protect-ing the Exchequer fromtax risks.

“The changesannounced will there-fore ensure that theamount of tax reliefreceived by an employermaking these contribut-ions accurately reflects,but does not exceed, theamount of paymentsreceived by the pensionscheme.

“This means employ-ers will not gain unin-tended, excessive taxrelief.”Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls gives his response to the statement

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Highlights of Chancellor’s Autumn Statement

THE Chancellor’sAutumn Statementincluded confirmationthat the Office forBudget Responsibility(OBR) had downgradedgrowth forecasts to0.9% this year, from the1.7% predicted in March.

GDP will grow by0.7% next year, downfrom March predictionsof 2.5%; followed by2.1% in 2013; 2.7% in2014; and 3% in 2015.

Borrowing is fallingslower than forecast, to

£127bn this year; to£120bn next year; to£100bn in 2013/14;£79bn in 2014/15; £53bnin 2015/16; and £24bn by2016/17.

Working-age benefitswill be uprated in linewith September’s 5.2%rate of inflation, provid-ing a “significant boostto the incomes of thepoorest”.

But the Chancellorannounced plans to cappublic sector pay rises to1% when a current

wage freeze ends. Up to£20bn will be made avail-able under a NationalLoan Guarantee schemeto help small firms.

And pension groupswill provide £20bn toinvest in infrastructure.

The Chancellor alsoannounced an extra£1bn for the RegionalGrowth Fund in England.

However, the OBR fore-cast that unemploymentwill rise to 8.7% nextyear, before falling to6.2%.



Business welcomesChancellor’s steadyas she goes approach

Jack Stopforth – watching carefully

BUSINESS leaders in Merseysideyesterday welcomed the range ofmeasures contained in ChancellorGeorge Osborne’s Autumn State-ment speech.

Announcements includedimproved capital allowances formanufacturers in six of the newEnterprise Zones, including those onMerseyside. There were measures toimprove bank lending levels to smallbusinesses and to cut red tape.

Jack Stopforth, chief executive ofLiverpool Chamber of Commerce,said: “Companies will welcome theChancellor’s renewed commitmentsto reform employment law and sim-plify the planning system. Busi-nesses will support the aim of crediteasing, but will be watching care-fully to ensure that viable small- andmedium-sized companies can accessthe finance they need to grow.

“The publication of the NationalInfrastructure Plan and announce-ment of 35 specific infrastructureprojects are welcome. For too long,the UK has dithered on infrastruc-ture while other countries forgedahead, putting in place new rail, air,digital and energy networks. TheGovernment must move quickly onthe infrastructure projectsannounced in the Autumn State-ment.

“The Chancellor’s one-year exten-sion of business rate relief will comeas welcome news for the smallestbusinesses, while the decision togive businesses the opportunity todefer 60% of the increase in their2012-13 rates bill is also welcomenews.

“The Government has to make iteasier for businesses to hire youngpeople. The proposal to pay employ-ers half of the minimum wage pay-ment for the first six months willhelp businesses offset this cost.”

Commenting on the wider econ-omic picture outlined by the Chan-cellor during the Autumn Statement,Peter Stoney, a director of the Liv-erpool Research Group in Macro-economics, said: “The Coalition gov-ernment has got a grip on the needto reduce the budget deficit. TheChancellor has a firm handle ondealing with debt.

“His whole strategy depends ontwo influences. There has to be someuncertainty about the accuracy ofthe growth forecast. Also, the payfreeze in the public sector won’t godown well. The omens are not verygood, given the Day of Action tomor-row.

“The detail of the budget was verygood in terms of focusing on infra-

structure and education. We aregoing to get projects in Merseysideand elsewhere. That is very good. It’slike the way the Victorians dealtwith economic problems by invest-ing in railways.

“The tax issues were dealt witheffectively, though regrettably the50% top rate of income tax is stillwith us. It’s only still here for polit-ical reasons.”

Referring to the Chancellor’s pro-posed review of public sector payrates in Britain’s regions, Mr Stoneysaid: “It’s got a long way to go beforeit will be implemented. I can foreseegreat difficulties in getting that oneairborne. Today’s comment wassimply to sow the seed.”

He also added: “Mr Osborne’sfresh measures on the right to buy

[email protected]

social housing were interesting andoverturns the Labour governmentputting that on the back burner.”

David Miller, a partner in Liver-pool-based investment managementfirm Cheviot Asset Managementsaid: “The Autumn Statement con-firmed to the market that the mar-ket’s expectations for growth arecloser to the truth than the previousofficial forecasts.

“The prices of UK equities todayare driven by events in Europe andthe US, rather than today’sannouncements, because they willdrive growth next year.”

Referring to the proposed raisingof the state retirement age to 67, MrMiller said: “That was seen a reas-onable thing by the City. The criticalthing for markets is stability and a

plan from government that showsit’s in control.

“The reason UK assets haveappreciated against European assetsis that the UK is seen to be stable.That’s not to say it will be the onethat delivers the most growth.

“The fact that debt reduction willtake longer is a change to the exist-ing plan, rather than a new plan.These changes add to the level ofcertainty in an otherwise uncertainworld and the UK is seen as a safehaven.

“That safe haven could have beenthreatened, had we heard an unex-pected announcement, but that hasnot happened.”

Frank McKenna, Chairman ofDowntown in Business, commented:“The biggest issue facing business at

INASSOCIATION

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the moment is access to finance, sothe loan credit scheme is welcome.

“Equally, additional spending oninfrastructure projects in the NorthWest is good news, as is the con-tinued freeze on business rates.

“I would have liked to have seenmore done for exporters and theretail sector, and there needs to bemore urgency in terms of reducingred tape and bureaucracy.

“Overall, a steady as she goesannouncement that was largelyexpected.”

Jonathan Hurst, head of account-ancy firm KPMG for the North West,commented: “The Chancellor’semphasis on transport and infra-structure projects reflects theincreasing recognition by manypoliticians on the role of infrastruc-ture in economic growth – and thisis to be welcomed.

“While the majority of these ‘new’announced schemes have, in fact,been long trailed, we should remem-ber that infrastructure investmenttypically follows a long lifecycle ofseveral stages of development.

“The fact is one cannot simplystart building these thingsovernight. It is not unusual forschemes in development to bedelayed or cancelled altogether dueto affordability constraints.

“Therefore, the savings beingmade elsewhere in the economy inorder to fund these schemes places agreater responsibility than ever onthe designers and deliverers of infra-structure schemes to make best useof the funding allocated to them, tomaximise efficiency of investmentand to minimise cost.”

Mr Osborne confirmedthat rail fare increaseswould be limited to RPIplus 1%, rather than RPIplus 3%.

And he revealed thatJanuary's planned 3prise in fuel duty was can-celled, while August’sincrease would be lim-ited to 2p.

He concluded hisaddress at 1.18pm,saying that the Govern-ment was providing“leadership for toughtimes”.

Frank McKenna – we need more urgencyPeter Stoney – omens are not good


IneosChloraclearwinnerfroma‘polluter’scharter’



INASSOCIATION

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AlexTurner

Is successwritten inthestars forOsborne?

■ ALEX TURNER is the generalmanager of financial training firm,Ambitious Minds

“THE only function of economic fore-casting is to make astrology lookrespectable” – the assessment ofJohn Kenneth Galbraith, who knewa thing or two about economics.

In a similar vein, Andrew Neilrecycled a favourite quip yesterdaywhile bantering with Chief Secretaryof the Treasury, Danny Alexander, inthe aftermath of the Autumn State-ment, saying “economists putdecimal points in their forecasts toshow they have a sense of humour”.

Given that, how concerned shouldwe be by the Office of BudgetResponsibility’s forecasts thatgrowth next year will be so light-weight it could get blown away by astiff economic breeze?

In truth, the mood around theregion this morning will not benoticeably different than yesterday,or last week, or last month.

It has long been clear that thingswere likely to get worse in the shortterm and that no-one could confid-ently say when, or by how much,things will pickup.

However, wehave beendeluged over thelast four yearswith expertspointing to signsthat signalled thebeginning of theend. In the man-ner of World War I generals, thebattle cry has consistently been: “It’llbe over by Christmas”.

That optimism eventually gaveway to realism – and has slipped fur-ther, to the point that yesterday’sAutumn Statement was a rare pro-nouncement of economic pessimism.

George Osborne’s plans to fundlarge-scale infrastructure on a muchgrander scale than previously crys-tallises the concern that long-termsolutions will be required. These pro-jects will be worthwhile over manyyears, although clearly will havealmost no impact in the next year.

Similarly, I have doubts about the£1bn boost to the Regional GrowthFund. There appear to be delays ingetting money from the existing potsof cash: increasing the size of the potisn’t going to speed things up.

The only sustainable solutions willbe found in the energy, endeavourand innovation of businesses aroundthe country – although I just don’tsee that SMEs have access to theright kind of help and funds to createa critical mass of growth.

The alternative is to fall back onastrology, and hope we have a kindlyfate written in the stars.

‘Optimismgavewaytorealismandnowpessimism’

A WIDELY-TRAILED £250mpackage to protect heavyindustry from costs linkedto green policies was con-firmed by the Chancelloryesterday, provokingprotests from environ-mental groups who labelledthe measures a “polluter’scharter”.

Reports circulated overthe weekend that MrOsborne would outline taxrelief and compensationschemes for energy-intens-ive industries to reduce theimpact of policies such asthe EU’s emissions tradingscheme and the UK’sclimate change levy.

Runcorn-based chlorinemanufacturer Ineos Chlor isone of the North West’sbiggest electricity con-sumers and had threatenedto axe the plant and 1,800jobs if concessions on thecosts of green policies werenot offered.

No-one was availablefrom Ineos Chlor to com-ment on the new measures.

But Greenpeace brandedthe programme, and theannouncement of fundingfor new road schemes a“polluter’s charter”, and itsexecutive director JohnSauven said Mr Osbornehad destroyed any remain-

ing credibility of the coalit-ion Government as a friendto green jobs, growth andenvironmental protection.

Friends of the Earth exec-utive director Andy Atkinsadded: “Throwing billionsof pounds at roads and dirtyenergy will increase ourdependency on gas, coal andoil and lock cash-strappedhomes and businesses intospiralling fuel bills.

“Just a fraction of themoney earmarked for newroads would throw a cruciallifeline to the solar industry– and the 30,000 jobs cur-rently under threat fromGovernment cuts,” he said.

Ineos Chlor will benefit from tax relief proposals

Firms in the enterprise zone covering Wirral Waters will benefit from 100% allowances on capital investments


Agrimspeechthatoffered littlebywayofhope

‘A second golden age of gaming’Will ‘micro-developers’drivegrowthinthevideogamesworld?AlistairHoughton reports

LDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

IN VIDEO gaming, it’s the small firms oftoday that will be the big successes oftomorrow.

That was the upbeat message fromDevelop Liverpool, the video games con-ference last week that shone a spotlighton the North West’s video gaming sector.

The main conference saw representat-ives from the biggest companies in soft-ware, from Sony to Electronic Arts,debate issues from mobile gaming to thephysics of on-screen animation.

And, in the room next door, Develop’ssister conference, Indie Dev Day, focusedon how smaller studios can thrive in amarket where anyone can make gamesand market them to hundreds of millionsof people worldwide.

Liverpool and Cheshire have a longheritage in gaming, thanks to pioneeringcompanies such as Psygnosis, laterbought by Sony.

The sector was much admired byregeneration officials, who hoped it couldhelp drive the region to growth.

But last year Sony, Merseyside’sbiggest gaming company, axed severalstaff in its Wavertree base. And, in Jan-uary, Speke developer Bizarre Creationswas closed by US owner Activision withthe loss of 200 jobs.

The industry looked to be wobbling,and some feared that talented developerscould be lost to countries such as Canada,which offer tax breaks to gaming firms.

But, instead, many former Sony andBizarre staff have stayed in the regionand started their own companies.

They, and other games professionalswho have also set up shop in the region,are taking advantage of the changingvideo games market.

Until recently, games were sold inboxes through shops. The market advant-age lay with the big studios, who couldfund the production of big-budget titlesfor consoles such as the PlayStation orthe XBox.

But, today, there are many more waysto sell games large and small.

They can be sold directly to smart-phone or tablet owners through market-places such as Apple’s App Store. Theycan be sold directly to console ownersthrough services such as PlayStation Net-work or WiiWare. And they can be playedthrough social networks, such as Face-book.

This year, Phil Gaskell andLeo Cubbin, both formeremployees of Sony in Liver-pool, launched publisherRebelPlay in the city to focuson games made by indiedevelopers.

Mr Gaskell, the company’s creative dir-ector, took part in the “Developer’s Ques-tion Time” debate onstage at Develop, atthe Hilton Hotel. He said he was thrilledto be part of the “vibrant” games scene inthe North West that could take advantageof digital distribution.

He said: “What we’re entering now atthe moment is a second golden age ingaming – the birth of the micro-developer.

“As we’ve seen, the closure of theselarge studios – like Bizarre Creations,and in Warrington we saw the demise ofTHQ Digital – what we’ve seen is thesesmall micro-developers setting up, mak-

ing small games for iPhone, or for Play-station Network.

“We look back to the old days of theSpectrum – these were the bedroom pro-grammers, where three or four guyscould make a successful game. We’reback in those days now, and it’s fantastic.

“It’s all down to digital distribution –it’s thanks to those barriers beingremoved.”

Matt Cavanagh, former lead designerat Bizarre Creations, and now one of the

new breed of gamesdevelopers hoping to make amark on the mobile gamingworld, said: “I was maderedundant from BizarreCreations earlier in the year,and I decided that I was goingto have a crack at making

games for myself. So I formed TotemGames with my wife, Jill.”

Running his own firm, has, MrCavanagh says, been “scary, but veryrewarding.”

He added: “It’s great to be able to havecomplete creative control over my games.

“I do sometimes miss the company ofworking with a big team of people, but Ihope I’ve created something that peoplewill talk about and remember.”

That something is SpaceOff, a “newgenre blend retro game” for the iPhonegame where two players compete againsteach other to blast asteroids.

It is, says Mr Cavanagh, one of the fewgames that allows people to play againsteach other on one iPhone screen.

He added: “I’m hoping that will helpthe game to reach a larger audience.”

Mr Cavanagh demonstrated his gameat the Liverpool Indie Showcase, a net-working event held immediately afterDevelop, at the nearby Cafe SportsExpress.

The event saw owners and staff from 24Merseyside and Cheshire games compan-ies show off their wares.

Organiser Ivan Davies, production anddevelopment director at video game pro-duction company Catalyst Outsourcing,said the event was “an ideal opportunityto get people from Liverpool and peoplefrom the UK games community togetherto get them speaking with one another”.

He added: “Liverpool’s got a fantasticheritage in video games. We started withImagine in the mid-80s, and thenPsygnosis. We’ve got Sony now.

“It’s got a wealth of experience and awealth of talent.”

Another exhibitor at the Indie Show-case was Liverpool publisher ThumbstarGames. It came in the week that the com-pany secured “significant investment”from games industry veterans Martinand Gareth Edmondson, who have joinedthe company’s board.

Thumbstar plans to open a studio inNewcastle and its chief operating officer,

JUST how dark canthings get?

We were meant to havecome out of recession acouple of years ago, butthe recovery of the econ-omy since then has beenvery fragile. Yes, there isgrowth, but, at 0.9%, it ismuch slower than wasanticipated at the time ofthe last Budget.

The Office for BudgetResponsibility (OBR) isstill forecasting that, infour or five years’ timethe UK will be enjoyinggrowth rates of circa 3%.If those growth ratescome to pass, then, by2015, we will all have putthese dark days behindus. In the meantime,however, the OBR made itplain that the recoverywill be painfully slow.

One key feature of yes-terday’s Autumn State-ment is the degree towhich the Chancellorappeared to be deliber-ately stoking up a fightwith the public sector,particularly given thattoday is the TUC’s Day ofAction.

Put it this way. If MrOsborne wanted to pick afight, then his words yes-terday would make agood way of goingabout it.

But now would beexactly the wrong time toget into a protractedseries of disputes with alarge proportion of thepopulation. Earlier thisweek, Dave Prentis, gen-eral secretary of Unison,warned that a series ofstrikes “region by region,service by service” couldbe the next weapon usedby unions over publicsector pensions. A longseries of strikes couldhurt economic outputevery bit as much as theeurozone crisis.

Then there was theannouncement in yester-day’s Autumn Statementthat the Governmentwants to carry outregional reviews of locallabour market con-ditions.

The Conservativeshave long held the viewthat national wage bar-gaining in the public sec-tor distorts rates of payin less prosperousregions. The belief is that

pay rates needed torecruit workers in Lon-don should not necessar-ily apply in the NorthWest, for example. Also,relatively high levels ofpublic sector pay meanthat private sector firmshave to incur highercosts to compete for staff.

However, any move tosignificantly cut publicsector pay could be seenas damaging in placeslike Liverpool, where thepublic sector represents alarge proportion of thelocal economy.

Mr Osborne’s speechappears to have satisfiedthe markets. The price ofBritish governmentbonds rose slightly, sug-gesting that financialinvestors regard thiscountry as good for itsdebts. The stock markethardly budged at all,principally becauseinvestors had alreadyfactored the bad newsabout economic growthrates into share prices.

The fact that theworld’s markets are treat-ing Britain with a degreeof equanimity will allowMr Osborne to feel jus-tified about his actions.Britain’s credit ratingdoes seem to be his prin-cipal concern. Perhapshe’s right. We have allseen what a casual dis-regard for bond marketopinion has done forpolitical leaders inGreece and Italy.

But there was one hugepiece of news containedin the press releases pub-lished alongside theAutumn Statement, butwhich itself was notannounced in Parlia-ment. The OBR’s estim-ate for the number ofpublic sector job lossesarising from the auster-ity measures has risenfrom 400,000 at the timeof the last Budget to morethan 700,000 now. That’s astartling increase andrepresents the price somepeople will have to payfor the nation’s sloweconomic recovery.

These cuts will hurtevery aspect of life, fromhealth and educationthrough to social care.

It was a grim speechthat offered little by wayof hope.

BillGleeson

videoSEE Alistair’s videofrom the Developconference atldpbusiness.co.uk


‘A second golden age of gaming’

New York showcase forMersey microbusinesses

Phil Gaskell, left,and Leo Cubbin,founders ofLiverpool videogames publishingcompany,RebelPlay

A scene from Tiny Invaders, developed by Liverpool studioHogrocket. The studio’s co-founder, Ben Ward, spoke atDevelop Liverpool last week

the big feature

Martin Kitney, said it was likely torecruit more staff to its headquarters inLiverpool Innovation Park.

Starting your own games company canbe tough, so speakers at Indie Dev Dayoffered advice on how developers couldbest go it alone.

Ben Ward, another former BizarreCreations employee, discussed how heand two colleagues set up Liverpool stu-dio Hogrocket this year.

Meanwhile, Ewan Lamont, chief exec-utive and co-founder ofLegendary Games, discussed thepros and cons of starting in busi-ness.

Using a slide showing MelGibson, in Braveheart, he talkedabout the freedom starting upcould give you, including thefact you can work with who youwant to work with.

Another possible pro, he said,was “money”.

Standing in front of a slide showing acartoon chest of gold, he said: “It’s truethat, if you go to work for a big-nameorganisation like Sony or EA, then youcan get some really comfortable wages.

“But, if you want to be super-rich –kind of Russian oligarch rich – the onlyway that’s going to happen is if you havegot a stake in the company. It’s not every-body’s motivator, but it’s a big motivatorfor a lot of people.”

And Mr Lamont said small hi-techfirms would drive the UK’s economicgrowth.

He said: “Our country is in a bit of abad spot at the moment. Any growth thatwe have had in the last 10 years hasn’tcome from companies that existed 10years ago. It came from new companiesthat started.

“The big companies that have changedpeople’s lives, like Google and Facebook,they didn’t exist 10 years ago. If we are

going to get out of this blackhole that we are in, it’s notgoing to be the guys in West-minster that are going to do it.It’s going to be the people inthis room, and people like us.”

Develop’s event director,Andy Lane, was clearlydelighted with the receptionlocal developers had given tothe event.

He said: “The North West has alwaysbeen recognised as a hotbed of creativetalent, right from the 80s through untilnow, and so I think it’s right that theevent is here to reflect that type of com-munity and the games they are making.

“The response has been fantastic. Ithink there’s a real wish to learn fromeach other, to meet one another, and tobasically push forward the boundaries ofwhat it is that making games is allabout.”

WHERE the video games worldhas “micro-developers”, theMersey music world has“microbusinesses” who areresponding to the way therecord industry is changing.

Last week, the Daily Postrevealed that Liverpool SoundCity was to hold a sister eventin New York in March.

The New York Sound City gigwill be headlined by legendaryLiverpool band The La’s, makingtheir first US appearance fortwo decades.

But Sound City is also aboutbuilding business ties betweenLiverpool and the US. It is beingbacked by Liverpool Vision andUK Trade & Investment, both ofwhom believe the US offersopportunities to Mersey creat-ive firms.

The music industry’s woes arewell-reported, with falling CDsales and the rise in legal andillegal downloading hitting trad-itional record companies hard.

But in Merseyside, andaround the UK, small andinnovative companies are find-ing new ways to sell music andmake money from the industry.

Liverpool’s Sentric Music, for

example, helps small andunsigned bands collect royal-ties. Sentric has also proventhat Mersey firms can crack theUS market by teaming up witha New York publisher to licenceits stable of music to televisionshows.

Sound City festival director,Dave Pichilingi, said: “There’ssome wonderful music comingout of the city.

“The problem is the widerproblems with the music busi-ness – the fact that nobody isbuying records any more, thefact that there are no marginsin recorded music any more,means the music industry isbecoming more about a DIYculture.

“We’re seeing more micro-businesses springing up in theregion. Sentric is a greatexample of that, and a greatsuccess story.

“We’re seeing a lot of youngpeople looking to start up theirown businesses.

“The dream of getting themajor record deals is a distantecho. These micro-businessesare setting up to do the busi-ness that needs to be done.”

‘NorthWest isahotbedofcreativetalent’

privatebusiness

COMMODITIES ware-housing group HenryBath & Son saw salesand profits fall duringa year which saw ittaken over.

The PrincesDock-based companyreported a turnover of£129m in 2010 – downfrom £181m in 2009.

That helped it to apre-tax profit of £54m –down from £84m theprevious year.

Henry Bath foundedthe company that bearshis name in 1794.

It has stored andhandled metals tradedon the London MetalExchange for morethan 200 years.

Today, it has subsid-iaries in Singapore, theNetherlands, Italy, Tur-key and the USA.

In 2010, the group,which had been ownedby Royal Bank of Scot-land, was taken over byJP Morgan MetalsGroup – itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase.

In accounts recentlyfiled at CompaniesHouse, chairman PeterSellars said: “Thisyear’s financial resultshows a decreasedturnover compared tothe previous year.

“The exceptionalstock build during thefinancial crisis of 2008and 2009 has subsided,resulting in a decreasein stock holdings overthe year, thus impact-ing on the group’s res-ults.

“Despite this, HenryBath has continued tomaintain strong oper-ating margins. Thegroup balance sheetalso shows an increasein net assets from$234m (£150m) to$283m (£181m).

“The directors are ofthe opinion that thecompany will continueto trade profitably inthe coming year.”

Mr Sellars saidHenry Bath was wellprepared for economicturbulence.

He said: “The com-pany has a significantlevel of retainedreserves, and earns itsrevenue from affiliatedcompanies which havea wide geographicalspread, which helps tomitigate these risks.”

ALISTAIR HOUGHTON

Metalsgroupprofitstumble

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Developer stillcautious asprofits returnPROPERTY developerQuintain moved backinto the black in itsfirst half-year, butwarned an improve-ment in its markets isunlikely in comingmonths.

It made pre-taxprofits of £3.7m in thesix months to Septem-ber 30, compared tolosses of £58.8m inthe same period lastyear, when it tooksubstantial write-downs on the value ofits properties.

Capital dealfor CandoverPRIVATE equity firmCandover Investmentshas agreed to sellsafety equipmentgroup Capital SafetyGroup to rival KKR for£709m.

Capital makes fallprotection and rescueequipment. Its North-ern Europe HQ is inManor Park, Runcorn.

Cash moveINSURANCE giant Res-olution said it is ontarget to return£500m to sharehold-ers.

It has already car-ried out £250m ofshare buy-backs, andsaid the other halfwill be returned toinvestors in the firsthalf of next year, sub-ject to market con-ditions.

Drug approvalPHARMACEUTICALSfirm AstraZeneca saidthe European Com-mission had given itpermission to sell itstype-2 diabetes drug,Komboglyze.

The drug, whichwas launched in theUS in January, wasdeveloped as part of ajoint venture with USrival Bristol-MyersSquibb.

briefing ‘Merseysidecan’taffordtobeanti-European’

Our lives, jobs and prosperity are intertwined with our neighbours – we can’t afford to beanti-European . . . Sajjad Karim, MEP, pictured at the Pier Head, in Liverpool

LDPbusiness .co.ukdebate

LDPbusiness .co.uk

PUT your head above the parapet andsupport the European Union and, asan insult, you are labelled a “Euro-phile”.

The eurozone crisis is a field day forthe nay-sayers, but the collapse of theEU will be disastrous for Merseyside.

We export twice as much to Belgiumas we do to China. Ellesmere Port’sVauxhall plant exports Astras acrossEurope, creating thousands of localjobs dependent on EU free trade. Ourbiggest national exports are pharma-ceuticals, and more people work inthat industry in Liverpool than anyother European city. Europe does mat-ter in Merseyside.

Since January, 1993, the single mar-ket has created 2.5m jobs and £750bn ofextra prosperity. These are no small,insignificant figures.

We need to take the economic leadand it’s the entrepreneurial spirit, soabundant and ingrained in the Liver-pool psyche, which will lead us out ofthe doldrums.

Our lives, jobs and prosperity areintertwined with our neighbours. Wecan’t afford to be anti-European.

The EU started as the EuropeanCoal and Steel Community. This forcedFrance, Germany, Italy and the Ben-elux countries to share coal and steel inreconstructing post-war Europe, ratherthan building a fresh war machine.

When the Berlin Wall came down,there were genuine fears of a Balkan-style civil war in eastern Europe.Instead, thanks to the EU, within 15years, nearly all of those nations weredemocratic and EU members.

It is now inconceivable that a majorEuropean war will occur. This hasbeen achieved because the ambitionsof nations are curbed by a need toco-operate in order to succeed.

The EU has unlocked untold mar-kets for British firms. When the EUstands up at the World Trade Organ-

isation, it negotiates on behalf of theworld's biggest single market.

Other nations ignore single coun-tries in preference to making conces-sions to the larger EU.

These international deals cannotcome too soon for Birkenhead’s Cam-mell Laird as it bids to become a worldleader and exporter in components forcivil nuclear programmes. Hundredsof high-skilled jobs will be protected atthat site.

Many advocate that we should letthe EU collapse under its current fin-ancial problems. It is a position I can’tbegin to comprehend. Why would wewant our markets destroyed? Whywould we want to obliterate jobs? Whywould we want to halt prosperity andrisk peace?

Those who advocate a simplistic ref-

erendum endanger our very future.Their arguments can be compellingand they certainly lend themselveseasily to newspaper headlines. Butthey are at best naive and worst pan-dering to the very fears and prejudicesthat are holding us back.

Let’s bust the biggest myth of all. Wefrequently hear “we give more than wereceive”. This is nonsense. This claimdoes not take into account the jobs andprosperity created by opening marketsor shared governmental functions.

A study by London South Bank Uni-versity shows a staggering 3,445,000UK jobs are dependent on trading withEU nations. Some 56,000 of those jobsare here in Merseyside. The claim alsodoes not take into account urbanregeneration. Look at Liverpool’swaterfront and its modern appeal is

down to EU cash. Thousands of jobshave been created at the Albert andKings Docks, the Pier Head, NewBrighton and the Crosby Coastal Park.

And isn’t the Museum of Liverpool afantastic addition to the city?

Yes, the EU must reform, and, yes,there must be debates over whatpowers it must or must not have. Yes,there is a democratic deficit, and, yes,member states have run up unaccept-able domestic deficits. But to lose theEU and its principles of liberal freetrade will be calamitous.

Liverpool was once the gateway tothe largest Empire since the days ofthe Caesars. It held no qualms infacing the world. Surely now is thetime to lose our fears over Europe andembrace the free market that is theenvy of the world.

‘Crippling costs’ mean we must rethink Britain’s EU membership

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NorthWestConservativeMEPSajjadKarimonthebenefitsoftheEU

ANY sober debate into themerits of the EU on Mersey-side should acknowledgethe EU’s investment in theregion.

According to the DailyPost, Merseyside saw £929minvested in 1,802 projectsunder Objective 1, and hasadditionally received cashfrom the European SocialFund and European RegionalDevelopment Fund.

The latter, for example,invested cash into the King’sDock redevelopment andthe creation of the EchoArena and ConventionCentre. As we all know, thisis a prized asset to the cityand enhances its ability tomarket itself enormously.

However, when analysingthe merits of the EU, it is

critical to look at the biggerpicture. In reality, this invest-ment on Merseyside is theleast we should be receiving,and is a mere drop in theocean compared to the enorm-ous cost of the EU to the UK.

The plain fact is that theEU costs us much more thanwe receive back. Accordingto the Treasury’s Pink Bookin 2010, the UK gross con-tribution to the EU hit a newrecord of £18.46bn – around£51m a day. This was a jumpfrom £17.44bn the previousyear and £16.4bn in 2008.

Gross receipts, however,from Brussels, receded from£9.7bn in 2008 to £8.1bn lastyear, making Britain’s netcontribution £10.3bn.

In the past year, the UKhas also stumped up

£12.5bn to help rescueGreece, Ireland and Portugalwith bail-outs. With thecrisis now engulfing theeuro, and with the prospectof more bail-outs, many ofus in business believe weshould urgently review ourrelationship with the EU.

Of course, we want tomaintain and strengthentrade ties with the EU with50% of UK trade being withthe eurozone. That was thepurpose of the EuropeanCommunity when it wasestablished.

The fundamental problemis that the EU has growninto a political, rather thantrading network. As a result,the EU is now constantlymeddling with business byissuing new laws and reg-

ulations. According to theBritish Chamber of Com-merce, the total regulatoryburden over the past 12years stands at £88.3bn withEU legislation accounting for£60.8bn, more than two-thirds of the overall burden.

Looking at this picture, itis easy to see why the UK’smembership of the EU isbecoming a major politicalissue again. The latest Con-servative intake of MPs areapparently deeply Euro-sceptic and are agitating forchange. This presents amajor problem for the coalit-ion and David Cameron’sability to keep the pro-European Lib-Dems on side.

But, with the cripplingcost of the EU, the level ofpolitical interference and

the crisis in the eurozone,the case for a radical rethinkof our relationship is becom-ing louder and more urgent.■ PAUL MAWDSLEY is man-aging director of executivesearch firm the MawdsleyConsultancy, and a directorof Professional Liverpool.

Paul Mawdsley

FRAMELINECOMPOSITE DOORSTRADE, UPVC WINDOWS

DOORS, CONSERVATORIES.

5 Day Turnaround

Tel: 0151 546 5577Fax: 0151 546 5588Accredited with BS7412 & BS7950

Building Trade

BUSINESSto BUSINESS


MurdochseesoffprotesttoremainasBSkyBchair

Homeloansuplastmonth

Kitbagsuffers lossafterpricecuts Toppsgloom

THE number of mort-gage approvals for buy-ing a house has risen toits highest point innearly two years, offic-ial figures showed, buteconomists warnedthat this was unlikelyto signify a longer termboost.

Loan approvals forhouse purchase rose to52,743 in October,reversing a dip in theprevious month’s fig-ures, which had recor-ded a fall for the firsttime in six months.

The last time this fig-ure was so high was inDecember, 2009, whenmore than 58,000approvals were made.

But Capital Econom-ics analyst SamuelTombs said the “reas-onable” rise in UKmortgage approvalsshown by the Bank ofEngland’s latest figuresappeared unlikely tomark the beginning ofa sustained pick-up.

He said: “The num-ber of mortgageapprovals for newhouse purchase rosefrom 51,200 in Septem-ber to 52,700.

“But this justreversed September’sdrop. Rapid falls inemployment and realearnings, as well asdeteriorating con-ditions in wholesalefunding markets, sug-gest that approvals areunlikely to keeprising.”

Meanwhile, theamount people bor-rowed on credit cardsrose by £93m lastmonth, although otherloans and advancesremained “broadlyunchanged”.

TOPPS Tiles revealed worseningrecent trading as shoppers put offrenovating their homes, amid the“stagnation” in the housing market.

The UK’s largest tile and woodflooring specialist, which operates321 stores, said like-for-like salesdeclined 6.9% in the seven weekssince the end of September.

And it expects conditions toremain difficult in 2012 as spendingpower continues to be squeezed.

LDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

[email protected]

INASSOCIATION

WITH


Pupilsrisetomarinefirm’smanufacturingchallengeINGENIOUS pupils from 12Merseyside schools rose to asurvival challenge in thesafe environs of a Liverpoolhotel yesterday.

The youngsters had todesign, build, market andsell survival apparatus foremergency pods to bedropped into danger zonesas part of the Survitec Makeit in Manufacturing event, atthe Crowne Plaza.

Birkenhead-based Sur-vitec is a leading maker ofmarine safety and survivalequipment, such as inflat-able life rafts and marineevacuation systems.

The company staged yes-terday’s challenge in collab-oration with The Manufac-turing Institute as part ofthe industry’s aim of attract-ing the brightest and bestnew talent into manufactur-ing.

Since 2006, the pro-gramme has involved morethan 30,000 youngsters andteachers in these hands-onchallenges to illustrate theopportunities the sectoroffers.

The finale of yesterday’sevent saw Survitec man-agers assess pupils’ effortsin a Dragons’ Den-stylepresentation. Thomas Lawrence and Owen Sweeney, from St Edward’s College, take part in the manufacturing challenge

FOR News,Sport andBusinesson yourphone

LDP

Text LDPto 67800

MOBILE

JAMES MURDOCH was reappointedas a director of BSkyB at the company’sannual general meeting yesterday.

Provisional figures announced atthe meeting in London gave him81.24% of the vote with 18.76% against.

There had been calls for him toresign his role as chairman amid fearsthat his links to the inquiry intophone hacking at News Corporationwould damage BSkyB’s reputation.

Protesters calling for Mr Murdoch’sresignation had gathered outside themeeting, at the QEII conferencecentre.

Labour MPs Chris Bryant and Tom

Watson also arrived, promising awk-ward questions.

Pressure has been continuing tomount on the son of media tycoonRupert Murdoch, over his links to thephone hacking inquiry at News Cor-poration, amid claims it could damagethe image of BSkyB.

At the meeting, deputy chairmanNicholas Ferguson took questionsabout Mr Murdoch’s role, prefacingthem with a strong defence of hischairmanship.

He said: “He runs an excellentboard. Discussions are open and frank,his chairing is very good.

“He has put in place strong gov-ernance procedures. He has a strongstrategic view.”

Asked if the select committee hear-

ings about phone hacking at the Newsof the World cast doubt either on MrMurdoch’s honesty or competence, MrFerguson said: “We’ve worked withJames for eight years, James is ahighly competent man. As for honesty,we’ve seen nothing that makes usquestion his honesty.

When Mr Bryant asked about thehacking row, Mr Ferguson said: “Thepublic, the people in this room, under-stand that BSkyB is not News Inter-national.”

Guy Jubb, head of governance andstewardship at Standard Life Invest-ments, said their votes would goagainst the re-election of Mr Murdoch.

Mr Jubb told the meeting: “Stand-ard Life Investments manages over 6mshares in BSkyB and we have been an

investor for many years. I have comehere today because we should like toexplain to the board and our fellowshareholders why we are opposing there-election of James Murdoch.”

He said that, in September, theywrote to Mr Ferguson to advise himthey were concerned that James Mur-doch remained chairman, and theywould like to see a new and independ-ent chairman appointed.

They explained that the unsuccess-ful bid approach from News Corpor-ation (for BSkyB) had magnified theconflicts of interest which the inde-pendent non-executive directors had todeal with, and it was inappropriatethat the board was led by a repres-entative of its largest shareholder andputative offeror.

THE operator of onlinestores for football clubsincluding Barcelona,Manchester United andChelsea revealed a lossafter it dropped pricesto clear old stock.

Kitbag, which is partof Bradford-basedFindel, saw salesincrease 15% in the 26weeks to September 30

but it made a £1.8moperating loss, com-pared to a £1.4m profitthe previous year.

Its performance washit after it cleared£300,000 of “obsolete”items such as outdatedfootball strips andprofits were squeezedby a number of under-performing contracts.

The division, which isdue to start a new con-tract with SunderlandFootball Club next year,said it was trying torenegotiate the con-tracts, but they arelikely to continue to hitprofitability in thesecond half.

Kitbag’s owner saidcurrent trading was flat

despite recent pro-motions, adding that thedivision’s rapid growthhad failed to translateinto profitability.

Findel, which alsoowns door-to-door salesbusiness Kleeneze andExpress Gifts, saidlosses increased 81%, to£5.6m, in the half-yearperiod.


Commercial Property

ForSaleOn the instructions of theAdministrators of Grindale Ltd.

14 Smithdown Road,Liverpool, L7 4JG• Freehold Interest

• 3 storey premises

• Offered with vacant possession

• Comprising 14 bedsits

• Situated 0.5 miles from Liverpool City Centre

All enquiries:Phil Hartley-Chambers 0151 231 [email protected] Smyth 0161 956 [email protected]

ForSaleOn the instructions of theAdministrators of Grindale Ltd.

5 Croxteth Road,Liverpool, L8 0RU• Freehold Residential Investment Opportunity

• Comprising 3 two-bedroom flats

• Currently producing an incomeof £1,795 pcm

• Situated 2 miles from Liverpool City Centre

All enquiries:Phil Hartley-Chambers 0151 231 [email protected] Smyth 0161 956 [email protected]

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by Iain Jenkinson, senior directorat consultants GVA

LDPbusiness .co.uklocation

viewpoint


INASSOCIATION

WITH


LocalismAct ‘apositivestep’towardsgenuinelocalempowerment

WE AT GVA welcome the LocalismAct. Taken together, the principalcomponents of the Act are a sig-nificant, positive step forward ingiving power back to local author-ities and encouraging innovation.

The Act will grant new freedomsand flexibilities for local develop-ment, strengthening local democracyand accountability.

It will create new rights andpowers for local communities andbusinesses.

It will also secure greater oppor-tunity to initiate and participate inlocal planning and change.

The ultimate consequence is thatmany more decisions about housingprovision and delivery can be takenlocally.

GVA has long advocated the meritsof a city regional approach to econ-omic growth, placing cities at theheart of the economic agenda inwhich strong civic leadership is crit-ical to them reaching their full econ-

omic potential. Rebalancing thedisparities in regional growth acrossthe UK starts with leadership.

In clearing the way for locally elec-ted mayors, the Localism Act willgive many of our northern cities avoice in the first instance,but also the ability to gen-erate resources to deliverlocal priorities and breakfree from the functionalsilos that public policy andfinance tends to operatewithin.

The local governmentfinance settlement wassome £19bn in 2011/12.

Even if a small proportion of thiswas made available to forge a newcreative relationship with the private

sector across a platform of locallydetermined economic developmentand regeneration projects in our cit-ies, then the prospects for growth inour provincial cities would look thatmuch brighter.

This is the real potentialof the Localism Act.

However, there are stillmatters which needaddressing.

In terms of planning,there is a need for trans-itional arrangements to beagreed pending the adop-tion of the National Plan-ning Policy Framework

(NPPF).The Localism Act has probably

introduced the most significant

changes to the planning system since1947, and, as the NPPF moves for-ward, there remains on the one handuncertainty around further planningreform, but also uncertainty as tohow the framework will assist in thedelivery of the potential outlinedabove.

Uncertainty is always very dam-aging to investor and developer con-fidence, and clarity of the Govern-ment’s intentions around planningreform is urgently required if thesound principles of the Localism Actare not to be undermined by anunhelpful planning system.

We look forward to local author-ities responding positively to theenhanced powers and freedomswhich they have been granted.

PhaseTwoofBalticCreativeunderway

One of the Phase One units at Baltic Creative

‘Therearemattersthat stillneedtobeaddressed’

BUILDING firm ISG has started workon the second phase of development atLiverpool’s Baltic Creative scheme.

Phase One saw the creation of10,000 sq ft of commercial space in awarehouse complex in Jordan Streetfor creative and digital sector firms.

Baltic Creative CIC, which was setup in 2009 to oversee the project, saysthe second phase will see the creationof an extra 35,000 sq ft of space.

It is being backed by Liverpool Vis-ion and by the European RegionalDevelopment Fund.

The pilot phase attracted tenants

including Liverpool Sound City, GeckoDesign, Trans Pacific Ltd and GoCre8,and is now 90% occupied.

Phase Two – otherwise known asthe Catalyst Phase – is scheduled forcompletion in June next year.

Occupied units will receive envel-ope works, but vacated spaces willreceive full redevelopment works.

Once completed, the space willprovide a cafe, gallery, shed studio,duplex and shop-front studio space.

Liverpool-based architects, UnionNorth, are behind the design.

Mark Lawler, Baltic Creative CICcentre manager, said: “It’s great tohave ISG on board.

“They have really bought into ourvision for the scheme and to now see

work commence on site is very excit-ing. Having now let 90% of our firstphase refurbished units, we are keento see the second phase complete.

“The plan for the scheme is incred-ibly exciting and we are gettinginterest from some fantastic creativeand digital companies.”

Jim Parker, ISG’s managing dir-ector North West, added: “Theredevelopment of this underused areain Liverpool city centre is a dynamicenterprise, and the passion and com-mitment of Baltic Creative to deliver avibrant community of creative busi-nesses is inspiring.

“Once completed, these managedworkspaces will undoubtedly prove anattractive proposition.”





INASSOCIATION

WITH


A returnto LIPfor DuoSTART-UP 3-D visualis-ation firm, Fhog Media,and engineer recruit-ment specialists,Charles Francis Cooper,have returned to Liver-pool Innovation Parkafter almost two yearsaway.

Charles FrancesCooper is taking a10,000 sq ft unit. Man-aging director RobO’Keane said: “Afterworking from home fora while, I missed thebuzz of being surroun-ded by other compan-ies. Liverpool Innovat-ion Park provides anexcellent business hubto enable growth forsmall businesses likemine.”

Fhog Media, headedup by entrepreneursGary O’Grady and JohnFerry, set up the newventure specialising in3-D visuals for theproperty and gamesindustries after strik-ing out alone from 3-Ddesign studio, EvolveProductions.

FournewdealsforBruntwood

ValueretailerconfirmsmoveintoClaytonSquareVALUE retailer Discount UKis to take a unit at ClaytonSquare shopping centre inLiverpool city centre

Clayton Square owner,Land Securities, has signedup Discount UK for a 10,000sq ft unit fronting ontoGreat Charlotte Street.

Discount UK has agreed totake a 10-year lease on thepremises.

James Larmuth, LandSecurities’ portfoliomanager, said: “The tougheconomic climate has led tohuge consumer demand forvalue.

“We have worked hard toensure that our retailersrepresent the needs of ourcustomers and we stronglybelieve that Discount UKbrings affordability andchoice to Clayton Squareshoppers.”

Owned by Poundworld,Discount UK sells productspriced between 28p and £25.

The announcement marksthe first time Discount UKhas opened a store in Liv-erpool and it follows thecompany’s pledge in Augustto create 1,800 jobs throughnew store openings.

Land Securities is also theowner of the nearby StJohn’s shopping centre. Value retailer Discount UK has agreed to take a 10,000 sq ft unit at Clayton Square, in Liverpool

PROPERTY group Bruntwood has securedfour lettings totalling nearly 9,000 sq ft in twoof its south Sefton buildings.

Geodis Wilson UK, Clarion Advocates, Sen-cia and Ingeus UK have agreed deals in officesin Bootle and Seaforth.

One of the world’s largest freight manage-ment companies, Geodis Wilson UK hasincreased its office size to 2,515 sq ft on thethird floor at Burlington House on a 10-yearlease.

Recruitment agency Ingeus UK is movinginto a 3,826 sq ft suite on the ground floor of StHughs, Bootle, on a five-year lease.

Training service provider Senica has alsosigned a four-year lease for 1,500 sq ft of space,while Leeds-based solicitors firm ClarionAdvocates has expanded its North West officeand moved into a 1,100 sq ft office in thebuilding on a three-year lease.

Colin Forshaw, head of sales at Bruntwood,said: “The recent spate of lettings is testamentto the value Bruntwood offers outside of thecity centre.

“Companies are realising they don’t have torent in the heart of the city to receive the bestdeal – as such, we are pleased to welcome aseries of new lettings at St Hughs and Bur-lington House.”

Julie Murphy, senior advocate at ClarionAdvocates, said: “Our Liverpool office hasbeen extremely successful and as such wehave had to expand.

“As a legal firm, St Hugh’s was the perfect

location for our new office, as it is close to thecourts and is easily accessible to the citycentre.”

Bruntwood owns nine office buildings inLiverpool city centre, including the CottonExchange, Oriel Chambers and flagship build-ing The Plaza.

It specialises in flexible leases and offersoffices from 200 sq ft upwards across its prop-erty portfolio.

St Hugh’s office building, in Bootle

[email protected]

OFFICESS,M,L,XL


LondonStockMarketatClose

Last night, the pound was worth: $1.5623 (up 0.0087)........... 1.1706 euros (up 0.0056)........... 121.7650 yen (up 7.435) ...........Its trade weighted index was 80.40 (up 0.40)Metals in $ per troy ounce: Gold 1717 (down 3)........................ Silver 31.96 (down 0.04) ........................ Platinum 1537 (down 21)........................ UK base lending rate 0.5%

Keep track of all the major share moves of the day with our live FTSE ticker at www.ldpbusiness.co.ukLDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

96 6312 Adv Medical 77 -512

614 18 AEA Technology 12 +14

28712 23112 Albany Inv Tst 23612 xd +12 -3

1251 74012 AMEC 86612 +412 +7

92 31 Anglesey Mining 3334 -114 +2

35714 21458 Balfour Beatty 24134 xd +1134 +2434

3712 2514 Beale 2514 -14 -34

612 51212 Compass Gp 571 +11 +11

1300 1060 Dee Valley 1275 -25

474 301 easyJet 37118 +418 +2538

1030 70112 JD Sports Fashion 70112 -612 -11312

5734 734 JJB Sports 734 -12 -2

36 2512 Johnson Serv 2614 +12 +58

579 410 Nichols 531 -5 -112

14912 108 NWF 12612 +312

5434 29 Park Gp 5434 +212 +534

1257 977 Rathbone 1054 +3 +1

139 10312 Redrow 11214 +338 +318

14312 10214 RSA Insurance 10734 xd +134 +214

34 1812 Speedy Hire 2114 +134 +114

4634 3412 Sportech 3934 +114

4634 3378 Telme Gp 4358 +78

5514 30 UK Coal 3112 +112 -34

2 78 Ultima 1

2114 1793 Unilever 2086 xd +21 +31

637 54312 Utd Utils 612 +2 +2

UNIT TRUSTS

DAILY POST REGIONAL INDEX 1142.04 up 6.89 ▲ 0.61%

In order to give a greater range of Unit Trustinformation, covering a larger number of trusts, thelist of funds changes each day as follows:UNIT TRUST MANAGERS DAYS PUBLISHEDA to Com ................................................... TuesdayF to Inv....................................................WednesdayJP to Pru...................................................ThursdayRoy to T.........................................................Friday

FUNDS

Consols

£1001132 £761132 Cons 4%................... £95 -5

£6712 £50 Cons 212% ..............£6712

Conversions

£93 £69 Cnv 312%................... £92

Treasury

£7012 £50916 Tr 212%...................... £70

£1132732 £10434 Tr 9% 12................£10434 -1

£1051332 £101732 Tr 5% 12.............. £101732

£119732 £1131116 Tr 8% 13............. £1132332 -132

£11278 £109532 Tr 5% 14.............. £112932 -132

£108532 £10038 Tr 734% 12-15..... £1001316

£34234 £310532 Tr 212% IL 16 ...... £3401732 -332

£141716 £1322132 Tr 834% 17........... £140932 +532

£1511316£1332732 Tr 8% 21.............. £150116 +516

War

£991532 £601532 War Ln 312%............£9478 -38

High Low Price Var 5Day High Low Price Var 5Day High Low Price Var 5Day Country Currency Tourist Buy Sell

FTSE 100 INDEX

SPOTLIGHT

KEYs............ dealing suspendedxd.............price ex-dividendxs........ price ex-scrip issuexr ........ price ex-rights issuexc ..... ex-capital distributionxa................................ ex-all£......price value in £ sterling

Those securities which haveincreased in value since the previ-ous close are shown in bold type.

To assist in the analysis of themarket two figures are given foreach sector. Firstly an index (setat 100 on January 1 1992) togive a comparison in the perfor-mance of various market sectors.Secondly an indication of the per-centage change in the price of allthe securities within a sector sincethe previous close.

£ ABROAD

Australia dollars 1.47 1.557 1.562

Canada dollars 1.52 1.607 1.610

Denmark krone 8.21 8.701 8.711

European Union euro 1.11 1.170 1.171

Japan yen 114.97 121.560 121.570

New Zealand dollars 1.90 2.046 2.051

Norway krone 8.69 9.128 9.129

Poland zlotys 4.60 5.295 5.303

Sweden krona 10.28 10.748 10.758

Switzerland francs 1.36 1.435 1.436

Turkey new lira 2.74 2.888 2.897

United States dollars 1.48 1.562 1.563

Cancel Bid Offer Yield

Fund Terms Price Price Gross

FIDELITY INVESTMENT SERVS

Amer Spec Sits - 564.30 -

American - 1678.00 0.32

Japan - 209.30 0.56

Jpan Spec Sits - 126.60 0.10

MoneyBuilder Dividend - 196.60 4.43

Spec Sits - 1647.00 0.01

Sth East Asia - 617.70 0.01

GARTMORE FUND MANAGERS

Euro Sel Opps - 747.47 1.28

Pratical Inv -148.23 159.11 4.65

GUARDIAN

Index-Linked Acc -567.69 597.56 -

International Acc -869.45 915.21 -

Pacific Acc -225.57 237.44 -

Property Bonds -2041.04 2126.08 -

HSBC INVESTMENT FUNDS (UK)

Balanced - 94.69 1.25

British -235.70 235.70 2.92

Gilt & FI - 70.37 2.80

Gilt & Fixed -250.20 250.20 5.68

Monthly Inc - 122.70 4.21

HENDERSON HORIZON FUND

European Smllr Cos A - 758.20 0.12

Sterling Bd Unit Tst - 53.43 55.82 3.82

UK Equity Inc A - 393.10 3.70

HILL SAMUEL UNIT TST MGRS

Capital -274.00 284.90 1.20

European - 639.80 0.70

Inc & Gwth - 176.90 3.40

International - 369.40 0.40

North Amer Acc - 455.90 0.10

INVESCO FUND MANAGERS

Sing ASEAN - 183.62 0.63

High Low Funds Price Var

Closing Indices

FT-SE 100 INDEX 5337.00up 24.24 ▲ 0.46%

20 DAY MOVINGAVERAGE 5396.42down 4.23 ▼ 0.08%

FT ALL-SHARE 2751.30up 15.15 ▲ 0.55%

Aerospace & Defence

Index 3180.05 ▲ 22.03

325 19712 Avon Rbbr 318 -1

36118 24818 BAE Systems 26114xd +14

73612 36834 Chemring 39618 +18

23612 16578 Cobham 17138 +112

39758 305 Meggitt 37358 +234

738 55712 Rolls-Royce 705 xd +612

19058 13258 Senior 17514xd +1038

Automobiles & Parts

Index 4313.73 ▲ 173.02

245 157 GKN 18412 +738

Banks

Index 3234.32 ▼ 14.75

33312 13878 Barclays 169 xd +118

785 43914 Bco Santander 46412 -712

73078 46312 HSBC 48612xd -214

4014 6 Ireland 712 +14

6958 2178 Lloyds Banking 2318 -12

49 1738 Ryl Scotland 1912 -14

1878 116912Stan Chart 133112 -812

Beverages

Index 9919.45 ▲ 19.70

1395 1031 Barr (AG) 1148 -8

49058 28978 Britvic 33638 +78

1344 1112 Diageo 132812 +2

2354121979 SABMiller 219312 +6

Chemicals

Index 6608.59 ▲ 86.32

2081 1456 Croda 1757 +7

18738 10712 Elementis 14114 +214

2119 1523 Johnsn Mat 1842 +33

Construction & Materials

Index 3221.38 ▲ 112.79

35714 21458 Balfour Beatty 24134xd +1134

265 180 Costain 19834 +10

1160 1012 CRH 1150 +22

1448 1097 Kier Group 1385xd +17

7634 4212 Low Bonar 4434

12412 8314 Marshalls 9314 xd +134

Electricity

Index 8244.81 ▲ 38.03

58112 358 Drax Gp 562 +212

44858 27938 Intl Power 32538 +212

1423 1111 SSE 1293 +6

Electronic & Electrical

Index 2553.38 ▲ 55.90

705 43414 Domino Ptg 49234 -314

207 12778 Laird 14918xd +834

35718 224 Morgn Cru 25614xd +538

1010 581 Oxford Inst 999 +53

377 241 Volex 260

Equity Inv Instruments

Index 5346.21 ▲ 2.75

39234 31014 Alliance 333 +1

14012 109 Br Assets 11612 +18

71712 421 Candover Inv 47212 +1414

15734 120 Dunedin Sml 12212 -12

228 19412 DunedinIncGth 205 +3

49214 41478 Edin Invst 46214xd +258

66034 546 EdinUSTrkrTst 598 -312

32778 26112 Forgn & C 28338 +138

32334 242 HendSmllrCos 24718 +518

385 321 Law Debenture 340 +178

252 203 Scot Am 21018xd +34

533 40112 Witan 43178 +238

Fixed Line Telecoms

Index 2139.19 ▲ 29.90

20418 161 BT Gp 18538 +2

5278 3114 Cble&WComm 3618 xd -18

7678 1414 Cble&WWwide 1614 xd +12

84 5214 KCOM 74 +114

Food & Drug Retailers

Index 4645.86 ▲ 33.51

320 26234 Morrison W 319 +334

39112 26312 Sainsbury 29712xd +378

439 35614 Tesco 39814xd +2

102 36 Thorntons 3714 xd

Food Producers

Index 5469.23 ▲ 47.19

1182 940 AB Foods 1099 -1

875 626 Carrs Mill 773 +1012

88312 58812 Cranswick 71112xd -1

42478 31834 Dairy Crest 33914 +134

3518 314 Premier Foods 514 +12

68912 511 Tate Lyle 684 +4

2114 1793 Unilever 2086xd +21

Forestry & Paper

Index 4706.01 ▼ 21.54

664 41312 Mondi 43678 -2

General Financial

Index 4503.58 ▲ 67.53

340 17678 3i 18578 +112

88812 604 Close Bros 633 -1

57012 31158 ICAP 34414 +534

1076 767 London Stk Ex 83412 -12

1124 802 Provident 987 xd +412

1257 977 Rathbone 1054 +3

1922 1183 Schroders 1296 +12

General Industrials

Index 2625.81 ▲ 37.35

72412 39534 Cooksn Gp 49018 +1034

6 18 Cosalt 18

400 29934 Rexam 34034 +214

26614 16438 Smith DS 19414 +414

1429 86912 Smiths Gp 922 xd +11

General Retailers

Index 1528.29 ▲ 1.40

2514 16 Ashley L 1918 +38

31114 24214 Brown (N) Gp 253

7534 5114 Debenhams 60 +58

26 938 Dixons Retail 1078

45934 26912 Halfords 33418 +5

235 7212 Home Retail 85 xd +512

42538 26858 Inchcape 30858 +114

1030 70112 JD Sports 70112 -612

28718 217 Kingfisher 25018 -278

40214 30134 M & S 31814xd +38

62712 12714 Mothercare 16234 +514

2810 1868 Next 2665xd +2

2986 1936 Signet Jwlrs 2766xd -34

558 43334 WH Smith 511 +512

Health Care Equip & Serv

Index 3218.18 ▼ 5.69

742 521 Smith Nph 564 -1

Household Goods

Index 6316.01 ▲ 22.84

138 6212 Aga Rngmstr 66 xd

119 6712 Barratt Dev 10038 +334

75312 51612 Bellway 729 +2012

19014 117 McBride 12334xd +114

3648 3015 Reckitt Benck 3200 -10

139 10312 Redrow 11214 +338

4314 2418 Taylor Wimpey 3838 +138

Industrial Engineering

Index 6905.26 ▲ 99.29

39734 22558 Bodycote 26618 +438

952 53812 Charter 931 -212

42212 280 Fenner 38178 +178

1119 63612 IMI 76212 +1412

116 5712 Molins 92 -12

31212 145 MS Intl 30712 +212

45 25 Renold 27 +38

2063 1649 Spirax Srco 1824 +12

2218 1375 Weir Gp 1960 +17

Industrial Transportation

Index 2117.41 ▲ 52.33

24034 156 BBA Aviation 17358 +514

Life Insurance

Index 3638.71 ▲ 47.89

47778 27514 Aviva 30234 +414

12334 8934 Lgl & Gen 103 +134

777 509 Prudential 61012 +1212

31618 21134 Resolution 24012 +78

24434 172 Standard Life 19678 +212

Media

Index 3892.32 ▲ 42.84

850 61812 BSkyB 745 xd -12

59412 34338 D Mail Tst 40712 +212

9312 5158 ITV 6312 xd +134

1207 96012 Pearson 1127 +23

59012 46114 Reed Elsevier 512 +1

168 87 STV Group 8812

93 3712 Trinity Mirror 4712 +34

725 416 Utd Business 491 +934

150 101 UTV 10818 -18

84612 578 WPP 649 +6

Mining

Index 19297.30 ▲ 7.20

3437 213812Anglo Amer 230812 -8

1634 90012 Antofagasta 1084 -10

2631121667 BHP Billiton 1836 -12

2150 1296 Fresnillo 1639 +18

53118 348 Glencore Intl 38018 -414

1671 730 Kazakhmys 86812 +11

1983 963 Lonmin 1018 +7

7555 4425 Randgold Res 6600 +360

4712 271212Rio Tinto 313812 -2512

5514 30 UK Coal 3112 +112

Mobile Telecoms

Index 3927.87 ▲ 30.38

71912 38914 Inmarsat 423 +1014

18234 155 Vodafone Gp 16934xd +114

Nonlife Insurance

Index 1350.34 ▲ 7.85

1754 80012 Admiral Grp 918 +1

203438164538Marsh McL 183658 -1112

14312 10214 RSA Insurance 10734xd +134

Oil & Gas Producers

Index 8035.16 ▲ 38.47

1564121144 BG 1310 +1112

509 36314 BP 43834xd +1

46934 26138 Cairn Energy 275 +212

535 310 Premier Oil 36014 +34

2336 189012Ryl D Shell B 2209xd +12

1493 94512 Tullow Oil 1332 +24

Oil Equipment & Services

Index 21319.70 ▲ 302.27

1251 74012 AMEC 86612 +412

Personal Goods

Index 19077.99 ▲ 9.38

1600 1030 Burberry Gp 1198 +1

409 32012 PZ Cussons 34918 -118

Pharma & Biotechnology

Index 9435.90 ▲ 58.93

3194 254312AstraZeneca 284012 +1912

140512112712GlaxoSmthKln 1367xd +712

50 1878 Vernalis 1878 -78

Real Estate

Index 1958.11

35214 218 Big Yellow Gp 24838 -134

62912 452 Brit Land 47714 +512

2954 2282 Daejan Hldgs 2580 +57

445 31738 Gt Portland 34338xd +578

885 616 Land Secs 669 +8

33114 20434 SEGRO 21714 +34

Software & Comp Servs

Index 714.80 ▲ 8.65

6312 4014 Emblaze 5134 -18

36414 18078 Invensys 19734xd +614

108 64 Kewill 7612 +12

14714 6758 Logica 7712 +212

302 23134 Sage 275

Support Services

Index 4083.97 ▲ 79.08

614 18 AEA Tech 12

2034 1389 Aggreko 1841 +65

20778 9938 Ashtead Gp 177 +312

568 39818 Berendsen 43012 +12

82012 67612 Bunzl 81912xd +1312

78612 61412 Capita 638 +2

936 637 De La Rue 930 +2512

29478 18214 Electrocmps 20814 +514

83312 665 Experian 81712 +17

291 21978 G4S 24634 +758

452 305 Hyder Cons 370 +234

34114 19034 Interserve 31812 +734

550 425 Menzies J 509 xd +314

34634 20334 Northgate 23512 +1312

30834 14412 Prem Farnell 17434 +4

10478 61 Rentokil 64 +112

12012 79 Smiths News 87 -234

34 1812 Speedy Hire 2114 +134

1127 715 Travis & P 80712 +16

2261 1404 Wolseley 1839xd +37

Tech Hardware & Equip

Index 706.21 ▲ 10.32

651 38958 ARM Hldgs 57612 +212

2712 1618 BATM 1738 -18

10234 5014 Psion 5112 -1

16014 10912 Spirent Cms 12514 +318

Tobacco

Index 33132.04 ▲ 151.12

294912228212Br Am Tob 2884 +2412

2354 1784 Imperial Tob 2254 -12

Travel & Leisure

Index 4051.71 ▲ 45.60

3153 1742 Carnival 2100xd +34

612 51212 Compass Gp 571 +11

474 301 easyJet 37118 +418

12134 27 Enterprise Inns 35 +114

41258 30134 FirstGroup 31414 +258

1598 1190 Go-Ahead Gp 1190 -31

518 410 Greene King 46234 +314

1435 955 Intercontl Htls 1058 +14

285 132 Intl Cons Airlns 14514 +58

15514 114 Ladbrokes 12734xd +34

11718 8458 Marston’s 9312 +112

361 21558 Mitchells&Btlrs 22512 +158

7912 918 Punch Taverns 1212 +12

15334 10912 Rank Gp 14412 +214

335 25478 Restaurant Gp 29212 +334

27238 200 Stagecoach 245 xd -14

20434 1014 Thomas Cook 1878 -278

27178 13634 TUI Travel 164 +4

1887 1409 Whitbread 1595xd +16

Utilities

Index 4701.49 ▲ 20.64

34534 28258 Centrica 29458 +178

1300 1060 Dee Valley 1275

64912 530 National Grid 641 +2

73712 58412 Pennon Gp 69712 -1

1600 1368 Severn 1536 +7

637 54312 Utd Utils 612 +2

AIM

Index 682.92 ▲ 1.54

4958 1512 API Gp 3812

934 178 Armour Gp 3

158 118 Crimson Tide 114

214 118 Dawson Intl 114

1012 658 Eckoh 1012 +38

5734 734 JJB Sports 734 -12

36 2512 Johnson Serv 2614 +12

6312 3312 Man Brnze 36

12 738 Metalrax 8 +18

550 385 Portmeirion P 41212

17312 55 Redhall Gp 68 +12

6214 29 Scapa Gp 4914 -14

137 99 Swallowfield 118 xd

712 565 Young A 67212 +30

Nov 7 - Nov 11 Nov 14 - Nov 18 Nov 21 - Nov 25 M T W T F5100

5230

5360

5490

5620

FTSE-100

20-Day Moving Average

May 29, 2011 Nov 29, 2011

TOPPS TILES

Share price (pence)20

35

50

65

80

FTSE-Rebased


the lack of agreement is disappointingat this early stage of finding cuts, par-ticularly since it is a very small sum ofthe predicted $38.3trn in total US gov-ernment spending over the next 10

years. In addition, onlydiscretionary spending isbeing reviewed. Social secur-ity and medicare (healthinsurance for the elderly) pay-ments are considered non-dis-cretionary and are forecast torepresent $17trn of cumulat-ive government spending overthe next 10 years, with annualgrowth rates of nearly 6%.Without entitlement reform,the fiscal profile cannot bestabilised, with the entitle-ments’ share of GDP risingfrom 10% to 15% by 2035.

What does the lack of will-ingness by US policymakers to

address its rising government debtlevels mean for investors? In the main,bond investors (buyers of US debt)should be the most impacted, althoughthe effects could be minimal in thenear term.

First, the credit rating agencies havealready stated that they are unlikely todowngrade the US rating in the shortterm following Standard & Poors’

THE bipartisan US Congressionalsuper-committee, set up in August byPresident Obama after the debt ceilingdebate to find a minimum of $1,200bnbudget savings over 10 years to put theUS government on a firmer financialfooting, failed last week to reach agree-ment, resulting in automatic triggersto cuts in defence and domestic spend-ing from 2013 (around $600bn each).

The failure to provide an alternative(and greater) savings plan is based ontwo factors. First, the Republicansrefused to compromise on permittingtax rises. Given tighter fiscal policyhas two policy options – lower spend-ing or higher taxes – theRepublican position appearsunworkable. Secondly, there isa large debate over the role ofgovernment in the US. Repub-licans want minimal govern-ment involvement in the econ-omy, whereas Democratsargue for more participation,such as through “entitlementprogrammes”, eg, healthcare,that are proving very costly.

According to some estim-ates, US debt to annualincome is forecast to rise fromthe current 66% to 96% by2021, unless savings are made.One option is to adopt the Europeanmodel of tough austerity measurestoday which, although loweringnear-term growth, provides for a bet-ter long-term growth outlook.

Barclays Capital believes US policy-makers should target a total of $6trn inbudget savings to secure the US’s AAAcredit rating, $4trn more than the totalof $2trn under discussion. As a result,

businessdiary

LDPbusiness .co.ukmarket comment

LDPbusiness .co.uk

Whatdoyouthink?Email us withyour views [email protected],or write to usPO Box 48, OldHall Street,LiverpoolL69 3EB

For all the latest local and national business news online, log on to www.ldpbusiness.co.uk

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Thursday, December 1Liverpool Chamber ofCommerce Annual Din-ner has secured Char-lotte Hogg, head ofretail distribution andintermediaries at Sant-ander UK and grand-daughter of formerLord Chancellor LordHailsham, as its main

speaker. Local bandOrchestral Manoeuvresin the Dark will per-form their greatesthits.

The Anglican Cathedralis hosting the eventand tickets cost £120+VAT, or £1,000+VAT fora table of 10.

Call Melissa on 0151-227

1234 to book tickets.Friday, December 2

Unite the Union isoffering advice surger-ies for Sefton councilworkers facing budgetcutbacks where theycan raise their con-cerns with officials ona range of issues fromthe cuts, to job losses,pay, or the Govern-ment’s proposals fortheir pensions.

The surgery takes place

at Dunes Splash World,The Esplanade, South-port, from 11am-1pm.

For further information,contact Unite regionalofficer Debbie Brannanon 07768 931 271 orUnite communicationsofficer Karen Viqueraton 07768 931 316.

Tuesday, December 6Champion Account-ants, which has officesin Southport andChester, is hosting a

breakfast seminar inconjunction with NorthWest digital agencyeBusiness UK, to givebusinesses an insightinto the growingmobile commerce mar-ket.

The free event will beheld at the Fir GroveHotel, off Junction 20aof the M6/M56, War-rington.

For more information orto book a place, email

[email protected] call Claire O’Connoron 0161-703 2500.

Monday, December 19Knowsley communityinterest companyKPAC is staging aone-day trainingcourse in setting up asocial enterprise. Thecourse contents includeissues such as what is asocial enterprise?; thedifference between

social enterprises andother businesses; con-siderations when set-ting up a social enter-prise; managementstructures in a socialenterprise; and thetriple bottom line ofprofit, people andplanet.

The course, with lunchand refreshments, costs£49.

Contact KPAC on 0151-481 0047.

WeaknessofglobalmarketscouldsaveUSfinances

reduction in rating from AAA to AA+in August.

Next, the universe of risk-free assetsis declining. Recent losses from theuniverse include Italy and arguablyFrance. Even though the credit wor-thiness of the US is certain to deter-iorate over the next few years, US bondyields (cost of borrowing) may not riseas a result of a reduction in creditquality as investors seek safe havensfor their monies. The US’s safe havenstatus should be retained because theUS dollar is the reserve currency ofthe world and the US banking systemis smaller as a proportion of its GDP

relative to other leading nations (andtherefore less risky).

In truth, politicians are only likelyto implement tough austerity meas-ures to regain control of public fin-ances when they are pushed into acorner and US bond market investorsappear unwilling to force the issue, atleast in the short term. Over the nextyear, US treasury prices may be sup-ported by the weak global macroeco-nomic environment rather than falldue to the vagaries of US politicians.

Darren Ruane,Senior Bond Strategist,

Investec

Troubles in global economies, including the eurozone, are morelikely to support US public finances than the efforts of politicians

LondonmarketINVESTORS shrugged offa gloomy Autumn State-ment from ChancellorGeorge Osborne, asoptimism over a solutionto the eurozone debtcrisis pushed the Londonmarket higher.

The FTSE 100 Indexclosed 24.2 points higher,at 5337, despite MrOsborne being forced toacknowledge a grim pic-ture of declining growthand soaring borrowingrequirements.

Traders were encour-aged by a stronger-than-than expectedresponse at a closelywatched Italian debt auc-tion, where 8bn eurosworth of bonds of varyingmaturities were sold.

However, troubles inthe eurozone clearlyremained as the yield onItalian 10-year bonds hit aeuro-era high of 7.89%,firmly embedded inunsustainable levels,while reports suggestedStandard & Poor’s couldsoon downgrade France’scredit rating.

Meanwhile, financeministers were meetingin Brussels to thrash outthe details of a plan tobolster the region’s bail-out fund.

It comes at a time whenthere are growing fearsthat the likes of Italy andSpain will need rescuingby the fund.

The pound was upagainst the euro at 1.17,as fears over the singlecurrency persisted,

It was also higheragainst the US dollar at1.56.

The biggest Footsierisers were RandgoldResources, up 360p at6600p, Man Group, ahead5.7p at 138p, GKN, up 7.4pat 184.5p and Aggreko,ahead 65p, at 1841p.

The biggest Footsiefallers were LloydsBanking Group down0.5p at 23.2p, Kingfisher,off 2.9p at 250.1p, Glen-core, down 4.3p at 380.1pand Royal Bank of Scot-land, off 0.2p, at 19.5p.


Accountbossplayshercardsrightforclients

Account manager Karen Podesta – starts her busy daily schedule with a 5k run around Sefton Park

■ RESIDENTS atGrosvenor’s One

Park West developmentin Liverpool, below, areclearly sensitive souls.

Either that or theyfailed to notice when theymoved in that they hadone of the biggest retailand leisure complexes inEurope on one side andthe very lively AlbertDock on the other.

According to localLabour councillor, NickSmall, residents areunhappy at the level ofnoise emanating from thePlanet Lightship – aboat-turned-bar sat in thedock across the road.

In his latest Labournewsletter, Cllr Smallsays: “Residents havebeen disturbed for toolong. We’ll be workingwith licensing officers tobring an end to this.”

Sounds a tad sinister.Will Nick be emergingfrom the deep in a mini-

submarine – in city coun-cil purple, of course – totorpedo the offendingvessel?

■ VIDEO gamedevelopers mingled

and made merry at theLiverpool Indie Showcaseat Cafe Sports Express onThursday. And, as youwould expect, theyturned networking into agame.

Visitors had to collectcards from the 24 com-panies attending, includ-ing Brain In A Jar andWonky Woo Games.

Some cards carried let-ters which spelled out theword Indie. And everyonewho got the full set of fiveletters was entered into adraw at the end of thenight.

It might not sound asmuch fun as bashingmonsters on-screen. Butwe suspect the personwho won an iPhonewasn’t complaining.

■ REGUS spokesmanHenry Collinge

admitted in a chat withTrading Gossip this weekthat the ubiquitous highstreet coffee shops andtheir free wi-fi are con-sidered serious competit-ors to the managed work-space specialist, beforeadding: “But we don’thave screaming childrenrunning around.”

LDPbusiness .co.ukthe back page

tradinggossip

workingday

6am: My alarm goes off. I get up andgo for a 5k run around Sefton Park.

8.30am: Arrive at the office at theCorn Exchange and check my emails.People frequently recommend venuesand businesses who they believe wouldbe a good fit for the card scheme. Ialways respond to these leads quicklyand answer any questions or queries.

9am: Head over to our Wirral-basedPR company for a meeting to discussthe new marketing campaign for OneCard Liverpool. The card is attractingover 1,000 new members each monthand we are keen to grow the number ofpartners we have on board to expandour offering to our members. We lookat ways of growing awareness of ourindividual offers. We recentlylaunched the One Card LiverpooliPhone app.

10am: From there, I head to ThorntonHall Hotel for a meeting with PhilDove, the general manager of TheLight Cinema, which is opening atMarine Point, in New Brighton. Wediscuss ways in which we can worktogether to promote the new cinemaacross Merseyside in the run-up to thelaunch. We will be promoting TheLight’s premiere over the comingweeks.

11am: I attend a meeting with AdrianMercer, from Joints and Points Health-care, who is interested in becoming aOne Card partner. It has a number ofclinics across Merseyside with treat-ments including physiotherapy, mas-sage, and acupuncture. After a success-ful meeting, we decide upon a 10%discount on physiotherapy and sportsmassage.

12pm: Matthew Wood, our operationsmanager, and I meet Ged Janssen,sales manager at Crowne Plaza Liv-erpool to discuss how we can worktogether to promote the hotel to ourcardholders. We discuss potential pro-motions and deals including healthclub offers, dining deals and room pro-motions.

1.30pm: Next is lunch at Merchants 62Castle Street with Tanith and Jo from

the Big Daily Deal Company. The BigDaily Deal Company is a Wirral-basedvoucher scheme offering fantasticdeals across the Wirral. We’re workingwith them to give One Card holders anexclusive sneak peak at their dealsbefore they go live.

2.30pm: I head back to the office towrite a proposal for Tranmere RoversFootball Club. We have over 25,000members on the Wirral and met withthem recently to discuss how we mightbe able to work together.

3.30pm: The One Card Liverpooloffers a monthly e-newsletter which is

packed full of offers and competitions.I sit down with Michael, our onlinemarketing exec/designer to discussthe next issue. We also discuss newsocial media strategies.

4.30pm: I spend some time catchingup with the day’s events, respond toemails and make some calls.

5.30pm: I leave the office and head tothe Quarter, on Falkner Street, to meetmy business partner, Gemma Aldcroft.

Outside of my One Card role, I’malso co-director of Little AtomProductions, our event managementcompany.

We discuss a launch event we’reholding at the University of Liver-pool’s Foresight Chapel and make afew calls to our mixologist, caterersand DJ for the night.

7pm: Go to the Liverpool Institute ofPerforming Arts to watch one of ourbands for the launch event, LauraJames and The Lyres, rehearse.

8pm: Head home for dinner, a glass ofwine and catch-up on a few hours ofTV that I’ve recorded during the week.

10pm: Make a quick to-do list for thenext day and go to bed.

KarenPodesta is theaccountmanagerofMerseyside’sOneCardLiverpool, formerlythe08Card,andworkstodevelopoffers forallOneCardmembers.ThiswasKaren’sday . . .

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Documents

LDP Business - 30th November 2011