ONE of Liverpool’s leading entrepreneurs had admitted he would move to London in the interests of business, saying Liverpool has very little to offer the commercial world.
Bryan Adams, chief executive and founder of successful web design company Ph Creative, told a business conference in the city: "It’s like we have a fantastic salesman bringing people in only to find we have nothing to sell.”
Mr Adams was addressing an event called Invest in Liverpool which was attended by 140 business and property people and organised by Business Insider.
He told them: "We’re incredibly good at being entrepreneurial, taking on large scale events such as IFB and Accelerate... but we need a commercial offer.
"What are we asking businesses to invest in? What's the incentive? I think we need a tangible commercial advantage to take to market other than 'we’re Liverpool, the people are really friendly, we had the Beatles in the 60s.'”
He went on: "It’s like we have a fantastic salesman bringing people in only to find we have nothing to sell. Perhaps Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters will give us something to offer bigger businesses but I think these benefits are still years in the making."
Adams, whose company has worked with household names including MasterCard, Holiday Inn and Dulux, said despite having his roots in Liverpool he would consider bailing out of the city if necessary.
"After 11 years of running the company in Liverpool, I'm less romantic about that notion now. We'll be in London shortly and the US next. Liverpool is a relatively low cost base for a service we can deliver anywhere in the world but to attract and retain the calibre of client we're looking to do business with, we've got to be active elsewhere. Around 80 per cent of our business is already in London."
His message may resonate with so-called critical friends of Liverpool who fear the city is being left behind while others in the north enjoy a boom.
Manchester and Leeds are the main spokes in the Coalition Government's “Northern Powerhouse” strategy, leaving Liverpool, Hull and Newcastle on the fringes in every sense.
Listeners to Bryan Adams’ speech said rather than giving a kick-in the teeth to Liverpool he was proffering friendly advice.
But while some are looking beyond Merseyside, others are looking in. Allison Bacher said she decided to relocate her consultancy business, Quantum of Value, from London to Liverpool after tiring of a three-hour daily commute.
"One of our clients described Liverpool as a 'well-kept secret' after our office opening last year," she said. "He genuinely did not know about the architecture and cultural activities, let alone the city’s appetite for corporate growth. I believe the city needs to continue to promote key business stories such as the available skilled workforce and financial incentives."
Bryan AdamsWilliam Shotton is the CEO of bio-engineering company H2 Energy Group, which became one of the region’s biggest success stories after securing a £50m deal to transform the energy requirements of the 2 Sisters Food Group.
Mayor Anderson supported H2 Energy’s move to Liverpool through his Investment Fund, backed by Liverpool Vision, support which William Shotton said was critical.
"What is genuinely outstanding is the continued enthusiasm that Liverpool has in our business," he said. "We meet regularly to discuss both progress and future strategy for the business for which we are currently working on plans for further expansion and a new factory for 2016, taking our projected jobs total to some 250."
