July 2005 News Round Up

22 July 2005

Welcome to the news from Merseyside
Brought to you by The Mersey Partnership

HEADLINES
Kings Dock: Work gets underway on a £390m scheme for a major arena and conference centre at Liverpool's Kings Dock. (See Property News)
New Brighton Waterfront: A £70m scheme to regenerate New Brighton waterfront is given the go-ahead by Wirral council. (See Property News)
Visitor spending: A survey reveals half a million inbound passengers travelled through Liverpool John Lennon Airport in 12 months, creating an estimated £73m for the City Region's economy. (See Tourism News)
Runcorn development: A trendy canal quarter will be part of a £65m development for Runcorn Old Town. (See Property News)

CONTENTS

- COMPANY/BUSINESS NEWS
- PROPERTY
- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/ACTIVITY
- TOURISM/CAPITAL OF CULTURE
- LABOUR MARKET
- TRANSPORT & INFRASTRUCTURE

COMPANY/BUSINESS NEWS
MHDC acquisition: One of the world's biggest private property companies, Peel Ports, has confirmed its acquisition of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company. MDHC is the UK's second-biggest ports operation. The two sides have reached final agreement on the £9.82-a-share offer.

Top 100: Littlewoods is placed at number eleven on a list of the top 100 private UK companies. The Runcorn-based chlorine manufacturer, Ineos Chlor is placed at 87 with a sales improvement from £373m to £386m. Ineos was fourth in the top 10 companies based on operating profits.

Ikea jobs: Upto 600 new jobs will be created with the opening of a new Ikea store in Netherton. Sefton Council's planning committee has approved the proposal for the 26,000 sq metre store, on the former Peerless edible oil refinery site.

Mersey TV deal: Independent television producer Phil Redmond has sold Mersey TV and is stepping aside as Chair of the company. Redmond founded Mersey TV in 1982, but the deal will see it taken over by All3Media - the company which makes Richard and Judy for Channel Four.

PROPERTY
Kings Dock: Work is officially underway on an ambitious £390m scheme to build a 9,180-seater arena and 1,350-capacity conference centre at Liverpool's Kings Dock. The first £150m phase should be completed by the end of 2007. After Capital of Culture, work will begin on two hotels - as well as 1,800 apartments, offices and shops.

Global digital: An international centre for digital business is the first tenant of Liverpool's £50m Science Park. John Moores University's Digital Academy, based on Edge Lane, aims to create 65 companies in five years. Another primary focus will be skills development.

New Brighton Waterfront: A £70m scheme to regenerate New Brighton waterfront - with a new outdoor swimming pool, marine lake and upmarket apartments - has been given the go-ahead. Wirral council planners have approved the proposal, which has been four years in the planning.

Southport Commerce Park: Work has started on a 43,000 sq ft building at Southport Commerce Park, which is expected to create around 100 new jobs. Sefton Council secured £1.9m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) towards the £5.3m office development. The three new offices and warehouse will use renewable energy and solar water heating.

St Helens facelift: Design ideas from European cities in Germany, Sweden and Spain are to be used in a £6m facelift of St Helens town centre. Remodelling work will include specially commissioned public artwork, special effects lighting and a new layout to restrict the potential for crime and anti-social behaviour.

Runcorn development: A trendy canal quarter, incorporating canal-side cafe bars, restaurants and homes, will be part of a £65m scheme in Halton. Being led by Urban Splash, the project will be the biggest ever in Runcorn Old Town.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY & DEVELOPMENT

Northern Way: Skills enhancement, scientific innovation, and transport improvements are at the centre of the Northern Way strategy - a spending plan championed by John Prescott to invigorate the economy in Northern England. The newly launched Northern Way business plan focuses on eight city regions, making Liverpool an integral part of the drive to tackle the north-south divide in economic performance.

Overseas investment: 5,376 jobs were created in the North West through overseas investment last year, according to new figures from UK Trade and Investment. The figure makes it the second highest performing region, just 3 jobs behind the South East. The Mersey Partnership (TMP) was involved in the creation of around 1,000 jobs in Merseyside and the safeguarding of 1,300.

Enterprise college: Building work is to begin on a flagship North Liverpool Academy, after the government granted final approval for the scheme. It will be Liverpool's first enterprise college, and will replace Breckfield and Anfield comprehensives.

Sefton@Work: It has been revealed almost 400 people have found jobs and training through Sefton@Work just a year after the programme started. Advisors have been registering clients and offering advice and guidance at two centres in Bootle and Netherton, as well as outreach venues.

Work opportunities: A new initiative is being developed by Liverpool City Council to break down cultural barriers and get unemployed ethnic minorities into work. The programme will give 50 people - including the city's Somali, Yemeni and Asian communities - traineeships and employment opportunities within the authority.

Groundbreaking St Helens: St. Helens Council beat off tough competition to win the prestigious North West Business Insiders top public sector award for the groundbreaking Centrix House development. The joint £4m project with Langtree is also a significant step forward in St Helens City Growth Strategy.

TOURISM/CAPITAL OF CULTURE
Another Place: An art installation has been officially unveiled on a Merseyside beach by its creator, Angel of the North creator Antony Gormley. Called "Another Place", the attraction is being displayed in Crosby as part of the 135km Mersey Waterfront, which takes in a UNESCO World Heritage site and Liverpool's Pier Head.

Visitor spending: It has been revealed half a million inbound passengers travelled through Liverpool John Lennon Airport in 2003, generating £73million for the City Region's tourist economy. The latest passenger survey was conducted by The Mersey Partnership.

Restaurant award: A Liverpool restaurant has walked away with its sixth major award, just 18 months after opening its doors. The London Carriage Works beat off competition from Edinburgh and Birmingham to get the title of Best New Restaurant at the Theme Awards in London.

Maritime attraction: More than half a million people are estimated to have visited this year's three-day Mersey River Festival, the UK's biggest free Maritime event. Highlights included the British Jetski Championships on Crosby Marine Lake, the Mersey International Shanty Festival and international kite flyers in Wirral.

Tourism Occupancy Figures:
Latest Monthly DataMay 05 Financial Year Average 05/06
Liverpool City Centre Room Occupancy 73% 76%
Merseyside Room Occupancy 80.2% 76%

LABOUR MARKET

- The claimant count in Merseyside has gone down by 0.1 percentage points since last month, to 3.7% This is a fall of 743 people.

- Every local authority apart from Liverpool has had a decrease in their rate over the last month, with St Helens having the greatest fall at 0.2 percentage points. This equates to 135 people.

- Since last year, the unemployment rate in Merseyside has stayed the same. In real terms, however, the actual numbers of people claiming has gone down.

Unemployment for May 2005 (Source ONS)
Unemployment Rate May 2005 Change Since April 2005 Change Since May. 2004
Area Claimants Rate Rate Rate
Halton 2,136 2.9 -0.1 0
Knowsley 3,518 3.9 -0.1 -0.3
Liverpool 14,895 5.3 0 0.3
Sefton 4,120 2.5 -0.1 -0.3
St Helens 2,732 2.5 -0.2 -0.3
Wirral 5,986 3.2 -0.1 0

Merseyside 6 33,387 3.7 -0.1 0
NW 101,504 2.4 -0.1 0
UK 867,567 2.4 0 0

TRANSPORT & INFRASTRUCTURE
Mersey Gateway: The Chief Executive of Halton Council has stressed the need for a new crossing over the River Mersey to senior officials from the Department for Transport. David Parr has presented transport officials with a detailed programme of extra work that is being carried out by the Mersey Crossing Group and has pressed Ministers and Civil Servants to make a decision on the project.

Traffic flow: Wirral Council has announced plans for a £1m road scheme for a key route at Arrowe Park. If approved, the scheme will be completed before The Open Golf Championship at Hoylake in 2006. CCTV would monitor the junction, and the timing of traffic signals would be controlled via a computer system depending on the demands of traffic.

ENDS

Investment enquires: The Mersey Partnership on 0151 227 2727 or e-mail at newsfromme@merseyside.org.uk

Editorial enquiries: Contact Heather Sewell at The Mersey Partnership at heather.sewell@merseyside.org.uk

While every effort has been made to ensure that the information in 'News From Me' is accurate, The Mersey Partnership cannot be held responsible for any factual errors or inaccuracies.

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