NORTH WEST BUSINESS LEADERSHIP FORUM

Notes of meeting which took place on Monday 14 July2014

at Merseytravel, Liverpool

Attendees including:-

Geoffrey PiperNWBLT (Chair)

David BrownMerseytravel

Mark PovallLiverpool John Lennon Airport

Maarten SpaargarenMerseyrail

Steve BennettWickland Westcott

Katie BrayNWBLT

Louise CheesemanSerco Docklands

Nick DonovanFirst TransPennine

Jill Evans

Julie GaskellLiverpool Vision

Cedric GreenLiverpool Chamber/NCRUG

Jerry HopkinsHopkins & Ball

Ray HowardHillyer McKeown

Nina LockwoodIntuitive Interim & Executive Search

Andrew Morris20 Miles More

Charles Piper

Val PriceProud in Liverpool

David PrintMerseyrail

Neil SheppardNSure Consulting

Ann SollarsNWBLT

1.WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

Geoffrey welcomed everyone to the Forum and thanked Merseytravel for hosting the meeting. He then introduced the panel:- David Brown, Chief Executive, Merseytravel, Maarten Spaargaren, Managing Director, Merseyrail and Mark Povall, Director of Air Service Development, Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Geoffrey explained that the NWBLT is an independent group of senior executives from companies from the manufacturing, services, professional and academic sectors which was a good spread across the North West.

Geoffrey summarised the principal roles of the NWBLT:-

  • Vision - Promoting a clear vision for the North West’s future. We have recently been undertaking thought leadership on major business issues, launching four reports and sets of recommendations which are now being considered by Government and other key decision makers
  • Voice - Identifying /addressing the big issues and speaking for North West business in the corridors of power eg the BLT give periodic business briefings for North West MPs at the House of Commons.
  • Values - Demonstrating and promoting responsible business leadership.
  • Promoting pan-regional collaboration – working for the whole North West. This is one of our USPs, working in close collaboration with the North West Local Enterprise Partnerships.

The NWBLT’s Thought Leadership Programme:-

During the last twelve months the BLT have been working on a thought leadership programme on big issues facing business and industry in the North West and have produced four hard-hitting reports on each of the issues:-

-Skills for industry – ‘Bridging the Divide’ was the first report and thisfocused on Skills for businesses,particularly how we can bridge the skills gap with industry. The report was warmly welcomed in Westminster and by other organisations. The findings have now been taken forward and a pilot programme is underway in Greater Manchester and there are also plans for a pilot in the Liverpool City Region. Copies of the report can be obtained at the BLT office.

-Transport infrastructure - The second report focused on transport investment in the North West and was launched in October by Patrick McLoughlin during the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. The report acknowledges that we have to prioritise on the issues and sets out short, medium and long-term priorities. Copies of the report can be obtained at the BLT office.

-Science and innovation – The Science & Innovation report is now complete and identifies the great strengths of the North West and the resources of leading Universities in the North West and research facilities such as the Science and Innovation Park at Daresbury. Science and innovation is not fully exploited in the North West. This report was launched at the Museum of Science & Industry by David Willetts MP and Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell on 28 March.

-Optimising our Essential Resources – This report focused on how England’s North West will sustain future supplies of food , water and energy in years to come. The report was launched at the International Festival for Business on 9 June by Jake Berry MPwhich is taking place in Liverpool.

We are now in the process of establishing Task Forces for each of the reports to take forward the recommendations.

Other Activities:-

- International Festival for Business – the NWBLT has been heavily involved in the IFB which is is a huge opportunity for the UK.

-Schools Science Competition – Initiative to encourage youngsters in years 7/8 to choose science subjects as a career. They enter by submitting a 500 word email on why they would like to be a scientist. This will be open to entries in September.

-Lever Prize – This is an arts and business collaboration initiative. This year’s winner is Contact Manchester a theatre organisation that works with disadvantaged young people who are empowered by creativity to become leaders in both the arts and their communities.Judges are now considering the entries for the 2015 Lever Prize.

The ambassadorial role that the NWBLT members have is vital for the North West, both generally in promoting the region bu “speaking up and speaking out”.

2. LIVERPOOL ON THE MOVE – “CONVERTING STRENGTH TO LASTING LONG TERM ECONOMIC GROWTH”

David Brown explained he had been in the job 14 months. Merseytravel employ 720 full time staff in the area, a third of which work in Mann Island. The organisation has a budget of £2654 million. They fund certain bus services, bus passes etc. Merseytravel lets the rail concession on a 25 year lease to Merseyrail. They provide the ferries and the management of the tunnels and have produced a transport strategy for the Liverpool City Region. The region has a new governance in the form of a combined authority and has brought Halton into its decision making. How do we ensure that the private sector has a voice – by including the LEP. Legislation went through on 1 April for a combined authority.

We have to make sure that we have good evidence for the transport system we want – based on what our customers want. The transport plan has to support the economic development and support the private sector. We have got a number of good building blocks in place so we are more in control of our destiny. We produced an economic plan to Government and got funding – 80-90% of the transport funding we asked for. How do we respond to HS2? They went to see civil servants and provided them with economic evidence. They have been considering the East-West connectivity and have been doing a lot of work with Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield on highways, rail (freight and passengers). There is a cross party argument for transport investment which will grow the economy. On a local level considering train spending – we need a good local network, new trains and a good level of customer service. We need to raise the game. To sum up this is an exciting time with opportunities and challenges. We have got funding and we need to move on HS2 quickly and we need a service of 50 minutes to Leeds.

3.PANEL DISCUSSION INCLUDING MAARTEN SPAARGAREN AND MARK POVALL

Maarten Spaargaren said that the Merseyrail contract was 11 years in. Merseyrail was a 50/50 joint venture with Serco and Abellio. They have 1,200 staff and have 120,000 week day passengers. Passenger numbers have increased from 27 million in 2003 to 33 million in 2012. Punctuality has increased from 91.5% to 95.5%. 93% overall satisfaction and a recommended provider by Which magazine. The trains are getting older but are reliable. They have improved the quality of the stations and the car parks. There is continuous improvements eg providing booking shops. They are actively involved in corporate social responsibility and 40 stations have been adopted by local communities. They also have relationships with local schools. Their success is based on the relationship with Merseytravel. There is investment in refurbishment of underground stations. Challenges include rolling stock, expansion of the network. HS2, being HS3 ready, and the introduction of smart c ards over the next couple of years. To sum up they have a devolved structure with a long-term vision. They have local services and local staff but they can do better.

Mark Povall said that last year John Lennon Airport had 4.2 million passengers. This year they will have more passengers but less flights. 95% of the flights are with Easyjet and Ryan Air. They fly to over 60 destinations. Their market includes Merseyside, North Wales, Chester and Lancashire. The Halton curve is important to help access to the airport. Fares are a key issue. Mark’s role is marketing, pr, working with the communities and the business and public sectors. Big issues include accessibility. They do work closely with Merseytravel and Merseyrail.

Regional airports are of importance in the UK as a whole. There is a consultative document out at the moment. They provide £170 million GVA to the Liverpool City Region through direct spend and inbound visitors. They employ 4,750 full time staff – direct and indirect. Awareness is a big issue and they need to get into the communities and the public and private sectors. They have recently announced a new route to Bucharest with Blue Air.

Cedric Green referred to the length of time to get to the airport from Liverpool South Parkway and the need to shorten the time. Mark said they have to look at a cost benefit analysis. David said passenger numbers have to be higher. They have worked with the airport to build a case in the short term. This station is a successful station in its own right. In the long-term they are making a case to do what they can to maintain the vision.

Val Price referred to problems with parking at the airport. Mark said that parking was cost effective.

Craig Harrop referred to the shortage of rolling stock. David Brown said there are a lot of old trains which are not big enough. There is a problem with the structure of the industry – franchises are 7/9 years long and the payback of trains is a 30 year period. The structure doesn’t allow new trains to come in. There is a strong economic case for new and longer trains to serve the conurbations. On transpennine routes there is a lot of investment going on an electrifying of routes. Geoffrey added that the NWBLT will be sending in a response to the DfT. David said we need to encourage people to respond individually.

Ray Howard asked how much is going into the economy of the region and how this compares with London. Geoffrey said the Government is recognising the need to rebalance the economy eg Liverpool will be holding the International Business Festival in 2016. There is capacity for Liverpool to grow, whereas London is full to capacity. It is not an economical way to run the country. We must all keep saying this. Don’t leave it to others to make the point.

Terry Waiting referred to the journey times to Barrow from Manchester and the fact that there are no long term plans to improve services. Sellafield will be having a new power station, East-West coast links are non existent but nothing happens on transport links – no one cares about the roads or rail. Geoffrey said the speed of change is far too slow. Nick Donovan said that Barrow is mentioned in the NWBLT transport report. One of the challenges is there are the differing needs and wants of communities with conflicting interests. Northern Hub is a single vision. Consultation responses are broad and conflicting – where are the priorities? David said there are a number of things across the North – rolling stock, customer numbers and smartcards. Maarten said the concession is local and they are working together Merseytravel and Merseyrail. There is need for local intelligence.

Steve Bennett commented that there was no link of the IFB website to Merseytravel or Merseyrail and also on the Golf Open website there was no link to Merseyrail. Maarten thanked Steve for this suggestion.

Andrew Morris said Merseyrail was a great network but what about the people who travel by bus and referred to the deregulation of the bus network and the complexity of routes. Information should be on a smart phone which has the potential to have more control of the network. David agreed that an integrated system needs to be more prescriptive. There is plenty of advice to Government on legislation but there is no political will. It is a big issue and can’t see a way round it in the short-term.

Geoffrey thanked the panel for their input and the audience for their questions.

Geoffrey expressed his congratulations to Liverpool Vision on the outstanding success of IBF 2014 and invited Julie Gaskell from Liverpool Vision to say a few words. Julie said they have put on over 400 events, had 70,000 delegates, 14,000 register members of the Business Club, 1,000 business brokerage meetings. There has been some real tangible deals done. For IBF 2016 they will probably have more quality events over a shorter period of time. Julie then invited members to go to the Pub in the Hub and encouraged members to attend an event before the conference closed.

4. FUTURE MEETINGS OF NWBLT FORUM

Thursday 18 September (5.00 for 5.30 pm) – Visit to Contact theatre, Manchester – NWBLT’s Lever Prize winners 2014

Tuesday 4 November (5.00 for 5.00 for 5.30pm) – “Supporting the growth of North West manufacturing” – at the Manufacturing Institute, Manchester

5.CLOSING REMARKS

Geoffrey thanked the panel for their time and observations and thanked members for attending.

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