QUARTER ONE
THE BUSINESS CLUB WITH INFLUENCE
C O N T E N T S CE O ME SSAGE THE B U SINE SS CLU B WITH INFLUENC E
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JANU ARY IN THE NE W S
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D O W NTO W N HIG HLIGHTS
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B LO G O F THE MO NTH
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V ID E O O F THE MO NT H
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FE B RU ARY IN THE NE W S
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D O W NTO W N HIG HLIGHTS
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B LO G O F THE MO NTH
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V ID E O O F THE MO NT H
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E V E NT O F THE MO NT H
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MARC H IN THE NE W S
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D O W NTO W N HIG HLIGHTS
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B LO G O F THE MO NTH
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V ID E O O F THE MO NT H
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E V E NT O F THE MO NT H
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COMI NG SOON
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C E O M E S S A G E T H E
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Downtown in Business has become one of the most influential business organisations in the North of England and the West Midlands in recent years.
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leader of the County Council Geoff Driver, and the Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry, gave business leaders a comprehensive overview of the devolution debate in Lancashire. It was good to see, Our work supporting devolution at the end of March, that some deals, the establishment progress towards a Combined of elected mayors, and our Authority for the county strategic partnerships with appears to have been made. a range of public sector agencies, means that we In Birmingham, we talked are acknowledged as the ‘go Transport Infrastructure to’ business group by many with the Combined Authority decision-makers. Transport chief Laura Shoaf. The significant investment This has seldom been being made in the city will demonstrated more clearly enable businesses and the than during the first quarter of economy to continue to grow 2018. over the next decade – Brexit or no Brexit. We have hosted private dinners, open forums, and In Manchester, Downtown Round table discussions hosted events with all the with regional and national city’s main players. Council politicians; our members have leader Sir Richard Leese, been able to engage in a very CEO Joanne Roney, and the meaningful way with those Greater Manchester Combined individuals who are at the heart Authority boss Eamonn of policy making at a regional Boylan addressed Downtown and national level. audiences. Metro Mayor Andy Burnham, alongside his In Lancashire, we focussed on counterpart from the Liverpool the Northern Powerhouse and City Region Steve Rotheram, what it means for the county’s spoke to over 100 private future. A series of events sector representatives at our with the leader of Blackpool ‘Tale of Two Cities’ event at the Council Simon Blackburn; the offices of Deloitte. 4
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Downtown has also hosted the first public business forum on one of the biggest regeneration developments in Liverpool. City Mayor Joe Anderson, alongside Everton Football Club’s Chief Executive Robert Elstone, presented their vision for the Bramley Moore Dock project and the clubs new stadium to DIB members. If that wasn’t enough, we hosted a special Round table discussion with The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Lis Truss, Northern Powerhouse Partnership CEO Henri Murison presented his organisation’s skills & education paper at a leaders’ lunch, and former adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair, Ruth Turner, spoke to our Birmingham members. It wasn’t all about politics in Q1 of course. Inspirational
entrepreneurs Scott Fletcher, Mark Mills, and Michael Finnigan shared their expertise. And we celebrated the best of individual Manchester talent with our annual ‘Mancoolian’ awards in January; and the top female business leaders from Liverpool at our Women in Business awards in March. Of course, we did events in all our major cities on the property festival MIPIM. Look out for our work in the buildup to MIPIM UK.
month, we host a very special conference as part of the International Business Festival ‘Devolution, Innovation & the Business Effect’. West Midlands Mayor Andy Street will be joining us in Birmingham in April too – and there is much more to look forward to, including the Lancashire Business Awards in June.
Its been a flying start to 2018 for Downtown and its members. If you haven’t joined ‘the Business Club with Influence’ yet – what are you It has been a very busy start to the year for Downtown – but waiting for? there is much more to come. Frank McKenna Three big conferences top the bill over the next three Group Chairman & Chief months. In May we are Executive delighted to be supporting partner for the Financial Downtown in Business Times Business Conference in Manchester. The following
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Theresa May tried to reshuffle her cabinet, but failed miserably, with some of her colleagues refusing to budge, and others resigning rather than be moved to other cabinet positions. The Labour Party was suffering from some internal strife too,
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as the Corbynista bandwagon rolled on, with Momentum supporters taking over the party’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, leaving moderate Labour MPs and Councillors fearful of deselection. Carillion went bust; and the
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Presidents Club was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons after throwing a charity dinner that raised more eyebrows than it did cash.
D O W N T O W N H I G H L I G H T S The business club with influence hit the ground running by kicking off 2018 with a powerful series of events with key decision makers and entrepreneurs.
Liverpool metro mayor Steve Rotheram was the keynote speaker at our launch event for property festival MIPIM.
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Liverpool members also enjoyed an exclusive Roundt able discussion with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Lis Truss MP.
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Politics was high on the Powerhouse’ with Blackpool agenda in Lancashire too, Borough Council leader Simon as Downtown hosted the Blackburn. first of a series of events on ‘Devo Lancs and the Northern
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Meanwhile, in Birmingham, the Transport chief for the West Midlands, Laura Shoaf, was joined by the Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership Henri Murrison, as they talked big infrastructure projects. 11
Scott Fletcher was the star turn at a special ‘Up Close & Personal’ discussion with a man who started his business at the age of 22 and now runs a group of companies with a combined value of over £250m. Scott was among the winners at Downtown Manchester’s ‘Mancoolian’ awards as he picked up the ‘Manc of the Year’ prize. Alison Loveday was named ‘Womanc of the Year at the glittering gala awards evening hosted at the Lowry Hotel, and presented by the BBCs Jacey Normand.
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B L O G O F T H E M O N T H The Presidents Cups Charity Dinner – blurred lines? The Presidents Club Charity Dinner has become the latest hot story to join the long list of shocking events exposing exactly how ‘Men behaving badly’. In the usual fashion, everyone is shocked, no one witnessed inappropriate behaviour and well, she should have known better. There are some specific facts that need to be cleared before conclusions and judgements are drawn about the Presidents Club Charity Dinner. The hostesses were paid £150 plus £25 for their cab (while for some this amount might not seem worth the effort, for others it is a means to an end). The hostesses were provided with a uniform upon arrival at the venue for them to wear throughout the evening, and they had to sign a non-disclosure agreement preventing the hostesses from speaking about the evening’s activities outside of the event. Organisers and contributors
all seem surprised by the behaviour of the guests given the ‘high calibre’ of businessmen attending the event. What is particularly interesting is how the Presidents Club Charity Dinner was presented to the allmale guests; a secretive women free fundraiser, announced to be the “most un-PC event of the year” by host Johnny Gould, with burlesque dancers, and a night in a Soho’s Windmill strip club as one of the auctioned prizes. It seems only obvious that these subliminal suggestions caused guests to blur the lines between hostess, escort, and prostitute. As a woman who once worked in this industry, being told to wear black underwear and “sexy shoes” is not unusual. Often the poor quality of the uniforms require black underwear. I never thought that this was me agreeing to object myself to harassment at any of my jobs. One can only assume that the hostesses on that evening felt
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the same. Being told that the guests would be “annoying”, well, that’s actually just a given when around inebriated people in this line of work. Agreeing to deal with annoying guests does not sound like consent to be hugged, have your hand held, legs touched and random arms wrapped around your body. I wonder how this conversation is still happening in 2018. Why is someone affectionally touching a complete stranger they have never met before, uninvited, and without consent? An acquaintance once suggested to me that Harvey Weinstein’s sexual desires made him a victim to career-driven women, who exploited his vulnerability to get famous.
The culture of victim blaming is nothing short of strange; “what was the victim wearing”, “why were they walking alone”, “they were drunk”, “what did they do to deserve it”, “is victim the correct term”. I wonder if society turns on victims because it is incomprehensible that a member of our community would do something despicable to another without being prompted. It does happen, we are not short of examples; Donald Trump, Larry Nassar, Brock Turner, to name some high-profile cases. More so the long-term effects of victimhood are quickly forgotten. Some are not shy of threatening a victim’s career or safety in exchange for silence. Losing all to expose a predator is a privilege not many have. I am not suggesting we move into a vanilla world deprived of sexuality and fun nights out but it’s exhausting that this narrative seems to never change. When
the Weinstein’s of the world are exposed, do other offenders fear that they will be the next to go, or is it business as usual? This is why the Presidents Club Charity Dinner has caught the spotlight; if business leaders behave like this, I question the example being set for employees, colleagues, associates, and their children. The Presidents Club Charity Dinner makes me wonder if gender equality really is what we all strive to achieve, or if some just pretend to get feminists off their horny backs.
By Robyn van Jaarsveldt
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V I D E O O F T H E M O N T H
Downtown Liverpool in Business recently hosted a special event with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liz Truss MP.
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MANCOOLIAN 2018 Over 200 business leaders packed into the Lowry Hotel on Thursday 25th January 2018 to celebrate the Mancoolian Awards 2018, sponsored by Manchester City Hospitality and hosted by Downtown Manchester in Business.
were Alison Loveday of Kennedys who was awarded ‘Womanc of the Year’ and Scott Fletcher of ANS Group who was awarded ‘Manc of the Year’.
The gala awards dinner rewarded some of the leading and most influential business men and women in the City Region.
“It was another special evening, made possible by the continuing support of Manchester’s business community. It’s great to get the opportunity to celebrate the individuals, entrepreneurs
The big winners of the evening
Frank McKenna CEO of Downtown in Business commented:
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and personalities that make Manchester the great city that it is. Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to our headline sponsor, Manchester City Hospitality.” Celebrations went on long into the night with a superb aftershow party at Neighbourhood.
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THE WINNERS Male Networker of the Year Ben Davies, Ziferblat Female Networker of the Year Rebecca Wilkes, D&D London Newcomer of the Year Leigh Scott, iHub Employee of the Year Raj Lal, Totaljobs Recruitment Personality of the Year Martin Burnett, Finlay James Recruitment Business Development Personality of the Year Harriet Clayton, Pinsent Masons Legal Personality of the Year Steve Kuncewicz, BLM Finance Personality of the Year Simon Bedford, Deloitte Property Personality of the Year Tom Higgins, Laing O’Rourke Digital & IT Personality of the Year Barry Lowe, San-iT General Manager of the Year Adrian Ellis, The Lowry Hotel Social Entrepreneur of the Year Sam Jones, Tunafish Media Young Entrepreneur of the Year Doug Ward, Node & Telcom PR & Marketing Personality of the Year Lisa Morton, Roland Dransfield PR Womanc of the Year Alison Loveday, Kennedys Manc of the Year Scott Fletcher, ANS Group 18
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The ‘Beast from the East’ brought unexpected snow storms to the UK. It was bloody freezing! Former Prime Minister John Major called for a second Brexit referendum, as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn put clear blue water between the opposition and government by supporting the UKs continued membership of ‘a customs union’.
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Tragedy struck in Florida, where 17 people were gunned down in a school. President Trump’s response was to suggest that school teachers be armed in the future. In sport Team GB won a record number of medals at the Winter Olympics. Pep Guardiola won his first trophy in English football, his Manchester City side running out comfortable 3-0 victors
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against Arsenal in the League Cup Final. Scotland defeated England in Rugby Union’s Calcutta Cup for the first time in a decade.
D O W N T O W N H I G H L I G H T S The Big Black Book for 2018 was launched at the quirky Ziferblat in Liverpool, where the inspirational executive business coach Michael Finnigan gave a barnstorming performance to inform and inspire
in equal measure. Regaling his audience with tales of his time spent working with snooker champion Jimmy White, football manager’s David Moyes and Sam Allardyce and Golf champing
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Darren Clarke, Finnigan also took us through a sure- fire way of building a successful team for your business.
In Manchester, City Council leader Sir Richard Leese was his usual candid self, talking about the decision of the Combined Authority to support a levy to support the regional mayor’s
office, Manchester’s continued economic growth, the potential impact of Brexit, and the forthcoming Manchester delegation to property festival MIPIM.
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The founder of Big Issue for the North, and former advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair, Ruth Turner, wowed at a Birmingham members event as she reflected on her career running a social enterprise;
Number Ten Downing Street; and charitable projects in some of the most dangerous parts of the world.
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Back in the North West, Preston City Council chief executive Lorraine Norris warned Downtown members that Lancashire was in danger of being left behind if it continued to push against a devolution deal with government. The Northern Powerhouse is
dominated by Manchester Preston city centre at a and Liverpool – and that special dinner hosted at Olive Tree Brasserie. will continue unless the county’s politicians start to work together better and establish a Combined Authority. On a more positive note, Lorraine gave an upbeat presentation of ‘City Deal’ and the regeneration of
The High Performance Consultancy GDPR roadshow hit the road, with Managing Director of the outsourced HR company Victoria Brown outlining the implications of new government legislation on data that businesses hold.
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B L O G O F T H E M O N T H Mandelson: Brexit Will Unite Ireland By Jim Hancock Former EU Commissioner Lord Peter Mandelson believes the impracticality of operating an EU border between the UK and Ireland will eventually lead to a united country. The forecast that economic reality will detach unionists from their loyalty to the UK is a bold one but was one of many interesting predictions and reflections on Brexit at a meeting at Manchester Metropolitan University this week.
alongside a classic British mandarin, Sir Andrew Cahn, who had had three stints with European institutions in Brussels. Even as a strong remainer, I found his presentation hard to take. His analysis that we were making a disastrous mistake was right, but the tone would not have gone down well in the Leave areas of Rochdale and Oldham.
Before coming to the two men’s forecast of what the We gathered as the disaster of future might hold, there Brexit continued to manifest were some fascinating reflections on the past. Britain itself. Rotterdam is set to be could have led European the new headquarters of the chemical giant Unilever if they integration after the war, but Mandelson revealed the move their head offices from Britain. Meanwhile the same moment when we turned our back on the project. In 1950 port is recruiting hundreds his grandfather, Herbert of customs officers as the port manager reckons we will Morrison, was standing in for the Prime Minister Clement crash out of the EU. Mandelson was speaking Attlee. He was called out of
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a dinner to be asked if we wanted to join the European Coal and Steel Community (the precursor to the Common Market). He told his civil servant that he could see the advantages “but the Durham Miners will never stand for it.” Suppose Morrison had resolved to positively sell the idea with enthusiasm and vision? But he was starting a gutless tradition that was followed by most political leaders in Britain of a half hearted or Eurosceptic approach to the EU. This even included Tony Blair, Mandelson’s explanation for this was that during the New Labour years, Europe was tenth in a list of people’s priorities. Cahn said that Britain was never comfortable with the coalition mentality that
prevails in Europe. Most governments are coalitions with compromise the way things are done in their own countries and in the EU. Cahn forecast that we will be asking for a pick and mix approach in the final deal separating out issues like fishing, aviation and financial services. This is unlikely to commend itself to our negotiating partners. But Cahn also felt loose talk by Brexiteers about walking away with no deal would lead to a run on the markets and the probable fall of the government.
embittered. It would be left to a new generation to pick up the mess and make Britain a member of an outer circle of states around a very united core of EU states. It is a depressing forecast and one that could still be prevented if public opinion changes. There is a new Remain red bus going around London with a slogan asking if it is worth two billion a week to leave the EU. Get it up North!
Cahn forecast that France would take a tough stance on our terms and the Germans would be less helpful than we thought. He felt we would end up with a deal that would leave us impoverished and
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V I D E O O F T H E M O N T H
The force of nature that is Michael Finnigan was the guest speaker at the Downtown Liverpool in Business ‘Rise & Grind’ networking breakfast on Wednesday 21st February 2018. At the morning event, Downtown also launched the latest edition of The Big Black Book, your essential business directory that will keep you connected throughout 2018.
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In Conversation with Ruth Turner Downtown Birmingham in Business hosted ‘In Conversation with Ruth Turner’. From social entrepreneur, Ruth went on to become one of the most influential women in British politics, serving as a key advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair in his last term of office. She continued to work with Blair post Number 10, and helped him establish his charitable foundation, before going on to her current position within the innovative Forward Institute.
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A Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned in England, leading to a major diplomatic incident with Russia. Diplomats from the Eastern European giant were expelled from the UK, the USA and the majority of EU countries. Vladamir Putin was re-elected as Russian President for a fourth term of office. Cambridge Analytics and Facebook were in trouble for allegedly accessing the personal data of 50 million social media users and trying to influence the US Presidential election.
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Brexiteers were under siege too, accused of flouting electoral rules and cheating during the EU referendum. Talking of cheats, the Aussie Cricket team were caught illegally ball tampering, leading to the suspension of its skipper, and giving the English an excuse for getting hammered in the recent Ashes series. Jeremy Corbyn had a month to forget, with controversy over anti-Semitism in the Labour Party
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engulfing his leadership and talk of a party split on the rise. In the world of entertainment, the legendary Liverpool comic Ken Dodd sadly passed away.
D O W N T O W N H I G H L I G H T S Downtown ended quarter one in Manchester with a flurry of events with the city’s key leaders and decision-makers during March. The Chief Executive of the City
Council Joanne Roney; the Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Eamonn Boylan; and the former head honcho of the council Sir Howard
Bernstein engaged with DIB members through a series of private dinners.
Metro Mayor Andy Burnham was joined at a DIB Breakfast Briefing by the Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram to discuss the Northern Powerhouse and devolution at Deloitte.
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In Birmingham, the focus was on enterprise and property. Mark Mills, who sold his business Cardpoint for nearly ÂŁ200m in 2007 gave DIB members a fascinating insight into building successful businesses, raising finance, and preparing for exit at an exclusive leaders lunch at Bank.
A post-MIPIM event focused on the City of Birmingham’s contribution to the international property festival in Cannes, with contributions from Kevin Johnson of Urban Comms, Louise Brooke-Smith from Arcadis, and David Frisby of Mode Transport contributing to a lively discussion.
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Back in the Northwest, and the ‘Devo Lancs’ events series continued, with Downtown exploring the opportunities and potential for the county within the Powerhouse initiative. An audience with the leader of Lancashire County Council Geoff Driver was followed later in the month by a special Round table discussion with Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry.
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In Liverpool, DIB hosted the first public business forum on Everton Football Club’s planned new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock. City Mayor Joe Anderson outlined the additional regeneration plans for the North Docks, whilst Everton Chief Executive Robert Elstone outlined the football club’s ambitions to develop a world-class stadium on the waterfront at a packed event in the Mal Maison Hotel.
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B L O G O F T H E M O N T H MANCHESTER IS THE POWERHOUSE FOCUS - AND RIGHTLY SO By Frank McKenna In recent years I have been used to Manchester being mentioned in dispatches by leaders from other cities, and not always in a complimentary fashion. In Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham, senior decision-makers will often let slip the ‘M’ word as the main ‘competition’. In some quarters Manchester is the city that has become too big for its boots. A northern town that has no right to be mentioned in the same breath as London, never mind a city that is currently outperforming the capital in terms of economic growth. This week the Northern Powerhouse minister joined in with a bit of gentle Manchester bashing. Jake Berry, who hugely impressed a Downtown Lancashire audience in Preston, recently commented that the Northern Powerhouse is “too focused on Manchester”. If this is true, then it is for a very good reason. Manchester is the city-region that has, over a twenty-five year period, now got its act together more effectively than any other region. As a result,
the city has virtually written its own devolution deal, undertaken extensive research to prove the economic case for the investments it has asked of government, and provided seamless and consistent political leadership through several changes of power at Westminster.
further forward than many would have expected three years ago, is grappling with the complexity of now having more mayors than Cathedrals.
Possibly more through fortune than design, Greater Manchester has elected arguably the most high-profile metro mayor in Andy Burnham; and he has landed in an organisation that is as well-oiled a machine as you could wish to have in the public sector, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
It has worked hard to get there. It is for other cities and regions to learn from the Manchester model and try to match it. If the Minister isn’t careful, he will find himself advancing a strategy that leads to a race-to-the-bottom rather than kicking those places lagging behind into action.
Meanwhile, Lancashire has had so many changes of heart in terms of a devo deal that even some of the local political leaders in the county have lost track of where they’re up to. Yorkshire has come up with a plan that is impressing nobody from outside of Yorkshire as yet and is now years behind those city-regions who have conceded to a mayoral model. Birmingham, with the impressive Andy Street at the helm, is still in its infancy as a collective, and is hamstrung by the absurd ‘West Midlands’ badge. Liverpool, 36
Manchester is the focus of the Powerhouse.
V I D E O O F T H E M O N T H WOMEN IN BUSINESS 2018
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS 2018 Over 350 guests celebrated the achievements of female entrepreneurs and business leaders from across the Liverpool city region at the sixth annual Women in Business Awards. The gala dinner which took place at Liverpool’s Crowne Plaza Hotel on Friday 9th March handed out 15 awards in total. The big winner on the evening was Emma Carey from MSB Solicitors who won the chief executive award. Emma has headed up MSB’s family department and was made a partner of the firm in June 2005. Under Emma’s extraordinary leadership the MSB’s Family Law team have won a
number of local, regional and national awards and accreditations. On March 1st 2018 Emma was appointed Managing Partner of MSB Solicitors. To help celebrate ‘National Apprenticeship Week’ Downtown awarded the Female Apprentice of the Year to Rebecca Slater. Rebecca is an incredibly worthy winner of this award. She demonstrates a huge amount of determination and grit to her role at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital. Rebecca has been recognised for her ability to achieve a high standard as an individual and as part of a team. Rebecca has been described as a huge credit to her college, her employer and herself. 38
Downtown Chief Executive, Frank McKenna commented on the awards: “Every year these awards get better and better. The atmosphere in the room was fantastic and as always these awards demonstrate the huge amount of female talent this city has to offer. “I’d like to say a huge thank you to the Crowne Plaza and Revolución de Cuba for their hospitality on the day and evening, and our Style Partner Signature Bespoke.”
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THE WINNERS Guilty Pleasures Award 2018 Boodles Best New Start Up 2018 Kate Finley // Kate’s Doggy Boutique Environmental & Sustainability Award 2018 Helen Lord // Used Kitchen Exchange Legal Professional of the Year 2018 Claire Currie // Kirwans Solicitors Financial Services Professional of the Year 2018 Ailsa Griffin // KPMG UK Marketer of the Year 2018 Pamela Carroll // ACC Liverpool Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 Katie Range // KC Marketing Range Community Impact Award 2018 Sue Gregory // Everton in the Community Female Leader of the Year 2018 Lindsay Inglesby // Rare Dance Studio Outstanding Leadership & Management Award 2018 Lynsey Martin // Liverpool Hope University Business of the Year 2018 Epica Health & Safety Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 Andrea Edwards // The Interesting Eating Company A Decade of Excellence 2018 Sue Crimes // Gusto Female Apprentice of the Year 2018 Rebecca Slater Chief Executive’s Award 2018 Emma Carey // MSB Solicitors
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C O M I N G S O O N LIVERPOOL // Downtown in Business’ Anniversary Lunch // 18 May 2018 Devolution, Innovation and the Business Effect – IBF Conference // 13 June 2018 MANCHESTER // Post MIPIM @ Manchester Lunch // 24th April 2018 Skills Power Panel with Henri Murison and Sean Anstee // 14th June 2018 LANCASHIRE // Skills Power Panel with Henri Murison, in association with UCLan // 17th May 2018 Blackpool Illuminations Dinner // 31st May 2018 BIRMINGHAM // In Conversation with Andy Street // 19th April 2018 In conversation with Rachel Clacher // 3rd May 2018
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