The Sultan's Elephant in London, 2006

Anticipated to be a real spectacle and one of the highlights of 2008, La Machine is coming to Liverpool 5-7 September.

Two years ago something incredible happened in London. For four days the city stopped in its tracks. Hundreds of thousands of people jammed the streets, astonished at the scale and beauty of the spectacular Sultan’s Elephant.

The precise details of Liverpool’s spectacualr are a closely-guarded secret. What’s certain is that La Machine will be huge in scale and utterly unlike anything seen in Liverpool before.

Here at the Chamber we are keen to ensure ease of movement throughout the city centre during this spectacular event. We do know that the event will attract large crowds and will be moving slowly through the city centre starting on Friday 5 September throughout the entire weekend. More information about it’s route will be posted here near to the event date. In the meantime, for more information visit the 08 website or toddle along to La Machine’s own site.

The Echo has posted some info about the route to be taken by La Machine:

The main parade will take place on Saturday September 6, following a route from the city’s waterfront and taking in Lord Street, Church Street, Ranelagh Street and beyond.

But the volume of people expected to take to the streets to watch the event unfurl means other routes, such as Whitechapel, Richmond Street, Williamson Square, Houghton Street and Parker Street, are expected to be packed by pedestrians trying to find a better view.

An international market planned for Williamson Square on September 4-7 has also been cancelled.

The decision, which Liverpool council admits was unpopular with organiser Geraud, was taken in the interest of public safety.

Instead, Williamson Square will be used to allow the crowds to move through the city centre and act as an evacuation point.

Market stalls in Whitechapel, Paradise Street, Williamson Square, Parker Street, Houghton Street and Roe Street will also be told not to trade on Saturday September 6.

The event will culminate in William Brown Street on Sunday September 7.

Liverpool Chamber and Benylin would like to better understand the perception and levels of sickness related absence in the workplace.

We hope this survey will provide a unique insight and an in depth understanding into how businesses measure, monitor and control sickness related absence and what impact presenteeism (being present at work when ill and performing below par) and absenteeism (taking a day or two off work to get better) may have on colleagues and levels of productivity.

The survey should take approximately 5 minutes to complete.  At the end of the survey, all participants will be included into a prize draw for an i-pod nano.

Take the survey here.

Thank you for your time.

Merseyside Crimestoppers is hosting a  Virtual Grand National on Thursday 23 October 2008

Last year, Merseyside Crimestoppers, held a hugely successful and enjoyable dinner and raised £8,000 for the charity. This year its aiming for an even bigger and better event.

Peter Jones, Head of Business Crime Direct at Liverpool Chamber commented: “We have sponsorship from Ladbrokes, William Hill and Bet Fred. This means we can bring you the Virtual Grand National from the industry’s top professionals.

“As a special part of the evening there will be a special prize for the best dressed race-goer, so come on girls get your posh hat out and boys give your tails and top hat an airing. You never know you could get the prize.”

The event will be held at the Liner Hotel in Lord Nelson Street, Liverpool on Thursday 23rd October and also will feature a hot buffet and our special guest performer is ‘Stars in Their Eyes Winner’ Paul McCoy covering the Rat Pack numbers and up-tempo tracks.  Seats will be £45 each or £400 for a table of ten.

We would like to invite you to sponsor one of our races on the card; there is also the opportunity to be the owner of a horse in each race. The sponsor will have the race named after themselves or a loved one; this will be published in the race card. The owner of the winning horse will receive £25.00. Sponsorship of a race £75.00 ownership of a horse £5.00. It all promises to be great fun.

If you would like to sponsor any part of the event, including the donation of a raffle prize, we would be most grateful. For more information, speak to Peter Jones on 0151 227 1234 or email him on peter.jones@liverpoolchamber.org.uk.