Liverpool Chamber of Commerce today announced the shortlist for its first Arts Award.  The award is designed to reward the company or organisation who funded the best publicly available art in Liverpool in the last five years.

After several hours of intense discussion and visits the judges; Lewis Biggs Director of  Liverpool Biennial, Brenda Parkerson, Business Development Manager of Arts & Business, John Entwistle, sponsor and Christoph Grunenberg Director of Tate Gallery Liverpool short-listed four pieces that have been sited in public areas of the city in the past few years. The finalists are:

• Beetham Organisation for Face of the City a collaborative art and landscape project, situated in Old Hall Street. The judges liked the ambitious nature of the project.
• Beetham Organisation for Skyline by Oliver Barratt positioned on the Strand. The judges admired the company’s desire to commission this piece of art after admiring the artist’s work.
• Liverpool Cathedral for For You by Tracy Emin, RA. located within the cathedral. The neon work was the outcome of a courageous collaboration, producing a very bold artwork.
• Liverpool Echo for Warlock Sheppard Memorial on Hope Street by Stephen Broadbent paid for in part by public subscription, it features subject matter is very close to the collective heart of the city.

The award sponsor, John Entwistle commented: “I’m very keen that this competition encourages the tradition of patronage of the arts in Liverpool. I hope it will take place every two years and the judging panel will continue to see work of the quality that they have seen today.”

The overall winner will be announced at Liverpool Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner on 20th November.

He's got skills. Have you?

Merseylearn, the training and development initiative for Merseytravel want local companies to take The Skills Pledge.

The Skills Pledge is a voluntary, public commitment by the leadership of a company or organisation to support all its employees to develop their basic skills, including literacy and numeracy, and work towards relevant, valuable qualifications

They will be holding a high profile Skills Pledge signing event on 3 December ‘08 at the Holiday Inn; 9:30am start with refreshments. The event is being supported by their partners in relation to skills including the Learning and Skills Council, GoSkills, Investors in People, Connexions and Business in the Community.

During the event they will be celebrating those partners and suppliers who have committed to signing the Skills Pledge. They will also be raising the importance of apprenticeships and the business benefits we have seen in Merseytravel through our own apprenticeship programme

Find out more about the pledge…

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There’s no stopping us now…

Here’s details on Liverpool’s 2008 Christmas Magic Moments Programme.

That’s a posh weay of saying when the shops are open and when things will be happening in and around the city centre.

November 13
(The streets will be animated every Thursday evening (5pm-8pm) from now until Christmas):
Choirs, brass bands and street theatre performers will perform throughout Church St, Lord St, Whitechapel, Clayton Square and Williamson Square. Your favourite Christmas songs will be funked up by The Red Hot Santas; acrobatic elves present a vibrant festive performance and ice-cool stilt walkabouts from The Jacks of Frost, Snowman, plus Reindeers Rudolph and Vixen.

November 20
Festive musicians and the sights of sparkling festive entertainers, including Titan the Robot, will bring you colossal Yule tide numbers; watch out for the roller skating Christmas characters and carol-singing elves will convince you ’tis the Season to be Jolly.

November 27
The Christmas Tree in Church Street has arrived !….and there will be fun for all the family on this evening. Adults and children can mingle with real reindeer at the Met Quarter. Carol singers will also be performing traditional festive tunes, whilst a selection of street performers will also be on Church Street, Lord Street and Williamson Square to entertain the crowds. The evening’s festivities will be sprinkled with a drift of snow, keeping things suitably festive.

December 4
The festive frolics continue in the retail area including Bold Street with entertainment on virtually every street corner - real reindeers, seasonal music and drifting snow to add to the true spirit of Christmas.  Bring the family to meet the real Father Christmas. There will be lots of events in stores and opportunities to purchase that special gift.

December 7
LIverpool Santa Dash.

Sunday 7th December at 9.30am

For details go to http://www.runliverpool.org.uk

December 11
The Liverpool Christmas Market has arrived in Williamson Square (from Dec 5) selling festive food, mulled wine and crafted gifts from across Europe from a choice of over forty fabulous stalls. Street entertainment includes roller Skating Snowman, Scrooge, Snow Queen, the Bad Santas and Elves of puddings…

December 18
Reindeers on stilts, Jack Frosts, Brass Bands, Victorian entertainment on Bold Street, market in Williamson Square and many stores will stay open until late for Liverpool’s final Christmas Magical Moment.

Other Liverpool Christmas Events include:-

St George’s Hall:
A 12m by 12m skating rink will be outside the hall on the plateau and will be open daily (not Christmas Day) from Friday, December 19 until Saturday, January 4.

The new Santa grotto in the Heritage Centre from Wednesday, December 3 until Monday, December 22. (Not available on Thursdays as he is in Lapland putting the finishing touches to his gifts.)

Celebrate 08 With Santa at Lewis’s.
Santa arrives on Saturday, November 8 at 12 noon - with proceeds donated to The Lord Mayors Charity Appeal. GROTTO OPENING HOURS VARY FROM MAIN STORE PLEASE CHECK WITH STORE FOR DETAILS.

Breakfast with Santa - Sunday-Sunday, December 7 - 14 tickets go on sale from the Customer Services Department  2nd Floor from Saturday 8th November. Always a popular event so book early to avoid disappointment.

Met Quarter
Christmas choirs, wine tasting. Post your letters to Santa and special giveaways for those who visit the reindeers.  Late night shopping every Thursday also every night from 4 December.

Spirit of Christmas - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra - December 18 - 21
Vampires Rock Christmas - Echo Arena - December 27
The Emperor’s New Clothes - Unity Theatre - December 2 - January 17 2009
Cinderella - Empire Theatre - December 11 - January 4 2009
Night Collar - Royal Court Theatre - December 11 - January 17 2009
Mother Goose - Everyman Theatre - December 8 - January 31 2009

So get your tiiiiny sausages wrapped in bacon ready and get festive!

Let the train, not the rein-deer, take the strain this Christmas

This could possibly be our first Christmas-related post of 2008. WOO-HOO!!! Deck the halls, and all that…

Anyway…

Merseytravel is lining up a ‘cracker’ of a promotion in the run up to Christmas with a festive flat return fare on Merseyrail of just £1 to anywhere in Merseyside.

The aim of the deal is to set tills ringing in town centres across the region and bring Christmas cheer to thousands people.

Tens of thousands of people took advantage of last year’s Christmas Cracker, which runs every Thursday evening (for late night shopping) in the six-week run up to Christmas - beginning on Thursday 13th November.

It also runs all day every Sunday during December until Christmas - from 7th December.

Merseytravel’s annual Christmas gift to rail customers, now in its 14th year, also gives a seasonal boost to the region’s economy and helps reduce traffic congestion in urban centres.

Tickets go on sale at Merseyrail stations from 4pm every Thursday (between 13th November and 18th December), except at Liverpool city centre stations where they will go on sale from 6pm, as well as all day on Sundays in December until Christmas.

The offer is valid on Wirral, Northern and City Lines within the Merseyside boundary.

The £1 return flat fare extends to stations outside Merseyside as far as Chester, Ellesmere Port and Ormskirk. The offer means customers can travel from Southport to Chester and back for £1.

A total of 31 Merseyrail stations currently offer free park and ride facilities.

Here’s the final article in our series of tips on how to beat the credit crunch. In it, Freedom Coaching explain how now is the time to assemble your dream business team, and how they can help you achieve this.

Step 7

Do what all successful businesses do and create your own Dream Team of experts to worrk on your bussiness issues with you. This may sound expensive but it really isn’t if you know what you are doing. Imagine having the following people at youur disposal forr quick advice, support and guidance.

• Business diagnostic expert
• Business strategist
• Intellectual property expert
• Marketing expert
• Marketing communication and copy writing expert
• Marketing strategy expert
• Marketing implementation expert
• Public relations expert
• Sales conversion expert
• Telephone script writing and testing expert
• Sales expert
• Sales training expert
• Customer service expert
• Business process expert
• IT expert
• Telecommuniccations expert
• Cost control expert
• Credit control expert

How do you create your own dream team? It is quite simple - once you decide to do it, take action and make it happen.

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Four Special Games - One Special Membership

Everton are giving you the chance to enjoy Matchday hospitality at Goodison Park for the games against Aston Villa, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, all in one special membership.

These exclusive packages are available in a selection of our lounges at a range of affordable prices. All include hospitality to savour and some of the finest stadium seats from which to soak up the atmosphere of the match.

Prices:

• The People’s Club - £272pp
• The Marquee - £340pp
• The Captain’s Table - £420pp
• Alex Young Suite - £540pp
• 1878 Suite - £780pp

Fixtures

• Aston Villa - Sunday 7 December 4pm
• Chelsea - Monday 22 December 8pm
• Aresenal - Wednesday 28 January 8pm
• Manchester City - Saturday 25 April 3pm

For more information or to book now, call 0151 530 5300 and quote 4SPEC or visit the Everton FC website.