Brian Mc Cann, Board Member of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce commented on today’s budget saying: “It’s been a mixed budget, though importantly it is one which should have an immediate impact. The measures announced will help businesses now rather than in 12 months time, particularly the support becoming available for the automotive industry.”

“I am pleased to see the £750m investment fund being made available for bio and digital industries, as this is an emerging sector in the Merseyside economy.”

“There have been some good measures for existing businesses coming out of this budget too. The doubling of the main capital allowance rate to 40% will encourage firms to bring forward investment. The ability for businesses to reclaim more taxes paid in the last three years until November 2010 should significantly ease the issue of cash flow, helping to keep the companies trading during this difficult economic period.”

Maresa Molloy, Liverpool Chamber’s  Head of Policy commented: “We are pleased to see £250m investment in jobs and training and the planned investment in green, creative and digital technologies will have a positive impact on the city if we can get the money to come through quickly enough.

Support for the emerging ‘green economy’ was on Liverpool Chamber’s ‘wish list’ and we welcome the increased funding. Low carbon energy and advanced green manufacturing is a growth area in Merseyside.

Next quarter’s QES results, due in June, will show the immediate reaction of the region’s business community to this budget.”

The ‘car scrappage’ scheme will stimulate demand in the in automotive industries that is good news for both Halewood and Ellesmere Port and the thousands of jobs dependant on the success of this industry.

Value retailer, Joe Morris from Liverpool based chain, Home Bargains gave his view saying: “My biggest concern is that the economy is predicted to drop by 3.5 per cent next year. The country needs businesses to be profitable, to pay taxes and NI and create employment. I can’t where the spending that the Chancellor has committed to is going to come from.”

Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), David Frost, said:
“The Chancellor appears to have understood that it will be business driving the economy out of recession, and there are some good measures that reflect this.

“The Budget rightly acknowledges that the official GDP forecasts in the November PBR were far too optimistic. The recession is clearly much deeper than previously envisaged. The new GDP growth forecast, of -3.5% in

Liverpool will be celebrating St George’s Day in style this Thursday (April 23).

The nation’s patron saint will be the cause for a wealth of festive activities at the city’s famous St George’s Hall, from Morris Dancing and live music to a special deal for war veterans.

Celebrations will begin at 10am, with friends of St George’s Hall to welcome visitors by issuing red roses in the Heritage Centre.

The corridors of the Grade I listed building, which reopened on St George’s Day in 2007 after a 10-year revamp costing £23m, will be decked with bunting of St George’s Flag.

The festivities get underway from 12.45pm - 1.30pm with Professor Ian Tracey providing a FREE organ recital of “Pomp and Circumstance” on the Willis Organ, the third biggest organ of its kind in the UK after Liverpool Cathedral and Royal Albert Hall.

From 2pm - 5pm there will be a tea dance held in the Great Hall which recently hosted the Spring Ball, attended by more than 400 people. Admission for the tea dance is at £2. Entrance for this event is at the William Brown St end of the building.

At 3.00pm The Mersey Morris men will provide a Morris Dancing display and live music, both of which are supported by Friends of St George’s Hall.

War veterans who display their medals will be able to experience all the activities for FREE.

As well as the St George’s Day celebrations, St George’s Hall is currently hosting Daring to be Different - From Taxi Driver to Ocean Racer - a photography exhibition by Lisa Pover, in the Dickens Gallery. The next event at The Great Hall is The Antiques Fair on Saturday, April 25. The next event in St George’s Concert Room is Music for the Mind, Body and Soul as part of MILAP on April 25.

SME Week Breakfast Seminar
07/05/2009 08.00
Liverpool Chamber of Commerce,
1 Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L3 9HG

Feel like your business is going around in circles?

Come to a European SME Week Seminar - let us help you with ideas on innovation, funding and growth markets in Europe.

If you are a Small / Medium Enterprise (SME) in the North West, why not join us in our Breakfast Seminar in Liverpool on May 7 to see how the Enterprise Europe Network can help?

Main Objectives

The SME Week offers a unique opportunity to obtain advice and assistance on specific aspects of entrepreneurship. This seminar will give an overview and support
on:

• Innovation and intellectual property
• Funding opportunities
• Growth markets in Europe
• Networking with fellow entrepreneurs

Cost: Free to SMEs in the North West

Programme

08.00 Registration and Breakfast
08.30 Introduction to the Enterprise Europe Network: Seminar programme including
Innovation and intellectual property; Funding opportunities presented by a specialist
from the NWDA; Growth markets in Europe; plus networking opportunities.
10.30 Close

TO BOOK A PLACE
This seminar is free to SMEs in the North West region with a breakfast snack provided.

Please send your details by e-mail to eenw@business-support-solutions.co.uk
marked SME Week. If you have any queries please contact Jens Boehm on 0161 875 2325.

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Marketing is often the first area that businesses look to cut back on in a recession.

Although this may free up cash in the short term, in the long term it can prove to be a costly strategy. When times are tough, businesses need marketing more than ever. Freelance marketer, Jo Spragg, gives us her top five tips for marketing in a recession:

1.    Be customer focused. Marketing isn’t just about acquiring new customers, it’s also about taking care of your existing customers. Demonstrate your value to current customers at every opportunity.

2.    Stay ahead of the competition. Be aware of who your competitors are, what they offer and what makes you different. Once you’ve established a differentiator, communicate it clearly to the marketplace.

3.    Instead of cutting your marketing budget, be smarter with your spend. For example, if you have to use external suppliers, freelancers are more cost effective than large agencies.

4.    Every point of contact with your business represents a marketing opportunity. Think about how you pitch yourself at Chamber networking events, how you answer the phone, how user friendly your website is and make sure you’re creating the right impression at all times.

5.    Measure your marketing efforts. It’s only by tracking your activities that you’ll see what’s working and what’s not.

Fish @ Ollie & Darsh, Tuesday May 12th 5.30pm

Fish! isn’t just for Fridays!

Chamber member Ubiquity PR have changed the name of their ‘First Friday’ networking events to Fish! to give more scope and flexibility to their FREE networking  event, i.e. to allow for evening events during the week:

Our sponsor for the first Fish! is Ollie & Darsh taking place on May 12 in their beautiful boutique premises at 11 Dale Street in Hackins Hey, www.ollieanddarsh.co.uk.

With catering supplied by Soupernatural on the night, come and fill your boots with plentiful cuisine and most importantly of course, contacts!

Don’t forget your business cards for the prize draw.you know you shouldn’t go fishing without one.

Finally, you have 10 fish, 5 drown, 5 live and 3 come back to life. How many fish do you have left? None. Fish can’t drown.

We need RSVPs please, by May 5th. Only RSVPS go into the prize draw…for some very good (non-fish based) raffle prizes.

The closing date for the Merseyside Innovation Awards is 18 May. The awards aim to recognise and reward the use of innovation as a means of boosting growth and profitability.

The final takes place on 9^th July at Crowne Plaza Liverpool and the judges are Trevor Bayliss inventor of the iconic wind up radio and Professor Murray Dalziel.

Chair of the judging panel, Brian McCann, of Vanguard said: "Last year, 2D Heat, creators of an energy efficient spray-on heating element won the awards. Merseyside is a breeding ground for many world-class innovations. I would urge anyone with a great idea or product to fill in an application form and see what happens."

The awards are open to individuals or companies with less than 50 employees who are based within Merseyside. They could win £10,000 in cash, £4,000 worth of legal, business, accounting or design consultancy; support from some of the region’s leading business advisors; and publicity for the idea.

www.merseysideinnovationawards.co.uk