Here to listen to city’s fantastic ideas

Dec 26 2007 by Bill Gleeson, Liverpool Daily Post

Entrepreneurs across Merseyside and the North West are hailed as inspirational, as The Bold Venturers book reveals. Author and editor Lew Baxter explains why

AS HE spearheads the delivery of Liverpool's ’08 cultural bill of fare, Phil Redmond may well ponder that he has taken on the most challenging role of his career as a creative entrepreneur.

For he has promised to connect organisations that need money to stage an event with potential sponsors from the business world.

When the millionaire media mogul and founder of Mersey Film was handed the job, he discovered there were hundreds of people who claimed they'd sent in “fantastic ideas” but hadn't had a response or been treated seriously.

He is now working hand-in-hand with Bryan Gray, the chairman of the Northwest Regional Development Agency, who has taken over the chairman's job at the Capital of Culture Company. Gray's responsibility is to manage the financial side of the jamboree, but he is equally determined to engage with local people and organisations.

"Our plan is to match businesses which want to help cultural projects with individuals and groups across the communities whose appeals for support have so far failed," explained 58-year-old Redmond, who is one of the 40 entrepreneurs featured in The Bold Venturers book recently published as a “celebration of the spirit of enterprise” that exists in the North West.

In his three-page profile, Redmond argues that it is about creating a more enterprising environment from which real entrepreneurs will emerge and flourish.

"It is about having a 'can-do' attitude and the drive to make things happen, and not necessarily about the quickest way of making a buck," he says.

This passion for promoting the spirit of enterprise is the running theme throughout the 160-page hardback book that has been published by Cities500 International Publishers, in collaboration with the NWDA, and with support from Liverpool John Moores University.

Indeed, these views are echoed by Jude Kelly, the Liverpool-born director of London's Southbank Centre, who recently also directed Jimmy McGovern's critically acclaimed musical play, King Cotton, at the Lowry, in Salford, and at Liverpool's Empire Theatre.

Her profile reveals that she is an outstanding and award-winning director who has consistently been among the top ten most powerful folk in the UK's theatre world. Kelly believes that the arts need constant debate and investment.

She says: "My view is that the creative industries will be perceived increasingly in the 21st century as the major force driving the economy, particularly in the North West of England." Other Merseyside entrepreneurs featured in the book include restaurateur Paul Heathcote; jeweller Nicholas Wainwright, who reveals that he is also Honorary Consul for Thailand; Daily Post columnist Matt Johnson, who heads up the Mando Group; women's enterprise champion Margaret O'Carroll; beauty care expert Sharon Hilditch, whose company Crystal Clear is now one of the foremost names in its field; the Dusanj brothers who have successfully revived the ailing Cains Brewery; and the Runcorn and China-based cushion manufacturer Tony Caldeira, who has become a serial award winner for his business acumen.

The book carries a foreword by John Hutton, the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, who declares that the entrepreneurs profiled epitomise the spirit of enterprise that Britain needs to exploit the worldwide opportunities of the 21st century.

"It is an eclectic and unusual group of people selected from the many who operate throughout the region or originate from it.

“The contribution they make to the success of our country should never be taken for granted," commented the minister.

In another foreword, Stuart Chambers, the chief executive of the Pilkington Group and chairman of the North West Business Leadership Team, says: "I believe it is our responsibility and duty as an influential 'think tank' of the region's most senior business people – the Duke of Westminster is our president – to offer advice and experience to a wide range of aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as those keen to join industry and commerce to make a difference in the region."

This is confirmed in an essay in the book by Geoffrey Piper, the NWBLT's chief executive, who explores the nature of nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs.

The Bold Venturers book stemmed from an idea first mooted by Peter Mearns, the Northwest Development Agency's executive director of marketing and communications.

"The importance of promoting an enterprising culture throughout the region at all levels is one of our main platforms, particularly among the young and the student populations," he says.

This was one of the factors that persuaded Liverpool John Moores University's vice-chancellor, Michael Brown, to co-partner the publishing project and contribute a relevant essay examining the university's role in encouraging and promoting entrepreneurial skills and ambitions.

"We have been the springboard for people from all backgrounds and from all walks of life for 180 years, encouraging talented individuals to achieve their dreams in so many different ways.

"But I believe that, if you want people to be entrepreneurial, then the organisation itself has to have that spirit, being prepared to take calculated and managed risks itself to achieve those outstanding outcomes," added Professor Brown, whose university's Business Development Centre is regarded as a role model in its own right.

It is this kind of attitude that underpins the business philosophy that also drives another Bold Venturer subject: Sir Terry Leahy, the chief executive of Tesco, and regarded as one of the most powerful people in Britain. In less than a decade, he has transformed the supermarket chain into the market leader in the UK, and third largest in the world.

An unusually modest individual for someone wielding such clout, he confided to the Liverpool Daily Post recently that the main lesson of his life is "don't let the past put limits on your future", presumably a reference to his perceived humble beginnings in Liverpool, where he is now a Freeman of the City.

In 2002, he was knighted for services to food retailing and the influential Fortune magazine hailed him as European Businessman of the Year in 2004. Early in 2007, he was voted as the most influential non-elected person in Britain.

Bryan Gray, who launched the book at the Business Northwest Exhibition in November, commented: "The importance of business leaders and successful entrepreneurs as role models for existing and future generations of entrepreneurs has long been recognised.

"The profiles in this book are a reflection of our – and the Government's – determination to increase entrepreneurship in the UK by inspiration, challenge and role models through the Enterprising Britain competition and the annual Enterprise Week, which are designed as a celebration of enterprise to inspire young people to make their ideas happen.”

Publisher Guy Woodland explained that those profiled were chosen at random and not plucked from any existing league table of high achievers. "We wanted to focus on a wide range of people in a variety of activities who have proven entrepreneurial skill and flair."

These include the Wirral-based musical brothers Rob and Alan Fennah, founders of Pulse Records, and producers of the award-winning hit musical, Twopence to Cross the Mersey. This followed on from an earlier album, First Night, and stage play of the same name written in collaboration with their long-time friend Mark Thomas, the editor of the Daily Post.

The list also includes Chester-based artist Steven Broadbent, who was '”schooled” by the fabled Liverpool sculptor Arthur Dooley. Steven also believes that art has an essential part in the entrepreneurial world and his grandiose public sculptures can be found as far apart as Liverpool, Belfast, Benin and Casablanca.

Perhaps the most unusual of those profiled is Steve Craddock, whose old-fashioned chandler's shop in Southport is one of the few still plying their trade in the UK. He contrasts vividly with the glitzy image of one of Liverpool's favourite sons, Bill Kenwright, who – apart from his fame as an international impresario – is also chairman of Everton FC.

Kenwright's London office is crammed with awards and plaques for his theatrical successes, but in pride of place among them is a framed certificate inculcating him into the Merseyside Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame, an accolade bestowed by the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and the NWDA.

He says: "Luck has played a huge part in my life and business, but it only works if you take advantage of the luck – and take the risks."

THE Bold Venturers is published by Cities500 in collaboration with the NWDA and retails at £25. For further details, go to www.cities500.com