Matt Johnson: So, after the celebrations, where does the city go from here?

Jan 16 2008 By Matt Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

SO, WHERE do we go from here?

Following last weekend's spectacular European Capital of Culture opening events, and the interest they generated around the world, it's a question starting to occupy the thoughts of many here in Liverpool.

Lest we forget, high stakes are being played for here. Depending who you listen to, it's the re- launch of the city; the creation of a new look and feel for the region; an injection of "rocket fuel" for our region's economy and an opportunity to showcase our appeal to visitors and investors alike.

Businesses in Liverpool and Merseyside are considering how they can benefit from the 2008’s Capital of Culture status.

For some, it's a relatively easy calculation.

Take businesses at Albert Dock for instance. For years the complex has been a better example of renewal and regenerations than it has a model of business success. Businesses and tenants have come and gone like the tide with those moving on often citing the Dock's relative remoteness from the rest of the city as a block to vital footfall.

All that has changed with the arrival of ACC Liverpool, and good luck to those Albert Dock traders and their landlords who have stayed the course and now stand to reap big benefits.

They'll have an eye over the road too as Liverpool One shifts the axis of the city centre and the way people move as they go about spending their money.

The theme of regeneration and renewal (through construction) was writ large throughout both ‘08 opening events. And, whether by design or default, construction site workers did appear to be everywhere in the city centre on Monday and yesterday as if to emphasise the sheer scale of what is happening.

Yet, after the staged set piece spectaculars in Lime Street and the Echo Arena, I'd argue it's not new buildings that are the foundation on which the city's economic future can be built.

Instead, surely, it's the creative talent of the people who are here, or, critically, will be attracted here in the future, that will re- establish Liverpool and Merseyside as a world-class location offering world class opportunities – a city whose time has come.

And after the spectacle and excitement of the weekend we have just witnessed it's hard to think of a better example than the musicians of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and their Principal Conductor Vasily Petrenko.

Their combined contribution – and their potential to take such powerful performances and messages about Liverpool around the rest of the world – is priceless.

* MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group