Partnership admits it needs to ‘raise the bar’ to increase foreign investment

Jul 5 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

Liverpool's famous but ever changing waterfront viewed from Woodside _320

MERSEYSIDE’S main inward investment agency, The Mersey Partnership (TMP), yesterday admitted it must work harder to encourage foreign investment after figures showed the number of new jobs created had fallen.

Data from UK Trade & Invest-ment (UKTI) showed 985 jobs had been created through foreign investment in Merseyside in the financial year 2006/07, down from 1,097 in 2005/06.

But it was also revealed there had been a big rise in foreign investment projects in Merseyside in the past 12 months to 27 from 18 in the previous year. The number of jobs safeguarded was also up from 548 to 870.

TMP’s equivalent in Greater Manchester – Midas – has created 1,845 new jobs through inward investment in 2006/07 and safeguarded 946.

Its globetrotting chief executive Colin Sinclair has clocked up more than 53,000 miles last year visiting Nice, New York twice, Los Angeles, California, China and Australia – an effort which yielded 65 new investment projects.

This week, TMP revealed its new chief executive – Tranmere Rovers chairman Lorraine Rogers – who takes over in August.

One of her key tasks will be to help Merseyside compete better in what acting chief executive Dave Moorcroft said was “a fiercely competitive global marketplace”.

He added: “We must continue to raise the bar. That’s why the additional resources provided through the new Single Investment Agency, spearheaded by TMP, will enable us to compete more effectively. The new agency will allow partners in the city region to take a stronger, collective message to a national and international audience. And with a new chief executive in place, TMP is in a prime position to drive forward investment in target sec-tors including financial and pro-fessional services, life sciences and digital and creative industries.”

Earlier this week the chief exe-cutive of the city’s main urban regeneration company, Liverpool Vision, said inward investment agencies like TMP needed to do more to attract businesses from the financial and professional services sector to Merseyside.

“I don’t believe we can maintain the rate of growth we want unless we significantly improve inward investment,” he said in an audio podcast interview for the Daily Post website – www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/business.

But Mr Moorcroft said progress was being made. He said: “TMP’s investment team helped Canadian software firm Organisational Metrics to relocate its global head office from Toronto to Liverpool, while Danish shipping business Maersk and Dutch food company Bakemark are other international investors we’ve worked with.”

Figures showed the North West is the UK’s leading region for for-eign direct investment. In 2006/07 more than 130 investment projects created in excess of 7,500 jobs.

tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk