I want to make adifference to Liverpool city centre

Sep 12 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

Tony McDonough meets JOANNE JENNINGS, the chief executive of Liverpool One

AFTER spending more than 15 years of her working life amid the political volatility and economic upheaval of Belfast, you could forgive Joanne Jennings for seeking a slightly quieter life.

Which is presumably why she came to Merseyside to become the new chief executive of Liverpool One. No political volatility or economic upheaval here – no sir.

Liverpool One, of course, is the £1bn city centre retail scheme, formerly known as the Paradise Street Project.

It will officially open in spring 2008 and will comprise 1.5m sq ft of retail and leisure space across a huge 42 acre site.

Described as the biggest project of its kind in Europe, the development will be the size of 28 football pitches and will include 160 shops, over 450 new apartments, seven acres of revitalised park, two hotels, leisure and entertainment facilities, offices, restaurants, cafes and bars.

Jennings came to Liverpool less than three months ago but has already been putting herself about the town – getting to know as many people and places as possible.

“One of the great things about Liverpool city centre,” she said. “Is that it is so compact. I am living in the city centre and, although I have a car, I am hardly using it.”

She has spent most of her working life in Belfast in the fields of economic development and regeneration – both in the public and private sectors – and is, therefore, able to appreciate Liverpool One’s importance to the city’s economic renaissance rather than just seeing it as another retail development, existing in isolation from the rest of the city centre.

“What I want to develop here is a joined-up approach with the rest of the city centre,” she added.

“The city is too small not for us all to work together.

“There are so many things that make Liverpool unique, particularly the built environment and the people who live here. I want us to add value to that.

“As a city we have to promote diversity wherever we can. In places like Bold Street where you have a different offering we have to make sure we work with them.”

Jennings is determined that as many of the thousands of jobs on offer at Liverpool One go to people living in Merseyside.

She said: “We open next year and the big priority is recruitment because getting the right team in place is a major priority.

“We have already had a lot of interest locally from people looking for jobs and I want to make sure we follow that up.”

Retail analysts predict the next 12 months will be tough for retailers as rising interest rates and a less certain economic environment will lead to people spending less on consumer goods than they have in recent years.

Liverpool One will be opening in the midst of this downturn but Jennings is confident the development will still prove to be a hit.

Recent research by retail analysis company, RCT Analytics, showed Liverpool’s annual per capita fashion and footwear spend is above the UK average and ahead of that of Manchester and Birmingham.

Jennings insists that far from just bolting on extra retail outlets to the city centre, Liverpool One is filling a real gap in Liverpool’s overall offering.

She added: “Local demand is really strong and Liverpool has a very specific need for this type of retail investment. We do, of course, have to look at the UK context and make sure we have a very competitive offering.

“We also believe we will benefit from the influx of extra tourists that are expected to come into Liverpool for Capital of Culture during 2008.”

Jennings was born and brought up in Downpatrick in Northern Ireland and during her teenage years she considered several different careers including journalism, teaching and law.

“I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to somehow make a difference,” she said.

It’s not an unusual platitude to hear from a young person but could be said to have more of a resonance coming from someone growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and 80s, when the Troubles and the bleak economic outlook inspired a great yearning for change.

After studying for a business degree and a masters in marketing at the University of Ulster, Jennings was as good as her word, joining the Phoenix Trust, an investment promotion agency in Belfast, which aimed to attract inward investment in the city from hi-tech US-owned businesses.

After two years she joined accountancy giant, Deloitte, initially as a consultant, in its Urban Regeneration and Tourism practice in Belfast, and subsequently as a managing consultant.

In 1999, Jennings secured a position as the business development director of the newly formed Belfast City Centre Management Company.

BCCM was backed by a group of diverse stakeholders including the city council, Belfast Chamber of Commerce, private investors and central Government, and was formed to reposition Belfast as the key retail and leisure destination in Northern Ireland just as the peace process was being launched.

Soon after, she was appointed chief executive with responsibility for 1.5m sq ft of retail space in the city.

Such was her contribution to Belfast’s regeneration, that she was recently honoured with a Sceptre award – given to people who have made an outstanding contribution to the UK shopping centre sector.

She sees many similarities between Belfast and Liverpool and believes that by taking up the Liverpool One hot seat she can continue to “make a difference” in the way that she dreamed of as a teenager two decades ago.

She said: “I hope that my experience of working with partners and other stakeholders will help to ensure that Liverpool One realises its potential as a pivotal catalyst for the regeneration of this great city.

“The appeal for me coming here was that this was a city centre scheme because I believe in the future of cities. I also think this is currently the most exciting regeneration project in Europe. We want to make sure we cater for the very wide retail market place – from value shopping right up to designer goods. It is very important the city has a real retail diversity.”

Outside of work, Jennings is a keen cyclist and enjoys visiting arts venues but she also admits to having a penchant for a bit of retail therapy.

“Of course, it is important I go shopping for research purposes,” she insisted.

tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk

Q&A

Highest educational qualification: Masters degree in marketing

Biggest achievement: Coming to Liverpool to take on this project

Biggest regret: The only things I regret are the opportunities I don’t go for

Best advice received: Take your job seriously, but don’t always take yourself too seriously

Unfulfilled ambition: To play a musical instrument properly