Rogers stalls on TMP contract

Aug 14 2007 EXCLUSIVE by Bill Gleeson, Liverpool Daily Post

THE new chief executive of Merseyside’s leading tourism and investment agency yesterday failed to show up for what was scheduled to be her first day in her new job.

Lorraine Rogers, who is also chairman of Tranmere Rovers Football Club, told the Daily Post she had not made her planned start at The Mersey Partnership because she had yet to agree terms with her new employer.

Her failure to start work comes despite the fact TMP chairman Roy Morris issued a statement early last month saying Ms Rogers “will take up her new responsibilities at TMP on August 13”.

Staff and board members at TMP have now been told her start date will instead be August 28.

The protracted negotiations have centred around how Ms Rogers will split her time between TMP and Tranmere Rovers.

The difficulty is understood to centre on discussions about the number of hours per year that she will work for TMP.

Ms Rogers insists no agreement has been reached about this issue.

Last month, the Partnership issued a press statement saying: “Because of her on- going roles elsewhere, in particular as chairman of Tranmere, we have negotiated a flexible working arrangement with Lorraine which will enable her to lead TMP’s operations in dynamic fashion without intruding on her existing commitments.”

But speaking to the Daily Post last night, Ms Rogers said the July statement was premature.

“It was described as a done deal, and the impression was given that I had signed a contract, when I had not. There was an element of gun- jumping.

“That said, I don’t anticipate any problems and I think the start date will be August 28,” she said.

However Ms Rogers added that her new employment contract was still unsigned, saying: “It is still with TMP’s lawyers.”

TMP, a combined public/private sector body which has the lead responsibility for inward investment and tourism for Merseyside, last night refused to make any comment.

Ms Rogers has been an executive chairman at Tranmere since she came to the club in 1999.

It has now been a year since TMP’s former chief executive, Robert Crawford, quit his job after less than one year in the post to return to his native Scotland.

Frank McKenna, chairman of Downtown Liverpool in Business, said: “She has taken on a really difficult job. I don’t think the way TMP announced the appointment did her any favours at all.

“Her first three months are crucial. She has to hit the ground running and this has not helped.”

Jack Stopforth, chief executive of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and a member of The Mersey Partnership’s board, said: “The sooner it’s resolved, the better because nobody likes uncertainty in business. I trust my colleagues on the board to sort through this issue.”