LIVERPOOL is well placed to weather the current economic downturn in the UK, according to the man charged with attracting investment to the region.

In an interview to mark the first six months of Capital of Culture, Jim Gill, chief executive of Liverpool Vision, said the city was in a much stronger position than even five years ago to weather the credit crunch.

Despite new residential property schemes drying up, he said the city had taken advantage as much as it could of the prolonged period of economic growth and built a stable base.

Mr Gill did, however, warn that the economic downturn may delay the advantage that Liverpool should reap from changing perceptions of the city as a place to invest.

He also cast doubt over whether the financial services sector – which has grown in Liverpool over recent years – would continue expanding.

Mr Gill spoke to the Daily Post as a document was released updating how the city had managed the huge amount of building work and additional visitors it has seen.

In the paper written by the Countdown 08 Group, set up to make sure 08 goes without hitch, Mr Gill praised the way the public and private sector had worked together but also admitted there were ongoing “challenges”.

“The impact of works has been minimised and in some cases has been presented as a plus – a dynamic city that is changing rather than a building site,” said Mr Gill.

The ongoing upgrade of the West Coast Mainline, undertaken at weekends and not due for completion until December, is identified as one challenge. The battle against the city’s litter problem was another.

Mr Gill said while there had been strides made in combating litter, and the city council had put on more street cleaning services, there was little that could be done about the disruption to the main train service to the capital.

Last month, the Daily Post reported how Liverpool city centre flats were predicted to lose up to 25% of their value in the current housing market downturn.

We have also reported how new residential property schemes were struggling to come through.

“The number of residential starts has slowed dramatically,” he confirmed.

“We were expecting an adjust-ment in the residential market, so that’s not a shock, it was just a shock the way it emerged.

“What the impact of the (economic) uncertainty will be on visitor numbers at the end of the year, I don’t know.

“I think for this year the fact is that visitor numbers are up and this is counter cyclical to this sudden external shock (credit crunch, economic downturn).

“I think Liverpool is in a much stronger position now than it was five or 10 years ago to go through these sort of issues.

“The fact is people are here and are making investment here. Yes, it will be affected and is being affected just like anywhere else.

“I think there has been as much physical development in the last five years as in any other period.

“Financial services have been a major driver of growth. The fact that they are affected by these current issues probably means that that sector will not deliver what we might otherwise have expected.

“But the city has taken advantage of growth and sustained that growth.

“The city has taken advantage of a long period of economic stability and that has given us a better base. I am not sure we could have done more.”

davidbartlett