Around 14,000 leaflets will be distributed locally, again aimed at encouraging residents to use services and facilities on their own doorstep. As chairman Paul Aberdein puts it: "It doesn't have to be all about the city centre.”

Another way small retailers can band together to mutual advantage is through group purchasing schemes.

This is a small but growing idea, the latest example being an Asian association in the Midlands where 2,800 businesses are benefiting from bulk purchasing of goods and services they need. Services like electricity, gas and telephones are being targeted first. However, other services like travel, vehicle maintenance and internet connection will follow.

The Forum for Private Business runs its own scheme. Forum spokesman Phil McCabe explained: “We have a collective buying initiative for financial services, legal products and utility services to save our members money.” However, smaller firms may struggle with managing finance as they try to compete with offers and price cuts made by high street chains during the current economic downturn, according to Equifax, the data analysis firm.

Equifax external affairs director Neil Munroe said: "Smaller retailers will naturally get hurt more. The more aggressive the bigger chains become in an effort to stay in business, the more it's going to hurt the independent sector."

He warned small companies could find big organisations start encroaching on their customers, their sales and their margins.”

And there is no doubt it’s getting tougher out there.

Figures from Equifax covering the second quarter of 2008 revealed total business failures rose by 10% in comparison to the same period in 2007. It’s not just smaller firms that are taking a partnership approach to doing business. Towns outside Liverpool are creating partnerships to push themselves forward, one such being Chester Renaissance.

The organisation is seeking to attract new business and promote the city as a place to visit and work. New director Rita Waters, who starts in the role tomorrow, has been poached from Liverpool's Business Improvement District.

She said: "It's a challenge because Chester is a different type of shopping market, but it does have a lot going for it and there are some exciting developments."

Ms Waters also revealed that the planned £400m Northgate development is very much back on the agenda.