JULY
The summer sunshine continued for some with the arena and convention centre estimated to be contributing £3m a week to the local economy.
An £85m eco-friendly community was mooted for Vauxhall, and profits soared at TJ Hughes, where Sue Tennant had returned as chief executive. But the administrators arrived at Cain's Brewery.
AUGUST
Traditionally quiet and no exception this year. Cains put up for sale.
SEPTEMBER
Unemployment figures soar nationwide but Liverpool "bucks the trend", experiencing slower job reductions than elsewhere.
Liverpool jumps to 5th in the national retail league, thanks to Liverpool One, and the Dusanj brothers buy back Cains’ business, minus the loss-making pubs. Greenberg Glass placed into administration.
Bombshell as American investment bank Lehman Brothers collapses. Building contractor David McLean folds.
OCTOBER
Joanne Jennings asserts: "We'll beat the crunch".
House sales plunge, another shutdown at Vauxhall, but on the upside it was announced there had been 10m Capital of Culture visitors.
NOVEMBER
Thomson Cruises pulls its 30- voyage programme from Liverpool, Norfolkline shelves multi-million pound investment programme, crisis talks on rescuing Vauxhall. Northwest Development Agency said £50m would be made available to help small businesses struggling with credit facilities.
On the 17th, the Cammell Laird name officially returned to the shipyard in Birkenhead.
DECEMBER
The Liverpool Culture Company unveiled its end-of-year report, claiming a total value of £800m. More than 3.5m first-time visitors in ’08 generated £176m in tourism spend.
The Liverpool ’08 events programme, ranging from the Tall Ships Races to La Machine – the spectacular 50ft spider – attracted 5.2m people to the city.
The surge in cultural tourism has seen a 150% increase to Liverpool’s Tourist Information Centres and the city has risen up the UK league table as the third favourite city to visit, according to a Condé Nast poll.
Liverpool has also experienced unprecedented media coverage which has been calculated to be worth more than £200m globally.
The city has been hailed for producing the most effective and memorable Capital of Culture year, containing 60 World and European premieres in music, film, theatre and art, with 30 new commissions by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Uncertain times for the economy and employment as 2009 jobs crisis feared
A GROWING jobs crisis could see national unemployment top 3m next year.
In the autumn, jobs figures suggested that Liverpool was more resilient than most other areas, with jobless figures less volatile.
The longer-term trend showed the city region’s claimant count is growing more slowly than the rest of the country.
In the last year, the UK claimant rate has increased 14.1% and the North West by 16.4%, while the Liverpool city region’s rate has grown by 12.7%.
However, as the year drew to a close, the jobs market locally and farther afield grew desperate.
In any event, whether the region had been hit less badly was debatable, given the continuous trickle of bad news.
The year did not start too well with the unwelcome news that 350 highly-skilled jobs at Daresbury Laboratory were to go in a national shake-up of scientific services.
Seen in context this was a one-off announcement, but proved to be a prelude to a pattern that was to emerge later in the year.
Early on, it became apparent that the automotive industries were going to be particularly hard hit, with Vauxhall forced to make shift lay-offs and, of course, it emerged that parent General Motors was in serious trouble, with Jaguar Land Rover also starting to struggle.
In the first few months, notable blows were dealt by Rolls-Royce, which closed its Netherton plant with the loss of 212 jobs, Unilever reduced its workforce by 200 and Sayers the bakers and Ethel Austin's collapsed amid increasingly perilous economic conditions.
The trickle of redundancies grew to a torrent as the year progressed and, even now in December, it is difficult to predict where it might end.
Alan Southern, senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool Management School, said: "We still don't know the real extent to which this has all kicked in as yet. We have seen some industries clearly badly affected, such as construction and automotive, but others will follow.
"Liverpool is perhaps in a unique situation, in that Liverpool One has brought confidence and employment opportunities, and Capital of Culture has raised the profile and boosted tourism."
Prof Southern also reflected on other possible positive aspects to a general downturn: "The area has a large public sector presence which adds a degree of stability in a downturn. Also, because the region has been playing economic catch-up it may be that debt lag behind other places.
"We are taking a hit but it is possible it may be less marked than in other centres, particulary those with strong international trade links."
Most of the region’s local authorities have been badly hit on the jobs front, with the exception of Knowsley which recorded 475 new posts created in 2008 and 181 lost.
Cllr Graham Morgan, cabinet member for regeneration and economic development, said:
“Unfortunately, there have been job losses in Knowsley throughout the year, but overall there has been an increase in the number of jobs created in the borough and, by working with local companies and other public sector partners, the council has managed to safeguard a significant number of jobs.
“Despite the current economic difficulties that are impacting the whole country, Knowsley’s economy has performed strongly throughout 2008.
“2009 could continue to be a difficult year for businesses and Knowsley Council will focus its efforts on supporting local businesses to try and minimise the impact of the wider economic difficulties and to maintain Knowsley’s economy.”