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Minister for Cities launches IFB 2014 hub in Liverpool

Minister for Cities Greg Clark has announced that the International Festival for Business 2014 is to take over two floors of a new landmark building on the city’s waterfront to create an IFB Hub which will be the trade and nerve centre for the two-month festival.

The Hub will be based on the third and fourth floors of Merseytravel’s Mann Island headquarters, between the Port of Liverpool building and the world famous Albert Dock.

It will include a special Mayoral conference room where Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson will host a number of significant international meetings during the course of the festival, plus a media centre, exhibition space, meeting rooms and event space.

The IFB will see a global 250,000-strong business audience arrive in the city over six weeks in June and July next year. Events will be staged at venues across the city and video screens throughout the Hub will stream live footage from those events.

Mr Clark, who this week as part of a Government reshuffle became Minister for Cities and Constitutions, visited Liverpool today to announce the IFB Hub’s location and said: “It’s a great moment for Liverpool and the North West - but the IB is not just for the region - it’s a global event providing opportunities for businesses across the whole country.

“This building will be the heart of the IFB and will be a concentrated meeting and trading point for business people attending the festival from across the UK and abroad.

“The festival as a whole represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for companies to make new global connections with potential partners and customers. The Hub will play a key role in this and will be a gathering point for delegates throughout the festival. It will also offer an opportunity for British businesses to boost their trade with organisations from across the world.”

Businesses will be able to hire exhibition space at the Hub – on what is described as the Trading Floor – to market their services and products to visiting delegates.

Max Steinberg CBE, chairman of IFB2014, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for local companies of all sizes to capitalise on the festival and be involved. The Hub will be the heart of the festival and we want local companies to join national and international businesses there. We would like to extend our thanks to Merseytravel for helping to make this happen.”

UKTI and a range of trade and industrial bodies – including some from overseas – are expected to have a permanent presence at the Hub, with other companies hiring exhibition space for shorter periods throughout the festival.

The Hub will also include an informal lounge area for people to network and relax, as well as an event room which will be able to seat 200 people for presentations and talks.

Mr Clark’s announcement on the Hub came during a day-long visit to Liverpool during which he received an update on IFB progress from Mr Steinberg.

Speaking about the IFB, Mr Clark said: “It’s an opportunity for UK businesses to show what they are made of and for us as a country to sell ourselves on a global stage and for foreign investors to see Britain at its best.

David Brown, Chief Executive of Merseytravel, said: “We are delighted to be able to lend our support to IFB2014 in this way and believe our Mann Island headquarters offer the right kind of prestigious, Grade A surroundings for the Hub, right on Liverpool’s waterfront where the city has greeted visitors and international trade partners for hundreds of years.”

The International Festival for Business is a 50-day, government-backed festival. It will connect UK businesses to new markets, new products and new partners and will be a global showcase of British industry.

The festival has received backing from some of the UK’s leading business organisations, including the Confederation of Business and Industry, the Federation of Small Businesses, British Chambers of Commerce and UKTI. It forms a key part of the government’s ambition to promote economic growth, rebalance the economy and double UK exports by 2020.

British business champions and prominent entrepreneurs have also pledged their support for the festival. This week organisers have announced new ambassadors for the festival, including John Cridland CBE, Director General, Confederation of British Industry, Sara Murray OBE, serial entrepreneur and founder of Confused.com and Buddi and Terry Scuoler, Chief Executive, EEF, the manufacturers organisation.

IFB will play a key role in promoting two way trade and investment and forms a key part of the government’s ambition to promote economic growth, rebalance the economy and double UK exports by 2020. Millions of pounds will be injected into the Liverpool city region economy through event management activity and the spending of delegates and visitors attending cultural events.

The festival will have a focus on key UK business sectors and themes, including maritime, logistics and energy, higher & further education and research, cities, enterprise and urban business, manufacturing, science and technology, knowledge, professional and financial services, low carbon and renewables and creative and digital.

The festival will also coincide with the staging of The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, which will attract millions of global TV viewers and see hundreds of thousands of spectators arriving in the region.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .