Marketing Liverpool gets staff boost

The body established to market the Liverpool city region to the world has been bolstered through the secondment of 11 members of staff.

Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership has agreed to temporarily transfer 11 posts to Marketing Liverpool, an initiative led by the city's economic development arm, Liverpool Vision.

The LEP staff will work for two years with Liverpool Vision's communications team to deliver a marketing strategy for the city region.

The move is designed to ensure major global opportunities, including the International Festival for Business 2014, offer maximum economic return for the entire city region.

The LEP will retain its overall responsibility for the strategic development of the City Region Place Marketing Strategy, which includes the visitor economy and other key growth sectors, with responsibility for marketing the destination being undertaken by Marketing Liverpool.

The staffing agreement comes in the wake of the LEP securing an additional £2.15m from the European Regional Development Fund to boost the visitor economy, part of which has been allocated to the development of the place marketing strategy.

Robert Hough, chairman of Liverpool City Region LEP, said: "The visitor economy is one of Liverpool City Region's greatest strengths and of profound importance to our economy. As a sector, it has the talent, the assets and the ambition. Now it can properly set out the direction.

"What we are creating in effect is a 'one stop shop' for investors, visitors and conference organisers. This new co-ordinated approach is to fulfil shared aims to grow the sector still further which will benefit the whole city region. It is a huge positive step forward.

"We have listened to the private sector and we will now develop a plan with their significant input that will bring great economic benefit."

Max Steinberg, chief executive of Liverpool Vision, said: "The LEP team has both knowledge and experience of successful destination marketing and has delivered international and national campaigns across a range of media and combined with the expertise at Liverpool Vision means that we will now deliver a greater impact.

"Marketing Liverpool can now press ahead to ensure close and meaningful integration between the city region's economic development, cultural and marketing teams to deliver major projects, events and initiatives as well as a common vision."