McKenna calls for city agencies to merge
LIVERPOOL’s two publicly-funded economic development agencies, Liverpool Vision and The Mersey Partnership, should join forces, a city business leader has said.
Frank McKenna, leader of lobby group Downtown Liverpool in Business said this should happen for the sake of “clarity, efficiency and common sense.”
He said this week’s poor national GDP figures and the Centre for Cities Report, which claimed that Liverpool and Birkenhead will be among the hardest-hit by public sector cuts, were a “wake up call” to leaders in the city region.
“After spectacular progress of the last few years we cannot go back to the grim existence as a marginal city. It’s not just that there is no room for complacency.
“Business and the public agencies must now face up to the massive challenge in the years of austerity ahead and get behind a united, collective effort to maintain the momentum of investment, business growth and the role as a player in the world economy that the Liverpool city region clearly had the potential to deliver.”
He said it was time for public and private sectors to pool all available capacities and resources to serve business and support private sector investment.
“Having two cathedrals and three football teams adds to the city region’s vibrancy and diversity. Having two economic development agencies is no longer a viable option,” he added.
