City seizes Shanghai opportunity as 500,000 visit Pavilion

PROFESSIONAL services takes the spotlight this week at the Shanghai World Expo. with a delegation of leading accountants and lawyers heading to China’s largest city.

A milestone 500,000 people have now visited the Liverpool Pavilion at the Expo, and the professionals will this week aim to boost business relationships with China and also pass on some tips on corporate social responsibilty. 

TheBusinessDesk.com has joined the Liverpool delegation from law firm DLA Piper and business advisers Grant Thornton and will be reporting daily from Shanghai.

Liverpool – which is twinned with Shanghai – is the only UK city present at the showpiece international event, which began in May and runs until next month.

City bosses, who with the support of the North West Development Agency, have invested more than £2m in the Liverpool Pavilion at the Expo, are confident this will be repaid many times over thanks to increased tourism, student numbers, trade and inward investment.

More than 500,000 people have already visited the Liverpool Pavilion, which features interactive displays promoting the city’s cultural.sporting and trading heritage.

Phil Southward, project director at Liverpool Vision says: “The Expo is a fantastic opportunity for Liverpool and the North West, and is a clear sign of our commitment to our 10-year-old twinning relationship with Shanghai.

“We commissioned an independent report at the start of the project into what the return on investment would be. The worst case was £5m over the next 5-10 years and the best case was £50m in the same period.”

Mr Southward, pictured, who is on secondment from the NWDA, said there were four key areas which would benefit the Liverpool economy – tourism, education, bi-lateral trade and investment.

“Education – more students from Shanghai coming to Liverpool -will provide the quickest return for us. I know there are going to be many more students coming to Liverpool who wouldn’t have done so before visiting the Pavilion.

“From a tourism point of view we’ve launched a Liverpool and North West tourism product into the Chinese travel market, highlighting our cultural, sporting and historical heritage.”

Major inward investment from China, is seen “the holy grail” Mr Southward said, and will take longer to convert.

Property giant The Peel Group is lead sponsor of Liverpool Pavilion and has visited Shanghai twice, in May and August, where it showcased its two ambitious development schemes for Merseyside, Wirral Waters and Liverpool Waters as well as its MediaCItyUK project, Manchester.

Peel, which describes the Expo as “a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase what the company is about”, said last month it had held meetings in Shanghai and also Beijing with potential investors.

Neil Sturmey, office managing partner of Grant Thornton in Liverpool, said of the trip : “The World Expo exemplifies the reality that the world is now a much smaller place in which to do business.

He said the number of visitors to the Liverpool Pavilion is a “wonderful endorsement of trade as a two-way street.

He added: “People are bound to ask for tangible evidence of progress – inward investment, trade, jobs and visitors to the UK. There needs to be some realism. Liverpool is already doing business with China and more will come. 

“The city is investing in relationships and fostering an environment for trade. We expect to see more local businesses following the example of companies like RS Clare & Co and EA Technology, who are reaping the benefits of successfully operating in China.”

Philip Rooney, office managing partner of law firm DLA Piper in Liverpool agrees: “The Expo is about building on our relationship in Shanghai. I think the Chinese are really pleased with Liverpool’s commitment.

“The investment is not something that’s going to produce business in spades immediately, but we hope Liverpool will benefit as being the preferred choice for investment in the long term.” 

Martyn Best, a director of PR agency Paver Smith, which is acting on behalf of the city’s presence and is also a sponsor, said: “The city’s commitment to the Expo is a reflection of the kind of entrepreneurial and adventuring spirit which made it a great mercantile centre two centuries ago.

“It’s apparent that the cities and regions which will thrive in the 21st Century are those which embody the same kind of boldness:  looking outwards rather inwards and willing to invest now to position themselves for a new global pecking order which is almost certain to emerge over the next century.”

Tomorrow DLA Piper is hosting a major event on Community and Social Responsibility, which is being attended by a number of key Chinese business leaders.