NWDA boss promises help to businesses

THE boss of the Northwest Regional Development Agency sounded a rallying cry to the region’s business community as he pledged further financial help. 

Steven Broomhead described the economic outlook as “challenging and unprecedented” and pledged that action would be taken to help businesses weather the storm.

He said cash would be brought forward to help companies access capital, which has become scare as the banks have reined-in lending because of the credit crunch.

Mr Broomhead said there was too much talk of doom and gloom around and that despite predictions from many economists that 2009 will be a terrible year, he bosses should be “realistically optimistic”.

He said the Warrington-based agency was changing its priorities to help businesses survive, with access to finance being one key area.

“We will be bring forward some resources from our 2010-11 budget to 2009-2010 and hopefully that will make a difference.”

He added: “If we took the view in 1943 that some have  towards this recession, then Hitler would have been in Buckingham Palace,” he added.

He spoke as Stuart Chambers, the chief executive of Nippon Sheet Glass, was crowned CBI North West Business Leader of the Year.

The 52-year-old, who used to run St Helen’s based Pilkington, before it was bought by NSG for £2.2bn in 2006, was described by the judges as a “global business leader”.

The award comes less than a month after the company was fined £309m by European competition chiefs for its part in an price fixing cartel, although the CBI had made its decision before the fine was revealed.

Mr Chambers, who is only the third foreigner to run a major Japanese company, joined Pilkington 12 years ago and became its chief executive in 2002. He was promoted to the helm of NSG earlier this year and now spends half his time in Japan, 25% in the UK and 25% at other NSG locations.

At the awards ceremony – which was attended by more than 250 business people – he dedicated the award to his wife and to his PA.

Privately-owned Liverpool company Bibby Line Group was named North West Board of the Year, while another family-owned business, Manchester-based Burdens, a supplier of materials to the civil engineering and infrastructure sectors, was named Best Emerging Company.

Jamie Mitchell, the chief executive of Innocent Drinks also spoke at the event.