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2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
| In style Finch wins advertising brief by Jade |
 11.01 am April 15, 2010 |
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Liverpool advertising agency Finch has won a six-way pitch to handle the marketing activities of luxury tour operator Seasons in Style. The brief includes the creation of a new range of brochures highlighting the range of Seasons properties available. Finch will also launch a new advertising campaign in the autumn across key consumer titles.
Paul Beacall, managing director of Seasons, said “These are challenging trading conditions, so it is important that we have a clear offer that differentiates us from the competition. We now have this, and look forward to reaping the rewards |
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| Annual NW Business Pitch by CL5 |
| 11.01 am April 15, 2010 |
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Liverpool Science Park is hosting an event later this month aimed at the digital sector, to encourage collaborations and idea sharing.
Through a series of 90 second “elevator pitches” company representatives will talk to delegates about their company, what they do and their key skills, so that the audience can see if there are any potential business opportunities, link ups or outsourcing opportunities.
Organisers hope that it will help start ups forge partnerships with larger companies, while established organisations will be able to access innovations from smaller enterprises.
It’s open to firms in the North West and developers, users and suppliers of products and expertise in the digital, ICT and new media sectors.
The event takes place on 28th April and you can register on its website.
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| Liverpool Sound City Update by CL5 |
| 10.58 am April 14, 2010 |
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Liverpool Sound City line-up is shaping up to be one of the most sought-after tickets on the festival circuit with Gil Scott-Heron, Paloma Faith, Ian McCulloch, Delphic, The Maccabees, The Fall, British Sea Power, My Passion, Speech Debelle, Wild Beasts, Field Music, Los Campesinos!, The Blackout, Wave Machines, The Sunshine Underground, Hot Club de Paris, Ian McNabb and Chilly Gonzalez to name but a few confirmed as playing the festival.
With just two months to go the current list of confirmed acts show the scale of this top music festival. Liverpool Sound City also hosts premiere movie screenings, photography exhibitions and a full music conference with names such as Seymour Stein already confirmed to attend.
The Liverpool Sound City Conference, Hilton Hotel – 19th and 20th May
- Your chance to listen to, meet and question some of the top music industry insiders at the Liverpool Sound City Conference.
- Panellists include speakers from: Warner Music, EMI, ActiVision Games, Topspin, McCartney Digital, BMG, Moshi Moshi, Headlock Management, etc.
- Keynote sessions include Seymour Stein, the legendary music mogul who signed acts including Madonna, Blondie, Talking Heads, The Ramones, Echo and the Bunnymen.
‘Create Sound City’, Hard Days Night Hotel – 19th and 20th May
- Liverpool Sound City will for the first time host ‘Create Sound City’ a series of educational panels, workshops, seminars and interactive sessions aimed at artists – both new and established, and young people.
- Educational sessions from the Musicians Union, Diaspora and CMU on Music, Money and Management with special guest speakers.
The LSC conference is rapidly becoming a must attend event on the music business calendar with over 1,000 music business delegates including promoters, booking agents, managers, record labels, PR companies, publishers and media in attendance, it is THE place to meet and network with the music industry from the North, as well as the rest of UK.
Now in its 3rd year, more than 35,000 revellers are expected to attend Liverpool Sound City, creating an electric atmosphere that takes over the city streets and venues.
A Festival Wristband is all that’s needed to truly experience what this festival is all about.
The Sound City Wristbands allow entry to ALL shows (first come first served basis and excluding Gil Scott-Heron) over the 4 day festival and can be purchased through www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk for just £45.
They carry a whole list of additional exclusives available to WRISTBAND HOLDERS ONLY including Wristband Only Gigs (exclusive entry only with your wristband), Goody Bags filled with record company and sponsor’s freebies, Text Alerts with news about last minute gigs and special events, Aftershow Party Invites only announced on the day, Competitions and exclusive prizes to wristband holders and ‘Money Can’t Buy’ prizes such as meet and greets.
Liverpool Sound City are pleased to announce their special Festival 1 Day Wristband.
For just £17.50 Wed or Thu or £19.50 Fri or Sat you can purchase a 1 day wristband that gets you into all live events at Liverpool Sound City. A great price and great chance to see your favourite band and also have all the benefits of the full wristband on the day or your choice.
Check out www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk to see which bands are scheduled for each day. |
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| Fund managers bid to run North West Venture Capital Loan Fun by CL5 |
| 10.56 am April 13, 2010 |
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Almost 40 fund managers from across the UK have bid to run four new venture capital loan funds for the North West.
The Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) has announced that the £184m Northwest Venture Capital Loan Fund (VCLF) has received 39 expressions of interest. These are likely to include Liverpool-based Alliance Fund Managers (AFM) and Yorkshire Fund Managers (YFM) who are currently operating the £10m interim VCLF.
When the VCLF is fully up and running later this year it will include a development capital fund, a venture capital fund, a loan fund and a priority sector growth fund.
The NWDA and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) have set up a new company – NW Business Finance (NWBF) – to oversee the selection of the fund managers.
Around 40% of the overall fund has been ring-fenced for the Liverpool city region which would mean local firms would benefit from a £70m pot.
It is believed AFM, based at Cunard Building in Liverpool city centre, will bid to run the loan fundIt is currently in control of the £4m interim loan fund from which it has already completed three deals.
The NWDA says VCLF finance is available now to businesses in the North West through the interim funding pot and they can apply for this through Business Link Northwest.
The interim VCLF currently has 37 applications under active review totalling £10m, of which a number are close to contract stage.
It’s first investment is £300,000 to a software company that is to set up home at the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus.
Lord Daresbury has been appointed as the chairman of NWBF.
He is already chairman of several companies including, AIM-listed Nasstar, Stellar Diamonds, Mallett and Aintree Racecourse.
He said: “I am delighted to take on this important role for what will be one of the most important funding support streams available in the region.
“Venture capital and loan funding of this type is vital for the growth of our businesses and our economy.”
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| Fund managers bid to run North West Venture Capital Loan Fun by CL5 |
| 10.56 am April 13, 2010 |
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Almost 40 fund managers from across the UK have bid to run four new venture capital loan funds for the North West.
The Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) has announced that the £184m Northwest Venture Capital Loan Fund (VCLF) has received 39 expressions of interest. These are likely to include Liverpool-based Alliance Fund Managers (AFM) and Yorkshire Fund Managers (YFM) who are currently operating the £10m interim VCLF.
When the VCLF is fully up and running later this year it will include a development capital fund, a venture capital fund, a loan fund and a priority sector growth fund.
The NWDA and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) have set up a new company – NW Business Finance (NWBF) – to oversee the selection of the fund managers.
Around 40% of the overall fund has been ring-fenced for the Liverpool city region which would mean local firms would benefit from a £70m pot.
It is believed AFM, based at Cunard Building in Liverpool city centre, will bid to run the loan fundIt is currently in control of the £4m interim loan fund from which it has already completed three deals.
The NWDA says VCLF finance is available now to businesses in the North West through the interim funding pot and they can apply for this through Business Link Northwest.
The interim VCLF currently has 37 applications under active review totalling £10m, of which a number are close to contract stage.
It’s first investment is £300,000 to a software company that is to set up home at the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus.
Lord Daresbury has been appointed as the chairman of NWBF.
He is already chairman of several companies including, AIM-listed Nasstar, Stellar Diamonds, Mallett and Aintree Racecourse.
He said: “I am delighted to take on this important role for what will be one of the most important funding support streams available in the region.
“Venture capital and loan funding of this type is vital for the growth of our businesses and our economy.”
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| Uniform rebrands RopeWalks by CL5 |
| 10.55 am April 8, 2010 |
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Uniform, a Liverpool design consultancy, has created a new brand for the city’s RopeWalks area. The company was awarded the contract in February by The Creative RopeWalks Stakeholders Group, including representatives from The Mersey Partnership, Liverpool City Council, local businesses and residents.
Uniform said its new branding seeks to capture the “history, eclecticism, diverse offer and vibrant character” of the area.
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment says the area, which boasts 96 listed buildings and lies partly within Liverpool’s World Heritage Site, has “great historical character and architectural merit”.
A new website for the area is now being developed by Digital Blah Blah to provide an “online hub” for residents and businesses.
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| Switch makes BBC list by CL5 |
| 10.53 am March 31, 2010 |
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The £7.5m Capstone Building at Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus has opened. Supported by £6.5m funding from The Northwest Regional Development Agency and Higher Education Funding Council for England, were present at an opening event that incorporated a concert and awards ceremony.
Steven Broomhead, NWDA chief executive, said the new building would help to support skills development in the region.
The Capstone Building is a project which has been in development for almost 10 years. The building will be massively beneficial to the creative and performing arts industry, it will provide opportunities to develop new initiatives with local creative businesses and the local community, provide the scope to create new jobs, assist with new business start up and encourage and widen participation in Higher Education and the Arts.
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| £7.5m Capstone Building Opens by CL5 |
| 10.53 am March 31, 2010 |
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The £7.5m Capstone Building at Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus has opened. Supported by £6.5m funding from The Northwest Regional Development Agency and Higher Education Funding Council for England, were present at an opening event that incorporated a concert and awards ceremony.
Steven Broomhead, NWDA chief executive, said the new building would help to support skills development in the region.
The Capstone Building is a project which has been in development for almost 10 years. The building will be massively beneficial to the creative and performing arts industry, it will provide opportunities to develop new initiatives with local creative businesses and the local community, provide the scope to create new jobs, assist with new business start up and encourage and widen participation in Higher Education and the Arts.
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| Office Share Castle Street by Georgia |
| 10.51 am March 24, 2010 |
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Office Share – Bank of England – Castle Street
Creative Liverpool – Design & Marketing Agency is looking for a synergy business to office share its prestigious head quarters in Liverpool city centre. This is a prime business address and a very cool office space, very competitive rates for the right company.
Contact Details – Peter Glover – 0151 236 5797
http://www.creativeliverpool.co.uk
Office Address
The Old Bank of England Building
31 Castle Street
Liverpool
L2 4GL
Office Share Details
¡Office Space Open Plan – 700sq foot
¡Fully furnished – 7 Desk spaces (desks/chairs etc included – can be removed)
¡Private 10 seater conference room with Plasma, Internet etc.
¡Integrated Telephone System with DDI’s (if needed)
¡40Mb Internet connection
¡The best view in town – With cool balconies
¡This office share would be ideal digital, design or IT companies who want a flexible, cool and sophist iced office.
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| Well done Mando by CL5 |
| 10.45 am March 23, 2010 |
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Liverpool digital agency Mando Group said today it has secured software giant Microsoft as a “strategic client”.
The agency, which has been a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for the past two years, will work with Microsoft to produce an innovative user experience application utilising the company’s Silverlight, Sharepoint 2010 and Bing Maps.
Mando managing director Ian Finch said: “Silverlight and SharePoint are core technologies for us, so it’s fantastic to be developing with them directly with Microsoft and gaining crucial insight into the future of enterprise applications.”
http://www.mandogroup.co.uk
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| £40m lost in Latitude pre-pack by CL5 |
| 10.44 am March 19, 2010 |
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Warrington-based digital marketing agency Latitude, valued at £50m when it changed hands just over two years ago, was sold for less than £1.1m after it went into a pre-pack administration in January.
A newly filed administrators’ report reveals that equity investors lost nearly £40m in the collapse of Latitude Group Ltd (LGL) and Barclays, its bankers, lost £4.62m.
Latitude, a search engine optimisation specialist, was bought back out of administration by its previous owners Vitruvian Partners, a London-based private equity firm which acquired the company from founder Dylan Thwaites and his former father-in-law David Ashton in December 2007.
The expectations underpinning that deal were never fulfilled as more players got into SEO and Latitude’s top line suffered when it lost one of its biggest clients, the price comparison site Gocompare.com.
Administrators from BDO say there is no prospect of a payout on £38.89m of loan notes owed to private equity backers and management, while non-preferential creditors owed another £5.67m will also get nothing.
Barclays, which lent the business £8m, held onto £2.6m of cash which Latitude had on deposit and took another £700,000 of the sale proceeds.
The sale price of £1.08m was made up of £832,000 for goodwill, £150,000 for debtors, £100,000 for plant and office equipment and £1 for intellectual property rights.
Joint administrator Toby Underwood said BDO had been brought in by the bank in January 2009 because of concerns about Latitude’s trading and financial position. Turnover fell to £27m in 2009 compared with £58m in the previous year.
Underwood said 23 potential buyers were targeted with 16 showing interest and three making offers. “The highest offer received was not adequate to achieve a solvent restructuring,” he said, adding that in December it was decided to put the company into administration because it could not meet payments on its debt.
BDO’s report said the sale to Latitude Digital Marketing Ltd, owned by Latitutde’s management and Vitruvian, was for “a total consideration” of £1,082,072. As a result of the sale, the jobs of 99 employees, about 75 employees of them in Warrington, were saved.
Latitude chief executive Alex Hoye told Crain’s he was not surprised that multiple parties had showed an interest in buying the business.
He said the purchase price did not include an undisclosed sum of working capital which Vitruvian had injected into the business and pointed out that although LGL did not pay creditors, the new company had “taken great pains to ensure that our suppliers are taken care of”.
Hoye added: “I am pleased that our existing investors have placed a vote of confidence in the turnaround that current management led in 2009. After losing some key clients at the end of 2008 and seeing ad spend reduce in the financial sector where the company was heavily dependent, important changes were made to the team.”
There had also been investment to diversify to multiple channels and enhance technological capabilities, which had led to new contract wins such as BT.
Hoye said service was uninterrupted throughout the MBO process, with clients worth 99.5 per cent of total sales renewing their contracts.
Trading is on target in the first quarter of 2010 and Latitude is expecting a big increase in spending from its gaming clients Bet365, Victor Chandler and Virgin Games.
“The impending World Cup and expanding regulation change in Europe have been a boon for the sector and Latitude is in advanced planning stages for record-breaking campaigns,” Hoye added.
Related Story: http://www.digitalliverpool.co.uk/latitude-administration
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| Insider Media: The Future is Fibre by CL5 |
| 10.33 am March 12, 2010 |
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Fibre optic internet is an essential service for the growing digital and creative sectors in the region argues Insider Media’s Kate Simpson.
‘High-speed internet is becoming an essential business element, especially within digital and creative industries – areas in which the North West is working hard to become a leader. But when it comes to speed of internet connectivity there is a risk it could get left behind. With this in mind the North West is taking the matter into its own hands.
The UK is ranked 21st for speed behind France, Spain and Portugal, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) study of net connections. “Next generation access (NGA) is going to be a priority for 2010,” says Andrew Halliwell, acting head of regional ICT policy at the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).
The government has announced that it has £1bn to spend on making Britain’s broadband better. But that’s not enough to pay for everyone to get connected to fibre optic networks. So who should get connected first? The majority of UK broadband is supplied through copper cables, whereas with fibre optic cables a much higher speed of connectivity can be supplied. There is a lot of fibre infrastructure in the ground that could be used, it just needs to be “lit”. Once lit, this could be used to provide a Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) service.
This means the fibre is connected up to street cabinets but the last part of cable that goes to homes and businesses (known as the last mile) will go through copper cabling, reducing the speed of the service. A faster service can be achieved through Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), when the extra fibre optic cabling is added to connect the street cabinet across the last mile to businesses and homes.
The NWDA has been busy developing a strategy for NGA for the region since September. Halliwell says: “NGA is extremely important to ensure the North West is able to compete within the global economy.”
Manchester is leading the way and has various projects up and running; Liverpool is just starting to plan a NGA strategy; and Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire will follow on from there.
Liverpool
LIVERPOOL INNOVATION PARK
The park has an internal fibre optic ring that can carry a gigabit. This is connected to a high-speed fibre optic network via a service provided by tenant company AIMES.
The technology company specialises in delivering data centres and application development. It buys connectivity to the high-speed fibre network in bulk and then leases it to other tenants at affordable prices. Fibre is expensive for individual businesses to buy, but bulk buying brings down the cost, meaning AIMES can offer it at a similar price to normal broadband.
LIVERPOOL SCIENCE PARK
Liverpool Science Park also has a dedicated fibre optic source, which even lured one tenant from London on the basis of the connectivity. It’s not really surprising – a back-up system is place in case there is a problem with the primary source, so tenants will never have to do without broadband. It seems simple, but it is a must for modern businesses.
NORTHERNNET
There are media access bureaus at FACT in the city centre and at the Innovation Park, and internet service providers that already provide fibre optic broadband, notably Virgin Business Media. Andy Marshall, director of corporate sector, says: “Our entire next generation network is fibre optic and accessible to all businesses in the North West.” It comes at a cost that most smaller businesses can’t justify, though. In fact, the cost of a 100Mpbs connection in our region is many times higher than comparable city regions. If this isn’t addressed it could affect the potential for future inward investment.
The good news is that initiatives are in place to get us up to speed at more affordable rates. Manchester is part of BT’s expansion plans in which a further 21,000 North West homes and businesses will have access to super-fast broadband by the end of 2010. This expansion will take the number of super-fast fibre-based lines in the region to 335,000. It follows an announcement in 2009 that by early summer 2010 fibre-based broadband would be available at 20 exchanges in Greater Manchester.
A host of bodies in the city are furiously working to connect as much of Manchester as possible, one being the Commission for New Economy. Alex Roy, head of economic analysis, says: “We are investigating options for investment in next generation broadband to accelerate the roll-out across Greater Manchester and encourage take-up. Part of the assessment includes identifying existing fibre assets and the potential to exploit these further.”
Liverpool is also making progress, albeit without any support from BT, which has no plans to provide fibre optic internet in the city. The Mersey Partnership has formed a working group for NGA to look at the possibilities and is working with businesses to increase interest and demand. Some businesses are frustrated at being missed off BT’s initial plans.
CL5, a specialist search engine promotion company, set up the Digital Liverpool blog in collaboration with other city centre companies to highlight the lack of service. John Elcock, head of internet marketing, says: “We are frustrated about the provision in the city. There are peaks and troughs throughout the day.”
Richard Spragg of AIMES says the lack of high-speed broadband is already holding businesses back: “Most of the companies we offer services to don’t have access to a high-speed connection, so we have to build a connection upgrade into the package to continue to be able to do business with them.”
NGA is high on the priority list for furthering the opportunities for expansion and investment in the North West. It is essential for the future of our growing digital and creative industries that we get this right and do it quickly’.
Article quoted from Feb 2010 edition of Insider Media with thanks, view original.
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| Liverpool Innovation Park Appoints New Chair by CL5 |
| 10.32 am March 10, 2010 |
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Liverpool Innovation Park (LIP) operator, Space North West, has appointed Steve Smith as chairman of its Advisory Group.
LIP, based on Edge Lane is home to a gigabit fibre optic network and is geared to attracting high-growth firms in the knowledge economy.
Steve Smith is ICT Industry Director at Liverpool Vision and helped bring s Software City to Liverpool last year. Steve will chair the Advisory Group comprising representatives of LIP tenant businesses, Liverpool’s universities, Business Link NW’s innovation team, NHS innovation specialists TrusTech, and the Northwest Regional Development Agency.
‘That LIP Advisory Group’s member organisations also support complementary facilities such as MerseyBio and Liverpool Science Park demonstrates a joined up approach to growing Liverpool’s Knowledge Economy. Under Steve’s chairmanship, we hope to advance an increasingly collaborative agenda.’
LIP Innovation Manager, Mark Tock
www.liverpoolinnovationpark.com
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| Mandos New Addition by Gareth |
| 10.27 am February 8, 2010 |
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Those Mando chaps keep churning out top notch work. I had a good poke around Mando’s latest delivery, the Penketh website,. I was encouraged to read that the client – a Liverpool based office products suppliers worked with the agency over an 18 month design and development process. This serves as a good reminder to all those client-side, that these sort of large scale sites cannot be ‘knocked up’ quickly. Presumably with a client such as penketh who approaches a web design project in this serious and professional manor Mando weren’t met with the ever present cry “is there any funding we can have”.
It’s a slick site, visually light and ‘roomy; giving the feeling of space. With this many product lines, many designers could get this wrong, overcrowding the space and over designing, but Mando have delivered a cracker.
The great news story for me is the ROI part; the jump in online orders. A quick note to the plethora of agencies promoting poorly designed sites through google ad sense and PPC – See, good design is just as important in getting sales!
http://www.mandogroup.com/
http://www.penkeths.com/
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| iPad How will you use yours? by Mark |
| 10.25 am February 3, 2010 |
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A quite humorous video has popped up on YouTube since the iPad was launched last week. All credit goes to ‘midnightblade’ who has cleverly dubbed a clip from the 2004 German film ‘Downfall.’
It discusses that the Apple product will become a failure, nothing more than an ‘oversized iPod Touch.’ Please be warned, content of the video is of an explicit nature and in a ‘tongue in cheek’ manner. Please do not view if you are easily offended.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaj-YZw4PNg&feature=player_embedded
It does not have multi-tasking, no camera and most importantly it does not include ‘Flash’ but this is the in-between product of the iPhone and the iMac. The first generation of the iPhone missed key features such as the Camera but this was soon put into a later edition.
I will still be purchasing an iPad on launch, it may not be the finishing product just yet but once Flash is finally included in an update, I think this will revolutionise web browsing and multimedia viewing. A key words Steve Jobs used was ‘intimate.’ I could easily find myself browsing the web on my knee in front of the tv or grabbing it within a client meeting when needed or for the secretary to use it as a calender and meeting log. Fast and easy to use.
It looks more comfortable to a desktop or laptop to use and as easy as an iPhone. When you have a laptop resting on your knee it feels like you are carrying out a task that is clerical and ‘work like.’ The iPad will be more fun, surely???
Await product review on launch. |
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| Jim Gill's Retirement by Gareth |
| 04.43 pm January 18, 2010 |
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The announcement today of the departure of Jim Gill, the Chief Executive of Liverpool Vision, is one which raised a few eyebrows. Although unsurprising as he made no secret, privately or in public that retirement was looming. So what should the digital sector hope for in his successor?
Jim’s leadership of Liverpool Vision has been an undoubted success, delivering genuine success to the City Region, even through the dark and difficult days of the last 24 months. For the Digital sector Vision supports ACME – the creative and digital sector industry body. They have also been great supporters of ICDC, the only UK University research centre focused on New Media. In addition to this Vision, do handout the occasional new business grants – although not specific to our sector, Vision’s/NWDA’s Financial Assistance to Business grant is worth having a look at.
All the people I speak to in the digital and creative sector say that the main issues facing our sector can be summarised as:
- Skills Gap of School leavers/Retention of talent leaving Universities
- Foreign direct Investment – getting the best digital companies here.
- Financial help for digital start ups/SME’s
All three issues are clearly on Vision’s radar as the laudable Foundation for Growth report in 08 highlights. Keeping them on Vision’s radar, is our job.
The incumbent of Jim’s post will need to address all three issues to keep our sector on the upward curve that it has fought hard to climb onto. What is needed is a visionary, a person who ‘gets’ digital. A spokesman, with real flair and detailed knowledge of industry. For my mind, they have to have a private sector background. Not just a public sector re-tread.
I had the pleasure of sitting next to Jim at the Merseyside Property Forum’s annual dinner some years ago. His legacy is one of undoubted success; he is one of Liverpool’s champions and real nice guys. They will be big boots to fill indeed.
As a sector, we need to keep pressure on the new Chief Executive. I’m sure they will have an open door policy, we need to ensure the new person is engaged and on board with our issues and concerns. But I’m sure you will all join with me in wishing Jim an enjoyable retirement. |
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| Merseyside ACME? by Gareth |
| 04.42 pm January 15, 2010 |
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Apart from being the mail order catalogue of choice for Wile E Coyote in his harebrained schemes to get that roadrunner. What is ACME? I know from the website that it’s the body that supports the creative sector in Liverpool…ect ect, but in all honesty I really don’t see it out there day to day.
Now unless I’m missing something, and I’m happy to be proved wrong, what is it actually doing? Apart from the occasional random poorly designed e-newsletter (which more often than not carries last months news) I really can’t see it out there. I can’t even log into their rather bizarre website these days.
Vision’s involvement in ACME (or more rightly - acquisition of) hasn’t seen a great increase in activity. I watched with interest as the body moved to the Capital to see if there would be a sea change of activity. As i say I’m happy to be proved wrong and welcome all comments from this piece.
I can guarantee that between salaries, suppliers, rent, office costs etc Liverpool Vision don’t much change from £100k . Now by my reckoning there’s around forty five major agencies active in Liverpool. Now here’s a question. ACME or an annual cheque from Vision to those agencies for £2,200. I know what I’d have.
For the record, I’m 33 and I still find Roadrunner funny.
Confused
Liverpool |
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| Latitude Problems or Not? by Peter |
| 04.25 pm January 12, 2010 |
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I read with interest the news emanating about Latitude’s problems and its left me slightly confused. Their funders Barclays are believed to have lost several million pounds as a result of a pre-pack administration but the business says they are doing great, so why the call in from the bank?
Pre-Packed Administration – This means their business was sold back to its management and their existing private equity backers Vitruvian Partners, basically like a NEWCO. In my experince others also get burned here along with the banks, what happens to thier suppliers?? Barclays is understood to have written off up to £5m of loans after a poor 2008 from latitude; however the SEO firm claimed to be getting back on track last year. confused.com?
Ian Riley, managing partner of Vitruvian, said in a news release: “No jobs will be lost as a result of the deal as the new company bought the entire assets of the business out of administration.
In another news release this same deal was described as a management buyout and did not mention the pre-pack, chief executive Alex Hoye said: “This deal secures Latitude’s ability to innovate and grow in a disruptive market. Marketing spend online surpassed TV for the first time in the UK this year – advertisers’ continued shift of expenditure to digital services provides growth opportunities for firms like Latitude in any economic environment.
Vitruvian acquired a majority stake for £50m in December 2007 from Dylan Thwaites and his former father-in-law David Ashton, who founded Latitude in 2000. Under the founders, turnover grew from £500,000 in 2002 to more than £40.5m in 2007 when it made a pre-tax profit of just over £1.46m.
Dylan Thwaites left the business in December 2008 amid a management shake-up which saw the departure of several other top executives. Chief financial officer Julie Morgan, chief technology officer Rob Shaw and head of client services Judy Dewsbury all went. The workforce was cut by about a dozen to around 95 in 2008 after customers cut back on spending and the company posted a turnover of £58m.
According to Latitude’s website the company is still recruiting, advertising three jobs at its London office and nine in Warrington, where the majority of the staff are based. |
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| Digital Switchover - Office Space Opportunity by Gareth |
| 04.27 pm January 5, 2010 |
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Looking to move? Looking for space alongside an award winning Digital Agency?
The perfect opportunity has arisen for an inspiring business to take space in one of the most prestigious offices in the Central Business District. Grade A space available for a Grade A company.
- City Centre location
- Plug and play facilities
- One monthly fee - all costs included
- Very flexible leases
Enquiries to Digital Liverpool or c/o Gareth@creativeliverpool.co.uk |
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| © 2012 Peter Glover / CL Group. All rights reserved. |
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0151 236 5797
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