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Legacy will be measure of IFB success, says Liverpool Vision chief exec

Next year’s International Festival for Business will be deemed a success if it creates a legacy for the region’s businesses, according to Liverpool Vision chief executive Max Steinberg.

Organisers estimate that the festival could see up to 500,000 people attend around 200 separate events at venues across the Liverpool city region in June and July 2014, making it the largest business gathering in the UK since 1951.

Speaking at an event held by Downtown Liverpool in Business, the head of Liverpool’s inward investment body announced that a raft of high-profile events have now been confirmed but said the festival still faces many challenges in the months ahead.

Among the events already confirmed on the IFB calendar are the UK Property Forum, World Corporate Games, Undersea Defence Technology Conference, Global Leaders Summit and the National Council of the Federation of Small Businesses.

There will also be a dedicated Liverpool Business Week, co-ordinated by Downtown Liverpool in Business, which will provide an outlet for local businesses to engage directly with representatives of global companies including Walmart and Coca-Cola.

Steinberg said: “We face four key challenges in making the festival a success. Three of those, namely building a global events programme, engaging British industry to participate and bringing the rest of the world here to see it, are all well underway and we expect those to progress even further in the coming months.

“However, the fourth challenge is to create a meaningful legacy for local businesses beyond this major international event, and this is an area where the city region has unfortunately fallen down in the past.

“We need to become world class about capturing those contacts and capitalising on the relationships made during the festival, otherwise we face the prospect of getting to next Autumn and realising we haven’t made the most of this wonderful opportunity.

“There has been nothing bigger in the city since 2008 and there is a massive chance for the regional business community to benefit. I would urge any businesses with ideas or input to the festival programme to get in touch with us without delay as we are very happy to listen.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .