sceneJUNE 2011The newsletter for businesses and employees in the City Central BID area

Win a souvenirLiver Bird

Slater’s staremployee goesgreat lengths forgrooms.

Scene looksinto the signsof two CityCentral pubs.

The motion of theocean comes toCity Centralthis summer.

Win a mementoto celebrate theLiver Buildingturning 100.

Employee ofthe Month

City pubs toastlegends

Everybody’sgoing surfing

what’sinside

thisissue

MysteryShopping Alert

For the third year in a rowCity Central BID is engagingin a Mystery Shoppingexercise this summer.More than 100 stores haveeither been chosen or havenominated themselves to beassessed on a range of factorscovering customer service.And this year the lunchtimeoffer in City Central will beassessed for the first time, withalmost 30 cafés, bars andrestaurants being tested.The visits, carried out byStorecheckers, will be used toprovide a snapshot of thecustomer experience gainedby visitors.In 2010, customer servicerose by 3% to 87% and morethan half of businesses scoredover 90%.Five businesses were identifiedas Liverpool’s Service Stars,having scored 100% in bothyears – Bravissimo, ChristopherJames Jewellers, GregoryAbrams Solicitors, Paul’s HairWorld and Voodou for Him.The results will be shared withbusinesses in the autumn.

Liverpool’s new £200million leisure and retaildevelopment CentralVillage has attractedanother two nationalrestaurant brands tothe city.Exclusive pan-Asianrestaurant Cosmo andhandmade burger Co. arethe latest operators tochoose Central Village as thelocation for their firstLiverpool outlets.Cosmo will occupy 14,000 sqft on the upper plaza level inthe newly refurbished Lewis’sBuilding refurbishment, whichwill also see the unused

upper floors brought back tolife as 80,000 sq ft of officesand a 125-bed Adagioapartment–hotel.The restaurant combines livecooking-theatre with freshproduce and will be the firstof the chain’s to open in thenorth of England.Handmade burger Co. willoccupy 3,272 sq ft in theCentral Village Boardwalkbuilding, which will overlookthe stepped water-race offNewington Square. The 120-seat restaurant,which will include outdoorseating on the boardwalk,boasts an exclusive Jimmy’s

Farm rare-breed beefrange and a strong freshfood philosophy.Ian Jones, director atMerepark, the developerresponsible for CentralVillage said: “This is thelatest in a string of operatorsto sign up to Central Villageand shows the scheme as anattractive proposition,capable of bringing newrestaurant and leisure brandsinto the city.”These deals follow recentlettings to Frankie & Bennysand Chiquito as well asOdeon, for its second cinemain the city.

Central Village will extend thecity’s retail and leisure corewith three new hotels,offices, retail outlets,restaurants, bars, cafés,residential buildings, sixcinema screens andlandscaped public space,including a boardwalk andwater feature.Construction work startedlast year on Central Village’sfirst phases, including thewholesale redevelopmentof the Lewis’s buildingand construction of the500-bay car park, which isscheduled for completion inJanuary 2012.

£200m Central VillageTenant Boost

Liverpool’s Central Village as it will look upon completion in 2013.

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Name: Eileen LambertJob: Recruitment AdvisorLiverpool JET Service

Thinking of taking onmore staff?If so, then there’s one personyou need to speak to.Eileen Lambert heads upThe People Pool and providescompanies of all sizes with aFREE service that guarantees toget the job done.The service includes freeadvertising via:• www.liverpooljet.org

(averaging 30,000 hitsper week).

• JET offices acrossLiverpool where candidateswho are genuinely lookingfor employmentregister voluntarily.

• 500 network partners –including colleges/universities/otherlocal authorities.

• A pre-sifting serviceso you only receiveCVs/applications fromsuitable candidates.

• Source, organise and facilitatepre-recruitment training,recruitment events andassessment/interview days.

• Act as a single point ofcontact to provide the bestpossible service.

Eileen said: “Recruiting the rightperson is vital to the success ofany business. We have afantastic track record in the retailand leisure sector and boast anetwork that can make a hugedifference to companies.“Because we are Governmentand European funded all weneed from employers in returnfor our free service is completionof our registration form and anupdate on how the recruitmentis progressing with confirmationof successful candidates. It’sthat simple.”So, whether you have just onevacancy to fill or want to trainand recruit a whole new team,contact Eileen on0151 233 5456 oreileen.lambert@liverpool.gov.uk

June marks a very specialtime of year for twocelebrated City Centralpubs, Scene can reveal.Tess Rileys on Great CharlotteStreet and The RichmondPub on Williamson Streetboth look back this month totwo legendary characters.And the coincidences don’tend there for the familyrun businesses.The people in question bothadorn their pub signs, anhonour only the celebrated DrDuncan and William Roscoecan claim in the city centre.June 6 1944 has specialsignificance to all of us asD-Day but it runs a bit deeperfor The Richmond as its signstands in honour of D-Dayveteran and long time formercustomer Paddy Golden.Paddy, who died in 2004,was immortalised by landlordGavin in a move which hasgenerated one of the mostasked pub questions in thecity centre. Gavin, who has just opened

the Victoria Cross this monthon Sir Thomas Street, said:“Paddy was a real towncharacter and was thrilled tobe the face of the pub butsadly died before the signwent up. His family weredelighted and I’ve lost countthe amount of tourists whotake pictures and come inand ask who it is.” June 29 in 1996 is the dayTess Rileys opened its doorsand its name and sign payshomage to an icon ofLiverpool’s licensee industry.The pub, ran by Tess’sgranddaughter Deniece withher father Denis and brother

Joe, has marked its 15thanniversary with the openingof the highly successfulfunction suite, ‘The BlacklersRoom’ on the first floor.Deniece’s stewardshipmeans the family has nowclocked more than 40 yearsof landlord life, working andrunning pubs such as ThePig and Whistle, the OldMona, The Jester, TheBeehive in Mount Pleasantand Paradise Street.Deniece said: “These twowomen were such aninspiration and their memorywill live on in our pubs foryears to come.”

City pubs totoast legends

City Centre Licencechanges consideredBusinesses are beingasked their view on moveswhich could limit thenumber of new bars andclubs in the city centre.The city council’s Licensingand Gambling Committeehas started consultation onadopting a ‘cumulativeimpact policy’ for the citycentre as a whole or,alternatively, for the

Ropewalks and/or CavernQuarter areas.This policy can beimplemented if there is proofthat licensed premisesconcentrated in an area arecontributing to a negativeimpact on crime anddisorder, public safety, publicnuisance or protection ofchildren from harm.If it is adopted it would mean

that there would be apresumption that newapplications for licenceswould be refused ifrepresentations are made bythe police, other emergencyservices, councillors,residents or businesses. Onlywhere there were noobjections would the licencebe automatically granted.Applicants for new licences orvariations of existing licenceswould have to demonstratethat they would not add toproblems in the area.Stakeholders such asbusiness owners, licenseesand other interested partieswill be consulted through apostal survey, focus groupsand telephone interviewsthroughout June.

Sending invites for yourwedding can be one of themost stressful tasks whenplanning for your big day.Choosing the right outfitis another.So it is testament to the serviceAlan Lewis provides at Slater’shire wear department that he’sjust been invited to the weddingof one of his customers.Not surprising really when youhear the great lengths, quiteliterally, that the 25-year-old hasgone to make sure everything isperfect on the day for groomsand their parties.His manager Christine Couch,who nominated Alan for Scene’sEmployee of the Month,explained: “Just the other weekwe had two frantic calls fromWrexham and Wallasey needinglast minute help on the actualwedding day.“Immediately Alan put himselfforward, quickly got everythingtogether and made the round tripfor both parties. But that is Alan– he frequently goes out of hisway to ensure everything goeswithout a hitch, staying behindto sort out every last detail.He handles about 10 weddingsa week in the summer andconstantly receives thank youletters. He deserves them all.”

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Employee ofthe Month:Alan Lewis

As June’s City CentralEmployee of the Month,Alan has won:A pair of tickets to seeBrick Up The MerseyTunnels at The RoyalCourt; A Meal for two atCasa Italia; and a ClarinsGift set from Boots.

Do you know a colleaguewho deserves to be July’sCity Central Employee of the Month? If so, email:citycentre.pr@liverpool.gov.ukand tell us why in no morethan 100 words or call uson 0151 233 2213.

City Central BID will betransforming the heart ofLiverpool into a Surfer'sParadise this July-September with theintroduction of the CityWave experience.Launching on July 17 inWilliamson Square the CityWave is a unique simulator,where children and adults canexperience first hand the thrillof surfing and wakeboarding

whilst staying perfectly dry!Budding Kelly Slaters will ridethe state-of-art machine pittingtheir wits and balance againsta revolving carpet of softbrushes rather than Atlanticrollers, and getting a true tasteof life by the ocean.Safe and accessible to anyoneover 5 years old, the City Waveaims to encourage balanceand co-ordination and will besupported by a fruit smoothie

bar as part of City CentralBID’s celebration of Liverpool'sDecade of Health andWellbeing.Operating from 11am-10pm,7 days a week, riders will beencouraged to challengefriends and family to see whocan stay on their feet for thelongest time and share theirexperiences in City Wave'sFacebook Hall of Fame!City Wave, which will cost

£3.50 a ride, will even providethe cool tunes, with their veryown DJ playing the latest hitsfrom 'The Crow's nest' - andriders and spectators will ableto grab a healthy snack andsmoothie in the cool beachbar café.For more information andto sign up for special offersand discounts visitwww.citywave.co.uk

City Wave is the highlightof a packed summerprogramme in City Central.

Other highlights include:•Big Go and Grow

13 July •Brazilica 15-17 July •Brouhaha 21-22 July •International Market

28-31 July •Mathew Street Music

Festival 28-29 August•Urban Canvas and

the InternationalStreet Art Festival19-23 September

•Moroccan Market23-25 September

•Bold Street Festival24-25 September

IN BRIEFA big hearted CityCentral welcome to:• Oporto on Ranelagh Street • Home Bargains in St Johns

Shopping Centre• Victoria Cross on St Thomas St.

Play makes ‘killing’at box office

The Playhouse’sWorld Premiereproduction ofThe Ladykillershas broken the

theatres’ single-day box office record.Nearly 1,400 seats were sold forthe star-studded production on itsfirst day on sale, outstrippingsales of last year’s Antony andCleopatra and this years Macbeth.The Ladykillers is at theLiverpool Playhouse fromNovember 3-19 as part of its100th anniversary celebrations. The Ladykillers was re-written byFather Ted creator GrahamLinehan and will star The ThickOf It’s Peter Capaldi andcomedian Ben Miller.

Award hat-trickfor Utility

Utility hasscooped aunique trebleafter beingnamed Retailerof the Year at

The Mersey PartnershipAnnual Tourism Awards.The award follows beingnamed Best Small Shop inBritain for Interiors in the DailyTelegraph Awards and BestGift Retailer in the ProgressiveGift Awards.Dick Mawdsley, Director atUtility, said: “We’re luckybecause Liverpool’s greatheritage provides fantasticproduct ranges and our staffare absolutely amazing. Theyare also extremely goodambassadors for the city.”

Cruise callsForthcomingvisits to Cityof LiverpoolCruise LinerTerminal…

29 June – Astor4-5 July – Trinity House

Patricia24 July – Crown Princess28 July – Crystal Serenity

Firefighters mountRapid marathon climb

A team of firefightersreached dizzy heightswhen they tackled theirannual charity ladderclimb in the city centre.The Rapid HardwareLadder Climb saw theMerseyside Fire & RescueService crew scale theequivalent height ofMount Everest – just over29,000ft – in less than24 hours.

The sponsored annualladder climb, which tookplace at the Rapid Hardwarebuilding on June 11-12,raised £2,766 for TheRoy Castle LungCancer Foundation. The event was organisedby local firefighter, PeterMcAdam, who lost hisbrother Bob McAdam, whowas also a firefighter, to lungcancer in 1994.

A former ballroom whichhosted John and CynthiaLennon’s weddingreception is to be broughtback to life as a hotel.The Reeces Ballroom, inParker Street, is nowawaiting approval to berefurbished over four floorsas budget accommodationwith 127 beds.It is the second applicationfor a budget hotel in the citycentre in recent months. Theformer Wade Smith store inButton Street is also in line tobecome a “five-star hostel”.The ‘neo-classical’ ballroomis considered to be a keyelement of the city’s Beatleshistory, having played host to

the wedding in 1962 ofJohn Lennon and firstwife Cynthia.As it was not a licensedpremises, guests at thewedding breakfast had totoast the couple with water –considered a bad luck omen.The couple were divorced in 1968.Despite being a well-useddance and music venue,hosting regular rhythm andblues nights in the 1960s,the ballroom was closed inthe 1980s and the upperfloors divided into shop units.If approved, TP Hotel(Liverpool) Ltd will create afour-storey “lightwell” to givelight to rooms which will not

have windows, and will havesolar thermal extractors onthe roof which will be usedtowards the heating.Cllr Nick Small, city centreward Councillor, said: “Thisis another example of how

the city is on the up, andwith this development as wellas some of the high-endhotels in the pipeline,we can demonstrate thatthere’s something foreveryone in Liverpool.”

Hotel bid for Beatles Ballroom

Surf’s upthis summer!

COMPETITIONH H

Liverpool’s rejuvenatedwaterfront will be in thespotlight in July with the dualcelebration of the 100thanniversary of the LiverBuilding and the officialopening of the new Museumof Liverpool.The celebrations mark thecompletion of a multi-millionmakeover for Liverpool’sriverfront and is expected toattract hundreds of thousandsof new visitors, providing a timelyboost for the city’s economy.To mark this momentousoccasion Scene has teamed upwith the 08 Place onWhitechapel, where a tributaryof the Mersey once flowed,to offer one lucky reader aspecial memento.To win this unique CeramicLiver Bird (on sale at £29.99)and the Little book of LiverBirds (£6.99) all you have todo in answer this question:When did the Liver Buildingsopen in 1911?To win all you have to do istext: 0780 145 3918Deadline for entries is: 5pm,Friday, July 15.

The 100th anniversary ofthe official opening of theLiver Building will becelebrated on 19 July. The radical design and stateof the art constructioncreated as muchcontroversy in 1911, as thepresent day Museum of Lifebuilding, which will officiallyopen on 19 July 2011. The Liver Buildings wereconstructed on the site ofGeorges Dock, which wasplanned in 1761 andopened in 1771. It was aworking dock until the late1890s when it was closedand filled in.

You may be wondering whatwas there before the dock.I was looking at a map circa1650 which shows thewaterfront before any dockswere built. The shore line is right up toSt Nicholas’s Church andfollows the route of TheStrand, where it meetsLiverpool One. There wasalso a tidal creek called‘the Pool’, which is wherethe name Liverpooloriginates from. One Park West stands onone bank and the PoliceHeadquarters on the other. The first dock was built

roughly in the centreof the Pool between 1709and 1715 on the sitewhere the new John Lewisnow occupies. The watercourse thenfollows the line of ParadiseStreet and halfway alongit is spanned by a bridge.It continues along toanother bridge, providing acrossing between what isnow Church Street andLord Street.It then runs alongWhitechapel where itreaches the Old Tunnelentrance where anotherbridge crosses over

between William BrownStreet and Dale Street. Where has all the watergone? The water coursebecame part of thesewer system!

Generating stories for yourbusiness should be as easyas ABC. Here’s how:• Look out for natural PR

opportunities including anew product, premises orstaff, charity work orlandmark anniversaries,e.g. your 1,000th customer.

• Grab the attention of youraudience. Make your pressrelease interesting, newor surprising or linked with

famous people or places. • Write 'Press release' and

the date. The headline- a few punchy wordsto convey the thrust ofthe story.

• Convey the whole story in anutshell and its interest andrelevance to the readers.

• The remaining paragraphsgive the how and why - theexplanation anddevelopment of the first

paragraph - and the when. • A quote from you

is essential.• So is giving the media as

much advance noticeas possible.

• Keep everything tight andclear, with short sentences.

• Leave your fullcontact details.

• Email your press release to the journalist or thenews editor.

Remember, if you sendout press releases onthe same story todifferent publications,you'll need to tailor eachrelease to the audience.

Put journalists on yourmailing list forbackground informationthey may findinteresting, such as yourbusiness’ newsletter.

HHHStar Event HHHEnjoy Latin fever with Brazilica

Coming up...

City Central BID, c/o Rapid, Williamson Square, Liverpool L1 1EATel: 0151 233 2213 Fax: 0151 233 2218 www.citycentralbid.comEmail your latest news, views and pictures to: mike.doran@liverpool.gov.ukYou can now follow City Central on and

Send usyour views TM

Terry AllenCity Central CommunicationsOfficer and part-time qualifiedLiverpool City Guide.

• The Tiger Who Cameto TeaPlayhouse27-29 June

• Brick up theMersey TunnelsRoyal Court On now until 16 July

• Diabetes UK HealthyLifestyle Road ShowWilliamson Square11-12 July

• Big Go and GrowWilliamson Square13 July

15 July: ‘Samba inthe City’ – a colourfulopening taster of the carnival. 16 July: FREE all day SouthAmerican street party, withopen dance classes, musicsessions, street football,Brazilian food, drink and funfor all the family. In the evening, city centre

streets will be ablaze with colour and a carnival paradeof over 1,000 people. 17 July: The carnival gets cultural with sports, film andartistic events taking place across the city. For more information visit www.brazilicafestival.com

Terry’s times past

• Brazilica Various city centrelocations15-17 July

• City WaveWilliamson Square18 July-5 September

• Helter Skelter RideChurch Street18 July-5 September

• BrouhahaVarious city centrelocations21-22 July

IN BRIEFBold Street Festivalis a Record BreakerCongratulations to Rumours whohave just set a Guinness WorldRecord – at last year’s BoldStreet Festival!

Their nightclub is now officiallythe world’s smallest, which is abox measuring only 2.10m high,1.17m wide and 1.78m deep.

Rumours can be nextexperienced at Sink, onBerry Street, on Friday 1 July.Entry is free.

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How to writea perfectpress release