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MORE celebrations at Liverpool One last week as phase two of the £1bn retail development was launched.
Members of the local glitterati gathered in a specially-erected marquee, in Chavasse Park, to enjoy what they thought would be lavish hospitality.more

Tackling IT problems before they happen
SIMON ALBERT is co-founder and director of The PC Support Group, specialising in providing high-quality computer support to small businesses and home users.more

ANOTHER week and yet another delegation from Liverpool hot-foots it to Shanghai to press the flesh with potential investors.
The trip was organised by the Liverpool Shanghai Partnership (LSP) and led by city council leader Warren Bradley.more

Conference calls help link phone company
JOHN McGUIGAN, 48, started working for Telefonica O2 UK last May. Prior to this, he was the chief executive of NHS 24 in Scotland for two years.more

Fortis may struggle to sell ABN Amro stake
PARTLY-NATIONALISED Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis is struggling to find a buyer for its stake in ABN Amro.more

Working Day: Craig Johnson
CRAIG JOHNSON is the commercial director at digital agency Rippleffect. He has played an instrumental role in turning the web design and online marketing company into a national success, winning big name clients including Arsenal football club, MEN arena and Peel Holdings.more

Trading Gossip: September 24
Punters in the principality can now take advantage of dry cleaner Johnson’s environmentally-friendly GreenEarth technology when they take in their best suits for a spruce-up.more

Working Day - Paul Spence
PAUL SPENCE is a partner at corporate law firm Halliwells. He is head of insolvency at the firm, and he has dealt with a number of high-profile insolvency cases, including brewer Cains. This was his day:more

Trading Gossip
Last week saw the official launch of the new-look Chav-asse Park incorporated into Grosvenor’s £1bn Liverpool One development.more

Wirral firm chief’s passion for the ‘green revolution’
Tony McDonough meets MARK McMANUS, UK managing director of Stiebel Eltronmore

Scarily rare ending to a busy and spooky day
JOHN STONE is director of the Liverpool-based Shiverpool ghost tours. He and his sister Alex set up the nationally acclaimed Shiverpool back in 2005 from a back room in their house.more

NO DOUBT featuring the now infamous line “over ’ere son, on me head”, Liverpool’s Playhouse Theatre will next week be staging the “world premiere” of The Beautiful Game – A Football Ballet.
The production is being staged by the English National Ballet with the help of Liverpool-based gaming group Sportech. Punters will apparently be treated to “an awe-inspiring fusion of the wonderful skills of football, and the beautiful art of ballet” as performers recreate 10 great footballing moments.more

Back-up support vital to get firms moving on
IAN HUNTER is a company development advisor in Liverpool for ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry.more

MEMBERS of the Liverpool and Manchester Property Forum will descend on the city for their annual conference next week. The main discussion point will be the legacy which will be left by the city’s year as Capital of Culture. The conference proper starts on Wednesday, but on the Tuesday evening there will be a three-course dinner at the Racquet Club, featuring a guest speaker. Then the guests will move on to the city’s swish Alma de Cuba bar for what is curiously being called a “de-brief” session. We fear they could be de-briefing into the wee small hours. The conference is titled “The morning after the night before”. How very apt.
FORMER Big Brother winner Craig Philips, below, was among the, er, big names who turned up for last week’s official opening of Liverpool’s newest nightspot, Cube. The city’s glitterati descended on the Concert Steps venue which has had around £3m spent on it. Revellers partied hard into the night but it seems no one had thought to hire a glass collector (or pot man, as we used to say) for the evening. The result was dirty glasses as far as the eye could see, and guests having to take their own pots back to the free bar for refills. Poor souls.more

Is this the age of the levitating train?
Could 300mph locomotives improve Liverpool’s transport links? Tony McDonough reportsmore

Rising from ashes of budget bonfire
Business Link Northwest was born out of a bid to streamline small business support. Tony McDonough reviews the effect of the changemore

Gloomy outlook for retailers as continuing fall in high street sales forecast
IT has been a torrid time for retailers, with the list of companies in trouble lengthening by the week.more

Hard times in the past for watch company which is now ticking along nicely
Alex Turner meets ANGUS MATHESON, managing director of In-Time Watch Servicesmore

Trading Gossip
THE brightest brains in business – or they were at the start of the evening – set off from Dale Street boozer Rigby’s, below, last night, in the final round of the Business Crime Direct pub quiz treasure hunt.more

Working Day - Mark Blankstone
MARK BLANKSTONE is the owner of Blankstone Opticians, in Liverpool city centre.more