FSB backs International Festival of Business in Liverpool
The FSB calls for greater investment and support for cities outside of London as one of Britain’s biggest business spectacles for a generation gets underway. The International Festival for Business (IFB) opened in Liverpool Monday 9 June and will take place over the next two months.
It is set to be the biggest business event in the UK for a generation, and a window showcasing British enterprise and the opportunities the UK has to offer to the world. The FSB is a major event partner of IFB and will be supporting and celebrating the huge talent that exists in our great regional cities.
The festival, backed by the Government, is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the world over the next 50 days. The aim is to encourage exports, develop inward investment and build overseas networks.
Latest FSB research suggests business confidence is on the rise. To help our small firms in the regions to build on this optimism and to scale up, the FSB wants them better connected to dynamic global markets.
The FSB therefore calls for efforts to be redoubled for businesses in these cities to be given better online connectivity, faster roads and rail, and access to finance to unlock their potential and capitalise on these growth opportunities.
The FSB will be out in force during the festival which promises to be the biggest celebration of business since the Festival of Britain breathed life into a post-war UK.
John Allan, FSB national chairman, was one of the first IFB Ambassadors, said: “The Government-backed International Festival for Business 2014 will allow smaller firms to make connections usually reserved for larger companies. It will open British companies to new markets and new partners, assembling politicians and business leaders throughout June and July in Liverpool.
“The festival is also an excellent example of how a city can take the initiative and demonstrate its ambition. That said, efforts need to be redoubled for businesses in these cities to be given better online connectivity, faster roads and rail, and access to finance to unlock this potential and capitalise on these growth opportunities”.