North West Business Insider's editor Simon Keegan and business editor Robyn Hewson discuss Cammel Laird's need to meet MoD demands for a possible war, look at Wirral's Left Bank plans, visit Vita Group and talk about the Lancashire Property Awards.
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00:00Camel Laird, plans for Birkenhead, the Property Awards and Vita Group, that's
00:06what's coming up in today's Daily Business Briefing.
00:13Hi I'm Simon Keegan and I'm Robin Hewson. Well Robin, we've got a bit of a big story
00:19today I think. This has come from a recent roundtable I did over at Wirral
00:25Chamber and the Managing Director of Camel Laird, his name's Mike Hill, I asked
00:33him, you know, with the nature of your manufacturing, you know they make
00:37submarines for the Ministry of Defence, are you kind of beholden to basically
00:43whether or not there are any wars and things like that? And he said, well we
00:48have to react to busy years and quiet years but at the moment we're all going
00:53to war in 2027 apparently. Now I thought to myself, well you know, is that just a
00:58kind of, is he just kind of plucking that year out of the air? But now I've
01:03checked it out and General Walker, the head of the British Army, has actually
01:07said in an interview, Britain must prepare for war in three years. The head
01:13of the US Navy as well said that she was focused on 2027. So they're talking about
01:20potentially Russia, North Korea and China because President Xi has told his
01:29troops prepare for invasion of Taiwan in 2027. So what this means for Camel Laird's
01:37is they're making destroyers and dreadnoughts, so they're ramping up their
01:42manufacturing in case this happens, which I thought was pretty powerful. So
01:51this was part of a wider roundtable about the Wirral area. So there was
01:57the likes of Unilever on there, Wirral Chamber, Port Sunlight, Peel. They were
02:02talking about the plans for the region. They want to make Wirral the left bank
02:07of the Liverpool City region. I suppose, you know, it's the Bohemian area of Paris,
02:13isn't it? Hemingway and all that. So they've got plans for that, but at the
02:17same time the Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor, Steve Rotherham, has been
02:22talking about Birkenhead Park in New York. And I guess some people might not
02:29make the connection, but Central Park was actually based on Birkenhead Park. So
02:35they're talking about a World Heritage bid, they're talking about potentially
02:40twinning the two. Apparently what happened was in the 19th century, I guess
02:45architect or sort of gardener was visiting Liverpool, saw Birkenhead Park,
02:52which was the world's first municipal park. Ten years later he started work on
02:56Central Park. Wow. So it's got a really, really historic relationship. Well I'm
03:00going to New York soon, so we'll have to see how it compares to Birkenhead. Well,
03:04you'll let us know, won't you? Now, talking of such assignments, we're off to
03:11Blackpool, aren't we? For the Lancashire Property Awards, because this is, we've
03:17outgrown our previous venue, haven't we? Yeah, absolutely. So it's the first time we've
03:20done Lancashire Property Awards and the response from the property community has
03:24been really amazing. So much so that we actually outgrew the first venue that
03:28we've got in Preston, and we've had to relocate the awards over to Blackpool. So
03:31it's now going to take place at the Winter Gardens, and yes, it's going to be
03:35a really exciting night. Well that's brilliant, it's just good to know, but as
03:38you say, it's the first time we've done it, but the Lancashire Property community
03:42has really supported this event. Yeah, definitely. So we already do Liverpool
03:46Property Awards, we already do the Property Awards and the Residential
03:51Property Awards, so we don't do one-offs, do we? So, you know, this is going to be
03:57the first of many, I'm sure. Absolutely, and if you're planning on joining us on
04:01the night, then make sure you have a look at our Future Ambitions shortlist, because
04:04you'll get to vote on that on the night. Oh, people in the audience are voting!
04:07Yeah, so same as we do at Liverpool and other Property Awards, so we've got all
04:11the details about the projects on the website already, so you can have a look
04:15down and see which one you think deserves your vote. Fantastic, well we've
04:18also got the Residential Property Awards in January. I was chairing the judging of
04:22that last week, had some great judges, we've got brilliant shortlists. I think
04:27we're going to be announcing those shortlists very soon, so stay tuned for
04:32that. Now, talking of property, you were over at Vita Group, weren't you, at Circle
04:37Square recently? Yes, it was the relaunch of one of their buildings there. So
04:42they previously opened it in 2021, but they found that it wasn't quite fitting
04:47with that kind of post-pandemic way of life, so it didn't have a lot of
04:50co-working spaces and things like that. So they've rebranded it and created this
04:53whole new concept, and I have to say it's amazing. So what have they got there? I mean the co-working
04:58space is like a whole office, they've said that it rivals, you know, WeWork and
05:02things like that, and it definitely did. They've also got the highest
05:06residence bar, highest residence rooftop bar in Manchester. How high are we
05:11talking? 35th floor, and they have a bartender that comes in three times a
05:16week to make cocktails and things for the residents. I was wondering where you
05:21were three times a week? I worked from the co-working space, but I didn't get to
05:25try the drinks. Never mind, maybe next time. But yeah, I was there speaking with
05:29Yanis Vidalis, who's the Chief Investment Officer at Vita, and so I sat down with
05:33him and heard about the plans for expansion across the UK and further
05:37afield. So Vita have opened up in Barcelona, taking their kind of student
05:42concept over there, and they're doing the same in Madrid soon. So we heard all
05:47about that and about their plans for a new sort of market hall, food hall
05:51concept as well. House of Social, which is coming to Manchester soon, and they've
05:56got one of the directors who worked on Altrincham Market and Maccy Merrill,
05:59things like that, to help get that off the ground. So that'll be a really
06:02exciting one. So you can read all about that in the January issue of Insider, and
06:07I've also done a video interview with Yanis, if you can't wait till then. So
06:10that's already on the website, ready to go. Fantastic. We'll talk and watch any of the
06:14stories that we've discussed, as ever. They'll be linked to this anyway, but you
06:18can find them on InsiderMedia.com. If you want to follow us on LinkedIn or X,
06:24feel free, you'll find us there. That's all we've got time for today, so see you
06:30next time.