Private and public sector leaders from across the Liverpool City Region have met for the first time as part of a new group that aims to safeguard the region’s business interests as the UK leaves the EU.
The Liverpool City Region (LCR) Brexit Council has been driven by the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and is chaired by the LEP’s chair Asif Hamid MBE.
The group will work to ensure the region’s economic resilience, including supporting local businesses, as the UK prepares to leave and finally exits the EU. It will also offer co-ordinated responses to local and national government on how the city region is progressing and any challenges it faces.
Members of the Brexit Council are:
- Tony Reeves, Chief Executive, Liverpool City Council
- Mark Basnett, Managing Director, LEP
- Frank Rogers, Acting Chief Executive, LCR Combined Authority
- Mark Bousfield, Director of Commercial Development and Investment, LCR Combined Authority
- Kath Boullen, Chief Executive, St Helens Chamber
- Phil McCabe, Development Manager, Federation of Small Businesses
- Damian Waters, Regional Director, North West Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
- Lynn Collins, Regional Secretary, TUC
- Prof Dame Janet Beer, Vice Chancellor, University of Liverpool
- Elaine Bowker, Principal and Chief Executive, The City of Liverpool College Group
- Mark Whitworth, Chief Executive, Peel Ports Group
- Stuart Lord, Director of Operations, Jaguar Land Rover
- Mike Hulme, Managing Director, Trains and Modernization, Alstom
- Rob Carden, Assistant Chief Constable, Merseyside Police
- Dr Liz Mear, Chief Executive, Innovation Agency
- Mike Gibney, Director of Workforce and Innovation, The Walton Centre
- Jon Hague, Vice President Operations and Open Innovation, Unilever
- Tom Carter, Area Director Corporate Banking, HSBC
- Frank McKenna, Chief Executive, Downtown in Business
The group will meet regularly as the Brexit deadline approaches and will continue to meet once the UK leaves the EU.
Asif Hamid, chair of the Brexit Council, said: “The Brexit Council has been a massively positive step by the business community in Liverpool. There’s a real need for us to work together to consider the opportunities as well as any risks that leaving the EU will present.
“We are moving into a period of considerable unknowns but by sharing our information and insight from across sectors as early as possible we will be able to offer timely co-ordinated responses to local and national government on the city region’s situation.
“We’ve shown time and time again in the region that we are strongest when we collaborate. The coming months and years will be a chance for us to prove that again.”
Tony Reeves, chief executive of Liverpool City Council, who is working closely with the government as the regional Brexit lead for the North West, said: “Liverpool City Council supports the move by the LEP to establish the Brexit Council which is another example of the forward-thinking that characterises the city’s business community.
“Our growth in the city region for the last 20 years has been down to our willingness to work together. Having a forum that brings together this wealth of expertise from the public and private sectors will help us be proactive and well placed to respond to the challenges facing local business whilst building economic resilience across supply chains and the labour market.”