A new specialist group has been set up to help Professional Liverpool meet its objective to promote professional excellence within the Liverpool City Region.
The Creative, Digital & Technology group will promote and raise the profile of the sector both within and outside the region and, working alongside the Liverpool City Region Digital & Creative Board, will provide a voice for the creative, digital and tech community in the Liverpool city region and its wider economic area.
It will do this by celebrating the City Region’s breadth and quality of professional creative, digital and technological skills; connecting its members; promoting professional excellence; and becoming a critical friend and sounding board to the City and City Region decision-makers and influencers.
The group will be led by Paul Furlong, creative director at visual communications agency Opus Media, and joins the Corporate Finance, Development & Regeneration, Healthcare, Marketing & Communications, Private Client and Property groups on the Professional Liverpool roster.
Existing and potential new members will benefit from high-quality networking events during the year and the group will co-ordinate activity with the events team and other Professional Liverpool specialist groups, other organisations across the city region and national professional bodies. They will also organise a number of round table debates and masterclasses where high profile speakers will be invited to talk about and debate with the audience, key strategic issues affecting the creative, digital and tech industry either locally or nationally.
Importantly, the group will look to help bring through and retain the best talent in the city within the creative, digital and tech sectors by working closely with the schools, universities and other higher education establishments throughout the City Region.
They will also develop a strategic level of engagement with key public and private sector organisations so that the aspirations and challenges of the City and City Region are accurately articulated to members of the sector and relevant and strategic feedback, as well as appropriate support, is provided.
In fulfilling this engagement role, the group will coordinate, when appropriate, with City and City Region leaders, to provide public commentary on strategic and relevant issues raised by members of the sector to ensure that the creative, digital & tech agencies within the City Region gain and retain the best contracts and ensure that Liverpool is a place that people want to do business.
As well as Paul Furlong, the board is made up of Alex Clark of Professional Liverpool, Jonathon Clark of LJMU, Helen Cross of the Liverpool City Region LEP, Louise Finch of BIMA, Stephanie Heneghan of Shenners, James Kirk of Kaleidoscope, John Lowe of Bolland and Lowe, Professor Martin McQuillan of Edge Hill University, Anthony O’Brien of Profici, Daniel Riley of Ruler Analytics; and Antony Young of IQ Blade.