Liverpool

United Kingdom COUNTRY

2,241,000 CITY POPULATION

Metropolitan Borough GOVERNMENT TYPE

Introduction

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. The population in 2018 was approximately 494,814. Liverpool is the ninth-largest English district by population, and the largest in Merseyside and the surrounding region. It lies within the UK's sixth-most populous urban area, and its metropolitan area is the fifth-largest in the UK with a population of 2.24 million. The city proper, which is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, forms an irregular crescent along the north shore of the Mersey estuary a few miles from the Irish Sea. The docklands and several areas of the historic centre of the city collectively were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.

Liverpool is on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, and historically lay within the ancient hundred of West Derby in North West England's county of Lancashire. Its growth as a major port was paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, and raw materials such as coal and cotton, merchants were involved in the slave trade. In the 19th century, Liverpool was a major port of departure for English and Irish emigrants to North America. It was home to both the Cunard and White Star Line, and was the port of registry of the ocean liners RMS Titanic, RMS Lusitania, RMS Queen Mary, and RMS Olympic.

Liverpool is the sixth most visited UK city. It is noted for its culture, architecture, and transport links. The city is closely associated with the arts, especially music; the popularity of the Beatles, widely regarded as the most influential music group in history, contributed to the city's status as a tourist destination. Liverpool also has a long-standing reputation as the origin of various actors and actresses, artists, athletes, comedians, journalists, novelists, and poets. The city has the second-highest number of art galleries, national museums, listed buildings, and listed parks in the UK; only the capital, London, has more. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City includes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, and William Brown Street.

In sports, the city is best known for being the home of Premier League football clubs Liverpool and Everton, with matches between the two being known as the Merseyside derby. The annual Grand National horse race takes place at Aintree Racecourse. Several areas of the city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004, and its collection of parks and open spaces has been described as the «most important in the country» by the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. Its status as a port city has attracted a diverse population from a wide range of cultures and religions, primarily Ireland, Norway, and Wales. It is also home to the oldest black community in the UK and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Data and Facts

The world’s first passenger railway line was built in 1830, from Liverpool to nearby Manchester
Liverpool has the largest collection of Grade II-listed buildings outside London. The city has 2,500 listed buildings and 250 public monuments
Liverpool has Europe’s longest established Chinese community and Europe’s largest Chinese Arch which stands 14 metres over the entrance to Chinatown
Liverpool holds the Guinness Book of Records title for being the Capital of Pop. More artists with a Liverpool origin have had a number one hit than from any other location. Liverpudlian legends The Beatles changed the face of popular music
Liverpool is the most successful footballing city in England, home to both Liverpool and Everton. It has won 27 League championships, five European Cups, three Uefa Cups, one Cup Winners cup, 11 FA Cups, and six League Cups
More than 60 languages are spoken in the city of Liverpool every single day

Administration

Liverpool is governed by a Unitary Authority, as when Merseyside County Council was disbanded civic functions were returned to a district borough level. However several services such as the police and fire and rescue service, continue to be run at a county-wide level. The city also elects four members of Parliament to the Westminster Parliament. The City of Liverpool is governed by the Directly elected mayor of Liverpool and Liverpool City Council, and is one of six metropolitan boroughs that combine to make up the Liverpool City Region. The mayor is elected by the citizens of Liverpool every four years and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the council. The council's 90 elected councillors who represent local communities throughout the city, are responsible for scrutinising the mayor's decisions, setting the budget, and policy framework of the city. The mayor's responsibility is to be a powerful voice for the city both nationally and internationally, to lead, build investor confidence, and to direct resources to economic priorities.The mayor also exchanges direct dialogue with government ministers and the prime minister through his seat at the Cabinet of Mayors. The City of Liverpool effectively has two mayors. As well as the directly elected mayor, there is the ceremonial lord mayor who is elected by the full city council at its annual general meeting in May, and stands for one year in office. The lord mayor acts as the «first citizen» of Liverpool and is responsible for promoting the city, supporting local charities and community groups as well as representing the city at civic events. The Lord Mayor is Councillor Christine Banks. For local elections the city is split into 30 local council wards.

During the most recent local elections, held in May 2011, the Labour Party consolidated its control of Liverpool City Council, following on from regaining power for the first time in 12 years, during the previous elections in May 2010. The Labour Party gained 11 seats during the election, taking their total to 62 seats, compared with the 22 held by the Liberal Democrats. Of the remaining seats the Liberal Party won three and the Green Party claimed two. The main cause of the poor rating was attributed to the council's poor handling of tax-payer money, including the accumulation of a £20m shortfall on Capital of Culture funding.While Liverpool through most of the 19th and early 20th centuries was a municipal stronghold of Toryism, support for the Conservative Party recently has been among the lowest in any part of Britain, particularly since the monetarist economic policies of prime minister Margaret Thatcher after her 1979 general election victory contributed to high unemployment in the city which did not begin to fall for many years. Liverpool is one of the Labour Party's key strongholds; however the city has seen hard times under Labour governments as well, particularly in the Winter of Discontent when Liverpool suffered public sector strikes along with the rest of the United Kingdom but also suffered the particularly humiliating misfortune of having grave-diggers going on strike, leaving the dead unburied.

The City of Liverpool is one of the six constituent local government districts of the Liverpool City Region. Since 1 April 2014, some of the city's responsibilities have been pooled with neighbouring authorities within the metropolitan area and subsumed into the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The combined authority has effectively become the top-tier administrative body for the local governance of the city region and The Mayor of Liverpool, along with the five other leaders from neighbouring local government districts, take strategic decisions over economic development, transport, employment and skills, tourism, culture, housing and physical infrastructure. As of July 2015, negotiations are currently taking place between the UK national government and the combined authority over a possible devolution deal to confer greater powers on the region. Discussions include whether to introduce an elected ‘Metro Mayor' to oversee the entire metropolitan area. Liverpool has four parliamentary constituencies entirely within the city, through which MPs are elected to represent the city in Westminster: Liverpool Riverside, Liverpool Walton, Liverpool Wavertree and Liverpool West Derby.

Economy

The Economy of Liverpool is one of the largest within the United Kingdom, sitting at the centre of one of the two core economies within the North West of England. In 2006, the city's GVA was £7,626 million, providing a per capita figure of £17,489, which was above the North West average. Liverpool's economy has seen strong growth since the mid-1990s, with its GVA increasing 71.8% between 1995 and 2006 and employment increasing 12% between 1998 and 2006. GDP per capita was estimated to stand at $32,121 in 2014, and total GDP at $65.8 billion.In common with much of the rest of the UK today, Liverpool's economy is dominated by service sector industries, both public and private. In 2007, over 60% of all employment in the city was in the public administration, education, health, banking, finance and insurance sectors. Over recent years there has also been significant growth in the knowledge economy of Liverpool with the establishment of the Liverpool Knowledge Quarter in sectors such as media and life sciences. Liverpool's rich architectural base has also helped the city become the second most filmed city in the UK outside London, including doubling for Chicago, London, Moscow, New York, Paris and Rome.

Another important component of Liverpool's economy are the tourism and leisure sectors. Liverpool is the sixth most visited UK city and one of the 100 most visited cities in the world by international tourists. In 2008, during the city's European Capital of Culture celebrations, overnight visitors brought £188m into the local economy,while tourism as a whole is worth approximately £1.3bn a year to Liverpool.The city's new cruise liner terminal, which is situated close to the Pier Head, also makes Liverpool one of the few places in the world where cruise ships are able to berth right in the centre of the city.[191] Other recent developments in Liverpool such as the Echo Arena and Liverpool One have made Liverpool an important leisure centre with the latter helping to lift Liverpool into the top five retail destinations in the UK.Historically, the economy of Liverpool was centred on the city's port and manufacturing base, although a smaller proportion of total employment is today derived from the port.Nonetheless the city remains one of the most important ports in the United Kingdom, handling over 32.2m tonnes of cargo in 2008.A new multimillion-pound expansion to the Port of Liverpool, Liverpool2, is scheduled to be operational from the end of 2015, and is projected to greatly increase the volume of cargo which Liverpool is able to handle. Liverpool is also home to the UK headquarters of many shipping lines including Japanese firm NYK and Danish firm Maersk Line, whilst shipping firm Atlantic Container Line has recently invested significant amounts in expanding its Liverpool operations, with a new headquarters currently under construction. Future plans to redevelop the city's northern dock system, in a project known as Liverpool Waters, could see £5.5bn invested in the city over the next 50 years, creating 17,000 new jobsCar manufacturing also takes place in the city at the Jaguar Land Rover Halewood plant where the Range Rover Evoque model is assembled.

Business Environment

Liverpool is a vibrant city, strategically located at the heart of major road, rail and air transport routes. With a young, diverse and growing population, affordable commercial land and a bright future linked with major infrastructure projects associated with the development of Western Sydney Airport, Liverpool is a great place to do business. Liverpool is fast-becoming the start-up destination of North West England with its active city centre, busy port, and growth opportunities. Divided into four key zones; the traditional core, the commercial district, the waterfront and the creative quarter, the city is a two-hour train journey from London Euston and is in close proximity to Liverpool John Lennon Airport which flies to several international destinations.

Despite being home to a host of business parks including Liverpool Innovation, MerseyWorld, and Stonebridge Park, the city’s office market is much smaller in size than comparable cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds, with 8.2m sq ft of office premises available. This issue is slowly being tackled by the steady rise of new co-working offices in the area – DoES Liverpool, Basecamp and Igloo to name a few – as well as the growth of Liverpool SUPERPORT; real estate opportunities to make the port become the freight and logistics «hub» for Northern UK and Ireland.

The area also attracts a high level of tourists which is bolstered by its leading shopping centre Liverpool ONE; a £1bn development. Housing over 160 brands; the commercial centre saw footfall of over 26 million in 2012 and has seen substantial growth year on year. Research and innovation-led, the University of Liverpool has several commercial opportunities with facilities on site for science businesses.

Labour costs in the city are just below average with full-time weekly earnings for 2016 set at £497, with 30.6% of the city’s population equating to 98,500 people of working age with NVQ Level 4 qualifications and above. For start-up businesses keen to recruit and benefit from apprentices, the city runs the Liverpool Youth Contract which is a nationally funded programme which offers companies an apprenticeship wage subsidy of up to £3,500.

The Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership , which covers six local authority areas, is especially focused on developing its «innovation economy», low carbon solutions and encouraging the influx of tourists. It is currently rolling out four main enterprise zones to support the growth of the Liverpool area. Its key focuses are the Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone which incorporates Wirral Waters and Liverpool Waters; a £5.5bn development spread over 1.3 million sq. metres of mixed floor space, and Sci-Tech Daresbury; a lab space and research facility which has over 400 scientists on premises and growing.

Science and biotech are one of Liverpool’s speciality areas with three science parks; Liverpool Innovation Park, Liverpool Science Park, and Merseybio, all targeted at developing new solutions and supporting life sciences. Start-up accelerators are one of Liverpool’s strongest assets, particularly with regards to the digital, health and science industries. It’s home to the Idea Alive accelerator which seeks to support early-stage digital businesses, and Spark Up; a funding and mentoring programme supported by the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce which intends to create 500 Merseyside «super businesses» over the next five years.

Small business grants are available from the Regional Investment Aid Merseyside which provides funding to job creators in areas of high unemployment and has up to 35% of the value of projects available for early-stage firms. Liverpool has also been allocated funding from the government’s Regional Growth Fund with its £15m Business Growth Grant scheme. The scheme typically provides small business grants of between £10,000 and £1m to fund up to 20% of projects and spark co-investment from the private sector.

House prices in Liverpool are the lowest on the list with average prices at £121,374 for September 2016, significantly lower than neighbouring Manchester . Yet low house prices could correlate to the area’s crime rates which are particularly high; 90.86 crimes were committed per 1,000 people for the year ending June 2015; a steep increase on the crime rates of comparable areas such as Sheffield and Newcastle . As in any location, it's worth considering the value of proper security for your business . The original home of the Beatles, Liverpool has a rich cultural and entertainment scene with the Liverpool Echo arena, the Tate Liverpool and Walker art gallery, Liverpool Empire Theatre, and Liverpool Philharmonic Hall; the second oldest professional symphony concert organisation in the UK.

Infrastructure

Transport in Liverpool is primarily centred on the city's road and rail networks, both of which are extensive and provide links across the United Kingdom. Liverpool has an extensive local public transport network, which is managed by Merseytravel, and includes buses, trains and ferries. Additionally, the city also has an international airport and a major port, both of which provides links to locations outside the country. As a major city, Liverpool has direct road links with many other areas within England. To the east, the M62 motorway connects Liverpool with Hull and along the route provides links to several large cities, including Manchester, Leeds and Bradford. The M62 also provides a connection to both the M6 and M1 motorways, providing indirect links to more distant areas including Birmingham, London, Nottingham, Preston and Sheffield. To the west of the city, the Kingsway and Queensway Tunnels connect Liverpool with the Wirral Peninsula, including Birkenhead, and Wallasey. The A41 road and M53 motorway, which both begin in Birkenhead, link to Cheshire and Shropshire and via the A55, to North Wales. To the south, Liverpool is connected to Widnes and Warrington via the A562 and across the River Mersey to Runcorn, via the Silver Jubilee and Mersey Gateway bridges.

Liverpool is served by two separate rail networks. The local rail network is managed and run by Merseyrail and provides links throughout Merseyside and beyond , while the national network, which is managed by Network Rail, provides Liverpool with connections to major towns and cities across the England. The Port of Liverpool is one of Britain's largest ports, providing passenger ferry services across the Irish Sea to Belfast, Dublin and the Isle of Man. Services are provided by several companies, including the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, P&O Ferries and Stena Line. In 2007, a new cruise terminal was opened in Liverpool, located alongside the Pier Head in the city centre. November 2016 saw the official opening of Liverpool2, an extension to the port that allows post-Panamax vessels to dock in Liverpool.Leeds and Liverpool Canal runs into Liverpool city centre via Liverpool Canal Link at Pier Head since 2009.Liverpool Cruise Terminal in the city centre provides long distance passenger cruises, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines MS Black Watch and Cruise & Maritime Voyages MS Magellan using the terminal to depart to Iceland, France, Spain and Norway.Liverpool John Lennon Airport, which is located in the south of the city, provides Liverpool with direct air connections across the United Kingdom and Europe. In 2008, the airport handled over 5.3 million passengers and today offers services to 68 destinations, including Berlin, Rome, Milan, Paris, Barcelona and Zürich. The airport is primarily served by low-cost airlines, notably Ryanair and Easyjet, although it does provide additional charter services in the summer.

Liverpool's local rail network is one of the busiest and most extensive in the country. The network consists of three lines: the Northern Line, which runs to Southport, Ormskirk, Kirkby and Hunts Cross; the Wirral Line, which runs through the Mersey Railway Tunnel and has branches to New Brighton, West Kirby, Chester and Ellesmere Port; and the City Line, which begins at Lime Street, providing links to St Helens, Wigan, Preston, Warrington and Manchester.

Local services on the City Line are operated by Northern rather than Merseyrail, although the line itself remains part of the Merseyrail network. Within the city centre the majority of the network is underground, with four city centre stations and over 6.5 miles of tunnels.Local bus services within and around Liverpool are managed by Merseytravel and are run by several different companies, including Arriva and Stagecoach. The two principal termini for local buses are Queen Square Bus Station for services north and east of the city, and Liverpool One Bus Station formerly known as Paradise Street Bus Interchange for services to the south and east. Cross-river services to the Wirral use roadside terminus points in Castle Street and Sir Thomas Street. A night bus service also operates on Saturdays providing services from the city centre across Liverpool and Merseyside. City Sights and City explorer by Maghull coaches offer a tour bus service. National Express also operates.

The cross river ferry service in Liverpool, known as the Mersey Ferry, is managed and operated by Merseytravel, with services operating between the Pier Head in Liverpool and both Woodside in Birkenhead and Seacombe in Wallasey. Services operate at intervals ranging from 20 minutes at peak times, to every hour during the middle of the day and during weekends. Despite remaining an important transport link between the city and the Wirral Peninsula, the Mersey Ferry has become an increasingly popular tourist attraction within the city, with daytime River Explorer Cruises providing passengers with an historical overview of the River Mersey and surrounding areas.In May 2014, the CityBike hire scheme was launched in the city.

Technology

Over the last 25 years, the city region has reinvented itself as a hub for innovation and creativity.Starting with its history of gaming and digital applications, the region has moved into new frontiers such as MedTech, EdTech, digital media, and many more.With the evolution of hubs such as the Baltic Triangle and the Knowledge Quarter, there’s never been a more exciting time to live, work, and found a business in Liverpool City Region. Last year, Activate launched the first ever LCR Tech Climbers campaign.

Liverpool has a high density of quality universities and colleges producing work-ready individuals - and thanks to the city’s exciting lifestyle and affordable living costs, many of them choose to stay in the area to start their careers after they finish training. In addition to that, the region has plenty of programmes designed to bolster this talent pipeline, such as InnovateHER and Agent Academy. For younger people swaying strongly towards taking a job in the industry, there is also ‘The Studio’ - the country’s first digital studio school. Many of Liverpool City Region’s tech scale-ups are predicting significant growth in the next year. Just 53 of the surveyed businesses were predicting the creation of 700 jobs between them, and while 51% said they were already trading in international markets successfully, a further 43% said they had overseas deals in the pipeline. In light of Brexit uncertainty, the positivity of the city region’s tech businesses when it comes to international trading and job creation is a trailblazer for other industries, and shows just how much the region’s tech industry has potential to bring significant economic and social impact.

For most businesses, equity and debt-based finance is integral as it allows businesses to grow their teams, the means to test and develop new products, the ability to launch in new territories, and the resources to invest in marketing. It’s an issue that comes up repeatedly for startups all over Europe - there simply isn’t as much liquidity around as there is in the USA or Far East. The recent announcement of the £75 million business growth package announced by the Metro Mayor, the bulk of which will kick off in 2020, is set to stimulate activity in the sector locally. Support isn’t necessarily just about investment, however. A significant number of survey respondents expressed that access to business support resources is a key benefit of being located in Liverpool. The region has a strong network of programmes which gives business the support they need to grow. Statistics from the Local Growth Hub show that 2,523 businesses accessed support through their directory or constituent partners between April and October 2019. In addition to those accessing support through Activate, respondents cited the city region’s universities, chambers, and other organisations such as The Women’s Organisation and Barclays Eagle Labs as key to their development.

Social Wellness and Human Resources

At the 2011 UK Census the recorded population of Liverpool was 466,415, a 6.1% increase on the figure of 439,473 recorded in the 2001 census. The population of the central Liverpool local authority peaked in the 1930s with 846,101 recorded in the 1931 census, before suburbanisation and the establishment of new towns in the region. As with many British cities including London and Manchester, the city centre covered by the Liverpool council area had experienced negative population growth since the 1931 census. Much of the population loss was as a result of large-scale resettlement programmes to nearby areas introduced in the aftermath of the Second World War, with satellite towns such as Kirkby, Skelmersdale and Runcorn seeing a corresponding rise in their populations .Liverpool's population is younger than that of England as a whole, with 42.5 per cent of its population under the age of 30, compared to an English average of 37.7 per cent. As of July 2014, 66 per cent of the population was of working age.

Liverpool is the largest local authority by populace, GDP and area in Merseyside. Liverpool and is typically grouped with the wider Merseyside area for the purpose of defining its metropolitan footprint, and there are several methodologies. Liverpool is defined as a standalone NUTS3 area by the ONS for statistical purpose, and makes up part of the NUTS2 area «Merseyside» along with East Merseyside , Sefton and the Wirral. The population of this area was 1,513,306 based on 2014 estimates.

The «Liverpool Urban Area» is a term used by the Office for National Statistics to denote the urban area around the city to the east of the River Mersey. The contiguous built-up area extends beyond the area administered by Liverpool City Council into adjoining local authority areas, particularly parts of Sefton and Knowsley. As defined by ONS, the area extends as far east as Haydock and St. Helens. Unlike the Metropolitan area, the Urban Area does not include The Wirral or its contiguous areas. The population of this area as of 2011 was 864,211. The «Liverpool City Region» is an economic partnership between local authorities in Merseyside under the umbrella of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as defined by the Mersey Partnership. The area covers Merseyside and the Borough of Halton and has an estimated population between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 and.

Early Black settlers in the city included seamen, the children of traders sent to be educated, and freed slaves, since slaves entering the country after 1722 were deemed free men. Since the 20th century, Liverpool is also noted for its large African-Caribbean, Ghanaian, and Somali communities, formed of more recent African-descended immigrants and their subsequent generations.

The city is also home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe; the first residents of the city's Chinatown arrived as seamen in the 19th century. The traditional Chinese gateway erected in Liverpool's Chinatown is the largest gateway outside China. Liverpool also has a long-standing Filipino community. Lita Roza, a singer from Liverpool who was the first woman to achieve a UK number one hit, had Filipino ancestry. The city is also known for its large Irish population and its historically large Welsh population. In 1813, 10 per cent of Liverpool's population was Welsh, leading to the city becoming known as «the capital of North Wales.»Following the start of the Great Irish Famine in the mid-19th century, up to two million Irish people travelled to Liverpool within one decade, with many subsequently departing for the United States. By 1851, more than 20 per cent of the population of Liverpool was Irish. At the 2001 Census, 1.17 per cent of the population were Welsh-born and 0.75 per cent were born in the Republic of Ireland, while 0.54 per cent were born in Northern Ireland, but many more Liverpudlians are of Welsh or Irish ancestry. Other contemporary ethnicities include Indian, Latin American, Malaysian, and Yemeni. communities, which number several thousand each.

The thousands of migrants and sailors passing through Liverpool resulted in a religious diversity that is still apparent today. This is reflected in the equally diverse collection of religious buildings, including two Christian cathedrals. Liverpool is known to be England's 'most Catholic city', with a Catholic population much larger than in other parts of England.

Of Sir Edwin Lutyens' original design, only the crypt was completed. The cathedral was eventually built to a simpler design by Sir Frederick Gibberd. While this is on a smaller scale than Lutyens' original design it still incorporates the largest panel of stained glass in the world. The road running between the two cathedrals is called Hope Street, a coincidence which pleases believers. The cathedral is colloquially referred to as «Paddy's Wigwam» due to its shape.

Liverpool contains several synagogues, of which the Grade I listed Moorish Revival Princes Road Synagogue is architecturally the most notable. Princes Road is widely considered to be the most magnificent of Britain's Moorish Revival synagogues and one of the finest buildings in Liverpool. Liverpool has a thriving Jewish community with a further two orthodox Synagogues, one in the Allerton district of the city and a second in the Childwall district of the city where a significant Jewish community reside. A third orthodox Synagogue in the Greenbank Park area of L17 has recently closed, and is a listed 1930s structure. There is also a Lubavitch Chabad House and a reform Synagogue. Liverpool has had a Jewish community since the mid-18th century. The Jewish population of Liverpool is around 5,000. The Liverpool Talmudical College existed from 1914 until 1990, when its classes moved to the Childwall Synagogue.

Liverpool also has a Hindu community, with a Mandir on Edge Lane, Edge Hill. The Shri Radha Krishna Temple from the Hindu Cultural Organisation in Liverpool is located there.

Liverpool also has the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Wavertree and a Bahá'í Centre in the same area.The city had the earliest mosque in England, and possibly the UK, founded in 1887 by William Abdullah Quilliam, a lawyer who had converted to Islam, and set up the Liverpool Muslim Institute in a terraced house on West Derby Road.The building was used as a house of worship until 1908, when it was sold to the City Council and converted into offices. Plans have been accepted to re-convert the building where the mosque once stood into a museum.