On Thursday 11th September, Chamber Group, Curia and UKAI heard from Councillor Barbara Murray, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, at the Get Britain Growing: North West Conference and Dinner, at Aintree Racecourse, where she spoke of her city’s diversity, cultural impact, and economic growth.
Murray began by welcoming the audience to her ‘world class city,’ before praising Liverpool’s diversity, with there being over 100 languages spoken in the city and people arriving there from all over the world. Indeed, Liverpool City Region’s tourism sector generates more than £6bn, a sector which grew 21% from 2022 to 2023.
Liverpool’s Development
Murray than spoke of the renaissance the city has experienced in the past few decades; whilst she recognised that the city had ‘hard times’ during the 1980s, she said that if you go into the city centre, you will see the ‘massive strides in regeneration’ that have been made over the past 20 years, which she described as ‘unprecedented.’ She spoke of the satisfaction it brings her when she sees cranes across the Liverpool skyline, seeing them as a sign that the city is making progress.
Vibrant Liverpool: a city with character
And its not just economy and infrastructure that is thriving in the city; according to Murray, Liverpool is a ‘vibrant city,’ ‘full of character, culture, individuality and confidence,’ with people who are ‘welcoming,’ ‘brave and proud.’ The city is one of Britain’s most significant cultural hubs, being awarded the European Capital of Culture Award in 2008, and being home to two Premier League football teams, the largest cathedral in the country, and the Beatles; if Murray is to be believed, there is no chance that this will change – ‘music and creativity are in our blood.’
The Lord Mayor also spoke of the city’s education sector, with the cities knowledge quarter, home to both the University of Liverpool and John Moores University, as well as numerous life science companies, growing, as is its tourism sector.
Celebrating Liverpool’s Growth
Murray claims that attracting visitors to her city is one of her main priorities, and it appears to be working, with cruise liners docking at the city’s piers ‘virtually on a daily basis,’ and Liverpool consistently outperforming other British destinations when it comes to annual tourism growth. Murray puts this growth down to the city’s ‘unrivalled’ cultural scene as well as world class events being held in the city; in 2023 the city hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, whilst the World Boxing Championships were recently held at the M&S Bank Arena.
Liverpool is also attracting Hollywood, being transformed into Gotham City last month whilst a new DC Studios film was being filmed. Murray spoke of crowds filling the streets to catch a glimpse of the filming, something she described as a ‘first.’
According to Murray, the city ‘has something for everyone, from world-class shopping facilities, a ‘world heritage waterfront, and views ‘as good as anywhere in the world,’ and she said that she hoped that any audience member not from the city would have the chance to visit and see for themselves the city that she loves.
