There was some press coverage last week (10 July) about a relatively negative survey regarding Liverpool’s progress over the past few years. Comparisons have frequently been made with Manchester although frankly such comparisons are not a comparison of “like with like”.
The seeds of Liverpool’s current revival and success appear to me as a resurgence of strengths the City already had which are now coming to the forefront again.
Looking at the music scene the bands coming out of Liverpool in the 1980’s were at the cutting edge of the music industry of the ilk of Teardrop Explodes, Echo & The Bunnymen and Frankie Goes to Hollywood going into the 90’s with the Lightening Seeds and more recently bands such as the Zutons. These strands of music prowess are shown currently in the excellent series of concerts taking place at the Summer Pops in the Aintree Racecourse Stadium taking in international bands such as the Pretenders and Steely Dan; there has been a consistent upward cutting edge trend over the years.
Looking at the leisure industry again and looking back to the 80’s, pioneering bars such as the State and Kirklands have run into the current quality offering of bar/restaurants in the form of Korova, Alma de Cuba and restaurants such as 60 Hope Street, Piccolinos and now the Bar & Grill.
The book Liverpool 800 talks about the shopping offering in Liverpool in the 70’s being ahead of other major regional towns and particular mention is made of the Bold Street area. The current scale, breadth and depth of the Grosvenor scheme will more than emulate that former greatness.
The key elements are here for Liverpool to remain an entertaining City bolstered also by its sporting and tourism industries all adding to the ambience of the City being a great place to work and live. Surveys aside, the signs are positive.