NEW YORK. BOSTON. LIVERPOOL

Matt Biagetti, Liverpool City Region Investment Manager

Author: Matt Biagetti

No ambitious city can ever expect major investments to just drop in their lap. The world is a big place and you’ve got to be a consistent presence on a global stage to even be noticed, let alone be seen as a real contender.

The name of the game is all about visibility, compatibility and genuine connections. You can’t rely on websites and social media alone. You’ve got to get out there, meet international decision makers and – let’s face it – shake your assets in people’s face (in a nice way).

That’s what’s been happening under the Liverpool City region Place Marketing for investment programme which is a collaborative programme including all of the local authorities, Liverpool Vision and the LEP under the Invest Liverpool brand.

This time, though, we are adding significant clout to our activities by teaming up with Liverpool City Region’s strongest knowledge economy advocates, to form a USA delegation like no other.

First up is New York (23-25 July) where we’ll be intentionally coinciding our activity with Liverpool FC’s pre-season tour. Activity will then move to Boston for our final two days, from the 27 – 28 July.

Our delegation will sow seeds to attract future inward investment, concentrating on health & life science and digital technologies, as well as sport science and environmental science.

Here at Invest Liverpool we welcome an almost continuous roster of international delegations, but investors won’t always come to us. We need to be bold and we need to be confident enough to go where the real action is.

Truth is, if we’re not getting out there and selling our city region and its offer to the world, we’re not doing our job. Liverpool City Region can’t be a shy wallflower, waiting to be asked to dance. We deserve plenty of suiters and that’s why these delegations are vitally important.

Investors tell us all the time how ‘surprising’ they find the investment offer here. We don’t want that, we want them to know, we want them to understand and we want them to tell other companies how our city region can help their business.

“Liverpool City Region can’t be a shy wallflower, waiting to be asked to dance. We deserve plenty of suiters and that’s why these delegations are vitally important.”

There’s a lot of work to be done; long flights, high-profile meetings, presentations, pitches and partnerships to be built. But this concentrated, targeted and tactical investment visit will put Liverpool City Region at the forefront of investors considering the UK market.

Best part? I’ll be sharing as much as I can across twitter and our @InvestLiverpool account to show you exactly how I’m working to bring companies, talent and contracts to the Liverpool City Region. That’s right, I’m doing it my way (Come on, you knew that was coming) and it’s going to be an amazingly productive trip.

Follow me @MattBiagetti

or follow #LiverpoolUSA