Review: Prolific North’s Beyond Eurovision: Where Next for Liverpool’s Thriving Creative Sector event

For Rosie Kenyon (Kenyons), more workplaces need to become accessible if they are to attract and retain talent, extending the same warm welcome the city has for Eurovision. There’s “no one size fits all” approach but employers need to be mindful of extending that welcome so the city can nurture “brilliant, creative minds” and do “everything we can to bring them in.” She explained great minds don’t always think alike and the city’s creative sector is booming as it’s a positive environment, where those in the industry can easily chat openly and learn from each other. 

Corcoran (Agent) agreed, adding that accessibility is fundamental to ensure the creative sector is attractive to as many people as possible. The city region is now only really beginning to see the emergence of a “really strong creative sector,” as the ecosystem is not as big as it is in other Northern cities such as Manchester.

Russell McGrath (Sedulo) said there is a groundswell of many talented, creative people in the city emerging from universities in the region. Creative businesses that survive and thrive can tap into tax and grant incentives and although it’s a competitive industry, the barriers to entry are no longer difficult as anyone can now set up a creative business.

Haime (Baltic Creative) explained operation costs are difficult, in the short-term Baltic Creative is working on minimising outlay and hopes to see opportunities move in the right direction over the next 12 months. In the long-term, public sector support will help to facilitate growth in the city. There isn’t enough space to accommodate all the businesses enquiring at the moment and transport across the city needs improvement to boost connectivity.

Heyes (Active Profile) said the “little things in an environment make a massive difference,” even if its just agencies having more open conversations together. For Kenyon (Kenyons), becoming more flexible has helped staff to be more productive when they choose – whether that’s early mornings or evenings. Negative behaviour can influence the entire structure of a team and workplace environment, so it’s important to create a happy workplace.

Following a question from the audience about how to attract talent from underrepresented communities, the panel agreed that talent doesn’t just emerge from universities. By reaching out to networks you’re not familiar with, building networks across the city and going directly into diverse communities or schools is how you can attract that talent pool.

After networking and a coffee break, Robin Tudor, head of PR & communications at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, joined David Prior for a fireside chat.

Born in Runcorn, Tudor joined the airport in the 1990s working across various departments before becoming head of PR & comms. It hit home “what a bonkers event” Eurovision is, that the city has embraced, as delegations and welcome parties descended on the airport. As the Ukrainian delegation flew in on a Ryanair flight, they were welcomed by the Lord Mayor, Liverpool Signing Choir and a drag act.

“Turin was the last host city and fans have said Liverpool has upped it a level,” he said. When Liverpool was crowned as Europe’s capital of culture in 2008, it had a “really big impact” and put Liverpool back on the map again.

One of the prerequisites for Eurovision was all about connectivity and being able to get fans to the host city easily. When looking for growth and adding new airlines to the airport, those airlines don’t just look at the capabilities of the airport, they look at the market potential of a city, which includes its creative and business community. When talking to airlines now, Eurovision has suddenly “added an awareness” about Liverpool and has become “really important.”

The success of the event can already be seen as Jet2 has announced this week it will begin flying from the airport, operating 54 weekly flights to 20 destinations that will create more than 200 jobs.

Working in PR at the airport, “no two days are the same.” The airport works closely with regional media and Marketing Liverpool as well as the business community, to continuously remind people that although the airport is a tremendous asset, it’s “only as good as the people that use it.” He said a “successful airport is a reflection of a successful region.”

For the future, he hopes the airport will be back to pre-Covid levels with new airlines, widening the choice of destinations and more connectivity between different airports.

The final panel session kicked off, discussing Liverpool’s creativity on an international stage with Phil Boylan, marketing director at Aurora; Sarah Goulden, CEO at Form and Helen Cross, digital & creative sector lead at Growth Platform.

Helen Cross (Growth Platform) said a focus has been centred around Liverpool’s “key strengths,” which is its booming gaming sector and promoting this internationally. Growth Platform is Liverpool City Region’s growth company, which has been speaking to a number of businesses about potentially moving to the UK all about what Liverpool has to offer. It has a two-pronged approach, trying to attract people to the city and discovering what’s working for other companies.

Form works specifically with digital, tech and creative businesses in the city, said Sarah Goulden (Form). Through Form’s Gather initiative, lots of leaders are coming through that programme which is helping to build the community which, she hopes, will “extend over the next few years.” 

“There’s heaps happening in Liverpool,” with lots of success stories emerging. “The momentum, progress and excitement in the creative sector feels really tangible,” she said. From industry-specific business support programmes to company culture and an openness across the ecosystem, it helps to create a more connected environment for leaders. “The more connected and partnered up you are, it opens conversations globally and Liverpool is now in the spotlight.”

Phil Boylan (Aurora) explained how global creative agency Aurora already has an existing global client base with the likes of Team17 and Lego and has been working with the UK-Ukraine Twinning Initiative, with work tied to Eurovision. The Twinning Programme paired UK and Ukrainian agencies to connect and build relationships and by the agency working to launch the #HelpUkraineSong, it has helped Aurora to “scale up more than before” and opened up doors.

The collaboration through the initiative has unlocked international connections, with the likes of Universal Music and United24, and has helped to support the agency’s appetite to scale globally.

Cross (Growth Platform) said what makes the city attractive is the deep collaboration between businesses. Liverpool has a “very vibrant creative sector,” with lots of businesses dotted around the Baltic Triangle with more emerging areas across the likes of Runcorn. “There’s more than just the city centre, there’s lots of pockets of activity we can introduce people to and get them working together.”

As Liverpool has a “really good reputation for music and football”, it’s time to capitalise on that and Eurovision has just been another “huge opportunity” to showcase that the city can host big events.

Goulden (Form) said start-up rates in the city are high, with more than 7,000 creative businesses already based in the city region. She said data has showed that 27% have ambitions to grow internationally but only 3% have high growth.

While there are still some challenges in the region that are obstacles to those global goals, such as attracting talent, the likes of Agent Academy have been a real success. Now is the time to start having more open conversations to create even more opportunities in Liverpool.