In a business event unlike many others, the business programme for the inaugural Liverpool Loves festival has been announced.

Liverpool Loves celebrates the best of life around the City Region, and will be staged at Pier Head Liverpool from Thursday 6th to Saturday 8th August.

This year’s festival has four core themes – business, culture, food and well-being, with activities spanning these themes across the three days.

Liverpool Loves Business will officially launch the festival on Thursday 6 August. The full-day event takes place at the Pier Head in a bespoke Big Top venue. The site, which is located on the city’s UNESCO World Heritage waterfront., has been specially chosen for the three-day festival.

For complimentary delegate passes, members of the business community are encouraged to register for the event as soon as possible.

The day will serve as a platform to showcase new and up-and-coming businesses; provide opportunities for business owners and professionals to develop skills and connect.

Entrepreneurs with the next big idea are encouraged to use this opportunity to take the plunge and with the full support of Mayor Joe Anderson, the theme of the event is People In Business.  Advice will be available through a programme of themed workshops, seminars and discussion panels hosted by representatives from key business organisations.

The day will kick off in the Big Top at 7.30am with a breakfast networking session before the opening ceremony and entertainment from 8.45am.

The proceedings will be led by Professor David Gibson from Liverpool John Moores University Centre for Entrepreneurship and will be followed by six seminars between 10am and 12pm.

Guest speakers on the day will cover a range of topics including Make Sure Your Shop Window Is Shining; Streamline Your Business With Digital And Tech; Get The Right Mix Of Marketing And Media; Adapt And Evolve – Grow Around The Local Environment; Pitch Perfect; and What’s The Right HQ For You?

The Business Clinic will run between 12pm and 2pm and the focus will be on start-ups, growing business and ensuring businesses are cost-effective. Business clinics will be hosted and organised by business networking and news organisation YB News, the Growth Accelerator programme and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

To get a specially allocated time-slot, delegates will need to register in advance.

The programme also includes a UKTI panel session entitled, The First Port Of Call, held in association with Liverpool & Sefton Chambers of Commerce, and an introduction to the 10% More Social Value Charter for Liverpool City Region, presented by Rosie Jolly, Chief Executive Officer of SEN Together (Social Enterprise Network).

Four key members of the Liverpool City Region business community will form a panel in the afternoon to discuss the 4 Ps – People, Pioneering, Partnerships and Progress.

The panel’s aim is to encourage and advise businesses how to apply the 4 Ps at any stage of their development to create a business environment built for success. The panellists are Rosie Jolly, Chief Executive Officer of SEN Together; Maggie O’Carroll, Chief Executive Officer of The Women’s Organisation; Jenny Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of Liverpool & Sefton Chambers of Commerce; and Frank McKenna, Chief Executive of Downtown in Business.

Liverpool Loves is the brainchild of city centre-based events company Orb CIC, who created Liverpool Pride 2010 and is co-creator of the Brazilica Festival.

The festival has a number of key commitments, which are at the forefront of every stage of planning. These include employing locally; contracting local businesses to deliver the event; generating a significant economic impact for Liverpool City Region’s visitor economy; and that all profits will be reinvested into an entrepreneur fund to support aspiring local business people to set up in business.

Festival Director Josh Boyd from Orb CIC commented:

“Liverpool Loves Business is going to be a key event for 2015. It will redefine business events and the programme showcases the rich vibrancy of the City Region’s business community – it will be a business event like no other the city has seen.

“The aim of Liverpool Loves Business is to take delegates through each step of running a business, including start-up, finance, technology and marketing, right through to finding business premises and exporting. The programme will reflect the journey of business. It will give independents, entrepreneurs and SMEs a platform to come together to learn, share their experiences and develop – all with the long-term goal of growing in their respective sectors

“We already have an excellent line-up of industry professionals who are looking forward to advising and encouraging people who are new to the world of business, as well as those who need a helping hand to progress to the next stage of their development. Delegates will also experience a taster of what to expect over the next two days of Liverpool Loves. We will be announcing more guest speakers as the festival nears and I’d urge people to register now for their free place.”

Networking opportunities will be available throughout the day, with a specific area of the Big Top reserved for delegates to meet and conduct business. This will include Let’s Connect between 1.30pm and 3pm, hosted by The Women’s Organisation. It will focus on funding, media and connecting, and the event is open to all.

Liverpool Loves Business will conclude with the Liverpool Loves Festival launch party from 5.30pm.

Register for Liverpool Loves Business at http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/liverpool-loves-business-tickets-15797767548

Liverpool Loves Business is being sponsored by Campanile Hotel Liverpool, which is part of the Louvre Hotels Group, Europe’s second largest hotel group and exhibitor packages and sponsorship opportunities are also available.

Liverpool Loves continues at the Pier Head with Liverpool Loves Ireland on Friday 7 August and Festival Day on Saturday 8 August.

For the latest updates visit www.liverpoolloves.co.uk and they can be followed on Facebook/Liverpool Loves and Twitter @LiverpoolLoves