Liverpool has surely set a great example to the Nation and to Europe in the way in which we are celebrating the Capital of Culture.

At a time when we would like to think that our local economy is booming, we do of course suddenly have the ravages of the economic downturn. It is a difficult time; for many it is stressful and to the younger generation listening to media hype it would seem that we have never before gone through such a time as this.

History of course paints a far more accurate picture and in the last one hundred years we certainly have had economic catastrophes that make today’s downturn look more like a serious blip on the heartbeat of the Nation rather than the rupture of past downturns and recessions.

In the business community everyone is pulling together and it is for Liverpool to set an example to all. We have the capacity to do this and we are a multicultural people rich and diverse and a 50,000 student population that itself contributes much to our local economy.

WHAT’S ONLIVERPOOL PEOPLETALK OF THE TOWNSTREET STYLEPROPERTY REVIEWFASHION

Richness and diversity of character is a hallmark of Liverpool and a means too of showing the wider world how we must all strive to work, live and socialise together – doing so to the common good.

On the one hand we see this reflected in the very successful Beijing Olympics. Ha-ha – when we started we were rather low down on the league table and I well remember a news commentator remarking that we did not expect to be up with the likes of China and the USA. A week later we find ourselves occupying the coveted fourth place and we have demonstrated to the world that in matters nautical, Britannia does indeed still rule the waves, as well as our successes on the track, cycle and field events, even if Britannia has been removed without consent of the people from our coinage. But I guess we must move on.

On the other hand we have seen the grim reminder that being in the 21st Century does not mean that we have said goodbye to traditional warfare between established nations. Diplomatic language has shown only too well just how

EDITOR’S WORDFOOD & DRINKREVIEWSBEAUTYHEALTHGAY

high the stakes are as each side postures over Georgia, Ossetia and Poland.

At home we see considerable success in the GCSE Examination results, and is a timely reminder to employers that our young people are not gaining such good marks because exams are easier. So we salute all of our young people and urge you all to continue to strive to do your best, for you are all our future.

There is much work to be done by all of us, whether it is Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, Business Connect 08, individual shops and businesses or the High Street stores and chains. We have a task – to put right the economy and bring about an upturn.

We can and will do it!

Kenneth T WebbThe Editor

HISTORYCULTUREMUSICMARITIMEMILITARYSPORT

Liverpool CITYLIFE Magazine PAGE 03

Liverpool has surely set a great example to the Richness and diversity of character is a hallmark high the stakes are as each side postures over

EDITOR’SWORD

Contents 3 EDITOR’S WORD4 MARITIME SCENE5 BUSINESS6 LEGAL7 FASHION8 COMING ALONGSIDE9 EDUCATION10 MILITARY SECTION11 ADVERTISING GUIDE

What’s to Come... ...

LIVERPOOL

MAGAZINECITYLIFE

printed by SOLOPRESS

We hope you enjoy this Teaser Issue and that you look forward to the fi rst monthly issue in September.

CONVEYANCING LAW

Buying is both an exciting and stressful time

in your life. For the majority of people buying a

house represents the largest item of borrowing

and expenditure they have ever had to incur. The

prospect of a new home can seem daunting and a

buyer will be told at an early stage that they need

to engage a solicitor as soon as their offer on a

property is accepted. It is often a good policy to

try and find someone who comes recommended,

as your solicitor will have a considerable influence

on the smoothness of the purchase.

Whilst it is true that costs can vary substantially you

should try to find out what is included in any initial

quotation as some solicitors may not detail costs

of the searches and other items such as a Land

Registry fee. You should also choose a solicitor

you believe you can work with, and communicate

with you, in the way you would prefer.

Whilst factory or call centre type conveyancing

may suit some buyers, others prefer to have direct

contact with one person who can liaise with them

directly for the duration of their house purchase.

Many solicitors will also communicate by email,

nowadays.

One of the initial questions asked by a buyer is

how long? Timescales are always notoriously

difficult to predict at the outset because they are

dependant upon so many variables. For example,

there may just be a short chain for some matters

whereas with others there may be a long chain

of people and any ultimate agreed completion

date has to be synchronised with all parties in the

chain. Likewise most, if not all, people within the

chain will require a mortgage and the delay on the

part of any of the lenders in issuing a Mortgage

Offer can seriously affect the timescale within the

chain.

The solicitor will be in charge of:

• investigating the legal title to the

property

• approving and possibly amending the

seller’s Contract

• submitting Local Authority and other

searches unless these are contained

within a Home Information Pack

• dealing with exchange of Contracts

• completion of the transaction

• paying the Stamp Duty Land Tax

• completing the relevant Tax Return

• registering the title after completion

• dealing with any miscellaneous

matters that arise.

In many instances a solicitor also represents the

Mortgage Lender.

Solicitors investigate legal title to the property

in accordance with long established legal

principles together with a list of requirements

contained within the Council of Mortgage Lenders

Handbook.

From a buyer’s point of view it may seem on

occasions that their solicitor may be unnecessarily

pedantic but this is often simply because all the

requirements of the lender have to be addressed

fully and to the solicitor’s satisfaction.

A buyer must remember that ultimately it is the

solicitor who bears the liability of certifying that

title to the property is good and marketable

and asking the lender to release the mortgage

advance funds. It is therefore an onerous and

responsible task and should be appreciated by

both the buyer and all Estate Agents within the

relevant chain.

Exchange of Contracts

By way of guidance for a buyer, it is fair to say

that the average transaction completes within 6

to 12 weeks during which time your solicitor will

liaise with the various parties in the chain and

the Estate Agents on the buyer’s behalf. In an

ideal world Contracts are exchanged so that the

transactions within the chain are legally binding,

some time prior to completion.

Completion

Completion involves sending the purchase

monies to your seller’s solicitors on completion

day so that you can collect your keys and move

into the property. There are times however when

exchange of Contracts is simply not possible for a

variety of reasons and exchange and completion

occur simultaneously, although this is not ideal and

leaves an element of uncertainty within the chain

right up until the last minute.

Completion Statement

Before the day agreed for completion your solicitor

will prepare a statement detailing the purchase

price and other disbursements to be incurred

(search fees etc). The statement will then reflect

any money you have already paid your solicitor

and request a balance of money due from the

buyer before completion.

Post Completion

Following completion the solicitor will deal with

payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax and registration

of the buyer’s ownership at the Land Registry.

The solicitor’s work is not completed until such

time as the client is registered as the new owner,

any mortgage is registered against the property

and the solicitor has ultimately reported to both

the client and lender. This takes some time after

the buyer has moved.

Wills

Finally, whilst it is probably the last thing on a

buyer’s mind after completion of a purchase,

each property owner should consider making a

Will or updating any existing Will. The majority of

buyers will have taken out Life Assurance so that

in the event of their death the mortgage will be

repaid and the buyer’s estate will own an asset.

It is therefore prudent to make a Will appointing

Executors and naming those whom a buyer would

wish to benefit in the event of their death.

Helena Mitchinson, Partner

Gregory Abrams Davidson Solicitors

For more info visit www.gadllp.co.uk

Liverpool CITYLIFE Magazine PAGE 06

CONVEYANCING LAW

Buying is both an exciting and stressful time • paying the Stamp Duty Land Tax• paying the Stamp Duty Land Tax

LEGALSECTION By Helena Mitchinson

FASHIONSECTION by Donna McCourt

RECYCLED RECHICRecycle Rechic Fashion Show... the hottest and greenest fashion show in Liverpool!

The Metquarter hosted an absolutely fabulous and very green event last month. Presented by Entourage, with support from The Delivery Practice, the show made us all think twice about recycling our empties as well as our wardrobes.

Donna McCourt from Entourage explains the idea behind Recycle Rechic: “We wanted to give Liverpool’s most innovative designers the opportunity to showcase their skills and creativity and, let’s face it, nothing is recycled more than fashion!”

Each of the 5 design teams were given clothes and materials donated by the public and challenged to create 4 outfits to form part of the fashion show. The outfits were categorised by a male suit, designers choice, sportswear and a couture inspired gown.

They had 3 weeks to design and make the outfits. Each were assigned one male and female model.

Metquarter retailers also showcased Autumn/Winter collections. Of course no fashion show is complete without shoes and these were provided by Kate Kuba.Absolutely Fabulous is the only way to describe what followed.

Design team 1: Helen Brown, Browns Boutique

Helen Brown is Liverpool’s newest and as yet undiscovered designer. With a boutique opening in Southport in the Fall, the designer has never been in more demand. Helen says: “My designs are unique as I bring a personal touch to each and every piece...this is such a perfect event for me and I had so much fun making the outfits.” Helen’s new venture, Browns Boutique will host new Liverpool designers and include womenswear, menswear and accessories to offer the complete and most exclusive service.

Design team 2: Sara Li-Chou Han

Sara’s team consisted of an excellent mix of creative talents from the Liverpool fashion scene. Heading up the team was Sara, a freelance stylist and designer as well as running her own avant-garde women’s wear label.

Katy Rees of Unity Designs provided her own unique customisations with Swarovski crystals, graphic stencilling and airbrushing. Katy worked on the sportswear and couture outfits to add some ‘bling’ to the evening. Recent JMU Graduate, Sarah McGranaghan has been an integral part of the team, creating a sportswear textile and couture bag. While JMU students Matt Hughes and Sharon Fernandez helped with the hand sewing and styling.

Design team 3: Naomi Williams

A recent graduate of Thames Valley University, Liverpool born Naomi was a finalist in a competition which showcased her work at a catwalk installation and is to be published in a book on contemporary illustration.

As Naomi so beautifully put it: “I loved being involved in this particular show as I specialise in printed textiles and fashion illustration and it allowed me to be seen by my home town. I also use modelling and draping techniques within my work and like to create unique, visually exciting pieces; my couture outfit was inspired by Galliano for Dior as he is one of my favourite designers.”

Design team 4: Liverpool John Moore Students

The best the university has to offer, Amie Price studying fashion, Amie has enjoyed work experience with Warehouse in London in their design studio and had one of her fashion styling photographs printed in Graduate Fashion Week’s Daily Gossip Magazine.

Amie bubbles: “You know my proudest achievement

was winning the fashion category in the Northern Design

Competition for one of my dresses, which concluded in

£1000 prize money, my dress being exhibited in Aqua

Couture in Leeds with a view to selling my collection in

the same boutique. I firmly believe that Liverpool has so

much creative talent and I am so grateful to this show

and its organisers to finally let us be heard!”

Amie has also drafted in Highschool friend and fellow

fashion student Laura Mees-Harris.

Design team 5: AllyMac

Representing the Wirral and indeed the winners of

the competition we have AllyMac along with Neil Paul

Cooper. AllyMac has clients who come over from

France to get their outfits designed and made just the

way they want them.

Ally said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for us to

work together and create something totally unique and

inspiring. Recycling old into new is what the fashion

industry has been doing for years and it’s about time

we followed suit! We were thrilled to be a part of this,

the hottest recycling show this year, and to win the

competition was truly amazing.”

The Judges. The most prominent and important people

of the evening, each experts in their field:

• Gordon Webber, head buyer at Drome Couture

• Katy O’Grady from Project Catwalk

• Gary Millar Fashionista, from Parr St Studios

Gordon: “AllyMac’s designs were outstanding and

through tough competition she was the deserved

winner.”

Katy: “I was so excited to be on the other end of the

judging. I know how difficult it is to work under extreme

pressure and in difficult circumstances with limited

materials. What the designers produced was simply

extraordinary!”

Gary: “This was a fabulous idea to get the general

public thinking so positively about recycling, it’s such an

important issue and we all have our part to play.”

The night was enjoyed by all and even editor Ken Webb

had his part to play, as well as winning the tailored shirt

by Gieves & Hawks in the raffle (honestly it wasn’t a fix!)

Ken was delighted to see some of his clothes which he

kindly donated, Recycled and Rechic’d on the catwalk!

For more information on Entourage’s next event, fashion

shows or to get involved in Recycle Rechic please

contact Donna on 07824 629 214 or visit the website

www.entouragepr.co.uk.

Liverpool CITYLIFE Magazine PAGE 07

CITYPEOPLE

It’s an exciting time for our City, as we see once again the return of what we used to call the great liners coming alongside at Pier Head and down towards Princes Dock. Quite an achievement too. For it surely marks the return of this world famous maritime city and people to the global role it has occupied for more than three centuries.

Being a southerner but with northern roots through my Mum who hails from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, when I arrived here on 1 June 2003 I didn’t know quite what to expect. And as I started to see the signs for Liverpool on the M6 I sensed excitement. But why? I was just starting another 3-month locum post and would then move on again. Not this time. By the next morning I had decided that my roots were here in Liverpool, with the ships, the sea, the river and most important of all, you people. And I tell you this. You’ve got something to be proud of too. Your fierce independence, your loyalty, your resolve, your refusal to give in, and the very evidence before us now of what the City Fathers might surely have said, well 2008 is merely the continuation of what we have always done anyway.

A couple of years ago I was chatting to someone at some function, and we were talking, as we do in this city, of how to make something work even though it might take some time. I hadn’t really thought about it, but I suddenly said what to me seemed obvious but which to the guy I was chatting to seemed to be something really rather new! Come On! Lets go for it. When they laid the foundation stone of the Anglican Cathedral in 1903, every one of those men, architects, builders, artisans, the lot; all of ‘em knew that they would never see what you and I take for granted, the finished product in all its splendour even though we’ve only just finished it this year, 100 years later!

Scousers have great faith, great determination and are, not to make too fine a point, what I used to hear uttered about northern people anyway when I was at school down in Cheltenham – they

are the back bone of England. And I think I picked that up in those first hours of my new life up here. Everything came up lock, stock, and barrel. Now I cannot even think like a southerner. I’m first and foremost a Liverpool man though I would never dare say I was Liverpudlian, let alone a scouser. But what a community to live in, work with and be part of. What a city to wake up to each morning. What a wonderful sound each night to hear the great horns as they sound across the Mersey

to announce the arrival or departure of another liner; or in the winter months that rather warm sound of the bell sounding out in the fog.

This is the very tissue and fibre of our soul in this City. Let’s be proud and walk tall. Whether we be red or blue, army or navy, air force or marine; whether we be the emergency services, the police or community support, or whether we be sorting out the car parking or the trains or seeing people on and off ships in the Mersey or Planes at JLA, we mean business. We’re a compassionate people, we drive loads up the wall, and we warm the hearts of millions more.

Mind you, with my police, air force, and legal careers as well as writing the law column for the internationally acclaimed GT Journal, I do like to do what you are good at – be controversial sometimes, for whom I thank its vibrant Editor Joe Galliano in London as he pushes the boundaries still more. It’s been a privilege to be part of that team for a while. There have been many hard and difficult times over the years, but it is in Liverpool that everyone said, when I finally

got out of that accursed closet, so what? You’re as normal as we are. You just have a different bent on life! Typically scouse! And I thought, my God, what a people, what a community, what a demonstration of what we so often like to hear when we go to our great cathedrals on Christmas Eve and Easter Day.

And so, continuing with my controversial streak, I’ll end by saying this. All of us without exception rue the day the City Fathers ever took that evil decision to make the slave trade their major income. But that is now a bygone age. Let us push away all this stupid talk about formal apologies and the like; for as a lawyer I tell you this in no uncertain terms. There are people in my profession who will be only too happy to then take it one step further and start on the road of the ubiquitous compensation claim.

Being proud of our past also means being rightly ashamed of the terrible things we did. Liverpool is damned good at that.

So as a maritime people come alongside once again, and feel the bracing sea air off the Irish Sea and remember that we most surely are a Maritime People once again in the ascendancy.

Liverpool CITYLIFE Magazine PAGE 08

COMING ALONGSIDE

MILITARYSECTION by Kenneth T Webb

THE PEOPLE OF LIVERPOOL

All over the City we will have seen the billboards depicting a figure in the form of thousands of red poppies and as we go to press we are preparing to commemorate the fallen not only in the two World Wars, but perhaps rather more poignantly this year, to remember all those men and women on active service who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Kosovo and Bosnia, the Falklands, Northern Ireland, and the many other wars and insurrections that we have, as a nation, found it not only necessary but also our duty to combat. Do not always listen to the media. I tell from experience, that many of the people of these benighted countries are only too grateful and thankful for all our armed forces do in the name of freedom and democracy. The cost is immeasurable.

Occasionally I hear a cryptic comment from some one who has more mouth than sense rabbiting on about how we shouldn’t be involved. The other day I was saddened to hear someone slated because he was only a reservist; “not the real thing, I’ll have you know!” I wondered what my Uncles would have thought had their reserve status in the Royal Air Force somehow rendered them second class citizens. On the contrary it was a matter of immense pride to wear on the uniform the coveted gold brooch on each lapel “VR” – Volunteer Reserve.

Those two chaps I never met because they died long before I was born, killed on active service. How proud I am that I too wore those letters on my uniform, albeit now retired since 1991. Two generations of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. I think that many readers will of course be only too well aware of the tremendous service our volunteer reserve forces, the Territorial Army, the Royal Navy Reserve and the RAF VR all play in support of the regular armed forces.

It is too easy these days to be desensitised by violence on the screen whether in our front rooms or at the cinema or alas on our mobile phones.

But the trauma of losing one’s loved one is not over in a couple of episodes; not lost in a moment, or ending like some fairy tale. In reality, when our troops are killed, yes killed, there is an entire community of people that is wrecked for a lifetime, spreading out from wife, husband, sweetheart, partner, lover, son, daughter, brother, sister, friend and neighbour. It never goes away. And even 60 years on, the fallen are as vivid today as they were yesterday.

It is why we utter those memorable words on the Armistice and which I confess never fails to bring a lump to my throat.

We will remember them

All of us at Liverpool CityLife Magazine are immensely proud of the work and sacrifice, and the selfless duty of all our armed forces and we

Liverpool CITYLIFE Magazine PAGE 10