Member Article

The car's the star as BAC Mono wows them in Cannes

Superstars of the silver screen are the usual head-turners in Cannes on the French Riviera, but Liverpool’s supercar has been the focus for cameras at the world’s biggest property and investment showcase.

The BAC Mono, the world’s fastest road legal single seat sports car, has generated great interest in the Liverpool stand at MIPIM (Marché International des Professionels d’Immobilier) where the city is being promoted as a leading investment and development destination.

The car, which carries the city’s branding, has been used to draw delegates to the stand to find out more about Liverpool, but has resulted in some hot sales leads for the Speke-based company.

Ian Briggs, design director and co-founder of the Briggs Automotive Company, said: “The primary reason for us to come was to show our support to Liverpool who have shown great faith in us through the Mayoral investment scheme and Liverpool Vision.

“But the car has had so much reaction and we have had so many test drives booked that MIPIM could prove to be a good source of sales too.

“I have people from Gibraltar, Belgium and the Middle East who have expressed a strong enough interest to ask if they can come to the factory and have a test drive which will bring them to Liverpool.

“Thousands of pictures have been taken and that’s why we put the website on the car as well and looking at Google Analytics we can see the peaks - people going home, showing friends at bars, they zoom in, see the logo and go to the site which can translate into a sale.”

This year the company aims to build 30 cars either as a whole or as Complete Knock Down (CKD) kits for the American market and will increase by 30 each year over the next five years as it grows its staff numbers, currently at 14.

Mr Briggs is confident that the city and his company can combine again to mutual benefit: “I think this co-operation between Liverpool and Mono can be fantastic for both, because as Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said, people are going to see the car all over the world and associate it with Liverpool. I also want people to think of Mono when they hear Liverpool, like they do with football and music.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .