Member Article

St Helens VEN to champion borough’s thriving businesses

A new network that aims to raise the profile of tourism and leisure businesses within St Helens has been established.

St Helens Visitor Economy Network is the brainchild of Lynn Ben-Yousef, Director of Darkstar Laser, who is urging other neighbouring companies to join forces in a bid to increase visibility for the area within the Liverpool City Region.

Made up of a range of private sector businesses, members of the network will meet regularly with plans to engage and attract visitors to the array of unique offerings that are housed within the town.

Lynn said: “The overall aim of the network is to bring together local businesses to work together to raise the profile of our thriving town within the wider Liverpool City Region, identify our unique offering for the visitor economy and ultimately improve on-going communications between the local council and the businesses within the private sector.“

By meeting regularly, St Helens Visitor Economy Network hopes to identify and demonstrate the financial value of the visitor economy within the area while championing the ‘wonderful borough’.

She added: “At present, I represent St Helens on the Liverpool Visitor Economy Board and I am also a member of the Knowsley Visitor Economy Network so it’s safe to say I am certainly passionate about the area of St Helens and all it has to offer.

“We are one of the most envious locations in the country, surrounded by a fantastic road network in the heart of the North West. This is why we as members of the St Helens Visitor Economy Network think that it’s time that people get off the roads and into our wonderful town.”

Members of the St Helens Visitor Economy Network include Darkstar Laser, The World of Glass, Knowsley Safari Park, The Transport Museum and Haydock Race Course to name a few.

St Helens Council’s portfolio holder for arts and culture, Councillor Jeanie Bell said: “St Helens has so much to shout about on the tourism front. It is home to a wide range of venues and leisure businesses that attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to the borough each year, ranging from large scale events such as Saints and Haydock Racecourse, to the various local and national medium and small scale visitor economy businesses that add so much to the borough’s offer.

“It is great to see so many of these businesses come together to support this ambition and the council will support the Visitor Economy Network, as we look to put St Helens on the map as a place to visit and ensure our voice is heard.“

The next St Helens Visitor Economy Network is set to take place on Thursday, November 17. For more information contact Lynn Ben-Yousef at lynn@darkstarlaser.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Craig Guy .