How-Do Weekly Wrap - 18 April 2008 - Chris Wermann - North West Media News

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How-Do Weekly Wrap - 18 April 2008 - Chris Wermann

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Friday, 18 April 2008

Welcome to the weekly Wrap from How-Do - media news for the North West.

The Wrap's guest editor this week is Chris Wermann

New branding for Oldham , Media City UK recruiting for an in-house marcomms team and Bauer extending its recruitment initiative from Key103 to Rock FM and Radio City .

The weekly updates and news from How-Do (and its new TV site) is hugely up-beat and vibrant as the North West continues to step up a gear as it prepares for the BBC’s new investment into the region.

As corporate communications director for Kellogg’s based in Old Trafford, I’ve taken on an additional role leading communications with a growing coalition of businesses called the Greater Manchester Momentum Group. The aim is to stop the impending congestion charge, which could have a major impact on all of these exciting developments for the region.

Amazingly, having spoken to the media and PRs in the region, the charge seems to be a big secret. How can this be when there is such a large communications network working within the congestion zone including the BBC, Granada and so many PR and creative agencies?

The proposed charge from 2012 is £5 a day to commute in your car into and out of the city. Do we need to tackle congestion? Absolutely. Do we need to tackle the implications of congestion on the environment? Absolutely. Do we need a charge equating to £1200 out of net salary every year (and looking at London this is just the starting point), on top of car tax, petrol tax and council tax? Absolutely not.

We need to urgently review the Greater Manchester plans, which will eventually be revealed in the summer and look for a different infrastructure and a different financing mechanism.

Or risk Manchester becoming a ghost town for the media industry, which could work just as well out of other Northern cities or even worse the South! Let’s all get up to speed on what will impact on us all and ensure the exciting investments being recognised on How-Do become a reality.

To join the campaign go to www.gmmgroup.co.uk

Chris Wermann is Kellogg’s communications director. UK and Northern Europe

On How-Do this week:

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Comments (6)

1 By Matthew Sutcliffe , on 18-04-2008 10:52
Let's stop talking about the 'congestion charge' and start talking about the transport plan, worth £3 billion, of which the charge is but one element. Let's also talk about the very strong signals from the government that congestion charges are on the way, no matter what we might prefer, so we might as well steal a march on our competitor cities. Seizing the innitiative - isn't that what Manchester is all about? Let's also talk about what will really stiffle Manchester's businesses in the future - crippling gridlock caused by rising car usage and a failure to unlock investment in public transport. Every transport expert in the world knows this - the problem is that for decades we've refused to listen to them. It seems that some people still want to keep their heads in the sand.

Lastly, while the transport plan is a legitimate - indeed, vital - area for debate, is it appropriate for Chris Werrmann to use his guest editor column in How-Do to air views that frankly are not supported by a lot of people? Tell us something useful about the industry, Chris, and write about the transport plans somewhere else.

Matthew Sutcliffe
Communications Manager
Mersey Basin Campaign

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2 By Alan Salter , on 18-04-2008 11:36
I don’t want to be an apologist for congestion charging...and I will be interviewing Chris next week.

But it will only be £5 a day if you travel inbound between 7 and 9.30am and out again between 4 and 6.30pm. The rest of the day will be free.

I do agree though that it is a missed opportunity to give something back on fuel or excise duty. I think the opponents would have more success campaigning on that.

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3 By Peter Roberts , on 19-04-2008 01:26
Only £5.00 a day then?

Only £1,200 a year out of the average workers pocket?

For a start, there is no way the figures add up at £5, it will be at least £7 when introduced. The interest alone is something like £90 million a year, and then add £60 million for the capital payment. At todays traffic levels, there will be something like a £28 million shortfall each year.

Congestion will not decrease; it is worse in London today than before the charge was introduced.

Only £5 a day - eh? Where do the likes of Alan Salter sitting smugly think the £1,200 a year for the average worker is going to come from? This £1,200 is from already highly taxed salaries and will force a lot of people into financial hardship.

Another £120 a month – for what? If people choose to leave their cars and take a bus, they will pay at least £550 a year in additional fares.

If they stop using their cars and take the bus, the income from the congestion charge reduces even further. It is designed to fail, otherwise it could not and would not pay for itself.

It beggars belief that we have such short sighted people prepared to mortgage the future of Greater Manchester on an experimental one off hit to improve the buses. What happens in ten years time when they are all worn out? There is not another £3bn coming, as most of the original loan will remain unpaid.

Let’s get real and look at the commercial and personal damage this greedy scheme will do.

Well done the GMMG for having the courage to stand and fight this undemocratic and financially inept congestion charge. Eventually, the truth will prevail and people will see this for what it really is, another stealth tax to bail out a bankrupt and corrupt administration.

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4 By Anon, on 19-04-2008 10:19
just deeply disappointed that you could let this inaccurate piece of propaganda grace what has been up till now a neat snapshot of the
sector's thinking.

You will pay the charge a) if you don't use the public system [after £3billion investment], cycle or walk b) if you travel through 2 zones to get to work c) if you travel in the rush hour. Road charging is coming in nationally and we'll benefit by being ahead of the curve and getting that transport investment in.

Shoddy panic-mongering from a discredited lobby group.

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5 By Peter Roberts , on 19-04-2008 12:30
"Shoddy panic-mongering" And this from someone who does not even have the courage to leave their name - Anon?

Facts:
1, The £1.8 Billion loan has to be paid back. This money will come from the local economy.

2, If car drivers take the bus, they pay a fare which costs more than using the car. Most people will pay more than today.

3, If the scheme works and reduces car use, there will be no money coming in to pay the loan, or for your shiny new buses.

4, Anyone who thinks making it far more expensive to reach the economic heart of a city encourages growth is delusional. The London experience shows significant job losses and business failures. Manchester will suffer far more, and once in place, it is irreversible.

Supporters of Congestion Charging cannot see past fleets of buses and trains. It seems they are blind to the economics of adding cost to business and individuals. Lower costs mean competitiveness and success. Higher costs lead to stagnation and failure. This congestion charge will increase costs in Greater Manchester significantly, taking thousands of pounds from families disposable incomes. If a family pays £1,200 to get to work, they do not have it for the mortgage or holiday or even food in some cases.

The congestion charge is about greed from fat cats in authority who squander the billions in tax already stolen from hard working families. If we carry on this way, there will be revolution in this country.

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6 By Steven Smith, on 19-04-2008 17:04
I think Anon's main point was the same as Mr Sutcliffe's. Namely, that using HowDo's weekly wrap as a soapbox for Congestion charge campaigning isn't exactly the done thing.

It's meant to be a round-up of the weekly news in media and marketing, to give people a flavour of what's been happening and draw them to the site.

Mr Wermann's basically completely abused his privilege by using it for his own political views.

No matter what the pros and cons of the proposed charge are he should find somewhere more appropriate to do his campaigning.

What next I wonder - GMMG's arguments appearing on the back of every packet of Coco Pops?

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