HUB Festival 2011 It’s Sound!

HUB Festival is back for 2011 and will be bigger and better than ever thanks to a brand new partnership.  Liverpool City Council has joined forces with Liverpool Sound City to attract the UK’s hottest up and coming bands who will wow the festival-goers. So now, not only will there be the usual mix of awe inspiring BMX, skater and boarder tricks on display, but there’ll be a fantastic soundtrack to go with it!

The event, which takes place on 21 May and 22 May 2011, will play host to a brand new Liverpool Sound City Stage, where the award winning Funeral For a Friend will headline the festival along with The Blackout. Young Guns, Mayday Parade and We are in the Crowd will also be playing throughout the weekend; all who have thousands of fans on their Facebook pages.  And organisers are on the hunt for the city’s future music stars to help rock the Otterspool Prom venue. Local bands are being given the opportunity to win a place in the line-up; all they have to do is go to:- hubfestival.co.uk, upload a sample of their music and fill in the online application. A panel of local music industry professionals will draw up a shortlist and festival goers will be asked to online and vote for their favourite.

Dave Pichilingi, founder and Director of Liverpool Sound City, said:- “We are over the moon to be working in partnership with HUB and we’re delighted to be bringing such big artists to the HUB stage for the first time ever. Liverpool Sound City and HUB are two of the greatest events of their kind in the UK. It makes absolute sense for us to work together in this innovative way."

Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for culture and tourism, Councillor Wendy Simon, said:- “This is HUB’s ninth year, and it’s getting more and more popular.  Because of the high-calibre of headline acts, for the first time there is a small charge of £5 for a single day ticket or £8 for the two days, but I’m sure young people and their families will be happy to pay this for an adrenalin-fuelled, action-packed day out.  There are 8,000 tickets available for each of the two days and the fantastic value of the tickets, along with the line-up of national artists, will guarantee the new look HUB Festival will be a sell out!”

And, it’s not just about the music – BMX legend Jerry Galley, skateboard gurus Pete King, Chris Oliver and Rodney Clarke and pro BMX rider Bas Keep will be showcasing their skills throughout the weekend. 

Boarders, skaters and BMX-ers are all encouraged to show off their skills on the gravity defying vertical ramp, that is the largest in Europe at 13.5 foot tall.

There will also be competitions across the weekend giving visitors the chance to win thousands of pounds worth of cash and merchandise from some of the coolest urban brands from Vans, Quicksilver and Etnies.

Dave Pichilingi, founder and Director of Liverpool Sound City, said:- “We are over the moon to be working in partnership with HUB and we’re delighted to be bringing such big artists to the HUB stage for the first time ever.  Liverpool Sound City and HUB are 2 of the greatest events of their kind in the UK. It makes absolute sense for us to work together in this innovative way.  To coincide with this we will also be launching a joint HUB and Liverpool Sound City 14+ Wristband. This will get you access to the whole HUB weekend plus all the 14+ shows taking place at Sound City.”

Festival goers are encouraged to bring picnics and camping chairs for a weekend of extreme rides and BMX stunts.

There will also be dance offs between Bboys and Bgirls from across the globe who will battle it out to win the title of ‘International Break Dance Crew’ in the UK’s largest outdoor international break dance competition.

Tickets will be available from 9am, on Friday, 25 February 2011... visit:- hubfestival.co.uk or book them through:- ticketweb.co.uk.

Firms told to double the number of women on boards by 2013 or face government measures

LORD Davies delivered his report this is now in public view and in it he urged the FTSE350 companies to boost the number of women at the board table to 20% by 2013 and 25% by 2015. But as expected he stopped short of quotas, unless the voluntary measures fail.  Additionally, Lord Davies called on chairmen to announce in the next 6 months their goals “to ensure that more talented and gifted women” get top jobs.

Carmen Watson, one of the UK’s most successful female business leaders as Managing Director of Pertemps Recruitment Partnership, a £280m turn over business and one of the UK’S largest independent recruitment agencies said:- “Drawing on my years of experience as a senior director of the UK’s largest independent recruitment company, I do not feel that boardroom quotas are the solution. Quotas are not inherently good because both men and women on boards both need to feel that the women have earned their way to the top. It is counterproductive if women are put on boards just to fill quotas, as the impact they will have on major company decisions to help shape and form company policy, will be diminished. That said, businesses should be held accountable for setting targets which are achievable and realistic for the marketplace in which they are operating. They then need to create frameworks and infrastructures which will help nurture and develop top female talent. Although women make up half of the population and more than half of university graduates, they remain woefully under-represented at board level. What is needed is cultural change, which fosters the leadership development of women in middle management, not quotas, ratios or tokenism. Flexibility allows firms to set targets that reflect the realities of their market place, and is more effective. The real solution lies within companies, shareholders, the government and the recruitment profession working together to deliver the changes that will help women to achieve these board-level positions. Businesses which have diverse boardrooms are more empowered to serve diverse markets across a wide variety of sectors. Boardroom diversity is no longer an option but a critical part of the growth strategy of many businesses in order to remain competitive both in the UK and abroad."

Lord Davies of Abersoch in a press statment, said that:- “Over the past 25 years the number of women in full-time employment has increased by more than a third and there have been many steps towards gender equality in the workplace, with flexible working and the Equal Pay Act, however, there is still a long way to go. Currently 18 FTSE 100 companies have no female directors at all and nearly half of all FTSE 250 companies do not have a woman in the boardroom. Radical change is needed in the mindset of the business community if we are to implement the scale of change that is needed. This is not about aiming for a specific figure and is not just about promoting equal opportunities but it is about improving business performance. There is growing evidence to show that diverse boards are better boards, delivering financial out-performance and stock market growth. I have been pleased to see the huge amount of interest that this review has sparked both from individual businesses and industry groups. I hope that the recommendations I am announcing today will mark the beginning of a step-change so that more of our talented women get seats on our top boards.”

The report also calls upon The Financial Reporting Council to amend the UK Corporate Governance Code to require listed companies to establish a policy concerning boardroom diversity.

This should include how they would implement such a policy, and disclose annually a summary the progress made.

In his report Lord Davies also recommends:-

► Investors should pay close attention to the recommendations from the report when considering re-appointments to a company board;

► Companies should periodically advertise non-executive board positions to encourage greater diversity in applications;

► Headhunting firms should draw up a voluntary code of practice addressing gender diversity in relation to board level appointments to FTSE 350 companies.

Research from Cranfield University has highlighted a lack of female directors in Britain’s top businesses, with women making up only 12.5% of directors if the FTSE 100 companies in 2010. The FTSE 250 companies have even lower proportion of female directors at 7.8%, and nearly half of them do not have any women in the boardroom.     So what do you our readers think about this?  Do you think it is a good idea or not to push women in this way?  Email your views to news24@southportreporter.com and let us know what you think.