City welcomes high-tech delegation from Finland
A team of digital media entrepreneurs from Finland is visiting Liverpool as the city continues its bid to win more hi-tech investment.
The Helsinki delegation is today on the final day of its three-day visit, which has taken in landmarks including Liverpool Science Park and Liverpool Innovation Park.
The tour, backed by regeneration body Liverpool Vision, is part of a project by Finnish state-sponsored venture capital organisation Veraventure.
Delegates included Mark Sorsa-Leslie, managing director of web technology firm Hammerkit, and Starcut chief executive and co-founder Juha Tiihonen. Starcut provided coverage of the Beijing Olympics for US broadcaster NBC.
Steve Smith, industry director ICT at Liverpool Vision, said: “Liverpool has evolved significantly in terms of our digital media offering, and this tour proves that we can attract the best companies from Scandinavia.
“This visit represents the first step in creating a strategic bridge to the UK for Finnish technology businesses, helping them to internationalise more effectively.
“We will be working closely with a number of the Finnish companies attending the tour to help them expand into the UK marketplace.”
David Holland, advisory services director at accountancy firm Grant Thornton Liverpool, said: “Finland has given us some of the greatest digital media companies in the world, such as Nokia, and to secure firm links with the country would be a tremendous achievement for the city. Liverpool has expanded so much over recent years, including a huge investment in our retail, leisure and tourism offering, but the city is constantly looking for further ways to increase our international connections and this tour is a perfect example of how the city is moving forward.”
Meanwhile, a delegation from Liverpool’s IT sector will travel to Silicon Valley, California, next month. It will visit technology giant Sun Microsystems to meet Sun founder and chairman Scott McNealy.
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