BUSINESSES in St Helens are being urged to take part in a major international business event that is coming to the town’s doorstep later this year.

The International Festival for Business, which coming to Liverpool in June and July, aims to showcase British industries and help connect with new markets and partners from across the globe.

To be part of the festival companies are invited to register with the newly-launched IBF Business Club to gain access to a range of facilities.

Members will have access to the Trade & Investment IFB Hub, which will be located on Mann Island, on Liverpool’s waterfront and will be able to interact with other businesses from across the country and overseas and with specialists in particular sectors and markets.

A range of advisors will be present at the festival, from bodies including UK Trade & Investment, the CBI, British Chambers of Commerce, the manufacturers’ organisation EEF and the Federation of Small Businesses.

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said: “At the heart of our vision for the festival was how businesses from across Liverpool city region and the UK could benefit from a 50-day festival with a truly international scope.

“It is the IFB Hub that realises this ambition and the IFB Business Club is the essence of the festival, through which all businesses, large and small, can move to the next level.”

Additionally, the town will play host to one of 15 planned events of the International Festival for Business to be held across the Liverpool City Region and overseas.

Taking place at the World of Glass on July 7, the one day-event is a UK Trade & Investment session specialising in advanced manufacturing, looking to match products and services of UK businesses with the needs of overseas buyers, as well as to investigate the opportunities for overseas businesses to invest in the UK.

“The IFB Hub is 20 minutes from St Helens, and the world will be coming to Liverpool and on local businesses’ doorstep,” said Jonathan Casswell, head of public relations at Liverpool Vision & Marketing Liverpool.