Work has officially started on site as part of plans to transform Liverpool's former Littlewoods building into a world-class film and TV campus.
Developers Capital&Centric have begun work to prep the 1930s Edge Lane icon for restoration. They're working with Liverpool City Council as freeholder of the site and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as funders.
The team gathered on site with Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, to celebrate the major milestone, with the Littlewoods Project planned to cement the city's reputation as an international hub for film and TV production.
Developers Capital&Centric have begun work to prep the 1930s Edge Lane icon for restoration. They're working with Liverpool City Council as freeholder of the site and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as funders.
The team gathered on site with Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, to celebrate the major milestone, with the Littlewoods Project planned to cement the city's reputation as an international hub for film and TV production.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Work has officially started on site as part of plans to transform Liverpool's former Littlewoods
00:06 building into a world-class film and TV campus.
00:11 "16 million people drive past the building every year into the city. At the moment, they've
00:17 had two decades of looking at an eyesore. Today's the first day in 20 years that the
00:22 building's going to have the care and attention it needs to bring it back into economic gain
00:28 and to bring it back to restore it to its former glory."
00:32 Developers Capital and Centric have begun work to prep the 1930s Ayrshire Lane icon
00:37 for restoration. They're working with the Liverpool City Council as freeholder of the
00:41 site and the region's combined authority as funders.
00:46 "Look, you have to be dogged, don't you? When something doesn't happen the first time, you
00:51 can just walk away from those things and think, 'Oh, well, this is never going to happen.'
00:54 And we've had a few of those difficult periods, but we've stuck with it. And it's really good
00:59 to have a partner who now really wants the same things as what we want and has a vision
01:06 for a brilliant and iconic building. You know, this is an Art Deco building and we want to
01:11 bring it back to its former glory, but with a different usage. And there were thousands
01:15 of people who've worked here and they will love to see this return to its greatness.
01:21 So that's what it's all been about. But it has to be a business case. And that business
01:25 case has been difficult at times, but we've now got there, we've got the funding in place
01:30 and work is actually beginning. It's not a dream anymore, it's a reality."
01:35 The first step, expected to run until next summer, will be a comprehensive strip out
01:39 of the buildings, securing their structural integrity.
01:42 "It'll complete in phases because the new build element, which is the studios to the
01:46 east of the building, they'll come forward first because it'll be quicker to construct.
01:51 So they'll finish in the first quarter of 2025 and then the buildings will complete
01:57 the year after."
01:58 "We've just won BFI funding to develop skills and the ambition over the next three years
02:05 while we wait for this scheme to be ready is to develop a diverse and more inclusive
02:11 screen workforce locally, providing opportunities for people who want to enter the industry,
02:17 get them into the industry and then onwards and upwards. We've piloted a few cohorts,
02:25 we worked with a group of long-term unemployed and their first paid job was the Taylor Swift
02:30 pop promo. The second one was an Amazon Studios feature film with Idris Elba. So that's the
02:36 quality of production that's being made in Liverpool. And those credits and those opportunities
02:43 will make those CVs stand out more than any others and that's the thing that I'm most
02:48 excited about."
02:49 There are also plans to make the building more accessible to surrounding communities,
02:54 with the former canteen to be transformed into a multi-purpose screening and performance
02:58 zone open up to the public out of hours.