Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 25th September
Laurence and Ben discussed a landmark Liverpool regeneration scheme, a former Cardiff pub which has been saved from demolition and hear about an Insider breakfast in the Midlands.
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00:00A landmark regeneration project in Liverpool, the future of a former pub building in Cardiff,
00:07and an update from Kurt Jacobs in the Midlands. That's all coming up in today's Business
00:11Briefing.
00:18My name is Lawrence Clughannon.
00:19My name is Ben Butler.
00:20Morning, Ben. So, we'll start in Liverpool, where the Littlewoods building, is that one
00:28you're familiar with?
00:29It is, yes.
00:30Yes, so it's a sort of landmark building on Edge Lane, an arterial road into Liverpool,
00:35and currently derelict. And there's been plans in the works for quite some time to turn it
00:41into a film studio. Very ambitious plans. Anyhow, the plans were submitted in November,
00:49and they've now been recommended for approval by Liverpool City Council's Planning Committee.
00:55They're going to involve creating a sort of reuse of the building, sort of a refurb, adding
01:01a soundstage to make a sort of film studio or TV studio complex.
01:06It's the Hollywood of the North.
01:07Well, that is actually, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has got like a designs
01:13on the region being the Hollywood of the North. And clearly, this massive investment would
01:18be a central part of that. It's being brought forward by Capital and Centric. They're sort
01:24of well-known for social impact development. And as well as the sort of film studio element,
01:33there's also going to be space for education. There's also going to be a bit of space for
01:39food and drink and so on. So, it's going to be really positive for Liverpool once it finally
01:43gets there, because it was delayed.
01:45It's been rumbling on for a while, hasn't it?
01:46Yes, it has, because it was delayed in, I think, 2018 by a fire. They pushed on past that.
01:51Yeah.
01:52And as you know, as someone who's aware of Liverpool, the edge lane area is sort of beyond
01:58the city centre. So, hopefully, it will bring all that investment out towards that way as well.
02:03Boston, what are the next steps for?
02:05Well, I imagine the next crucial step is that the recommendation is followed. And then we
02:11sort of get to work. There has been work going on all the time since it's been taken under
02:16control of Capital and Centric. For instance, the fire damaged the famous clock tower,
02:20which is in the case process of being renovated. So, yes.
02:23Is there a date where they're hoping to complete the project?
02:25I haven't seen that yet. So, having looked at it, it looks like it's quite an undertaking.
02:31So, we'll have to wait and see.
02:32Right.
02:33But sticking with property, I understand you've got news of a pub in Cardiff.
02:37Yes, it's a much-loved, vacant former pub, the Romney Castle.
02:41Right, OK.
02:42So, it's been saved from demolition. Cardiff Council has refused planning
02:48permission for the scheme to redevelop it into housing.
02:53Right, OK. And tell me about this, Ben. Is it like an attractive old building?
02:58Well, it dates back to the 1870s. So, it's an historic building and it's
03:04very popular in the Cardiff area. It's quite an iconic building.
03:09Right, OK. And what was the rationale for sort of refusing permission?
03:13Well, there's been a number of objections to the plans and one of the main concerns was the loss
03:20of an historic building. That was the most prominent concern that came up.
03:26Interesting.
03:27And Cardiff Council also put into place a direction that basically means that the
03:33pub couldn't be demolished. So, the refusal of the planning permission comes in light of that.
03:41I see. OK, well, we promised at the start to hear from
03:45Kurt Jacobs, who's been attending a future funding breakfast. So, over to you, Kurt.
03:50Hi, I'm Kurt Jacobs. I'm the editor of Midlands Business Insider.
03:54And welcome to Birmingham's Think Tank. We've just had a fascinating discussion on the future
04:00of funding, how businesses can grow through sustainable finance. We'll be looking at some
04:06of the things that hold businesses back, but really what the potentials are for sustainable
04:11finance in taking them forward. Let's have a chat to some of our panellists.
04:17Aaron Baker, Investments at BGF. I think we are seeing with the emergence of ESG-focused funds
04:24who have capital to deploy, we are definitely seeing sort of instances where businesses that
04:28are ahead in their ESG agenda are getting a premium on their valuations at present. That's
04:33a product of investors chasing for those sorts of assets, but also because there's capital that
04:38needs to be deployed. I think over time, we will see an ESG agenda or not having the right ESG
04:43policies in place actually being a drag on value, because it will become the norm.
04:47Hi, I'm Theresa Redmead from Brown Jacobson. Sustainable finance is key. You've got
04:54investors and banks are saying that if you do not engage with this agenda,
04:58you're going to find it very hard to access mainstream financing in the next few years,
05:02and it's going to be key to the longevity of businesses going forwards.
05:08I'm Matt Gosling, Director of Sustainable Finance from HSBC. The biggest opportunity,
05:13I think, for small businesses looking at sustainable finance is to see it as an
05:18opportunity for growth and not see it as something separate from the main strategy of their business.
05:22The successful businesses will integrate sustainable finance or sustainability into
05:26their main operations and not see it as an additional part of their operation.
05:31Hi, I'm Amrit Chandan, CEO of Gage19 and Chairman of the ESG Special Interest Group.
05:35For companies which are looking at sustainable finance, I would highly recommend to consider
05:40the business model that they have and whether they can bake into their financial position
05:46the profit that they may have as well alongside the social impact and the environmental impact
05:51that they can have. So if you can get all three in lockstep, then you can have a potentially very
05:56sustainable business which qualifies really nicely for sustainable finance.
06:01Very interesting. Right, well, to read more about the stories that we've been discussing,
06:05go to insidermedia.com. You can also subscribe to our newsletters or our magazines or find out
06:11about upcoming events like the one that Kurt's just been telling us about.
06:15Anyhow, that's everything from us. See you next time.