'White elephant' Littlewoods project 'needs boost'

Merseyside's city region mayor has admitted there is a "viability gap" for one of the area's flagship projects to create a "Hollywood of the North" film studio complex.

The dream for the former home of the Littlewoods Pools on Edge Lane in Liverpool has been on the agenda since 2017, but now its future hangs in the balance.

Steve Rotheram said the landmark site was a literal "white elephant", both due to its colour and the fact it had remained empty for more than 30 years.

He said: "It needs to be turned into something", as Liverpool politicians plan to travel to Downing Street in February to pitch the scheme to government in the hope of winning £50m to bring the scheme to life.

Speaking on BBC Radio Merseyside, Rotheram suggested Liverpool City Council and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority could look to borrow funds to get the project moving.

He said it might be the case that a "cocktail of funding" would be needed.

Rotheram said he had also spoken to the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy about the project.

But he sounded a note of caution as he was aware that other plans for studios elsewhere in the country had not come to fruition.

"Does that mean it makes ours more viable now because you haven't got that competition?," he asked.

"Or is there an issue with studio space that you don't need as many - so we're looking at all of these details."

Work to clear the site and make it safe began in December 2023, with planning permission granted in October 2024.

Two new 20,000 sq ft studio stages are planned to be the first structures to be constructed on the land.

Built in 1938, the Art Deco building was first developed by John Moores as the headquarters for the Littlewoods Football Pools, a business which had 16 million weekly players at its peak - until its closure in November 1994.

It was revealed in August that developer Capital & Centric (C&C) had entered into discussions about funding for the project with the government.

But the firm said last summer how the cost of delivering the project "in the current climate exceeds the value of the completed development".

Rotheram said he remained confident the project would go ahead and suggested there may be other ways besides financial backing from Whitehall to get wheels turning.

He said: "I'm really hopeful. We have to find a way, I do think we continually only look to one source, which is government funding.

"We perhaps need to look at how we can get a cocktail of funding, including some government support, but that might include ourselves and Liverpool City Council having to borrow to see whether we can get this.

"We've just got to make the figures stack up."

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