Developer Capital&Centric has has signed a partnership with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Liverpool City Council to act as lead developer on the initial phase of the £70m Littlewoods film studio transformation.
The move comes after an apparent setback when key tenant, Liverpool John Moores University, pulled out of the scheme in October. The combined authority has approved £8m of funding for remediation, design and planning for the project as part of a total funding package of £17m. The completed project is expected to have a total value of around £70m.
The UK’s oldest film studios, Twickenham, has previously signed up as the anchor tenant, taking up around 85,000 sq ft of space at the studios.
The council described the latest partnership with Capital and Centric as a “major milestone” towards delivering the “film centre that Liverpool deserves” and said remediation works could now be completed by the end of 2023.
John Moffat of Capital&Centric said: “This is a huge moment for the Littlewoods Project and the Liverpool city region. Regeneration at this scale is always going to be complex, but the legal agreements are now in place so we can start delivering this transformational project.
“It has the potential to provide Liverpool’s young people with the opportunity to be part of the UK’s booming film and TV industry, generating millions of pounds for the local economy and creating thousands of jobs for generations to come.
Steve Rotheram, Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor, added: “I want to take our region to the next level, to stake our claim as the ‘Hollywood of the North’. The £17m we’re investing into both Littlewoods and The Depot will be central in turning that ambition into a reality – helping us to cater for every stage of the production process and creating new jobs and training opportunities for local people. I can’t wait to see work start on the project.”
When complete, Littlewoods Studios should support up to 3,650 jobs and result in an annual boost of £199m (GVA) to the local economy.
