The development of Littlewoods Studios on Edge Lane has taken a major step forward today (31 July) with a £17 million funding commitment from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Strategic Investment Fund.

The ambitious £54 million regeneration project will transform the iconic Littlewoods Building on Edge Lane into a new home for the big and small screen.

Having laid derelict for years the building is set to become a world class film and television complex with the UK’s oldest film studios, Twickenham, already signed up as the anchor tenant. Working in partnership to deliver the project, Liverpool City Council own the freehold of the building with CAPITAL&CENTRIC owning the long lease.

With the project identified as a key component of the Liverpool City Region’s £8.8 billion ‘Building Back Better’ economic recovery plan, published last week, the funding comes via the government’s Getting Building Fund, allocated by the Combined Authority.

This initial tranche of £11m forms part of a package potentially worth an overall £17m.

Part of the funding will be used by Liverpool City Council to deliver temporary ‘pop up’ studios to be built on land neighbouring Littlewoods.

Scheduled to be operational by the end of the year, these ‘pop-up’ studios will capitalise on current demand for studio space and will enable the city region to begin to reap the economic benefits of purpose-built studio space, in advance of the main development by CAPITAL&CENTRIC.

Liverpool is the most filmed city outside of London, with 1,750 film days recorded in 2019 involving 324 productions including Sky Atlantic’s Tin Star and Netflix UK’s The Irregulars.

Liverpool Film Office, the oldest in the UK, is currently administering a £2m production fund to attract more filming in the city region and this week has welcomed back the start of a number of productions.

A new CGI of Littlewoods Studios.

Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram says: “Our region has a long-standing role as the country’s cultural capital and the development of Littlewoods Studios is central to ensuring that we remain that way in the future.

“Given the economic impact that coronavirus has had on our region, establishing ourselves as an international hub for film and TV with world class facilities will be a really important string to our bow.

“We have seen our region’s streets become a key location for filming in recent years, but now we will be able to capitalise on our preeminent position as a worldwide destination offering the whole creative package, driving thousands more jobs and generating millions of pounds for the local economy.”

Adam Higgins, co-founder of CAPITAL&CENTRIC adds: “This funding just goes to show what a huge opportunity Littlewoods Studios is. Not only is it a key project within the Liverpool city region’s economic recovery plan, it will deliver long lasting regeneration impacts for generations to come.

“A project of this scale was always going to be a challenge, but despite the impact of the fire we’ve had the full support of the City Council and Combined Authority.

“We know people have been frustrated that things haven’t moved more quickly but we’ve all been working really hard behind the scenes and with this funding in place we’re going to do everything we can to get on site before the end of the year.”

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