Construction work on Liverpool's historic Littlewoods building could restart within the next 12 months after the government announced a £20m funding boost in the Budget. Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey MP revealed the investment for the Edge Lane site during his Budget statement.
The project, led by developer Capital&Centric, aims to convert the long-vacant site into the Liverpool Creative Campus. Work originally began in December 2023 on a £70m project to transform the building into a TV and film studio complex, with two new 20,000 sq/ft studio stages planned as the first structures to be built.
Funding confirmed as 'sigh of relief'
Tim Heatley, co-founder of Capital&Centric, described the funding confirmation as a "sigh of relief." He said the investment from the Growth Mission Fund will support plans to restore and redevelop the building into a 260,000 sq/ft creative production campus, subject to final business case approval.
Mr Heatley told the ECHO: "I suppose it's one of those things whereby it's a big leap forwards, but as you can imagine with anything, it's more a sigh of relief, than jumping for joy with the excitement, because it's something that we've been lobbying the government for a long time."
Plans for studios and restoration
The existing building will be brought back to life and used alongside the new studios, as well as existing facilities at The Depot, which opened in 2021. There had been hopes the site could reopen fully by 2027, with new wings earmarked to be replaced by the end of this year.
Mr Heatley said the funding was the "major bit of the jigsaw" needed to get moving on Littlewoods and would help bridge the viability gap to bring the site to life. He added that work had continued throughout the hiatus to try and get the government on board.
Restoring the clock tower
The development boss said ministers had "understood the size of the economic prize" and recognised Liverpool's strength in the film and TV sector. He also noted that delays had been impacted by instability at Westminster, but said people would see work commence as soon as possible.
Mr Heatley said: "I think it would be great if we can commence the project within a 12 month period, you'll see construction activity on the site and that is going to take a couple of years to do." He spoke about rebuilding the clock tower, which was demolished in 2024, saying: "Getting that tower built, again, getting the clock tower back up I think is a symbol of it as a place and space."
The Capital&Centric co-founder said the company "feels the weight of the pressure" to deliver on Littlewoods after it had been left in "such a sorry state over the past 30 years of decline." He added: "Quite rightly, we've had people from Liverpool saying 'don't forget about Littlewoods', and we never have forgotten about it."
