Liverpool strategy will present city as ‘investable proposition’
The city council wants to bring Liverpool “in line with other core cities” by drawing up an investment and development plan that presents it as a place that is open for business.
Liverpool City Council wants to award a consultancy a £125,000 contract to develop a plan that articulates current and future investment and development opportunities and “clearly presents the city as an investable proposition”, according to tender documents.
In short, the framework will provide would-be investors with a guide to the city’s growth opportunities.
The tender documents, which can be viewed here, state that Liverpool City Council is “keen to welcome partners and investment into the city to deliver regeneration and economic growth”.
The add that the strategy will “support the council when communicating with stakeholders and help inform its future development priorities”.
The strategy has several aims:
- To incorporate an analysis of the city to understand its strategic, economic, and social position
- To clearly present the city as an investable proposition, articulating its strengths, priorities, unique identity, and geography
- To explore the potential planning, development, and investment activity, both current and future, over the next 20+ years
- To communicate an ambitious vision of how the city will develop and grow and set out the opportunities to drive forward inclusive regeneration across Liverpool
- To leverage investment for the benefit of the residents of Liverpool.
The creation of an investment and development strategy is the latest of the city council’s ongoing efforts to put its best foot forward following a period of unrest.
Since Max Caller’s damning report and the appointment of Whitehall commissioners to take over the running of some of the authority’s functions, the city council has been on an improvement journey.
The latest commissioners report, published in March, praised council staff for their “professionalism and dedication” and said there was cause for optimism that the authority was heading in the right direction.
The investment and development strategy is likely to go down well with commentators who have criticised the city for being inward-looking in the past and encouraged a more open-door approach to business.
Among the major development opportunities in Liverpool are the residential redevelopment of Festival Gardens, and the next phase of Kings Dock’s regeneration.
There are also several large stalled developments in Liverpool including the Pall Mall office scheme, and the New Chinatown apartment development.
“The scale and breadth of the opportunities in Liverpool are truly enormous,” said Cllr Nick Small, the city council’s cabinet member for growth and economy.
“We already have a number of exciting developments underway, which will deliver huge benefits for our city, ranging from the work in the north docks through to the film studios at the Littlewoods Building and the success of the Knowledge Quarter.”
He added: “In addition, working with our partners at Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, we want to make the most of government initiatives such as the Investment Zone and Freeport.
“The Development and Investment Strategy will maximise the potential of the opportunities in Liverpool over the coming years and is just one element of the work that is going to on across the organisation at the moment to make sure we transform how we work and maximise the opportunities for our residents and businesses.”
Will the city be open to working with those from outside the city now then? Or will it remain insular and just want outside money coming in?
By Dave
I hope this doesn’t mean over development for the sake of it. I lived in shaky windy Deansgate Square and these buildings makes me fear for Manchester’s future.
By CR
The City Council needs to look inside before bringing on outsider help. They remain difficult to deal with – forgetting they are currently bottom of the pile of places people want to do business with. And this emanating from the way they treat investors.
By Cynic
We need a PNW interview with some of the cities leaders because the Liverpool Echo won’t ask the tough questions.
By Paul81
So the door has been closed until now? Mr business and enterprise Nick Small already costing the taxpayer money (yet again!) in appeals with the proposed restaurant in Castlestreet being messed about by the council.
By Anonymous
Sigh
By Anonymous
Until there’s a single voice empowered to deliver a long-term, consistent comms and client engagement programme, Liverpool will continue to wander around the inward investment wilderness. As things stand, we have ‘Invest Liverpool’, ‘Marketing Liverpool’ and ‘Growth Platform Liverpool’ which, to anyone looking in, smacks of a place that hasn’t got its act together.
‘Inward Investment’ has to stop being a short-term political play-thing, riven with platitudes and seeking to shoe-horn social policy into investment outcomes, and instead focus on sustained, long-term performance. The social gains will take care of themselves in terms of jobs, training and taxes.
By Anonymous
It`s 2023 and they are just now getting round to this position, also many of the councillors who have been foremost in obstructing development are still there. There is nothing here about the expansion of the airport, neither does this mention the cruise liner terminal which is urgently needed as cruising is ever popular and the marine industry is committed to cleaner ships. The council stepped back from their cruise liner plan but that does not mean they shouldn`t be putting their energies into finding a private sector solution whereby a much taller building, say a hotel, cannot incorporate the cruise terminal at ground or first floor level with footbridge access leading to the landing stage, as the terminal building does not have to be in-river.
By Anonymous
Developers will continue to shy away from Liverpool so long as the current Planning Department continue their stupid policy of rejecting any building above 10 storeys in more than suitable locations.
By Dan W
The hyperlink in Paragraph 4 is broken. Just a friendly FYI 🙂
By Jason
Fixed! Thanks for letting us know.
By Julia Hatmaker
With Nick Small involved you must be joking LCC. He’s just objected to the old Bank of England building being turned into a restraunt probably so he can secure votes from a small amount of voters.
LCC may say they are open, but the door seems a bit sticky especially with the time the planning department take.
By Liverpool4Progress
Nick Small is to be trusted with this brief. Really? He has managed to oppose and block almost all development in the city in recent years. Unless the mind set changes, then expensive consultancy fees will have little effect.
By Anonymous
This will be a pointless waste of money unless the LCC planning department is brought in line to support development instead of opposing it and crippling scale wherever possible.
By Anonymous
New Chinatown, oh dear
By David
Hopefully New Chinatown will be as good as Brum’s China town
By Anonymous
Sounds great on paper, but like every other opportunity presented previously. The ink will have faded before a spade hits the ground. Visions in infancy become mirages in maturity. I am embarrassed to mention I am a Liverpudlian when I see how Manchester, Leeds, Bradford and other major northern cities have left Liverpool behind. Shambolic is the best word to describe LCC.
By Stephen Hart
How many times now have we heard these words. Since the commissioners were brought in, we have heard time and time again that Liverpool has changed, Liverpool is open for business. Where are the actions? Where is the tangible evidence of change?
Anyone working in the development industry can attest, the change hasn’t come. Investors are attracted to Liverpool by the lip-service, but they leave just as quickly again once they get their pre-app feedback from the Council. The negativity of the planning department, and fear of making big decisions, prevails.
By Anonymous
All the big success stories go back to institutions with vision and commitment outside the council – Liverpool Vision, NWDA, the MDC, Heseltine’s Task Force, the EU. Maybe there’s a lesson here.
By Rayzee
Anything over 10 storeys gets rejected so unless the Council has a complete change of heart the city will stagnate further.
By Mr Warren
@CR 9.46am, “overdevelopment” are you having a laugh, Liverpool has acre upon acre of unused , debris-covered,litter-strewn , vacant land , we must be the buddleia capital of the UK. I look forward to the day we have to stop depending on a couple of reliable local developers to get things done in this city and we witness some big-hitting investors come to town, but before that things will have to radically change in the Council mindset and the planning department brief.
By Anonymous
@PNW, This “strategy” will provide you with multiple questions to ask Councillor Robinson when you interview him.
How is LCC going to convince potential investors that the situation has changed significantly enough to inspire confidence especially as only recently planning decisions can take an extrodanite amount of time to process and then after leaving the “cutting” room are reduced in size.
Another vital question is that one of the main proponents of objecting Nick “they shall not build” Small is in a position of influence.
If I was a potential investor I would be highly sceptical of this latest vision.
Good luck with your interview.
By Liverpolitis
I invest on behalf of HNW and for almost a decade I’ve steered them away from Liverpool. It’s not investor friendly…easy to fall into…difficult to get out of. Liverpool is one massive escape room.
By Anon
LCC needs massive assistance from central government to break the vicious circle they have both created. Liverpool is and always has been a fundamentally investable proposition. The council’s behaviour and the behaviour of those linked to them has resulted in a decade of deterrence that now needs to be overcome. Amplified greatly by central government also actively undermining its prospects.
You can’t undermine and break a market and expect it to fix itself.
This coming report however is the pinnacle of the council’s efforts and abilities.
By Jeff