Plan approved in 2024 but delayed by viability concerns
Shedkm’s plans to transform Liverpool’s fire-damaged Littlewoods into a film studio are a step closer to becoming a reality after the government pledged £20m towards the scheme.
John Healey made the announcement during his first Budget yesterday with the funding to be drawn from the government’s £240m Growth Mission Fund, which aims to stimulate economic regeneration in overlooked communities.
It comes two years after a planning application for the scheme, which has been designed for developer Capital & Centric, was approved by Liverpool city council.
The project would convert the grade II-listed Art Deco landmark into a 2.4ha creative campus featuring two 20,000sq ft studios designed for large-scale productions along with office space, workshops, studio support facilities and an education centre.
The former canteen of the council-owned site would also be converted into a multi-purpose screening and performance area with five small cinema screens, an outdoor performance zone, and a permanent food hall.
The money announced yesterday is subject to final business case approval and it is uncertain whether it will be enough to get the project started, with Capital & Centric previously warning that the scheme is unviable in the “current climate”.
Plans to repurpose the building as a film studio have been mooted since 2017 but suffered a setback the following year when a major fire, which is believed to have been an act of arson, destroyed the building’s roof and part of its west wing.
The building’s main elevations and steel structure survived and work to make the site safe began in December 2023.
Other project funding announcements in yesterday’s Budget included £10m to support regeneration in Bury, focused on the restoration of the town’s Indoor Market building, and £7m to conduct a feasibility study for a potential future bid to host the Olympics and Paralympics in the North of England during the 2040s.
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