The mayor aims to make the Hollywood of the North a reality

Politicians and developers have said they are confident funding will be found to turn Liverpool’s iconic Littlewoods building into a film studio complex dubbed the ‘Hollywood of the North’.

Developer Capital and Centric managing director John Moffatt confirmed there was interest from a financial backer to complete the project, but did not provide further details.

The art deco building was home to Littlewoods football pools in the 1930s and employed 3,000 staff. It closed in 1994 when the popularity of the pools declined.

On a visit to the site on Edge Lane, just outside the city centre, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said he would ask the new chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to back the project, which he said would create 3,000 jobs and will bring millions of pounds to the Merseyside economy.

In 2017, Capital and Centric took over the lease of the building from Liverpool City Council, and in 2018 it was devastated by fire.

Mr Rotheram said the plot was huge, befitting the ambition of the scheme. “You can see the magnitude of the whole thing and what we’re looking forward to is making these dreams come true,” he said.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has invested £8 million in the first phase of the project, which involves remediation and cleaning up the site to make the building safe.

The development will be carried out in phases and so far a total of £17m has been committed by the combined authority.

Mr Rotheram said he would seek additional funding from the government, adding: “This is an investment that would give UK Plc a quick return.”

He said: “We need a cast iron business case to put to central government. I want to convince her (the chancellor) that this is something of national importance that happens to be in Liverpool.”

The building’s distinctive clock tower was removed earlier this year when engineers discovered it was unstable.

Mr Moffat said he was sad it could not be saved, but said a replica would form part of the completed project: “The tower was in danger of collapsing, so it had to be carefully dismantled.

“It’s a really iconic part of the site and it needs to go back up,” he said.

The facade of the building is heavily scaffolded and there is no roof on either of the two “wings”.

A ‘hangar’, which was originally the staff canteen and was used at one point during the war to manufacture parachutes, even has a ceiling and will be partly open to the public for events when the project is complete.

Mr Moffat said it was “so exciting” to be on site and see the scale of the building: “We’re on the cusp of something really transformative for the city.”

A planning application for the scheme will be considered by Liverpool council’s planning committee later this year. If funding is agreed, the studios will be completed in 2027.

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