Liverpool One delivers £4.1bn return to city

The financial and social impact that Grosvenor’s 42-acre Liverpool One retail and entertainment scheme has had on the wider city over the past 15 years has been measured in a report released today. The report, which sets out the project’s role in the physical, economic and social renaissance of Liverpool, revealed it has generated £4.1bn in economic activity and hosted 390m visits since it opened in 2008. Hailed as a crucial case study on proving the value of large-scale, long-term investment into regeneration schemes, Grosvenor’s 15 Years of Transformative Impact report also reveals the project has supported an average of 4,700 jobs annually for Liverpool residents and has contributed £1.9bn to the UK exchequer and £300m in business rates. Liverpool One was developed by Grosvenor in partnership with Liverpool City Council in an early example of levelling up and was designed to revive the city’s fortunes by creating 2.5m sq ft of retail and other uses. Its opening saw Liverpool jump from being the UK’s 17th most-popular retail destination to the fifth and, over the past 15 years, average spend per head at the destination has increased by 89% and sales have increased by 195%. Emily Wright spoke to Rachel Dickie, executive director of investment at Grosvenor, about the success of the project, the power of long-term investment and the importance of analysing the positive impact of schemes such as Liverpool One to build up a body of case studies to “show it works and that returns to the public purse address the viability gap”. EW: The figures that this report has revealed in relation to the impact of Liverpool One over the past 15 years; £4.1bn GVA; 390m visits; 4,700 jobs annually to name a few – were these sorts of numbers you were aspiring to, perhaps even expecting, for a scheme of this size? RD: I’m not sure we have ever gone back to the original papers to see whether we had any projections at the time. But the purpose of doing this report was to make sure there will always be a marker in the sand to measure the impact that this level of investment can have. Previously, reports like this have focused almost entirely on the financials but we wanted to look at the community impact we have had over that 15-year period too. Are we surprised by the figures? Sort of yes and sort of no. No, because when you are there, you see it. You feel it. You feel the energy of the city and how Liverpool One is such an integral part of that. Hopefully the scheme and the results of this report will persuade people that we need to take a long-term view more often. EW: What do you think it takes to get people to feel comfortable with, even inspired by, making a massive up-front investment when they aren’t necessarily going to get an immediate financial return? RD: You need the vision and the bravery of the local authority. These schemes are bold moves for local authorities to make, and without those partnerships it won’t ever happen. There are people doing it but it is getting harder so we need more of these case studies to show it can work and the returns to the public purse warrant that public sector investment. There is very little data out there to prove that these sorts of schemes are going to work so you are working off the premise that of you build it, they will come. The local council in Liverpool was incredibly brave when it advertised – in Estates Gazette as it happens – in 1999 for bids on this project which, back then, was called The Paradise Project. They didn’t think it would get much interest and they got 47 bids. EW: Can you pinpoint what it is about Liverpool One that has worked so well? RD: When you have 27 architects working on the same scheme it is going to feel much more authentic and more like a natural part of the city. It is all ageing slightly differently; all the components have their own characters and personalities. They are all individual blocks rather and looking like a new town where everything is built in one go in quite similar architecture. Liverpool One doesn’t feel like you have just plonked something down from outer space that is either not in keeping with the character or scale of the rest of the city. EW: And what about the rest of the city? What has the impact of the scheme been? RD: So much confidence. Even at the start of the journey with those 47 bids, that would have given the council confidence that, actually, if it had a plan then there were people there to fund it. And now we are seeing this knock-on effect with the amount of development going on around the outskirts of Liverpool One and large schemes such as Everton Stadium and Liverpool Waters – really big projects. So not only have you got the positive external perspective looking in at the city, you also have the people who live there also feeling a lot more positive about their city too. It all fuels this confidence. And with that confidence, the desire to keep asking and striving for more. The enthusiasm and passion that the people who spend time at Liverpool One have for it is way more valuable than anything we can write in a report. Without being over the top about things, it has genuinely changed people’s lives. To send feedback, e-mail emily.wright@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmilyW_9 or @EGPropertyNews View socio-demographics data for Liverpool >>