Old Littlewoods building studio plans to be lodged

Plans which would transform one of Liverpool's best-known locations are set to be submitted to the government, the leader of the city's council has said.

The process of converting the old Littlewoods building on Edge Lane into a £70m television and film production studio first started in December 2023.

While remediation work has taken place and planning permission for the construction process was granted in October 2024, millions of pounds are still required to build the film studios.

Liverpool City Council Leader Liam Robinson said talks would take place with ministers in February to try to secure government backing.

"We're working on some of the detailed plans around it and we've been invited to Downing Street to present to the government," he said.

"We're finalising all of the arrangements of going down... but it's fair to say there's a lot of national government interest in it.

"We've also got some great stakeholders that are really keen to make sure we make it a success."

In August it was revealed that Liverpool-born television producer Jimmy Mulville was part of a group working with Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram and industry experts to include an education hub at the site.

Developer Capital & Centric (C&C) also revealed in the summer that it had entered into discussions about securing government funding.

C&C warned the cost of delivering the project "in the current climate exceeds the value of the completed development".

Its co-founder Tim Heatley said talks had been ongoing with ministers to "explore potential options for gap funding".

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which has so far committed up to £17m, said it would work with the government, city council and C&C to obtain the required funding.

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