00:00 Work has officially started on site as part of plans to transform Liverpool's former Littlewoods
00:06 building into a world-class film and TV campus.
00:11 "16 million people drive past the building every year into the city. At the moment, they've
00:17 had two decades of looking at an eyesore. Today's the first day in 20 years that the
00:22 building's going to have the care and attention it needs to bring it back into economic gain
00:28 and to bring it back to restore it to its former glory."
00:32 Developers Capital and Centric have begun work to prep the 1930s Ayrshire Lane icon
00:37 for restoration. They're working with the Liverpool City Council as freeholder of the
00:41 site and the region's combined authority as funders.
00:46 "Look, you have to be dogged, don't you? When something doesn't happen the first time, you
00:51 can just walk away from those things and think, 'Oh, well, this is never going to happen.'
00:54 And we've had a few of those difficult periods, but we've stuck with it. And it's really good
00:59 to have a partner who now really wants the same things as what we want and has a vision
01:06 for a brilliant and iconic building. You know, this is an Art Deco building and we want to
01:11 bring it back to its former glory, but with a different usage. And there were thousands
01:15 of people who've worked here and they will love to see this return to its greatness.
01:21 So that's what it's all been about. But it has to be a business case. And that business
01:25 case has been difficult at times, but we've now got there, we've got the funding in place
01:30 and work is actually beginning. It's not a dream anymore, it's a reality."
01:35 The first step, expected to run until next summer, will be a comprehensive strip out
01:39 of the buildings, securing their structural integrity.
01:42 "It'll complete in phases because the new build element, which is the studios to the
01:46 east of the building, they'll come forward first because it'll be quicker to construct.
01:51 So they'll finish in the first quarter of 2025 and then the buildings will complete
01:57 the year after."
01:58 "We've just won BFI funding to develop skills and the ambition over the next three years
02:05 while we wait for this scheme to be ready is to develop a diverse and more inclusive
02:11 screen workforce locally, providing opportunities for people who want to enter the industry,
02:17 get them into the industry and then onwards and upwards. We've piloted a few cohorts,
02:25 we worked with a group of long-term unemployed and their first paid job was the Taylor Swift
02:30 pop promo. The second one was an Amazon Studios feature film with Idris Elba. So that's the
02:36 quality of production that's being made in Liverpool. And those credits and those opportunities
02:43 will make those CVs stand out more than any others and that's the thing that I'm most
02:48 excited about."
02:49 There are also plans to make the building more accessible to surrounding communities,
02:54 with the former canteen to be transformed into a multi-purpose screening and performance
02:58 zone open up to the public out of hours.
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