00:00Hi, I'm Steve Parry, I'm the Managing Director of Ion Developments, a Liverpool-based developer.
00:14So, you won Developer of the Year at this year's Liverpool City Region Property Awards.
00:18How did it feel to be awarded that on the 9th?
00:21I think it was a bit of a surprise, to be honest, more than anything else in that we've not really entered any awards for a good long time.
00:28We have made some progress on a number of projects in the last year or so, so we thought it was worth entering and very pleased to win.
00:36Fantastic, and what are some of those key schemes that you're kind of working on at the moment?
00:40So, probably the biggest one in the Liverpool City Region is the development of Hind Street in Birkenhead Town Centre,
00:47which has been something that we've been working on for probably about five or six years now, at least five or six years in fact,
00:53in that we acquired part of the site some years ago and we've been working very closely with Wirralboro Council
01:01and have moved forward with a master plan for the project.
01:04We've got a planning application at the moment, which hopefully will be determined before the end of the year,
01:08but we've also been working with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and also Homes England
01:14and we've put together a funding package to enable the infrastructure and remediation works to take place
01:20and we're hoping to get that on site later, or the middle of next year effectively.
01:24So that's a total of about £50 million in funding, so that's some real progress.
01:29And the site itself is interesting because it's really a new sustainable neighbourhood,
01:35stroke village if you want to call it, a green sustainable neighbourhood.
01:39And it has pretty unique attributes in that it's currently disused gasworks
01:45and the gasworks, we need to move quite a lot of gas equipment off the site
01:48even though the gasworks themselves closed some years ago.
01:51And a lot of remediation because of that, but actually we're building in the first phase about 600 family homes there,
02:00so most of which are single family homes, and a total of 1,600 units in due course.
02:06So you're also shortlisted for Future Ambition this year, so do you want to tell us a little bit about the project there?
02:13So this is an interesting project which is actually a project which is being sponsored by the Merseycare NHS Trust,
02:19which is a mental health trust based in North Liverpool.
02:22And this is pretty unique, and we're acting as a development manager with the trust trying to progress the project.
02:28We're doing a mental health hub, a research hub.
02:32The idea is to bring together particularly digital research and particularly the idea of looking at VR and AI
02:39to advance the faster and better treatments of mental health.
02:44So the building itself is a research hub, and then afterwards that will then trigger the development of an overall mental health science park effectively.
02:54Hi, my name's Hayley and I'm the Communications Officer at the Red Wing Hospital in Jamsfield.
02:59Hi, I'm Ella from Red Wing. I am the Public Health Advisory Board.
03:04So you guys won our Social Impact and Sustainability Award this year.
03:08So you've got to tell us a little bit about the project that won. What does it involve?
03:12The project is a great example of collaboration and partnership between Red Wing residents and the local authority.
03:18We've all come together to help tackle the homeless issue and provide homes to people that are living on the streets or in temporary accommodation.
03:25So the partnership has helped 27 people so far, and we've got 68 properties.
03:35So we're hoping to grow that portfolio by applying for more funding across Liverpool and the North West.
03:40Amazing. So what's the sort of long-term goal for this project?
03:43So the long-term goal would be for Red Wing and residents to keep on applying for more funding to help people across Liverpool and across the North West
03:52that are experiencing homelessness and trying to tackle the crisis.
03:56But the long-term vision as well is for Red Wing to work with housing first to help manage some tenancies
04:02and help people live in residence properties and then go into permanent housing
04:07so that we can re-let and help more people as part of their properties too.
04:11So how did it feel to win the Social Impact Award this year?
04:14Winning the award was just a fantastic feeling.
04:17We've all seen the transition of our tenants from when they first moved in to months down the line
04:22when they completely changed everything around.
04:23It was fantastic to win an award for obviously doing so well and making a positive impact
04:28but as well to recognise what we are doing is great for everyone and put more eyes on it really.
04:33Fantastic. And then what's the focus for residents in Red Wing and the year ahead?
04:38The year ahead is to continue to fill in the 68 properties that we are planning to help house.
04:44Once housed, it's to keep the tenants in there for a short while
04:47so that they can maintain the tenancy and promote the possible permanent accommodation
04:51and start the process again.
04:53Hello, I'm Remy Smith. I'm the Associate Director at Abeson Young's Local Office.
04:58I'm Joel Lawson. I'm a Director at Abeson Young in our Place Development Consultancy team.
05:04So congratulations are in order as you won our Consultancy of the Year
05:07at this year's Liverpool City Region Property Awards.
05:10So how did it feel to win?
05:11We were absolutely delighted.
05:13There was real tough competition across this category
05:17and we were delighted that our key stakeholders, clients and colleagues
05:23have recognised us as the Property Consultancy of the Year.
05:27As a small office, it's great to see that we're recognised as a key delivery
05:33across the Liverpool City Region and we look to continue to do this in the coming years.
05:39Brilliant and it's been quite a busy year for you guys.
05:42What's been some of the key highlights over the last year that you've worked on?
05:46I think in terms of recent instructions.
05:50We've obviously recently been appointed by the City Council as their Strategic Property Partner
05:56to a wide mandate that covers a full range of activities including strategic advice,
06:04providing capacity to the Council's existing property team
06:09as well as core services as and when they need it.
06:12And then what sort of exciting things are coming up in the pipeline for Absentium going forward?
06:17It's great news that we're actually growing our office.
06:20We've welcomed a number of new colleagues who will be helping in delivery of some new schemes.
06:26For example, we're absolutely delighted to be appointed by Scion Tech
06:31working on their portfolio in the Knowledge Quarter.
06:35This is particularly exciting for us because it's a sort of new emerging market.
06:40It's great to work with a client who welcomes inclusive diversity
06:46and is very innovative and forward thinking.
06:49We'll be helping them with their marketing and disposal strategy across their portfolio.
06:54So it's just nice to be working on projects where the new emerging markets
06:58and a really exciting time for Liverpool to be looking in this direction.
07:03Really pleased to have been appointed recently by Captain Centric on Little Buds Building
07:07which is 200,000 square foot of commercial floor space
07:11targeted at the creative, film and media sector.
07:15I don't know what to do with that!
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