City council kicks off Euro search for manager of historic estate

Croxteth Hall

A Europe-wide search has been launched to find an operator to manage Liverpool’s Croxteth Hall and Country Park.

Liverpool City Council has published a tender with the European Journal (OJEU) to find a partner to manage the historic estate on behalf of the authority.

The tender, which would see the hall and Liverpool’s only country park remain open to the public, aims to secure new investment, increase activities and visitor numbers and save the council £1m a year in running costs.

Bids will be overseen by a panel including local stakeholders the Friends of Croxteth Park, Croxteth Hall Volunteers and the West Derby Society alongside council officers and elected members.

Liverpool City Council, which has already undertaken a soft marketing exercise to gauge interest, is looking to undertake a staged procurement process leading to a winning bidder. The new contract commencement is currently estimated as February, 2018 with the new operator taking over the management of the estate from this date.

The estate, which covers just above 500 acres featuring the Grade II-listed Hall, Croxteth Home Farm, a Victorian Walled Garden and the park itself – Liverpool’s largest – had been the stately home of the Molyneux family, the Earls of Sefton, since 1575, but has been in public ownership since 1972.

The hall and country park, which also accommodates an adventure playground, gift shop, aerial rope adventure course, horse riding centre and café, attracts in excess of 600,000 visits a year and the council has branched out to create income by promoting the hall as a setting for weddings, films, conferences, exhibitions and concerts.

The tender will not affect a £3.5m plan by Myerscough College, who provide further education to local young people on the site, to create a new animal and equine centre on the site of the former grounds maintenance depot. Home Farm will also continue to be operated by the Neighbourhood Services Company (NSC).

Cllr Steve Munby, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: “Croxteth Hall and Country Park is a jewel in Liverpool’s crown and we need to get the management of its future absolutely right.

“This a very complex estate containing multiple dwellings, covenants and leases with a whole raft of conditions limiting what can and cannot be done.

“Those interested parties who are looking to submit a bid are going to need a lot of time to understand the inner workings of the estate and what the stakeholders are looking for to ensure their proposed business plan is workable and deliverable.

“I look forward to working with the stakeholders in Croxteth Park on this process and we are determined to find a sustainable solution for the estate, and take care to get it right.”

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