Leaders call for extension to Liverpool’s Enterprise Zone

THE chief executive of Liverpool’s Commercial District Partnership has welcomed calls to include the area in the city’s new Enterprise Zone.

Responding to comments from Liverpool City Council’s new chief executive Ged Fitzgerald, Paul Rice agreed that the new zone should be extended beyond Wirral and Liverpool Waters to include sites such as Pall Mall and Old Hall Street (pictured).  

Liverpool CDP is currently applying for Business Improvement District status for the business district and Rice claims it would pay dividends for the city to combine the experience of the existing commercial district with the opportunities for Peel’s proposed new 30m sq ft development.

Rice said: “The Enterprise Zone will undoubtedly create a welcome boost to Liverpool’s investment climate, with major incentives on offer to businesses relocating to the area.

“However, it has to be good for Liverpool as a whole, meaning it’s crucial that an upturn in one part of the city should not be mirrored by deterioration elsewhere.

“As we approach the decisive ballot in our BID application, it’s clear the commercial district has already gone through a major transition to become a destination of choice in the city. We will be able to bring this experience to bear as the exciting Mersey Waters project begins to take off.

“By distributing ownership of the Enterprise Zone across a handful of different parties, we can also ensure that inward investment decisions are taken in the round and investors receive a true picture of the best-fit solutions on offer in Liverpool.”

More than 800 ratepayers will be balloted on the plan to create a Business Improvement District, which aims to generate in excess of £600,000 per year from increased business rates for marketing, maintenance and physical improvements through a levy equivalent to one per cent of rateable value.

The ballot opens on April 29 and closes four weeks later, on May 27, with a final decision expected three days later.

Liverpool’s proposed new BID area would become Liverpool’s second following the successful City Central application five years ago and would be bounded by Leeds Street in the north and James Street in the south and run from west-east from The Strand to Pall Mall, mirroring the boundaries currently controlled by Liverpool CDP.