Liverpool gave me my chance – now I want young Scousers to get their shot in their own city
4 min read
As someone who was born and raised in Walton in the north of Liverpool, I feel I owe the city a great deal.
Liverpool gave me my education, a lifelong passion for the creative arts and, crucially, a council grant that enabled me to graduate from the University of Cambridge. I want to give back to the city. That’s what inspired me to join forces with Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram and Liverpool city council leader Liam Robinson in their task to launch Imagine Liverpool, a major regeneration board for the city.
Imagine Liverpool is an ambitious and wide-ranging initiative, led by a passionate and multifaceted board of directors. We don’t just want to attract some investment into Liverpool – it’s about creating a large-scale vision to transform the city and its future.
At the heart of this ambition is the Littlewoods Building on Edge Lane. With government support and the backing of my regeneration partners, we want to turn the historic building into a state-of-the-art film and television production hub. The hub will be complete with two major studios and a vocational training school for 16- to 18-year-olds to try and provide the same support I received at that age through my council grant. The school will sit inside a working production centre, giving students direct access to industry professionals.
The creative industries are one of Britain’s greatest economic success stories. They contribute over £100bn annually to our economy and employ more than two million people. Yet access to these careers is uneven. Opportunities remain concentrated in London and limited for those outside the capital. This project will help decentralise opportunity and ensure that young people in Liverpool, Manchester and across the North West can build careers in film, television and digital media without having to leave the areas they know best and hold dear.
We’ve already made significant progress. The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has committed up to £17m to the studios. Remediation work is complete. We have backing from the London Screen Academy to bring a proven model of vocational training to Liverpool.
But to realise this vision, we need political support. We need government investment in this project, which has the potential to be transformational in so many areas. Early conversations with ministers have been encouraging, but we need extensive support to bring the idea to reality.
The Littlewoods project aligns perfectly with national priorities. It will boost regional economies and expand vocational education. It’s a chance for the government to show that it is serious about investing in the North and back a sector that not only drives growth but shapes our national identity.
Liverpool has always punched above its weight in terms of cultural impact. From The Beatles to one of the most successful football clubs in the country Everton FC (and the other one that plays in red), the city has rarely ever been away from the limelight.
Liverpool is the most filmed city in the UK outside of London. In TV alone, the city has provided the backdrop for several of the most impactful and captivating TV shows of recent years. From coming-of-age comedies such as G’Wed to gritty crime dramas such as This City Is Ours, Liverpool has continued to grow in prominence at the forefront of British television.
However, despite Liverpool being the UK’s second city on screen, the problem remains that talent continues to be funnelled in from elsewhere, with relatively few opportunities for locals. Now is the perfect time to create more opportunities for young Scousers to be able to proudly put their names on projects in their home city.
I’m proud to be involved in this historical project and I am grateful for the support we have already received. With additional support from government – particularly the Department of Culture, Media and Sport – we can bring it to fruition. Let’s make Liverpool the creative education hub it should be.
