On Monday, Sefton Council’s Deputy Leader Cllr Paulette Lappin joined Liverpool City Region, Mayor Steve Rotheram and Royal London Asset Management at the Atlantic Park site in Bootle for a ground breaking ceremony to mark the scheme’s second phase.
Over 1,100 new jobs
Covering 52 acres, Atlantic Park is located on the site of the former Rolls Royce factory. The large-scale logistics and manufacturing hub will support the creation of over 1,100 new jobs and 140 roles.
Independent economic analysis showed that the site will mean 685 additional employment opportunities for Sefton residents and an additional £1.2 million in annual business rates for Sefton Council.
In addition, there will be at least 25 jobs for local residents during each year of the construction phase, which is due to be completed in 2026.
Overall, Atlantic Park is forecast to inject £62.9 million per year into the Liverpool City Region economy.
You can read more about Atlantic Park here.
Jobs and more money to spend on services
Cllr Paulette Lappin who is also Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Economy and Skills told the Liverpool ECHO: “Sefton Council has been working with Royal London and the Liverpool City Region to progress this project so that we can help our local residents access jobs.
“We can contribute to the economy, and we can actually generate more business rates so that we can offer the people of Sefton more money to spend on services. So, everyone’s a winner here, really.
“As a council, we’ve worked incredibly hard over the last five years. The initial work for this began in 2006 and then you actually get all the planning permissions and now we’re on our way to actually doing these things.
“MLEC is on its way, Bootle Strand is on its way. But it does take a long time to get the plans together.”
“It’s a really good story. It is about having hope. It’s about having a vision and it’s also about having agency, recognising the choices you have and the change you can make.”
Resurgence of City Region
Steve Rotheram said: “There were parts of our city and city of region that were post industrialised wastelands, and that was the bad old days. What you’re seeing now is the resurgence of Liverpool and our city region as somewhere that investors, private sector money, wants to come in.
“We’re seeing more jobs, which is great, but we’re seeing lots more apprenticeships. We’re seeing more growth sector businesses choosing Liverpool. We’re seeing the economic benefits of that, in regard to people staying here, and the visitor economy growing. The whole system needs to function together, and that’s what we’ve started to see.
“The one thing that is in very short supply at the moment, the one commodity that we need more of is ‘hope’. Now we’re seeing the tangible result of a lot of work, of a lot of planning, of a lot of determination by some brilliant people.”
Inward investment and infrastructure improvements
Head of Property & Commercial Development at Royal London Asset Management Mark Evans said: “So, this new development at Atlantic Park is further addition to what we’re doing right away across the Liverpool City Region, which is attracting inward investment, ensuring that we get infrastructure improvements.
“And it’s because of Royal London wanting to invest in Sefton that we’ve seen what will happen here today, as the next development, phase two, is completed.
“For Royal London, this development is really important. It’s about providing, new industrial accommodation around the UK.
“And so being able to regenerate areas such as this and bring the industry back to what was a derelict Rolls-Royce factory is really important.
“It will help the local community, it will provide jobs, it’ll provide employment.”
Employment and Skills Plan
Sefton Council’s Sefton at Work and Invest Sefton teams along with local education providers will work with Winvik Construction to implement an Employment and Skills Plan for Atlantic Park.
This will include career talks, work experience placements, and local employment and training opportunities.
Source: My Sefton
