St Johns Market update, bad news for Wirral projects and factory job losses feared

Hello,

Dan Haygarth is off today so you've got me, Katie Westwood, filling in on Daily Post duties.

In today’s edition of the Liverpool Daily Post, Local Democracy Reporter David Humphreys gives us an update on St Johns market, which closed back in March. While no formal decision has been taken on the future of the site, Liverpool Councillor Nick Small, who is cabinet member for growth and economy, told the ECHO he does not expect traders to return to St Johns in the future. In March, traders were left standing outside the city centre trading point after Liverpool Council officers locked the doors over unpaid rents.

Elsewhere, another of our Local Democracy Reporters, Ed Barnes, examines the various regeneration projects going on in Wirral. According to a new report by Wirral Council, more than half of the regeneration projects the local authority is working on are either “in doubt” or “unachievable”, with a further 16 "on hold". Key projects "in doubt" include new substation plans to power Birkenhead, Wirral Transport Museum and Birkenhead Priory renovations, as well as improvements to the Woodside Ferry Village. Major infrastructure projects such as the new Dock Branch park, Liscard’s regeneration, and the Hind Street Urban Village are also given the same assessment.

News is also gloomy from Speke, where the ECHO’s Ben Haslam reports on an urgent meeting held by Maria Eagle MP following the recent announcement by TriRx Pharmaceutical Services that it is set to bring in administrators. The company has facilities on Fleming Road in Speke, as well as in Alabama and Kansas in America, and Segre in France. Garston MP Ms. Eagle has confirmed 450 jobs are at risk should the company enter into administration.

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'Unlikely' market will return at St Johns as rent dispute continues

It is “unlikely” St Johns will open again as a working market, according to a senior Liverpool councillor six months on from the historic location being shut down. In March, traders were left standing outside the city centre trading point after Liverpool Council officers locked the doors over unpaid rents..

While no formal decision has been taken on the future of the site, Cllr Nick Small, Liverpool Council, cabinet member for growth and economy, told the ECHO he does not expect traders to return to St Johns in future. Cllr Small defended the decision by the city to remove the stalls over the more than ￡2m owed by businesses..

Last Autumn, the city council said it would seek to recover three years’ worth of debt from the traders that occupied the market. In 2016, ￡2.5m was spent to renovate the site but proved unpopular, even with then Mayor Joe Anderson, who initially offered traders three, then six months free rent as an incentive to stay and increase footfall.

Around ￡1m a year was being spent to subsidise the market by the city council. Further investigations by officers found arrears incurred by dozens of businesses had risen from an initially established ￡1.7m to ￡2.1m.

It is understood the additional money identified by the council is made up of arrears owing to a small number of traders. This is made up of some leaving the market before the end of their official agreement with the council and some businesses occupying two units while only being officially listed as operating one.

Cllr Small said: “We’re doing an options appraisal at the minute and there’s been a lot of interest in it. We haven’t made a final decision yet but it’s unlikely it will open again as a market, I think it was in the wrong location, really.

“I think markets have moved on but we are looking at all the options. We remain in dispute with the traders and teams are still trying to recover the debt with individuals.

“We had to do what we did, nobody wanted to be in the position we found ourselves in but we did the right thing for taxpayers and the future of markets in Liverpool. They’re in a strong position, you look at Stanley Park, St George’s Hall and the announcement we had for Greatie, they’re going from strength to strength and are fit for purpose for the future.”

The strength of feeling towards the market and its future was high with demonstrations held in the city centre and an extraordinary meeting taking place at Liverpool Town Hall between members of the city council. Among those left to start again was trader Ravi Soni, who had worked on the family business for 60 years.

He said: “I wasn’t able to trade and it took me a long time to find a new place. I don’t think a lot is going to happen with it now. It felt planned (the closure) by the council. We didn’t hear anything after covid about rent and then we went into mediation. We offered to pay through legal entities.”

Cllr Carl Cashman, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said the Labour-run local authority had failed stallholders in their approach to the market. He said: “Six months on from the shutters coming down for the last time on St John's Market and it's still unclear what the future of the site will be. Stallholders have literally been left out in the cold by Labour.

“There have been no plans or discussions about what comes next. The Lib Dems and other opposition parties stood side by side with the stall holders from the start, bringing the issue to council, despite Labour’s protest. Read more

Over half of major plans 'unachievable' or 'in doubt' in 25 areas report says

More than half of the regeneration projects Wirral Council is working on are either “in doubt” or “unachievable”, with a further 16 “on hold.” The figures were revealed in a new report published ahead of a key meeting next week.

According to the report, there are 44 active projects being delivered by the local authority with 32 “in delivery” while 12 are still in the pipeline. The report, following requests for it to be made public, will now be looked at by councillors at a regeneration committee meeting on September 16.

The report sets out what the council thinks it is likely to deliver with four projects described as “unachievable,” 21 appear "feasible but is in doubt,” and 16 projects are currently on hold. Six are considered “probable” in terms of coming off while 13 are considered “highly likely.”

Key projects "in doubt" include new substation plans to power Birkenhead, Wirral Transport Museum and Birkenhead Priory renovations as well as improvements to the Woodside Ferry Village. Major infrastructure projects such as the new Dock Branch park, Liscard’s regeneration, and the Hind Street Urban Village are also given the same assessment.

However the report makes clear that while the future of some of these projects is still uncertain, positive steps forward such as funding for the Hind Street Urban Village and Dock Branch are expected to come in the future while other projects are delivered in some form.

A council spokesperson said: "The style of update used in this report to ERH committee is a new way to ensure councillors are able to have a detailed analysis of the current position of key projects underway to aid the committee’s oversight of them. The RAG rating gives a snapshot of each project at this specific point in time. A red flag means there will be more mitigation needed to be put in place to ensure delivery, highlighting that unless this is done the project could remain categorised as 'undeliverable'.

"This reporting system further indicates lesser interventions are required for those flagged amber and yellow, while green means the project is currently on track. These are all reviewed regularly and are expected to change in the coming months as work on the projects progresses with those currently flagged moving up to green and allow Wirral to deliver its aspirational regeneration programme."

A number of projects are looking likely to go ahead including new infrastructure for walking and cycling on Birkenhead Road, Price Street, Arrowe Park Road, and in Bebington as well as the Miller’s Quay 500-apartment scheme. Other projects that have gone or are going ahead include ￡12m changes to Birkenhead town centre, Egerton House, Woodside Ferry upgrades, and the planned new Birkenhead Market in a former Argos.

However two key schemes that are currently considered unachievable by the local authority include future plans to build homes on the site of the former House of Fraser on Grange Road as well as the Europa Residential scheme on Price Street car park. These would provide around 273 homes.

No money has currently been spent on either housing scheme directly with Price Street’s ￡3.3m budget still available. However ￡1,527,852 has already been spent on scrapped plans to put a new Birkenhead Market on the House of Fraser site.

A timeline published by the local authority as part of the report said construction work is due to start on House of Fraser and Price Street in June 2025. An initial 50 homes are expected to be delivered at Price Street by March 2026 while House of Fraser is expected to be completed in September 2027.

Both schemes have funding deadlines with Wirral Council needing to get developments moving at House of Fraser by March 2025 to avoid the government taking money back. The deadline for Price Street is March 2026.

The council report said: “There is an increased focus on the delivery of Price Street car park and House of Fraser to mitigate any delay in delivery and avoid claw back of funding. Officers are working with Wirral Growth Company Joint Venture Partnership to accelerate schemes and reduce risk to delivery.”

Two key areas of the Wirral Waters project, the largest regeneration project in the UK, are now also considered “unachievable” by the local authority including plans to further develop the northern dockside of East Float as well as a sustainability hub. In a 2018 council report, the Northbank East Phase 3 project was described as a ￡65m “new high density innovative residential development” providing nearly 350 new homes.

The scheme was to be delivered by a partnership between Urban Splash and Peel but ran into difficulties after Urban Splash went into administration in 2022. The council report said it was now unachievable but there was “ongoing dialogue with Peel, Homes England and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to investigate public sector funding support to maintain development momentum.”

The ECHO understands announcements around the next phase of development in the Northbank could be made in the coming months after setbacks following the collapse of Urban Splash. Progress with a new development partner for the Belong Village is also expected in the near future.

Another key part of Wirral Waters is MEA Park, described as its future “industrial heart” with a waterside campus for manufacturing, research and development with one million square feet of industrial space. Two projects are currently in doubt there while funding for a new sustainability hub has been withdrawn.

In 2022, ￡1,732,500 of government funding was awarded for the revamp of a vacant ship repairers building off Wallasey Bridge road “with shared workspaces, an outdoor classroom, a ‘reuse’ hub and shop, an outdoor gym, raised growing beds, beehives, energy and construction workshops, and an events space, as well as ‘wetland’ gardens and a tree-nursery.” However Wirral Council said Peel had withdrawn from moving the project forward and the ￡1.7m will now be spent on other regeneration projects. Peel recently told the council it would no longer be a guarantor for another Wirral Waters project, Egerton Village, while Wirral Council has backed out of plans for a new maritime research facility.

As for the other two projects in MEA Park, the local authority said there is “currently no progress being reported” by Peel on a prototype, training, and assembly centre while Peel are asking for ￡5m to kick start the next phase of the MEA Park development, “significantly in excess of the ￡1.5m previously approved.” The council said Peel still needed to provide more information for the project.

The report said communication was ongoing, adding: “On a more positive note, Peel L&P are developing an Outline Business Case for the ￡8 million Freeport seed funding which, if the funding is secured, would provide the site clearance, remediation and infrastructure to create four development plots for inward investment, with positive discussions taking place with businesses in relation to each of these plots.”

There is reportedly strong business interest in relocating into the Freeport zone and work is ongoing to make sure plots are ready for development in the area.

Wirral Council and Peel Waters were both approached for comment. Read more

Fears remain for hundreds of jobs as urgent meeting held over administration notice

Maria Eagle MP held an urgent meeting with TriRx Pharmaceutical Services last week after the company announced its intention to appoint administrators. The self-proclaimed "leading player" in the pharmaceutical industry issued a Notice of Intent to appoint an administrator, with the Garston MP now confirming 450 jobs are at risk should the company enter into administration.

The company, which has facilities in Alabama and Kansas in America, Segre in France as well as on Fleming Road in Speke, confirmed to the ECHO it has taken the decision to file the notice based on the "current situation with its core customer" one week ago. Ms Eagle, who is Minister for Defence, told the ECHO: "On Friday (September 6) I met with site management at TriRX who confirmed a notice of administration had been served for ten days time, 16 September.

"There are ongoing discussions between TriRX and Elanco to see if there is a solution that will save the site and save jobs. Discussions are also ongoing with TriRX in the US. I am writing to the corporate centre of Eli Lilly to see if they can keep the plant operational.

"I’ll also be talking to the Office of Life Sciences and the Department of Science and Technology to see what else can be done. I’m hoping to speak to trade union representatives of impacted staff this week."

Approached for confirmation about the Notice of Intent, Nick Davis, site director of the Speke facility, said: "TriRx Pharmaceuticals, a leading player in the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing and development space, have issued a Notice of Intent to appoint an administrator at their site located in Speke, Liverpool.

"As of Friday 30 August, the directors of TriRx Speke took the decision that, based on the current situation with its core customer, they had no choice but to file a Notice of Intention to appoint an administrator. The company is not in administration at this point in time, and the directors are working hard to secure a solution for the site."

Administration is the process where a licensed insolvency practitioner is appointed to oversee and protect a business or limited company. The Notice of Intent is a document filed to a court that states a company's intentions to enter administration in an attempt to save it from liquidation, with 10 business days to prevent the company going into administration.

TriRx's facilities in Speke provide drug substance services to "help develop and manufacture" pharmaceutical ingredients. The company's website said about the site: "Services available include process development and production, non-sterile liquid filling, fermentation, spray drying, coating, pre-mixing, and Speke also has an on-site analytical laboratory for extensive quality control (QC) and stability testing." The ECHO has approached Eli Lilly for comment. Read more

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