Hunt for Liverpool One Chief Exec begins
28 Nov 2006
THE search has started to find a chief executive to run Grosvenors Paradise Street Project, now known as Liverpool One.
The development, spanning 42 acres between Church Street and the waterfront, is Europe’s largest city centre urban regeneration scheme.
London based headhunters have been hired by Grosvenor to run the development, due to open early in 2008 when Liverpool celebrates being European Capital of Culture.
The man or woman appointed will lead the launch of the scheme that includes two major anchor stores, a range of new shops, hotels, leisure facilities as well as hundreds of new homes.
Consultants Odgers will draw up a short list of potential candidates for the post as part of a recruitment process.
Interviews will take place in January with the successful candidate, earning what will be a six-figure salary, in place within the first quarter of the new year.
Project Director Rodney Holmes said last night: “The person appointed will be responsible for running Liverpool One once the scheme has been implemented.
“When the construction work is delivered we will leave it in the hands of a chief executive who will lead a team to take forward Liverpool One.
“The person appointed will initially work alongside me and my team as the scheme is progressed.”
Almost two thirds of commercial space within the development is already let, or in the process of being signed-up.
As well as the two anchor stores, John Lewis and Debenhams, a number of retails have already signed on the dotted line. For some it will be a second store within Liverpool city centre, but the majority will be newcomers represented for the first time in Liverpool.
One firm in serious discussions is Habitat, originally one of the anchor stores within St John’s Precinct when it opened in the 1970s.
This week Grosvenor revealed details of the stores being built on the site of the former BBC Radio Merseyside studios in Paradise Street.
The new building will include a public clock, one of three earmarked for the Liverpool One development. The first, at the new bus interchange, is already operational.
This week marks the second anniversary of work starting on the Paradise Street project, and there are less than 18 months to when the majority of the scheme opens to visitors.
Grosvenor has already spent £390m since 2004 and last month alone spent almost £15m, a sum that is likely to increase month by month as building work races ahead.
By Larry Neild, Liverpool Daily Post
Index |