Welcome to Liverpool One

May 29 2008 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

Liverpool One shopping development open to the public _320

TODAY’S opening of the £1bn Liverpool One shopping development was last night described as “one of the most important days in the city’s history”.

Speaking as workers put the finishing touches to the first phase of Grosvenor’s 42-acre scheme, council leader Warren Bradley said it was a day the city had been waiting for for decades.

Thousands of shoppers are ex-pected to flock to Liverpool One to look around the 40 shops which are opening this morning, including flagship stores for John Lewis and Debenhams.

An area that has been behind wraps as one of the biggest building sites in Europe for the past five years will be unveiled with an opening ceremony that will feature the world’s longest catwalk. When the scheme opens fully at the end of September, Liverpool will be catapulted from 15th to 5th in the UK’s retail hierarchy, overtaking Leeds, Cardiff, Nottingham, Birmingham, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

Last night, the project was hailed as the single most important development – with the creation of 5,000 jobs – in Liverpool’s much talked-of rebirth.

Last night, Cllr Bradley said: “I think it’s one of the highlights not only of the year but of Liverpool’s history. A whole part of the city centre is going to be reborn and rejuvenated. It is something Liverpool has wanted for decades.”

He said the opening would be one of his proudest achievements as leader of the council.

“It is the single most important thing that has happened in Liverpool that will bring economic stability and opportun-ity that we have wanted for so long.It is about the pennies that are going to be spent at the tills and the 5,000 new real long-term jobs that have been created – it is fabulous news.”

Chief executive of Liverpool One, Joanne Jennings, said the excitement building in Liverpool ahead of the launch was fantastic.

“The excitement in the city is fantas-tic as the streets of Liverpool are given back to city,” she said. “The anticipa-tion of today has been coming for many years, but this is only the first phase opening of Liverpool One, reconnecting the city to the waterfront.

“What will follow over the summer will culminate in a grand opening on September 30 that will bring 160 units of 1.4m sq ft of retail and deliver a shop-ping experience few cities can match.”

Jack Stopforth, chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is crucially important for Liverpool.

“When it is fully open, there will be 100-plus new businesses, and 5,000 jobs are going to be generated. This will change Liverpool’s economy radically.

“Coming on the back of the Arena and Convention Centre, equally important but in a different way, Liverpool One is a huge fillip for Liverpool.”

The scheme’s importance to the city is also recognised by existing stores in the city and a rival shopping centre.

Jennina O’Neill, marketing manager for the Metquarter, said: “This is a cele-bration for Liverpool and its develop-ment. It is a great day for the city and all of its retailers. Liverpool One adds to the retail mix in the city and is a very welcome addition to Liverpool, adding to the customers’ shopping experience.”

Liverpool City Central Business Improvement District, which represents over 500 city centre shops and busines-ses, greeted the opening of the new £1bn development as a new stage for retail. Rita Waters, chief executive of BID, said: “This is the biggest change to Liver-pool’s city centre in 50 years and will increase visitors to the city centre. It is an oppotunity to put Liverpool at the top of the shopping ‘Premier League’.

Store manager at Debenhams, Kevin O’Donovan, yesterday welcomed store card holders and special guests to his glittering new four-storey store before the official opening today.

“We’ve got 500 staff which will rise to probably nearer 700 at busy times like Christmas. We’ve never seen a more enthusiastic response.”

Longest catwalk heralds opening >>>