365 #1

A lot of front: Rethinking Britain’s favourite resort

Sea change: How coastal towns are back in business

365: Blackpool’s regeneration magazine summer_07

ACUITY IS WORKING ALONGSIDE REBLACKPOOL TO

PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

DELIVER WORLD CLASS FACILITIES WITHIN BLACKPOOL Acuity is a regional consultancy offering bespoke

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

solutions for the deliver y of projects and programmes throughout the full lifecycle.

INTERIM MANAGEMENT

We have extensive experience in the deliver y of capital and revenue projects with responsibility for all key

DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT

stages including:

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Project Concept

PFI PROCUREMENT

Business Case Development Funding Applications

CRITICAL FRIEND

Masterplanning Development Agreements

RISK MANAGEMENT

Site Acquisition Planning Applications

COST MANAGEMENT

Procurement Contract Options Appraisal/Development

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Design Management Construction Phase Management

VALUE MANAGEMENT

Commissioning VALUE ENGINEERING

PROJECT CONTROLS/ PM SYSTEMS

BESPOKE PROJECT & P ROGRA MME DE LIVERY Acuity Programme Management Ltd 19 Grappenhall Road Stockton Heath Warrington Cheshire WA4 2AH

t. 01925 210924 f. 0709 228 3810 e. enquiries@acuitypm.com

, page_ 365

Contents

Editor: Sarah Herbert sarah@3foxinternational.com Deputy editor: Kirsty MacAulay kirsty@3foxinternational.com Art editor: Terry Hawes terry@3foxinternational.com Contributors: David Gray, Alison Jones, Julie Mackintosh Advertisement sales: Lee Harrison lee@3foxinternational.com Production: Sue Mapara sue@3foxinternational.com Managing director: Toby Fox toby@3foxinternational.com Printed by: Pyramid Press Images: ReBlackpool, Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board, Terry Hawes Published by: Lower Ground Floor 189 Lavender Hill London SW11 5TB T: 020 7978 6840 F: 020 7978 6837 For ReBlackpool The Wellington Building Squires Gate Lane Blackpool FY4 2QY T: 01253 478 909 www.reblackpool.com Subscriptions and feedback: go to www.blackpool365.com © 3Fox International Limited 2007. All material is ­strictly copyright and all rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written ­permission of 3Fox International Limited is strictly ­forbidden.

The greatest care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine at time of going to press, but we accept no ­responsibility for omissions or errors.

The views expressed in this ­magazine are not ­necessarily those of 3Fox International Limited or ReBlackpool.

04 B lackpool is looking to its strengths to create an internationally renowned 21st century resort. Plus, details of the schemes that will transform the seafront, town centre and airport 20 W hat’s going on? Our map points out the projects planned to spearhead the town’s transformation 24 Sir Peter Hall, chair of ReBlackpool, discusses his hopes and ambitions for his home town 28 English seaside holidays needn’t be a thing of the past. Blackpool is bucking the trend and leading the way to renaissance 34 E ncouraging new business is at the heart of the town’s bid to create a healthy and diverse economy 38 P arting shot

Blackpool 2012

page_ 365

Sea change

Family fun, glitz, bright lights… for more than a century, Blackpool took millions of people each year to another world beyond the daily grind. The Prom behind its seven miles of seafront was lined with deckchairs, faces turned towards the sun, and not an inch of sand was visible between holidaying families on the beach.

Blackpool played a huge part in democratising the British family holiday. The railway’s arrival in the 1850s saw a huge boom in visitor numbers from all walks of life, and the following few decades saw incredible development, with three piers and the Promenade built, the tramways created to transport visitors from one attraction to the next, and the iconic Blackpool Tower. Following close behind came the music halls and theatres, along with innovative amusements, such as the Pleasure Beach and famous Blackpool Illuminations.

Up until the 1960s and 70s, the larger-than-life resort had more than 17 million visitors a year, staying in more than 100,000 beds in hotels or B&Bs. Blackpool quickly became the largest holiday destination in the UK. But it couldn’t last. As consumers became increasingly demanding, and tempted by cheap airfares to overseas resorts, they fell out of love with British seaside holidays, and with Blackpool – its attractions increasingly being perceived as cheap, tacky and samey.

Its nostalgic appeal was not enough to save Blackpool from being left behind by holiday-makers chosing higher-quality resorts and attractions, with new experiences and the latest technology. Millions still visit, but there has been a spiralling decline in visitor numbers and, therefore, income.

The problem has been so severe that Blackpool developed worryingly high levels of intense social and economic deprivation, affecting 70% of the population. It became the 10th most deprived area in the UK, with life expectancy at an all-time low, and unemployment, teenage pregnancy and suicide rates on the rise. And as other previously deprived urban centres in the country reverse their decline and begin to thrive, Blackpool’s condition looked even bleaker in comparison.

Something radical needed to be done.

The answer was to build on its strengths. Doug Garrett of the town’s urban regeneration company ReBlackpool says: “The regeneration has to be based around Blackpool’s

Blackpool – spiritual home of the British seaside holiday – had fallen on hard times, with visitors and trade down. But, as Sarah Herbert reports, radical plans are turning it into a resort fit for the 21st century

tourist industry. Its core function is as a resort, not just another place to live.

“Blackpool has something for everyone. The best rides in the world, three piers, an incredible seafront, six working theatres, the biggest clubs in Europe, the best indoor waterpark, the tallest roller coaster, an excellent zoo…

Many, many positive things.” Splendid as these attractions are, they have only buoyed the town’s economy for a few, sunny, months of the year. For Blackpool to succeed it has to become a year-round international, as well as national, entertainment destination.

And it’s all happening. In 2003 a £1 billion masterplan was drawn up by international urban design company EDAW (responsible for, among other things, Manchester city centre and the 2012 Olympic site) and Jerde, a US firm responsible for such remarkable constructions as the Bellagio Resort Hotel. Its aim is to establish Blackpool

as a spectacular, world-class resort for the 21st century – creating more than 20,000 jobs and kick-starting a major programme of regeneration. The plans cover five sq km, from the centre of the resort to Blackpool airport, from the Pleasure Beach to north pier, containing the Golden Mile and Blackpool Tower, the sea front, road and rail arrival points, and could take 15-20 years to be fully realised.

Central to the masterplan is transforming the resort’s heart, and reason for existence – its seafront.

But it also has a number of other key themes. One is the creation, or regeneration, of a collection of distinct neighbourhoods – a feature common to the most memorable towns and cities – distinguished by their own landmarks, public spaces and parks, connected by tree-lined liveable streets. Another is creating new entrances and gateways to the town

»

The revamped South Promenade, with the sculpture ‘The Sound of the Wind Looks Like This’, one of many adorning the front

Blackpool 2012

page_ 365

to improve visitors’ first impressions, and help increase confidence, both for incoming investors and local businesses. And another is to improve the transport facilities, both in the form of car parking and, more sustainable, the famous trams or, indeed, walking.

The plans to transform the resort physically and in spirit are being coordinated by ReBlackpool, established in October 2005, and funded by, and working closely with, Blackpool Council and the North West Regional Development Agency (which has invested more than £70 million over the past seven years, and will invest up to £50 million more to help deliver the masterplan). The URC has a big job on its hands, and one that changes all the time. Not least with the non-arrival of the hoped-for casino, something of a cornerstone for the masterplan.

Obviously, the town is disappointed, but such plans may yet happen. Says Garrett: “Everyone knows about the casino. The idea is still right for Blackpool. It has the right leisure mix and makes sense for us, and it may yet happen. Whether we get it or not, however, the masterplan is about so much more. Yes, the casino would mean a lot of private investment coming to the town, which would be a big plus, but now the challenge is to ensure the right mix of development to encourage people to come anyway.”

The transformation has already started. On the sea front, the sea wall, thanks to a national coastal defence programme, is being rebuilt into a series of headlands extending 60m into the sea, with sweeping steps leading down to the beach, to be topped with ‘the People’s Playground’ (see page 13), a series of ‘magical’ public spaces.

South Beach, a formerly unattractive part of the south promenade, is now an

inviting entrance to this end of town, with the world’s largest glitterball and cunning shelters which turn with the wind to keep its occupants cosy, on top of newly illuminated and restored walkways (see page 13). And the central entry point of the town from the nearby M55 has turned tarmac into spectacular recreation space in a £13.5 million project, Central Gateway, which includes new parks and a soaring sculptural climbing tower.

The railway entry point, now called the Talbot Gateway (see page 9), is the third area to be transformed, this time from a jumble of roads and car parks into a retail, business and culture hub for the whole coastal region, with squares, shops and apartments.

Work is expected to start next year, and agreement negotiations are ongoing with preferred developer Muse Developments (formerly called Amec).

This, in addition to a huge extension to Houndshill shopping centre to the south of the town centre (see page 15), will hopefully tempt shoppers back, who currently go elsewhere for quality shopping. And for those arriving by air, the airport’s recent refurbishment means it can become a hub for both the town and the whole region. Blackpool is well placed to take advantage of the growth in domestic tourism, and the increasing distances travelled by foreign visitors.

Of course, regeneration is not all about physical redevelopment. The commercial space created around Talbot Gateway and the airport will help address the small office market (there is only 190,000sq m of commercial space at the moment) and secure more year-round employment, as will local economic partnerships and commitment towards employing and training local people, and plans for a university campus in the town centre, along with

enterprise and incubator centres, will help improve the level of qualifications.

Money has been earmarked to increase the breadth of events and attractions, and plans are afoot to address the lack of affordable housing, and oversupply of sub-standard holiday accommodation.

As Garrett says: “We need to encourage people to come for two or three nights, not just day trips or one-nighters. And we have to improve the quality of the accommodation. These days people expect the same, if not greater, level of luxury and mod cons that they now have at home.” This process has begun, with such places as the Big Blue Hotel (see page 34) – not a nylon sheet in sight – but has some way to go.

The town is looking forward. The new £8 million Infusion rollercoaster is the first in the world to be completely suspended over water, and the zoo is getting £10 million during 2007 and 2008. And the glamour quotient is on the up: Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen – him of the dandyish shirts and outré home furnishings – both opened Central Gateway in 2006, and is in the throes of designing a section of the famous Illuminations. That can only be a good thing. J

Facts and figures • Blackpool’s population of around 142,000, has a higher than average number of ‘comfortably off’ residents •2 1% of residents have no qualifications, and low wages (net household income is only 85% of UK average) •T he average house price, at the end of the first quarter of 2007, was £126,804, compared to the North West average of £151,341 (Source: Halifax) •H ome ownership is high, at 77% of all households, but so is private rental (13.6%). Only 4.6% of residents rent from the council (UK average 14%).19% of all dwellings are flats, and 38% semi-detached houses •L ocal estate agent Allits says: “The residential market is very active and robust” •R ents rose from an average of £110 per sq ft in 200 to £125 in 2006, according to Colliers CRE. They range from £90 per sq m in the town centre, £120 at Blackpool Technology Centre, to £150 for purposebuilt premises at Vicarage Lane •T he total rateable value of retail premises in the town amounts to £40 million

page_ 365

It’s all change, from the world’s largest glitterball, to town centre redevelopment, as well as major sea wall reconstruction

Blackpool 2012

page_ 365

Major developments are under way to return Blackpool to its former glory, making it a great place for visitors and residents

Grand entrance

Talbot Gateway will create both a new arrival point and a commercial and residential focus for residents

In the 1850s, at the beginning of its heyday, the northern part of Blackpool was where it all happened. Visitors would flood through Talbot Road Station, and it was in this part of town where many of the foundations of the resort – the first stretch of promenade and the first of Blackpool’s three piers – were focused. The area became a hub for hotels and guesthouses, as well as the main shopping area, with an elegant arcade and winter gardens.

With the arrival of the tram, Blackpool North Station, as it was renamed, became a major transport interchange. However, over the past 50 years, the once thriving area has

become run-down and faceless, thanks to both the shift southwards of the town’s focus towards the tower, Golden Mile and Pleasure Beach. The prime shopping area, and pedestrianised streets, were also built south of the town centre, while the Talbot area became a fragmented, transitional zone between town centre and residential neighbourhoods, used mainly for parking.

Doug Garrett, chief executive of ReBlackpool, puts it frankly: “When you get off the train today, it’s like arriving into a bear pit, a hole in the ground.

What we need is to create the sense of arriving somewhere special. The

area needs to become more legible, with vistas to the seafront and tower.

At the moment there’s nothing to grab you and say that Blackpool’s a fun place to be.”

A cornerstone of the masterplan is to give this area an identity once more, and establish it as the area’s natural choice for shopping, work and pleasure.

To this end, the Talbot Gateway scheme will transform the Northern

»

Blackpool 2012

page_10 365

Top: The world’s biggest mirrorball Above: The ‘wave wall’ feature at South Beach Above right: Central Gateway brings visitors from the motorway via dramatic new parks and sculpture

Station and existing Talbot Square into a pedestrian-friendly civic and cultural quarter, enhancing the vitality of the town centre and acting as a catalyst for the regeneration, bringing £285 million of investment into Blackpool.

The £285 million development, acting as a northern anchor for the town centre, will include shops, a multiscreen cinema, two hotels, offices (including a new home for the council) flats and parking. As well as creating an exciting arrival point for visitors, it will also provide quality jobs and homes for local people and act as a transport hub for the tram, train, bus, coach and taxis.

From a shortlist of three developers, ReBlackpool chose Muse Developments this April as its preferred developer for the scheme.

Mike Horner, Muse regional director, said: “Everyone knows Blackpool as a tourist and leisure destination, but we want to put something back in for the local population – for those people who actually live and work here.”

The focus will also be on forging a modern and enticing public realm.

“Blackpool needs a step up in quality,” says Horner, “and Talbot Gateway will provide this as a well-designed urban quarter of high-quality architectural buildings linked by pedestrian-friendly

streets and exciting public spaces.”

The 12.8ha development will be delivered in phases over the next six years, with planning permission to be sought after consultation with local residents and businesses, allowing progressive refinement and adjustment.

The first phase, which Muse aims to have on site by the end of 2008, will comprise a 7,200sq m food store and 19,000sq m of high-spec retail.

Completion is expected by 2010.

Bryan Gray, chair of the NWDA, commented: “Talbot Gateway is a vital part of the masterplan to regenerate the town centre, and will mean a significant increase in job creation, providing further benefits to the community.”

Talbot Gateway is one of a number of gateways in the masterplan, created to transform first impressions, help lift investor confidence and act as a catalyst for private leisure and tourism investment. The idea is to soften road and rail entry points into the town, with pocket parks, street trees and garden planting schemes.

The first phase of the Central Gateway project, which opened in 2006, joined the motorway to key attractions with the capacity for a three-lane highway among a

contoured green parkland, spectacular illumination, footpaths, cycle paths, a play area, all-weather pitch and secure landscaped public car parking.

The most striking features of this £13.5 million project are two 20mtall climbing towers spelling out the word Blackpool. It includes George Bancroft Park, Blackpool’s first newly constructed park since 1926.

This follows the success of the completed £4.4 million Southern Gateway, which turned a desolate area of car parks and wasted space between the Pleasure Beach and Sandcastle into a dramatic new entrance point, with new street lighting, modern sculpture – including the world’s largest mirror ball, a sparkling LED-lit recycled glass wall in the shape of a crashing wave, and sculpted shelters that turn with the wind – and new public spaces, with moulded walls and a raised lawn, for both locals and tourists.

page_11 365

Seaside special

Top: The People’s Playground – for ‘children’ of all ages Above: Blackpool’s famous trams on the Promenade

Any regeneration of Blackpool has to focus on the seafront: the heart of the town, and its very reason for being.

It is therefore a vital part of helping Blackpool become the UK’s biggest short-stay resort. Plans are already under way to bring the seafront into the 21st century, on the way stimulating private-sector investment, reviving seafront businesses and creating 900 new jobs.

Encompassing the whole area, and encapsulating the new spirit of adventure, is the ambitious £52 million, 3km-long ‘People’s Playground’. After an international design competition and public exhibition, landscape design practice LDA Design was chosen to create a ‘place of escape and fantasy’, with summer and winter promenades reflecting the surrounding coastal habitat, a surreal dunescape of ‘kingdoms’, and an aerial light show inspired by the Aurora Berealis. Joining the seafront to the hinterland will be

a recreation space, and ‘leisure and learning opportunities’.

More precisely, the project will: • Transform the central seafront into a year-round urban park for local residents and visitors • Create a playground with universal appeal for children and adults • Optimise the use of the beach and rethink its lighting spectacle • Give Blackpool’s next generation a chance to influence the evolution of their seafront and get involved with world-class designers • Regain the pioneering spirit and sense of achievement of Blackpool’s Victorian creators.

The transformation is already under way, thanks to the coastal protection work begun in 2005. The initial impetus behind the scheme was a nationwide coastal defence initiative, which will protect the sea front and 1,500 vulnerable properties, which is now being built to incorporate the

»

01

In November 2002 Blackpool Borough Council commissioned EDAW’s team of urban designers, landscape architects and economic development specialists along with Los Angelesbased architects the Jerde Partnership to provide the strategic direction to deliver bold and progressive change.

2002

Autumn - EDAW and Jerde Partnership commissioned to undertake Vision and Masterplan for Blackpool

Existing Town Centre Restaurant Retail Retail (Anchors) Residential Hotel Office Market Railway Station Civic Conference Casino Parking Surface Parking Police Pleasure Beach Promenade Aquarium Water Park Education/University Stadium Uses Tourism Court

After a period of design and consultation, a masterplan incorporating both physical and aspirational regeneration proposals was produced. The vision for the future of Blackpool was of a renewed national and international destination that embraced the material and spiritual changes to become a sustainable, year-round destination incorporating balanced and healthy neighbourhoods.

The success of the Blackpool vision relied upon an implementable, high quality masterplan combined with a coherent, integrated strategy that would deliver benefits for visitors and residents alike. As a result, a series of additional initiatives were formulated to support the objectives of the masterplan

2003

Spring - Vision and Masterplan completed Spring - Design starts on Sea Defences Summer - Construction starts on Southern Gateway

BlackPool maSterPlan Study Blackpool Masterplan Study incorporating both physical and non-physical regeneration proposals

and ensure that the socio-economic benefits could be fully realised and made accessible to local communities.

Of particular importance in the delivery of the masterplan were issues related to ‘placemaking’: transforming Blackpool’s image by focusing upon the public realm, land use, the promenade, lighting and public open space. From the masterplan, three key projects were identified for early implementation to establish a benchmark for quality and engender confidence in the deliverability of the vision. It was implicit in the strategy that the public realm had to come first and act as a catalyst to enhance the role and values of adjacent buildings and landholdings.

2004

Spring - Construction starts on Central Corridor/George Bancroft Park Summer - Southern Gateway completed

05

02

03

Southern Gateway Southern Gateway was proposed as the first of these spaces to provide a new entrance into Blackpool and lighting along a one kilometre stretch of promenade. It provides an anchor and backdrop to the intense arrival experience already captured by the Irish Sea and the Pleasure Beach. It enables efficient movement routes, introducing a critical new east-west connection with the Pleasure Beach and promenade. Bold planting and lawn areas have been introduced to counter the predominantly hard landscape along the promenade.

2005

01

04

GeorGe Bancroft Park (central corridor) The Central Corridor site gave EDAW the opportunity to provide a major new park for Blackpool and bring nature back into its heart. The existing site was dominated by a vast surface level car park, gable ends of housing and a busy road dividing two communities.

The new park, opened in spring 2006, now provides a striking arrival for visitors to Blackpool and a safe, relaxing and enjoyable place for people who live and work in the area.

The park’s bold new landscape structure includes over 650 large trees and 75,000 shrubs and herbaceous plants. Two climbing towers designed in

Summer - Design starts on Promenade Autumn - Construction starts on Sea Defences

2006

collaboration with artist Gordon Young create visual impact, and have already become a firm favourite in the climbing community. A play area, a multi-use games area for 5-a-side football, a bouldering wall and community garden terraces provide a series of diverse park experiences.

BlackPool Promenade and coaStal defenceS Blackpool’s promenade and sea wall are recognised as two of the most important elements to Blackpool’s future success as a resort. EDAW’s scheme involves a radical rethink of the traditional approach to coastal defence through a responsive process, in an integrated

Spring - George Bancroft Park opens

piece of infrastructure, art and public realm that considers the environmental context and impact. Inspiration comes from Blackpool’s historical coastal landscape of beaches and rolling sand dunes - the enormous sea wall is being replaced with a series of steps, low walls, and catchment areas matching the colour of the beach sand. Steps run the entire length of the scheme to reconnect the town with its beach.

What sets seaside resorts apart from other towns is spectacular public spaces, beaches, promenades, parks and squares. Embracing the rich historical legacy, promoting year-round use and protection

2007

from the extreme coastal weather is vital. But the real challenge is to inject them with an imaginative dynamism and innovation to appeal to 21st-century visitors and investors alike.

EDAW’s masterplan set the context to transform the resort physically, economically and socially, and focused considerable attention on the resort stimulating investment and bringing forward strategic proposals. The first three major public realm improvements mark the beginning of a transformation for the whole town, and have set the path for Blackpool’s continuing renewal.

Construction continues on Promenade and Sea Defences

01 George Bancroft Park (Central Corridor) 02 Blackpool Coastal Defences and Aspirations for the Golden Mile Promenade 03-04 Integrated Promenade Seating 05 Staircase Study 06 Southern Gateway 07 New Sea Defences 07

06

For more information, contact Juli Grot: juli.grot@edaw.com www.edaw.com

Blackpool 2012

page_14 365

Left: the new sea wall is already under construction, with 60m headlands going into the sea.

designs of the People’s Playground project. The huge scheme (contractor Birse’s biggest-ever civil engineering project), funded to the tune of £73 million by DEFRA, NWDA and ERDF, will see the sea wall expand seawards in the form of six newly created 1,200sq m headlands, projecting 60m into the sea, with ‘Spanish steps’ leading down to the sea (and one day to be topped by LDA’s dunes and illuminations).

A £4.8 million second phase of NWDA investment is improving the

parade areas between the headlands, including enhancing the tramway along the seafront. These works started in November 2006, and are anticipated to be completed late 2008. The promenade – home to trams, cars, pedestrians and even horse-drawn carriages – is seeing the first phase of track renewal works (thanks to £10.7 million Department for Transport funding) the first phase of which is complete, and the second phase due to finish in 2008 or 2009.

In addition, transport consultant JMP

has developed a movement strategy for the seafront, to create a seamless pedestrian transition between highway and promenade.

“The redevelopment of Blackpool’s 3km central promenade is certainly going to put the town back on the map,” says Doug Garrett, ReBlackpool’s chief executive. “Our aim is to ensure that Blackpool becomes renowned as a 21st-century world-class tourism destination. The innovative and unique redevelopment of the promenade is the first big step in making this happen.”

the UK. The surge began when the council sold the airport in 2004 to property developer MAR Properties. By 2005 a record 350,000 passengers took to the skies, flying to over 20 UK and European business and leisure destinations. These numbers have been further boosted by Jet2.com’s decision to establish Blackpool as a base, and now has three aircraft based at the airport.

A £2 million refurbishment of the terminal in 2006 gave the airport a new, fresh and modern look to meet the needs of the estimated 600,000 passengers expected to use the airport in 2007 – with new infrastructure, passenger facilities, new

air routes and parking. By 2025, it’s reckoned that 3.3 million passengers will pass through the airport, and it will have played a leading role in the regeneration of the town.

According to Gareth Kennedy, the airport’s director of business development: “In 2006, the airport either directly or indirectly supported more than 700 full-time-equivalent jobs and generated more than £20 million of income to the Lancashire economy. In addition, it is a major gateway for tourists, and research has shown that in 2006 around 35% of the airports’ passengers were tourists visiting Blackpool and the surrounding area.”

Flying high

Aeroplanes first took off in Blackpool in 1909, with a magnificent air show of daredevils displaying their primitive flying machines.

However, it was not until 1927 that an actual aerodrome was built, from which adventurous types could fly to the Isle of Man for £1.80 return.

During the Second World War, three runways were built, mainly to test Wellington bombers and provide a base for Spitfire fighters. After the war, Squires Gate, as it was known, became a civil airport, and has continued to grow ever since, with a £2 million terminal building opening in 1995.

Now, Blackpool International is the fastest growing regional airport in

Retail therapy Above: The greatly expanded Houndshill will provide highquality retail for residents and visitors

page_15 365

Right at the centre of Blackpool, beside the Blackpool Tower complex and a minute from the prom, is a cluster of tower cranes, a physical sign that Blackpool’s regeneration is very much under way. They are extending Houndshill Shopping Centre, Blackpool’s only enclosed shopping centre, at the heart of the prime retail area and supported by the town’s multi-storey car parks.

The £35 million extension by Modus will increase Houndshill’s retail floor space to 35,000sq m, including a contemporary food deck, and give

Blackpool its first department store for 12 years, in the shape of a 10,000sq m Debenhams. A first-class line-up of other tenants has been confirmed, including high-street favourites such as Next, Boots, Clarks and River Island.

Blackpool is badly in need of a major retail development and quality department store to attract back the 60% of Fylde regional shoppers who have abandoned Blackpool in favour of other centres such as Preston or Manchester over the past 10 years. The extension of the centre is thus a vital piece in the regeneration of the town.

Work started last year, and already the old car park has been demolished, lots of concrete poured, and most of the external works completed.

Attention is shifting internally, especially to the Debenhams store, and to the ‘pod’ area being built to house three of the units. The centre is due to be finished by Spring 2008.

The site has been offering valuable opportunities to local people. An agreement between contractor Balfour Beatty and local colleges and organisations offers work placements to local people, and local students

from Preston College are getting work experience on site as part of its Firm Foundations initiative, which exists to address the skills shortage in the construction industry. Balfour Beatty is also operating a waste management scheme which aims to eliminate, reduce, reuse, recover or dispose of items safely and responsibly.

»

Blackpool 2012

page_16 365

Below: Blackpool ‘s town centre in the 19th century Near right: Wind turbines on the seafront

Green light

Putting the house in order

It has to be said, Blackpool’s housing market is far from healthy. Over the past 30 years it has suffered, along with the economy. Now, housing failure, driven by an imbalance in supply and demand, is causing social deprivation.

Problems include a surplus of poor quality private rented accommodation, a dearth of good quality family housing, and too little new stock (half as much built since 1965 as the rest of the UK). There are also too many homes in multiple occupation, and a huge oversupply of B&Bs for the sector to be economically viable. It also suffers from the nationwide problem of affordability, despite the average house in the town costs £30,000 less than the UK average.

With these problems in mind the Council and English Partnerships are working up an intervention strategy,

based on five objectives: • Stabilising and growing the population, and increasing diversity • Matching housing provision to the population profile resulting from economic growth • Creating a balanced market, with a choice of high-quality housing in sustainable communities • Re-establishing neighbourhoods in the centre where current residents, and newcomers, want to live • Reducing the supply of poor quality hotel accommodation.

The first area to be addressed will be Blackpool’s ‘brownfield’, the inner resort, where the problems of multipleoccupancy dwellings, failing B&Bs and socio-economic deprivation combine, yet where the cost of improvements are high, thanks to coastal position and fragmented ownership.

To make sure Blackpool’s future development is sustainable in an environmental as well as a community sense, renewable energy sources will be at the heart of the plans.

ReBlackpool is working with Arup to investigate the use of solar and thermal heat technologies in order to produce energy-neutral developments.

The plan is to power the Illuminations (which use nearly a million kilowatt hours of electricity emitting some 420 tonnes of CO2 every year) by wind turbines, which have already appeared on the sea front. As Doug Garrett, chief executive of ReBlackpool says: “Blackpool has plenty of wind! It’s constant through the day, and not just in winter. We’ll even make a feature of the turbines, lighting them up as an attraction.”

The council is committed to acquiring all energy through sustainable sources. This is embodied by the Solaris Centre, converted from the old solarium into a centre of excellence for environmental action, tourism training and business enterprise. This zero-energy building generates more electricity than it uses, via its wind turbines, a combined heat and power plant. It is home to the council-run Resource Efficiency Centre, an ERDF-funded scheme to help businesses to improve efficiency of energy and water use and take advantage of micro-generation.

Among many regional initiatives are a University of Central Lancashire’s North West Centre for Waste Management, in Preston, which helps companies minimise and recycle their waste, and hoteliers are putting together schemes for trade waste recycling and buying locally.

One of the 8m-tall rotating wind shelters on the Southern Gateway, winner of a Civic Trust award

Blackpool 2012

page_18 365

Education and enterprise

Above: Plans are under way to boost the existing Blackpool College with university-style campus

Blackpool could soon see a universitystyle higher education campus in the centre of the town. Plans are afoot to develop the Blackpool site of Blackpool and the Fylde College (which has three other campuses) to allow its higher education students to benefit from a university-style setting.

At the moment, the college runs more then 70 degree-level courses, several specialising in skills relevant to the local economy, such as leisure, hospitality, engineering and management. The majority are accredited by Lancaster University, an associate college since 1993.

The expanded and modernised

campus would include halls of residence, for which planning permission has just been granted. It is due for completing and opening by the beginning of the 2009 academic year.

Another huge boost to education, along with innovation and enterprise, is the successful bid for £10.8 million from the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI). The funding, a grant from central government, will help Blackpool residents, particularly in the more deprived areas, take advantage of the opportunities from the physical regeneration, by addressing the deepseated economic problems.

The funding will be a bit help in increasing business confidence and promoting a positive enterprise culture.

By 2017 the aim is to increase selfemployment to the national average, raise the number of businesses in

Blackpool by 1,000, and reduce the number of benefit claimants by 4,000.

To do this, a number of projects are proposed. These include: • Start-up funds, training and mentoring for those starting their own business • H ERO enterprise in education programme for eight secondary schools • Blackpool Quality Business Initiative to help improve businesses in the visitor sector and attract new investment into the resort core • Creative industries starter incubator facility • Aviation and construction academies, linked to the growth of Blackpool Airport and the large-scale building work of the regeneration programme • Neighbourhood employment team helping the longer-term unemployed into jobs, or even their own business.

page_19 365

Light fantastic One of the great traditions, and spectacles, of Blackpool is the Illuminations. From their beginnings in 1879, when eight arc lamps bathed the promenade in ‘artificial sunshine’, it’s now a £2.4 million show stretching almost six miles, using 200 miles of cable and wiring to light more than a million lights of various shapes and sizes, including 5,000 floodlights and spotlights. Over 66 nights, 3.5 million visitors are drawn to see them, spending more than £275 million.

It keeps 45 joiners, electricians and engineers in employment year round, and uses up 65,000 staff hours. Since 1999, the Illuminations have made a massive 37% energy saving by using low-voltage power and low-energy lamps. Together with the two wind turbines, the greatest free show on earth could be carbon-neutral by 2010.

The Illuminations are undergoing another sort of reinvention. The Festival of Lights will this year feature an exhibition, ‘Artificial Sunshine’, on the history of the Illuminations, a parade of hundreds of lit-up motorcycles cruising down the prom, and an artistic reinvention of Thunderbird Three. For even more culture, the Blackpool Culture Festival in February is a showcase for artists to display their work, from photography to performing arts.

And, for the first time, a famous designer will be involved in designing the lights – in this case a quarter-mile section near the tower. Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s exact designs are still under wraps, but no doubt his usual flamboyance will shine through. “I’m totally seduced by Blackpool’s historical reputation for giddy glitz,” says Bowen.

For me, as a designer, this is the ultimate in seeing my name, or at least my design, up in lights.”

Of course, he’s not the only celebrity involved in the lights. Ever since they were first switched on

by Princess Louise, the turning on ceremony has been a draw for celebrities: this year it’s David Tennant

of Doctor Who fame, and star of the BBC’s Blackpool series, doing the honours.

It’s not just the Illuminations that have drawn the crowds. Blackpool has long been synonymous with fun and excitement of all types, with its Pleasure Beach, Golden Mile and events ranging from air displays to jazz concerts. But it’s not resting on its laurels. As part of the bid to create a unique entertainment experience, and to help increase yearround activity, Visit Blackpool has won a £3.5 million NWDA grant to support a series of signature events over the next three years., all designed to be unique to Blackpool, and to build on its strengths. They would fall under five themes: •S trictly Dance: Building on Blackpool’s reputation for ballroom

dancing – the world championships are held here every year – expanding it into salsa, street, northern soul, etc • Fire and light: To increase the number of light-related festivals through the winter, including those for Diwali or the Chinese New Year •B lackpool remembers: The town has always had a reputation for armed forces R&R. These events would make it the centre for reunions, and memorabilia.

•M agic and illusion: Building on February’s magic conference, these events would extend such events to encompass burlesque, illusion, and other branches of magic.

•S port: With its miles of sand, Blackpool would be the natural place to be the centre of excellence of beach sports, from volleyball to more adreneline-fuelled activity. J

Above: Every year, thousands of people flock to see Blackpool’s Iluminations turned on by a celebrity du jour

What’s going on? A guide to Blackpool’s main development projects

Blackpool is a distinctive town with

residents and visitors alike and will

magnificent character, and yet, in

once again make Blackpool a national

recent decades, has struggled to

and international destination as well

preserve this celebrated heritage.

as an outstanding place to live. In

Talbot Gateway, a new mixed-use

conjunction with emerging projects

development, seeks to overturn

such as the Sea Front, Hounds Hill,

the trend of lost investments by

and the Conference and Casino

ambitiously restoring the area with

Quarter, Talbot Gateway presents

a sense of pride and place. The

a genuinely fantastic and rare

development plans to transform

opportunity to serve as a catalyst

Blackpool into a visitor’s destination

for the town’s needed improvements.

that can be enjoyed by the area’s unique and loyal community. The Talbot Gateway team recognises that in order for Blackpool to thrive, change needs to occur.

After careful consideration of Blackpool’s history and character, we believe the proposed Talbot Gateway development will create a new civic and cultural heart for the

As a means of staying competitive,

town and provide the necessary focus

Talbot Gateway will increase the

for local residents to help restore

town’s choice of jobs, housing,

Blackpool as the principal destination

environments, and local attractions.

for the primary Fylde population.

The Blackpool Council and

Talbot Gateway will become the

ReBlackpool have formed ambitious

place to live, work, rest and play—

programs to reinvent the town.

a hub of activity helping to strengthen

These programs aim to transform

and revitalise the town centre, and

its image, build on its core strength,

trigger sustainable change well

and improve its offerings to

beyond the Gateway’s boundaries.

For Development and Letting Enquiries: Alan.Harris@montagu-evans.co.uk Tel: 0161 235 6363 Tim.Claxton@dtz.com Tel: 0161 236 9595

Another mixed-use development by:

TALBOT GATEWAY

Blackpool’s new mixed-use quarter

Sir Peter Hall

page_24 365

page_25 365

With 50 years’ planning experience, former resident Sir Peter Hall is the perfect person to drive Blackpool’s regeneration programme forward, says Julie Mackintosh

Friend reunited

School reunions are generally acknowledged to be depressing affairs. After all, time lends the sort of enchantment to childhood memories that’s probably best left undisturbed.

And who really wants to discover their childhood sweetheart is married to the (now millionaire) class bully?

Depressing indeed…

So it was that with rose tinted glasses Sir Peter Hall travelled northwards to attend Blackpool Grammar’s class of 1948 reunion almost a decade ago. “I was heading back to the town of my youth – to the seaside resort of the 1940s and 1950s,” remembers the ReBlackpool chair. The reality of what he encountered was shocking. Hall recalls how he was “shattered” by how the place had “declined since the golden age of the British seaside”.

“The image issue is very interesting,” he reflects. “While millions of people have a sentimental attachment to the town, the latter day perception is pretty downmarket.”

Blackpool, Hall concedes, is primarily perceived to be for older visitors and stag or hen parties. “I think Blackpool managed to beat off the challenge of the sun until the 1980s, but now we are also competing with the phenomenon of city breaks both within the UK and Europe.”

So, a decade ago, buoyed by the get-together with his former classmates (as it happens this trip down memory lane was a resounding success), Hall was imbued with a

desire to give something back to the town – and it was here that fate took hold. Back home in the South East, he was about to throw a newspaper into the rubbish bin at the local train station when an advertisement caught his eye.

Sporting a picture of Blackpool Tower the ad was inviting applications for the post of regeneration company chair.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

As a veteran of the planning and regeneration industry – he has been an academic in the field since 1957 – how does Hall assess Blackpool’s renaissance so far? “Our greatest achievement to date has been to select Muse Development as preferred developer of the Talbot Gateway project,” he says, pointing out that construction of the £285 million mixed-use scheme is about to get under way. “And our Living Landmarks initiative, which is set to transform the seafront, has been shortlisted by the Big Lottery Fund.”

It’s all part of a far-reaching masterplan to turn the town into an all-season resort drawing in a wide range of visitors. That’s certainly how Hall will measure success. “We must attract investment that brings all-year, all-market clientele to Blackpool. The conference trade is vital and it does exist but there’s still not nearly enough business tourism.” What about the leisure element? “Of course: leisure is what Blackpool does, in the way that engineering is what Preston does,” he says. Entertainment choices and retail experiences will

»

ReBlackpool The regeneration company has a 12-strong board, led by Sir Peter, backed by a committed team. Its strategy can be summed up in three statements: Vision: a resort that is embracing physical and spiritual change.

Goal: to create a year round economy that delivers a total experience, focused around quality at all levels and at all scales; in product, service and environment.

Imperative: to deliver an array of world-class facilities that can evolve and respond to the dynamics of the leisure market.

Sir Peter Hall

page_26 365

feature heavily in Blackpool’s future but housing will also have a strong role to play. Hall finds the involvement of English Partnerships in a potentially major residential scheme particularly encouraging.

It’s impossible to discuss the town’s regeneration future without addressing its failure to secure the super casino.

After all, most observers considered Blackpool as the obvious right place.

On this subject, Hall talks with candour: “Like everyone else we thought Manchester had no case. I still find the panel’s decision puzzling,” he says. A casino is still likely to feature in future plans for the old Central Station site, which Hall says will be even better than they originally foresaw.

Residents of the town took the loss of the casino bid hard. “There is a great deal of weariness and a blame culture,” concedes Hall. “You have to understand the psychology of living in a seasonal seaside town. People spend months waiting for visitors to return, and it’s really imperative that they do.”

This disappointment may well have been at the root of the change of council administration from Labour to Conservative at the recent local elections. Though, whatever the hue of the local authority, ReBlackpool will have a good relationship. “We’ve always worked well with the council and I’m confident this will continue.”

Hall has been in the regeneration business for 50 years, latterly as the chair of the Town and Country Planning Association during the 1990s and as professor of planning and regeneration at the Bartlett School of Architecture, part of University College London. So how does he rate the development landscape of today? “I wouldn’t like to say we have a new wisdom that didn’t exist in the 1960s, but I don’t think we’ll see huge mistakes on that scale again.” But, as he points out, hasty judgements can’t always be made about regeneration.

“The Millennium Dome has widely been regarded as a white elephant,

but I think that time will see it become a very successful entertainment venue and tourist attraction, which will ultimately see it judged a success.”

The physical business of regenerating in Blackpool is a mixed bag, with development on largely derelict areas such as the station site perceived to be “relatively easy”, while effecting change in built-up areas significantly more problematic. Perhaps unsurprisingly, sharply focused CPO powers would be on Hall’s wishlist, as would more money for transport investment.

Overall, however, the ReBlackpool chair is resolutely positive about Blackpool’s future. “This town has such a special place in so many people’s hearts. ReBlackpool is committed to creating a better future for the town, and there is the drive and energy to deliver it.” J

curriculum vitae

Sir Peter Hall has high hopes for his home town of Blackpool

Professor Peter Hall is currently professor of planning and regeneration at the Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning, University College London, and senior research fellow at the Young Foundation. From 1991‑94 he was special adviser on strategic planning to the Secretary of State for the Environment, with a remit including the Thames Gateway and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. From 1998-99 he was a member of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Urban Task Force, which reported in June 1999, and in 2006 he was a member of the expert advisory committee to the Barker Review of the planning system.

He holds a masters and PhD in geography from the University of Cambridge, and has taught at the London School of Economics, the University of Reading, and University of California at Berkeley, where he

is now professor emeritus of city and regional planning. He holds 14 honorary doctorates from universities in the UK, Sweden and Canada.

He is author or editor of more than 35 books on urban and regional planning and related topics, and is an honorary member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a fellow of the British Academy and a member of the Academia Europea. He was knighted in 1998 for services to the Town and Country Planning Association, and in 2003 was named by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as a ‘Pioneer in the Life of the Nation’.

Seafront regeneration

page_28 365

The subtle decline of England’s coastal towns has been the subject of much debate, but the sands are slowly shifting in their favour, as Alison Jones discovers

Turning the tide The sunshine enjoyed by English folk in recent summers – though it may be hard to remember in this year’s deluge – has done more than just redden the cheeks of mad dogs and Englishmen. The trend towards soaring temperatures may well have heralded a new dawn for English coastal towns.

With above average temperatures for the ninth summer in a row – plus environmental concerns, anxiety about terrorist threats and a heavy dose of nostalgic 30-something parents all keen to relive childhood memories involving buckets and spades, rock pooling and ice cream – for the first time in a generation British holidaymakers are coming back to the traditional seaside towns.

And it’s about time too. Cheap flights and package holidays have meant that coastal towns have been struggling over the past 20 years to compete with the guaranteed sunshine, high quality and low prices that a trip to the Costas can bring.

It’s all a far cry from the 1930s, when more than 15 million Britons took their annual holiday at English seaside towns. While their popularity continued through the next three or four decades, by 1999 only 44% of seaside holidays were taken at home.

While the tide is beginning to turn – a combination of hotter summers, the increasing appeal of the country’s regenerating cities, and the ‘Islington on Sea’ effect of a few niche resorts is attracting more and more people for seaside trips (recent research from

YouGov shows that 25 million people spent at least one night at the seaside in 2005) – coastal resorts need to rely on more than just day-trippers and short stays to sustain their economies.

To maintain income all year long, longterm regeneration plans are vital.

After their decades of decline, the 43 coastal towns in England have suffered deprivation, with problems of transience, poor transport networks and inadequate housing, highlighted in a report by the Department of Communities and Local Government Committee (DCLG) in March 2007.

English Heritage and CABE have also reported similar problems for coastal towns. Their Sea Changes report, published in 2001, stated that the difficulties experienced by coastal towns were similar to those of inner cities, with high levels of unemployment and benefit claims,

poor education and low income. Indeed in the 1980s places like Hastings in East Sussex earned nicknames such as ‘Costa del dole’ as its seafront B&Bs switched from accommodating holidaying families to housing DSS tenants.

As coastal towns tend to be popular relocation destinations, they can suffer from disproportionate in-migration (with former holiday accommodation well suited to non-employed housing benefit claimants) and, conversely, the migration of young local people unable to find permanent jobs and affordable housing.

Their future depends on a sustainable year-round economy providing better-paid employment and a full-time community that attracts new business and provides new jobs.

The DCLG report recognises that as it would be difficult to adapt

»

Blackpool seafront, and tower, in the town’s heyday

page_29 365

page_31 365

a national strategy to the diverse problems faced by coastal towns, there needs to be greater government understanding and appreciation of their needs, such as, for example, their often geographically isolated location at the end of transport networks, making it difficult to attract new business to the area and thus hampering the economy. The report also suggests establishing a network to extend the use of best practice in coastal town regeneration and a national advertising campaign promoting the English seaside as a tourist destination.

To create new coastal destinations that will attract the investors and businesses needed to establish a sustainable 12-month economy, the report emphasises the need for regeneration to be for living communities – places people want to live and work – as these will be places that also attract visitors.

This is something that a town like

Blackpool – surely the archetypal seaside town – can certainly relate to.

“One of Blackpool’s major issues is the need for a more balanced community,” explains Paul Spooner, English Partnership’s regional director of the North West and West Midlands. “We need to attract more owner-occupiers and first-time buyers. The whole area is being smartened up and we want to support that work with improvements in housing stock to encourage people to the area.”

“The problems associated with seaside resorts are exaggerated in Blackpool because of its size,” admits Reg Haslam, director of development at ReBlackpool. “We have an enormous stock of holiday accommodation, and a great chunk of the seafront dedicated to tourism, a role now in decline.

We’re focusing major investment on accommodation both for tourists and residents. A change in the housing tenure should help to create a healthy community.”

While tourism accounts for 85% of Blackpool’s economy, its regeneration programme will also develop other sides of its economy, as well as turning the resort into a year-round destination.

The vision being advanced in Blackpool – to become a modern resort offering world-class standards in conferences, entertainment, retail and nightlife – must happen as wholesale change if Blackpool is to succeed.

And while certain aspects of the town’s bold and slightly risqué image must be retained, it needs to lose the cheap and cheerful, tawdry aspects.

The Northwest Regional Development Agency is working closely with ReBlackpool on its vision to create a year-round economy focused on quality at all levels and at all scales of product, environment and service.

In its 2003 report, A New Vision for North West Coastal Resorts, the NWDA found that most seaside towns in the region were placing too much

emphasis on tourism as a catalyst for regeneration. Because of the long-term downward trend in tourism, many towns have begun to re-invent themselves, inspired by other oneindustry towns, such as former mining communities.

The one exception was Blackpool: the report reckoned it will be able to sustain the tourism base to its economy. It does need to diversify its offer, however, while building on its strengths. Spooner explains: “Blackpool has a very coherent masterplan for the development and growth of the town centre, and we’re keen to play our part in unlocking that potential. It is important to stimulate the economy and attract people to live and work in Blackpool – it is a pleasant and improving environment for relocation.”

Ian Whittaker, NWDA policy and partnerships manager for Lancashire, adds: “It is imperative to deliver a range of world-class facilities that respond to the dynamics of the leisure market, while delivering unparalleled economic and social improvements to the residents of Blackpool.”

Other coastal towns could learn from Blackpool’s long-term vision, and dedication. As Spooner says: “English Partnerships is investing directly and indirectly to help Blackpool improve its offer, as we recognise the economy is changing. There is a need to support regeneration led by local people and partnerships.”

The redevelopment programme in Blackpool is the product of wide, intense and long-term consultation with the public, which is key to its long-term success, explains Haslam.

“There is an appetite for radical change and we’re taking the lead in a whole range of areas,” he says. “We recognise that the answers to local problems don’t lie in the minds of politicians, they lie in the hearts and minds of local people.”

»

Seafront regeneration

Blackpool’s regeneration is well and truly under way, with signs of new life all along the sea front.

page_32 365

Blackpool’s plan – of reinventing the British seafront to create a place that fits today and tomorrow’s lifestyles’ – is a ‘bold and ambitious target’, according to Shifting Sands, another report by English Heritage and CABE, which examined the steps seaside towns are taking to address their problems. The report says that there are encouraging signs that the English coastline is at the beginning of a ‘new era of imagination’.

Importantly, this report acknowledges the huge contribution that seaside resorts have made to the country’s cultural identity and heritage.

“Coastal towns are now reinventing themselves with ‘flair and imagination’,” it says, “designing new high-quality buildings and open spaces using the ‘bold ideas, outstanding initiative and good design’ that characterised the resorts in their heyday.”

It seems the pioneering spirit that created Blackpool and epitomises English seaside resorts – from the 18th century days of ‘taking the air’ to today’s terrifying rollercoasters – is alive and kicking. It’s now just a matter of finding new and innovative ways to capture people’s imagination – something that seaside towns have always done so magnificently well. J

Business case study

page_34 365

The new Blackpool needs a diverse, competitive and healthy year-round economy. Kirsty MacAulay finds out what is drawing new businesses here, and how the town can do even better

Brisk business

Number One Claire and Mark Smith set up Blackpool’s only five-star B&B in 2004, and a mere two years later won the 2006 Enjoy England B&B of the year award. With a family tradition of running guesthouses – Mark’s parents and grandparents were in the business – it’s not surprising that the Smiths have had such success. They are in the process of setting up a second hotel to open later this year.

They first decided to set up a top-quality B&B after noticing an imbalance in the type of accommodation available. Claire explains: “Blackpool is moving on, and we felt the level of accommodation needed to move with it. We believe Number One is a reflection of what’s happening in the town.

“Blackpool is well on its way up. But it’s a such a town of contrasts – there are pockets of real joy but we need to attract private investment. It is a very exciting time to be here, and there’s a definite buzz about the place again.

“When we started out there was very little support available for small businesses like us. We used to make it up as we went along, but the support now is absolutely fabulous. All the agencies are linked so you only need to make one phone call. I really believe that if you want to succeed here there is no excuse.”

Left: Number One’s top quality accommodation has been a big hit

page_35 365

The Big Blue Hotel The Big Blue Hotel was established four years ago by Blackpool Pleasure Beach to fill a gap in the market. David Cam, director of the Pleasure Beach, explains. “The one thing Blackpool is missing is enough hotel rooms to satisfy 21st century demands. People have high standards now and expect modern, purpose-built hotel rooms with en-suite bathroom, which Blackpool was lacking. We were hoping investors would come in and lead the way and eventually thought, if nobody else is going to do it why don’t we.” Two thirds of the rooms in the hotel are family rooms at prices families can afford.

The hotel was an immediate hit, and within a year of opening a 40-bed extension was planned. The Pleasure Beach attracts business tourism out of season, with its large halls and auditoriums offering both space for exhibitions and conferences and evening entertainment for delegates, providing a complete package.

The Big Blue Hotel has won several awards, including Blackpool Innovation of the Year in 2003, Blackpool and Lancashire’s large hotel of the year in 2004/5 and 2006/7, and a nomination for Trip Advisor’s best family hotel in Europe 2006.

David enthuses: “We want people to try and steal our crown. Blackpool is a good place to set up a business, so we’re busy telling people what we’ve done and how profitable it has been to encourage them to join us. The sooner people start building the better – we want to be surrounded by highquality hotels.”

The Federation of Small Businesses Above: The Big Blue Hotel sits in the shadow of Europe’s tallest rollercoaster

At its 1974 inception, in Blackpool, the Federation of Small Businesses had just five members. Today it has 200,000 and is the largest business organisation in the UK. Blackpool is still home to the federation’s headquarters and 1,200 of its members.

Tourism accounts for 80% of the federation’s members, but Steve Pye, chairman of the Blackpool branch, claims the emphasis is changing.

“Although the casino chapter might be closing, another is opening: the airport is expanding dramatically and the local football team has been promoted to the Championship – all of these things can drive the economy. We’re actively approaching people who might want to be involved in the revival of Blackpool.”

Pye claims the regeneration programme will attract lots of investment to the town and plenty of diverse businesses.

He suggests that those considering setting up a business in Blackpool

“do their homework and test the marketplace”, but assures them that this is the home of the entrepreneur.

“Blackpool has a history and tradition of being an entrepreneurial town, several of them are now multimillionaires.

“Today there is plenty of information out there to help – it is just a case of getting it across to the right audience.

A business advice fair was held last year to show people how easy it could be to start up a business or expand an existing one, and Blackpool’s local strategic partnership is at the forefront of its bid to encourage new business providing input from across the spectrum.”

»

Business case study

page_36 365

Funny Girls

Above: The lavish interior design of the Funny Girls venue is equalled by the glamourous outfits and outrageous shows

Basil Newby created In the Pink entertainment in 1979, then, in 1994, when Blackpool was still a major venue on the live entertainment circuit, set up Funny Girls cabaret show. “Big names used to come and play Blackpool at the height of their career,” he says.

“People like Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey. Now they only play here at the end of their career. It’s not the same.”

Although tourism has changed dramatically since he started the company, Newby still believes Blackpool has what it takes to succeed. “The casino plans were great.

This place would be like Las Vegas on heat with a casino: where else in the UK could you have that but in Blackpool? I feel very positive about the town’s future, things are slowly happening, and parts of the town look fantastic, although until it’s complete it

does makes the rest of the town look like the poor sisters.”

Newby claims that running a business in Blackpool is easy, as the council is very pro new business, and he hopes new investors will be committed to the town. “I would recommend Blackpool as a destination for new businesses. We’re really on the brink of something big here with the regeneration plans – it’s definitely a good place to invest.”

The regeneration programme recognises the need to both stimulate new business and develop existing companies.

Local initiatives include the creation of a £2.8 million Enterprise Centre to provide incubator accommodation for new companies, development of the business park and technology park to foster economic diversity, and the council’s enterprise and business development division, which encourages growth and continued investment in the town.

page_37 365

Parkinson Building Contractors

Tangerine Confectionery A series of acquisitions led to the establishment of Tangerine Confectionery in 2006. With sites in Poole and Liverpool, it has retained its headquarters and two factories in Blackpool. Non-executive chairman Chris Marshall explains: “We never considered moving our base from Blackpool – we need to maintain our employees and their expertise.

“I’ve been really impressed with the attitude to work here. People are remarkably straightforward and honest; it is a pleasure working with them. I would recommend Blackpool as a business location, it has a stable workforce and a great atmosphere. I’ve fallen in love with the town.

“Blackpool is in need of inward investment and a bit of TLC. Most of all it needs people to prove their faith by putting their hands in their pockets.

The town needs new money.”

One major advantage, according to Marshall, is the transport network. “The M55 takes you out of town straight to where you want to go. Considering it’s on the coast it is remarkably well-linked, the distribution system is excellent.”

Although they have had little dealings with the town’s business initiatives Marshall hopes that as the company settle into the Blackpool scene they might work together with the council and other agencies.

Below: Parkinsons constructed Blackpool’s Devonshire Road Exemplar school

Parkinson Building Contractors was set up in 1934 as a local family business. Since then, the company has grown extensively with a turnover of £30 million, employing 130 people in Blackpool, with construction centres in York and Bury. The company is constructing the new Enterprise Centre, due for completion in July, to provide ongoing support, advice and information for new businesses.

Managing director Peter Glenn claims that Blackpool has plenty to offer businesses relocating or setting up in the town. “There is a large and readily available labour market that you wouldn’t find in many other towns, it also has good communications systems and transport routes and lots of initiatives to help local businesses.

“Blackpool has a fantastic future.

Our roots are firmly laid here, and we intend to maintain them and be a part of the regeneration of the town.”

There are several good initiatives to help local businesses, claims Glenn. “Blackpool has more to offer than just the seafront. Things do need to change, and a lot of people are passionate about making the regeneration work. We need a positive step forward, and the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative will kick-start people to realise the opportunities available.”

Contact

page_38 365

For more on Blackpool’s regeneration, contact Kate Staley at ReBlackpool on 01253 478928

Are you helping to transform Blackpool?

Make sure everyone knows.

Use 365 magazine to promote your company and its work to more than 35,000 regeneration professionals.

Contact Lee Harrison 020 7978 6840.

Revitalising the economy in Blackpool The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is working in partnership to strengthen the economic development of Blackpool by: •

Investing nearly £60 million in Blackpool over the next 3 years, working with ReBlackpool, the Urban Regeneration Company.

•

Helping to deliver the Blackpool Masterplan which will see the construction of major developments including the Talbot Gateway, a £230 million scheme to re-establish the town as a first choice retail, business, civic and cultural centre.

•

Regenerating the Central Seafront with a £12 million investment as part of a comprehensive £73 million coastal protection scheme.

•

Supporting the development of a Conference and Leisure Quarter, providing space for a major new visitor attraction for the town.

•

Establishing a regeneration taskforce for the town, with a clear focus on examining the economic, social and environmental development plans for the area.

For further details please contact

01925 400 100

or visit www.nwda.co.uk or www.englandsnorthwest.com

NWDA H7-07