Author: Ollie Cowan

Santander today unveiled plans for a new, state-of-the-art campus, to replace our current offices in Bootle.

The new complex will represent a £75 million investment in the area and be home to over 2,500 staff. It will see Bootle become the contact centre and operations hub for Santander UK.

The current site is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month and today’s plans will be the first significant redevelopment since it opened in 1968. The ambition is to create a building that can become a hub for the local area with retail opportunities, sporting and social facilities and a public park. The new office space will be designed to encourage collaboration amongst staff and support their well-being.

Cllr Ian Maher, Labour Leader at Sefton Council, said: “I am delighted that Santander have shown such a massive commitment to our communities with this major redevelopment.

“Since it opened 50 years ago, this site has provided employment, identity, and community and has been a big part of every-day life for successive generations right across the borough. This decision really endorses the value Santnder place upon their workforce, and the significance that Sefton Council places in working with major businesses and employers to bring about investment across our wonderful borough.

“I now look forward to working with Santander in delivering the new development, and providing employment, security and prosperity for future generations of our communities. Sefton is very much open for business.”

Chair of Santander, Shriti Vadera, said: “I’m delighted that we are celebrating 50 years in Bootle with this long term commitment to our people and the area. Bootle has been a significant part of Santander’s story and we see it as a crucial part of its future.”

Nathan Bostock, Chief Executive, Santander UK, said: “The new campus will be a place that people will be proud of and excited to come and work in. There will be facilities that will be open to employees and the people in the area, underpinning Bootle’s place at the heart of the local community.
“This building has had a fascinating history and with today’s announcement it has an exciting future to look forward to.”

Key features of the new building will include:

• An environmentally sustainable building designed around supporting the health and well being of occupants;
• A range of health facilities including a fitness centre, cycle storage and public park; and
• Retail and service opportunities available to Santander employees and the public.

Planning permission will be submitted to the Council in November and we are initially looking at building work commencing in 2019 and lasting through to 2022.

Sefton Council has approved a major redevelopment of the former Birkdale School for Hearing Impaired Children in Southport.

In April 2017, Octopus Healthcare submitted a £35m investment proposal to redevelop 40, Lancaster Road, Birkdale. The application was given the green light last night (October 17) at Sefton Council’s Planning Committee meeting held at Bootle Town Hall.

The proposal includes the conversion and remodelling of the listed school building, with extensive repair and restoration of lost features.

Construction of communal facilities, extra care accommodation and improvements to the grounds will also take place, with the aim of creating 113 extra care apartments and associated facilities including a bistro, residents’ lounge, library and hair and beauty salon, as well as providing on-site care.

Cllr Daren Veidman, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control, said: “We have worked extremely hard to secure a sustainable and sensitive use for the former school and this application will safeguard such an iconic building in our wonderful borough.

“The successful application will seek to secure the building’s removal from the Council’s listed buildings ‘at risk’ register while also contributing to the removal of West Birkdale conservation area from the national ‘at risk’ register. We look forward to working closely with Octopus Healthcare as they conserve, restore and develop this fantastic site.”

The site was originally opened in 1901 as Terra Nova, a private boarding school, before it became the school for the partially hearing in 1948. It remained as such until 2003 when it was sold to developers and has remained vacant ever since. The building was made a grade II listed building in 1999.

Richard Dooley, Development Director at Octopus Healthcare, added: “The Octopus Healthcare development team have had a busy eighteen months working with Sefton Council to get this approval over the line.

“Being able to breathe new life into this iconic building and really giving it a purpose for the next 100 years is a great achievement. The environment we are trying to create will be a real testament to the future of elderly care.”

Octopus Healthcare is part of the Octopus Group and a leading investor in healthcare facilities throughout the UK and Ireland.

Sefton Council are joining local authorities around the country in marking Anti-Slavery Day on October 18.

Anti-Slavery Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness of human trafficking and modern slavery, in a bid to encourage everyone to do what they can to address the problem.

To mark the annual awareness day, Sefton have launched a brand page on its website to help people identify signs of modern slavery as well as information on how to seek help to combat the issue.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “It is vitally important that we all work together as a community to identify, raise awareness of the horrors of modern slavery.

“It is estimated that there are 13,000 victims and survivors of modern slavery in the UK and there are some tell-tale signs to make it easy to identify.

“That’s why we’ve launched a dedicated page on our website to help identify these signs and signpost people to the right organisations who can help put an end to modern slavery.”

To find out more about how to tackle modern slavery visit www.sefton.gov.uk/modernslavery.

Pete Firman, one of the UK’s most celebrated magicians and comedians, has added 15 additional dates to his UK tour of brand new show, Marvels, due to phenomenal demand.

Expect to be mesmerised by Pete’s acclaimed blend of laugh-out-loud comedy and jaw-dropping magic, as he presents a truly unique live theatre experience at the Atkinson Arts Centre on March 15, 2019

‘The UK’s leading comedy magician’ (Time Out) has numerous television appearances under his belt, including ITV1’s Tommy Cooper Forever, Tonight at the London Palladium, The Next Great Magician, BBC One’s Let’s Sing & Dance for Comic Relief, The John Bishop Show, The Magicians and The Sarah Millican Television Programme. He also presented Pete Firman’s World of Magic for BBC Radio 4 Extra and recently appeared on BBC One’s The Generation Game.

Pete Firman said: “I’m thrilled by the response to the 2018 tour and I’m very excited to be taking ‘Marvels’ to even more places in 2019! Make sure you grab a ticket before they disappear.”

Pete’s skill for fusing magic and comedy has made him one of the most sought after magicians working on British television, writing and performing in magic shows such as Monkey Magic (FIVE), Dirty Tricks, Derren Brown’s 3D Magic Spectacular (Channel 4) and The Secret World of Magic (Sky One).

In 2017 Pete was presented with ‘The Carlton Award’ by the world famous Magic Circle. It is given for outstanding comedy in magic and Pete is the first non-member of the society to receive it in the Magic Circle’s 100-plus year history.

Other recipients of Magic Circle awards include Derren Brown and David Copperfield.

Pete’s return to the Edinburgh Fringe marks his 11th appearance at the world’s largest arts festival, with a full-length run at The Pleasance Beyond.

To book tickets for Pete’s popular show, visit: https://www.theatkinson.co.uk/events/pete-firman-marvels/