Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 25th September - video Dailymotion

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Laurence and Ben discussed a landmark Liverpool regeneration scheme, a former Cardiff pub which has been saved from demolition and hear about an Insider breakfast in the Midlands.

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00:00A landmark regeneration project in Liverpool, the future of a former pub building in Cardiff,

00:07and an update from Kurt Jacobs in the Midlands. That's all coming up in today's Business

00:11Briefing.

00:18My name is Lawrence Clughannon.

00:19My name is Ben Butler.

00:20Morning, Ben. So, we'll start in Liverpool, where the Littlewoods building, is that one

00:28you're familiar with?

00:29It is, yes.

00:30Yes, so it's a sort of landmark building on Edge Lane, an arterial road into Liverpool,

00:35and currently derelict. And there's been plans in the works for quite some time to turn it

00:41into a film studio. Very ambitious plans. Anyhow, the plans were submitted in November,

00:49and they've now been recommended for approval by Liverpool City Council's Planning Committee.

00:55They're going to involve creating a sort of reuse of the building, sort of a refurb, adding

01:01a soundstage to make a sort of film studio or TV studio complex.

01:06It's the Hollywood of the North.

01:07Well, that is actually, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has got like a designs

01:13on the region being the Hollywood of the North. And clearly, this massive investment would

01:18be a central part of that. It's being brought forward by Capital and Centric. They're sort

01:24of well-known for social impact development. And as well as the sort of film studio element,

01:33there's also going to be space for education. There's also going to be a bit of space for

01:39food and drink and so on. So, it's going to be really positive for Liverpool once it finally

01:43gets there, because it was delayed.

01:45It's been rumbling on for a while, hasn't it?

01:46Yes, it has, because it was delayed in, I think, 2018 by a fire. They pushed on past that.

01:51Yeah.

01:52And as you know, as someone who's aware of Liverpool, the edge lane area is sort of beyond

01:58the city centre. So, hopefully, it will bring all that investment out towards that way as well.

02:03Boston, what are the next steps for?

02:05Well, I imagine the next crucial step is that the recommendation is followed. And then we

02:11sort of get to work. There has been work going on all the time since it's been taken under

02:16control of Capital and Centric. For instance, the fire damaged the famous clock tower,

02:20which is in the case process of being renovated. So, yes.

02:23Is there a date where they're hoping to complete the project?

02:25I haven't seen that yet. So, having looked at it, it looks like it's quite an undertaking.

02:31So, we'll have to wait and see.

02:32Right.

02:33But sticking with property, I understand you've got news of a pub in Cardiff.

02:37Yes, it's a much-loved, vacant former pub, the Romney Castle.

02:41Right, OK.

02:42So, it's been saved from demolition. Cardiff Council has refused planning

02:48permission for the scheme to redevelop it into housing.

02:53Right, OK. And tell me about this, Ben. Is it like an attractive old building?

02:58Well, it dates back to the 1870s. So, it's an historic building and it's

03:04very popular in the Cardiff area. It's quite an iconic building.

03:09Right, OK. And what was the rationale for sort of refusing permission?

03:13Well, there's been a number of objections to the plans and one of the main concerns was the loss

03:20of an historic building. That was the most prominent concern that came up.

03:26Interesting.

03:27And Cardiff Council also put into place a direction that basically means that the

03:33pub couldn't be demolished. So, the refusal of the planning permission comes in light of that.

03:41I see. OK, well, we promised at the start to hear from

03:45Kurt Jacobs, who's been attending a future funding breakfast. So, over to you, Kurt.

03:50Hi, I'm Kurt Jacobs. I'm the editor of Midlands Business Insider.

03:54And welcome to Birmingham's Think Tank. We've just had a fascinating discussion on the future

04:00of funding, how businesses can grow through sustainable finance. We'll be looking at some

04:06of the things that hold businesses back, but really what the potentials are for sustainable

04:11finance in taking them forward. Let's have a chat to some of our panellists.

04:17Aaron Baker, Investments at BGF. I think we are seeing with the emergence of ESG-focused funds

04:24who have capital to deploy, we are definitely seeing sort of instances where businesses that

04:28are ahead in their ESG agenda are getting a premium on their valuations at present. That's

04:33a product of investors chasing for those sorts of assets, but also because there's capital that

04:38needs to be deployed. I think over time, we will see an ESG agenda or not having the right ESG

04:43policies in place actually being a drag on value, because it will become the norm.

04:47Hi, I'm Theresa Redmead from Brown Jacobson. Sustainable finance is key. You've got

04:54investors and banks are saying that if you do not engage with this agenda,

04:58you're going to find it very hard to access mainstream financing in the next few years,

05:02and it's going to be key to the longevity of businesses going forwards.

05:08I'm Matt Gosling, Director of Sustainable Finance from HSBC. The biggest opportunity,

05:13I think, for small businesses looking at sustainable finance is to see it as an

05:18opportunity for growth and not see it as something separate from the main strategy of their business.

05:22The successful businesses will integrate sustainable finance or sustainability into

05:26their main operations and not see it as an additional part of their operation.

05:31Hi, I'm Amrit Chandan, CEO of Gage19 and Chairman of the ESG Special Interest Group.

05:35For companies which are looking at sustainable finance, I would highly recommend to consider

05:40the business model that they have and whether they can bake into their financial position

05:46the profit that they may have as well alongside the social impact and the environmental impact

05:51that they can have. So if you can get all three in lockstep, then you can have a potentially very

05:56sustainable business which qualifies really nicely for sustainable finance.

06:01Very interesting. Right, well, to read more about the stories that we've been discussing,

06:05go to insidermedia.com. You can also subscribe to our newsletters or our magazines or find out

06:11about upcoming events like the one that Kurt's just been telling us about.

06:15Anyhow, that's everything from us. See you next time.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 25th September

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