Liverpool City Council’s ground breaking hospitality scheme has helped save businesses, strengthen the economy and improve footfall.
The nationally-praised Liverpool Without Walls (LWW) scheme – the first of its kind in the country – launched in June when the city council announced a £450,000 fund to help local small-to medium-sized businesses redesign outdoor spaces and turn them into high quality, covered seating areas. This made up for the internal space they lost as a result of social distancing restrictions.
Support was given to 88 businesses and new figures show that from 20 July to the 25 September the scheme generated additional sales of £8.9 million that would not have otherwise been delivered, and for every £1 invested, it brought £20 back in to the local economy.
Restaurants, cafes and bars were able to cater for a further 2,723 covers and the majority of venues were able to bring staff back off furlough. On average, covers increased by 42 per cent and for some smaller venues the outside area actually increased the capacity they had prior to the social distancing requirements. In total, 1,617 additional seats were created.
As well as the grant funding they were given free trading permits, road closures enabled their seating to spill out on to the streets and architecturally designed parklets were installed on Bold Street.
The scheme focused on three main hospitality areas – Bold Street, Castle Street and Lark Lane – and was led by the city council in partnership with Liverpool BID Company and Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.
When giving feedback to the scheme, 95 per cent were satisfied with LWW, 82 per cent of venues believed it had increased sales and 64 per cent felt the scheme had made it viable for them to reopen.
Feedback from businesses included:
“The idea was right for the time and showed imagination.”
“Without it, we may have needed to close the business.”
“A great initiative that literally saved our bacon.”
Since the research was carried out, a further 23 businesses have received grant funding, taking the total number of businesses which have been supported by Liverpool Without Walls to 111.
The money for Liverpool Without Walls came from existing budgets, by re-purposing capital spending to give businesses practical support for the Covid-19 emergency and alleviate the impact on the local economy.
The evaluation of the scheme has been carried out independently by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
Liverpool BID Company’s Chief Executive, Bill Addy, said:
Our hospitality sector has been one of the hardest hit by this pandemic and without the support and enthusiasm for Liverpool Without Walls, it could have been much worse.
“Our public spaces are a vital part of our city, and became increasingly so in the summer as we worked to rebuild the economy after the national lockdown. Making the city work for our businesses, but also making the public realm attractive and engaging for our visitors and diners is incredibly important. This project will likely have a long lasting impact and illustrates how life-changing it is when our businesses and city partners come together to benefit us all.”
Peter Kinsella owner of Lunya, which has eateries in Liverpool ONE and Albert Dock, said:
“The Liverpool Without Walls funding made a huge difference to both of our restaurants.
“At a time when we were desperately short of cash, the funding enabled us to expand the covers in our terraces which provided our guests with a much better outside experience and more importantly enabled us to generate much-needed revenue from the outside space.
“It was a lifesaver for the business and we are delighted with the support.”
