A LEADING Liverpool-based hospitality consultancy has been appointed to deliver and partner operate three outlets as part of the multi-million pound revival of an historic Wirral town hall.
Lucky Penny Consultants are to project manage the creation and development of the food and drink offer planned for The Beacon in Hoylake.
The project to convert the seaside town’s Victorian civic building into a two-screen cinema and 18 creative studio and retail spaces for artists and makers started at the end of 2019.
It follows the successful application for grant funding from the government’s Coastal Community Fund, which is designed to help coastal communities flourish and strengthen their appeal as places to live, work and visit.
The new £3.64m visitor destination, being developed by the building’s owner, Hylgar Properties alongside Community Interest Company Hoylake Village Life, will also feature a restaurant, a bar and a café bistro in the building’s central courtyard.
Lucky Penny Consultants is run by Steven Burgess and Josh Moore who recently opened Abditory in Liverpool’s quirky Queen Avenue, which links Dale Street and Castle Street in the city centre. Lucky Penny also launched the Love Lane Brewery in 2017 and are currently bringing forward multiple schemes across the region.
Steven, who was also co-founder of the hugely successful Camp & Furnace venue, said: “Hoylake is a hidden gem, a town with so much potential and we are determined to deliver something very special with real quality that will help lift the high street.
“We are delighted to be part of the vision for The Beacon which has the potential to be transformational for Hoylake and indeed West Wirral for generations to come. This is so much more than a commercial project because it is a community driven scheme with real purpose and the passion of those involved really shines through, which we love. We have helped in the revival of New Brighton and The Beacon has revival at its heart, so it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to add value and really enrich the project with our experience.”
“We have some great ideas for each of the outlets, each offering something different, but with food being the leader: style, substance and sustainability.”
The ambition for the restaurant is to raise the bar in West Wirral: to be innovative, exciting and unique, with a healthy dose of surprise to make it an experiential destination.
The atrium café will appeal to all generations, at different times of day, while the bar will have a very cool, quirky, independent pub vibe.
All three will bring a completely different offer while complementing each other in a very carefully thought-out way.
David Burke of Hylgar Properties, said: “We are extremely excited to announce Lucky Penny as our partners. They are acknowledged experts in their field and a very exciting company to work with. They bring a huge wealth of expertise and will join up the critical dots between our ambition and the delivery.
“Their work in New Brighton and in Liverpool’s Baltic Quarter is evidence not only of their success and excellence, but also of their approach and how they interact with the communities in which they work.
“They fully understand that this project is not about regeneration, but about revival and, necessarily, re-imagining a high street. They share our vision in ensuring that what we create will be sustainable, have impact and be a great addition to the area.
“We have no doubt that the food will be fabulous and that we are bringing something to Wirral that currently doesn’t exist which will really excite everyone who visits. We want to bring a really exciting venue under one roof, with different food and beverage offering to complement the cinema.”
The first phase of works on the 1898 building includes internal and external demolitions and construction, including new roofing. The restaurant with a newly built commercial kitchen, the bar/pub, and a newly-formed covered courtyard with new commercial kitchen space will be on the ground floor. The first floor will consist of a two-screen cinema and refurbished creative industry office/studio spaces.
Phase two of the project is planned by spring 2020 when the building will be fitted out. In subsequent phases in addition to the 18 retail units, upper floors of the development will provide 40 apartments, using private funding.
The project will create more than 140 jobs during design, construction and operation, and is set to open to the public by the end of 2020.
Since 2012, the Coastal Communities Fund has invested £228 million into 395 projects UK-wide.
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