Hotel plan for site next to Liverpool's Anfield stadium

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Communities, Local Government

A training hotel could be built adjacent to the home of Liverpool Football Club (LFC) in Anfield as part of a project offering a "unique approach to hospitality training".

The Oakfield Project, which is being supported and promoted by Your Housing group, and is being jointly run by charity Positive Futures and the Isla Gladstone Conservatory in Stanley Park, has seen nine big hospitality brands in the city sign up to offer training places.

Through the consortium of members, which includes the likes of National Museums Liverpool and the Hard Days Night Hotel, the consortium is recruiting between 25 and 30 apprenticeship places in December and January – using Liverpool Community College and Liverpool City Council as its training partners.

Longer term, the project aims to train more local people in the sector and is seeking some £8.5m in charitable donations to build a training hotel adjacent to Anfield stadium which would be owned by Positive Futures and run by the Isla Gladstone Conservatory in conjunction with a major hotel group. The hotel will run with a spine of hotel professionals but with trainees in all departments. Through Positive Futures, profits from the hotel will be used to train more people and extend the curriculum – even moving towards degrees for relevant trainees.

Tim Johnston, of AMION Consulting, is advising on the project. He said a study undertaken on a 100-bedroom training hotel concluded it would be feasible as long as it is adjacent to the football club and the Isla Gladstone Conservatory which both create the demand.

He said: "Anfield remains one of the most deprived wards in the country. Your Housing has been crucial to getting this idea on the move. With its partners Liverpool City Council and the Homes and Communities Agency, it is keen to ensure that new economic activities in Anfield are developed to run alongside the greatly improved housing stock so that the deprivation would be reversed over time. Commissioned by Your Housing, we set about looking at the area strategically and noted that not much employment arose from the two Premiership football clubs – but behind these clubs are major hospitality businesses.

"When LFC makes its decision about the redevelopment of its ground, decisions can be taken about the specific location of the hotel. In the meantime, through The Oakfield Project, the partners are working both on making hospitality training the best it can be and also ensuring it has a new focus on Anfield as a training ground for the rest of the City where tourism and hospitality are crucial growth sectors.”

Mr Johnston added that because Liverpool Football Club’s plans were still unclear the hotel “could be some years away”.

He said: “The timing of the hotel will be determined in due course – but The Oakfield Project and its unique training approach will be well up and running and playing a growing role in the city and, crucially, giving Anfield residents employment opportunities to aim for."