|
Early Christmas
Present for Liverpool as new Royal gets final sign off
THE deal for the new Royal
Liverpool University Hospital has been signed off and approved, the
Trust and developers Carillion announced. Construction on the £335m
new hospital will commence early in 2014.
The new hospital scheme, costing a total of £429m (including
construction of the new hospital, demolition of the current hospital
and landscaping) has now reached financial close - the final stage
of approval for the project, where the contracts are signed.
It can also now be revealed that the European Investment Bank (EIB)
will provide £90.5m. Together with £118m funding from the Trust and
£94m from the Department of Health, this means that almost three
quarters of the project will be publicly funded. The remaining funds
will come from private lenders including Legal and General
Investment Management (LGIM) Lloyds TSB and Scottish Widows
Investment Group.
Aidan Kehoe, chief executive of the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen
University Hospitals Trust, said:- "This is a huge moment for
all those who have worked so hard, for so many years and we are all
delighted to have achieved financial close on the new Royal. This is
fantastic news for our patients, our staff and the City of
Liverpool. We will have a world class hospital facility designed to
provide a whole new approach to healthcare and help us to tackle
some of our region's biggest health issues. The new Royal will
improve the health and wealth of the City creating hundreds of
construction jobs and training opportunities and paving the way for
thousands of hi tech jobs on the BioCampus."
Helen Jackson, director of strategy and redevelopment at the Trust
said:- "We have worked incredibly hard to achieve the best
deal possible for the people of Liverpool. We have gained
significant backing from the European Investment Bank and have
incorporated the use of institutional pension funds, with the
involvement of LGIM. The deal we have achieved has further reduced
the annual repayment (the Unitary Payment) which will now be over
£10m less than the initial projections and will mean our annual
repayments will be around just 5% of our income. This is one of the
lowest cost public private deals ever."
Carillion Chief Executive, Richard Howson, said:- "We are
delighted to have achieved financial close on this exciting new
hospital, which will be our sixteenth PPP hospital in the UK. We
look forward to working in partnership with the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen
University Hospitals NHS Trust to deliver a state-of-the-art
hospital that will bring substantial benefits to the people of
Liverpool."
Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank Vice President said:-
"The new Royal Liverpool Hospital will transform healthcare in
the City, providing the most advanced medical treatment and ensuring
the highest standards of privacy and dignity for the thousands of
patients using the hospital each year. The European Investment Bank
is pleased to continue its engagement to support healthcare
investment in the North-West through a £90 million 31 year loan for
the new Royal project, that has been agreed following examination of
the project's technical and economic plans by healthcare teams with
experience across Europe. This follows £55 million support for the
new Alder Hey Children's Hospital earlier this year."
Liverpool Riverside MP Louise Ellman, who has been a key figure in
the campaign for the new Royal, said:- "This is amazing news
for the people of Liverpool. The new Royal will have a massive
impact on local people for generations to come. Firstly in the
wealth of jobs and training opportunities it will bring to the City
and later in terms of the improved healthcare environment and the
development of Liverpool as a world centre for life sciences. I have
supported this project for many years and I am delighted to see it
has finally been signed, sealed and ready to be delivered."
|
 |
Costa brings
Christmas Cheer to Liverpool
CHRISTMAS shoppers in
Liverpool treated to revamped festive songs from the UK's favourite
coffee shop and Youth Music. Costa, the UK's favourite coffee
shop brought festive spirit to Liverpool on Saturday 14 December as
the store on Lord Street teamed up with UK children's charity Youth
Music to treat shoppers to some Christmas songs with a difference.
Talented young people from the local Merseyside Youth Organisation,
supported by Youth Music, came together to form a specially crafted
Christmas singing group and entertained customers with a variety of
Christmas music, revamped with a modern twist.
The group of 8 talented musicians from across the City, who have
been working with the Youth Music project developing musical talent
in children from disadvantaged backgrounds across Liverpool, came
together to deliver a spectacular set of Christmas classics with a
twist. The first public performance of the group went down really
well with Christmas shoppers flocking to see the group perform.
This activity was part of Costa's ongoing Christmas campaign to
refresh the UK's most traditional Christmas songs in the build up to
the holiday season.
Costa's charity partner, Youth
Music, provides more than 90,000 young people with the opportunity
to make music every year, helping many of them to overcome the
challenges they face in their lives and enabling others to realise
their full musical potential. The organisation has been gifted with
a £10,000 donation from Costa, which will help continue to provide
great opportunities for young people across the country.
Kevin Hydes, UK Retail Marketing Director from Costa commented:-
"It was great to see Youth Music's Merseyside Youth Organisation
group bring some festive cheer to our customers in Liverpool. We
always strive to deliver the best experience for our customers so
alongside our limited-edition Christmas product offerings in-store,
we wanted to 'shake up' some of the UK's favourite songs by adding a
contemporary twist. We hope Saturday's performance got everyone
ready for the holiday season!"
Glen Whitehead, Fundraising Director for Youth Music said:-
"We're honoured to have taken part in such a great initiative with
Costa. The young performers from Merseyside Youth Organisation
thoroughly enjoyed updating some of the UK's well-known Christmas
songs with a modern twist. We hope those who popped by and
experienced the performance by our young local singers and musicians
thoroughly enjoyed themselves"
To see images from Costa stores who hosted a choir performance,
check out:-
facebook.com/CostaCoffee or @CostaCoffee #CostaChristmas.
For more information on Youth Music, please visit:-
youthmusic.org.uk.
|
