It takes a “significant spend” for Liverpool Council to keep the city’s cruise terminal afloat making now a good time for the private sector to take over, according to its assets chief.
In November, the local authority published a raft of measures it was considering to plug a £73m gap in its finances ahead of the new financial year. Among them are reductions in its welfare services and culture budget. Around half a million could be saved by 2026 by the city council offloading ownership and responsibility of the cruise terminal that it has managed since 2007.
In that time, more than 700 ships have docked in the city but Angie Redhead, city assets manager, said it makes “perfect sense" for the council to pass on the terminal to the private sector. Under the budget proposals put forward last month, this would entail a third party operator managing the operation on behalf of the city to ensure Liverpool retains all of the economic benefit from passenger spend but without the financial outlay of management.
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Liverpool Cruise Terminal is the only owned and operated cruise terminal in the UK, other than Portsmouth which is a cruise and ferry port. Ms Redhead told a meeting of Liverpool Council’s culture and visitor economy select committee that the benefit to the city comes from the spend passengers make when they disembark.
She added how interest is already generating in the takeover of the terminal and discussions are underway with council officials. The city assets head admitted it takes a "significant spend" for the council to keep the terminal afloat and as a result, after 15 years, it's a good time for the council to step away from the service, let the private sector take over and "sell high."
Under any sale, the terminal would remain a cruise-led operation and Ms Redhead said “categorically” the service cannot be repurposed. A third party operator would ideally take on all of the asset and would be able to turn a profit in the private sector the way the council cannot currently.
Earlier this year, Cruise Liverpool celebrated the service’s 15th anniversary with 15 days of commemorations. It is estimated the service generates around £70m or the city’s economy.
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