Business Partnerships Report – November 25, 2016 Section 1: Visitor Economy CONFERENCE CENTRE PLANS TAKE SHAPE Revised plans have been developed for the proposed new £25m conference centre adjacent to the Winter Gardens. The state-of-the-art venue is planned for a former car park site on Leopold Grove. Subject to funding being made available, the new build will include a new conference hall, exhibition space and break-out facilities. Blackpool Council has made two bids for funding to support the venture – one via the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership Growth Deal, the other through the Coastal Communities Fund. Decisions on both are expected by the start of 2017. It is proposed that the conference centre will link to the Empress Ballroom and Opera House to provide a combined capacity of around 7,000 delegates. Meanwhile, an outline scheme for a 156-bedroom, five or six storey hotel opposite the proposed conference centre has been resubmitted. The site is currently used as a pay and display car park. SEAFRONT HOTEL DEVELOPMENTS Sands Hotel & Venue Revised plans have also been unveiled for a luxury hotel on Blackpool seafront. Businessman Peter Swann intends to develop the 96-room hotel as an extension of the Sands Venue on Central Promenade. The plans include a three-storey extension to the existing venue, with glazed walls wrapped around the existing concrete and brick frontage. The design includes large penthouse suites overlooking the Irish Sea as well as a basement car park for 55 cars. Hamptons By Hilton The long-awaited demolition of the burnt-out Palm Beach and the neighbouring Bourne Hotel at South Beach is now underway. The site will be cleared over the next three months to make way for a new 130-bedroomed Hamptons By Hilton branded hotel. The demolition of the Palm Beach and the adjoining Bourne is being undertaken by Blackpool-based development company Create Construction. Approvals are in place to demolish the neighbouring Warwick Hotel, which is also disused and in a poor state of repair. It is envisaged that the new Hamptons By Hilton will be operational in the first half of 2018. Carlton Hotel The Best Western Carlton Hotel on North Promenade has been relaunched after a £1m investment. Businesses were invited to a preview of the extensive refurbishment earlier this week. BLACKPOOL ON SCREEN Strictly Come Dancing Blackpool benefited from several hours of prime-time television coverage as Strictly Come Dancing returned to the Tower Ballroom for another spectacular weekend of entertainment. The two Blackpool shows went out to record audiences, with the Saturday night attracting 11.9 million viewers - the highest of the series and the most watched show on UK TV that weekend. In addition to coverage in the ballroom, there were additional location shots on the tramway, the beach and at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Note: Lancashire Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding an alleged assault on one of the Strictly professional dancers in Blackpool town centre in the early hours of Sunday morning. The dancer, Gorka Marquez, is expected to return to the show this weekend. DIY SOS The special edition of DIY SOS that helped create a new Young Carers Centre in Blackpool was broadcast on November 17. The hour-long programme, DIY SOS: Million Pound Build for Children In Need, followed the restoration of the property by the BBC team supported by hundreds of volunteers. The programme showed the building on Newton Drive being transformed from a run-down and neglected Victorian house into an inspirational base for young carers. The project was supported by generous donations of around £1m worth of goods, services and time from suppliers and volunteers, both locally and throughout the rest of the UK. Nick Knowles, the DIY SOS presenter, described the build as one of the most incredible shows he had ever been involved in. Blackpool’s Illuminations ambassador, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, undertook the interior design of the property, which is now known as Beaverbrooks House. The Lord Mayor’s Show Blackpool’s participation in the annual Lord Mayor’s Show in London was featured in BBC 1’s live coverage of the event. A float, which featured Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen “playing” a mock Wurlitzer organ, was accompanied by a party of children from Thames Primary School in Blackpool and the Fylde Coast Dance Company. The new Lord Mayor of London, Andrew Parmley, had invited his home town to join the parade. He was once a pupil at Thames Primary. Thousands of participants joined the spectacular parade as it made its way from Mansion House through the streets of London. Jo Brand Film On Location A new film based on comedian Jo Brand's acclaimed novel, The More You Ignore Me, is being shot on location in Blackpool over several weeks in November and December. It stars the BAFTA award- winning actress Sheridan Smith along with Sheila Hancock, Ricky Tomlinson and Lisa Stansfield. Britain’s Got Talent The live auditions for the 2017 series of Britain’s Got Talent will be staged at the Opera House in the New Year. The shows will be held over several days in January – the first time that the live auditions have been staged in Blackpool for five years. OPERA HOUSE SHOWS LINE-UP 2017 The Winter Gardens has confirmed a number of shows and musicals at the Opera House for the 2017 season. These include: La Cage Aux Folles, Tuesday 21 to Saturday 25 February Cirque Berserk, Wednesday 8 to Sunday 12 March Wonderland, Monday 10 to Saturday 15 April The Wedding Singer, Tuesday 4 to Saturday 8 July Sister Act, Tuesday 22 to Saturday 27 August Dirty Dancing, Tuesday 29 to Saturday 2 September Hairspray, Monday 18 to Saturday 23 September The latest addition is Our House, a show based on the music of Madness, which will star Blackpool’s own Linda Nolan. The Olivier-award winning show is due to be staged from Monday 9 to Saturday 14 October. PLEASURE BEACH ROLLERCOASTER Blackpool Pleasure Beach has announced plans to build a £16m roller coaster, with a scheduled opening around Easter 2018. The ride, which is being manufactured by Mack Rides in Germany, will feature the UK's first ever "double launch" coaster - an advanced technology that gives the roller coaster two thrusts of acceleration during a two and a half minute high-speed experience. Code-named "Construction 2018", the coaster will pass through two tunnels and interact with five other Pleasure Beach rides, including the iconic Big One. LABOUR PARTY RETURN The North West Labour Party (NWLP) returned to Blackpool at the start of November. It was the sixth time the NWLP has headed to Blackpool and around 700 delegates and visitors attended the two-day event at the Hilton Hotel. ONE OF THE BEST SHORELINES Blackpool was named runner up in a worldwide study to find the best shorelines in the world. The resort, with its miles of golden sands and stunning new promenade, finished second in a new international survey – pipped to the winner’s post by Dubai. Blackpool, which achieved its first Blue Flag for the quality of its bathing waters this year, finished ahead of the Gulf of Mexico, Cape Cod, Cape Town and various parts of India, Ireland and Australia. The study was commissioned by Royal Caribbean Cruises and led by psychologist Dr David Holmes, who created a mathematical equation to scientifically prove which shoreline is the most seductive. The various locations around the world were based on the clarity of the horizon, the colour of the sea, quality of the beach, cleanliness, shoreline features, air quality and the weather. Blackpool scored highly for its Blue Flag beach and for its range of features along the shoreline including the world-famous Blackpool Tower, tramway and the Pleasure Beach. Only the British weather prevented the resort from beating Dubai to the top spot. Blackpool was the only British resort in the top 10. ….AND BRILLIANT BATHING WATERS Blackpool is set to retain its Blue Flag in 2017 after sea water tests at Blackpool South were classed as "excellent" for a second successive year. For the first time all eight bathing water areas on the Fylde Coast passed the tough standards set by the World Health Organisation. Bispham and Blackpool Central bathing waters improved to "good", while Blackpool North was classed as "sufficient". PRINCES WAY REOPENS The newly-regenerated promenade at Princes Way, Anchorsholme, has re-opened after a £27m investment over the past two and a half years. The new 1km sea wall will provide better flood protection to nearly 5,000 properties in the area. As part of the scheme, there is improved access to the park, an elevated roadway has been constructed and pay-and-display parking introduced. Artwork and poetry from children's book The Sea Swallow is being installed in further sea defence works. The new sea wall at Rossall will include huge concrete units depicting the mythical tale, based on Singleton Thorpe, a village submerged off Cleveleys in the 16th century. The design will face the sea and be visible from the new promenade when it opens in November 2017. LIGHTPOOL FESTIVAL The inaugural LightPool Festival saw six nights of spectacular live performance on the streets of Blackpool town centre during October half term. The programme included a Lumidogs parade, a fire and tango performance by the French-based Compagnie Bilbobasso (pictured right), the return of the Spark! drummers and two spectacular pyrotechnic displays in St John’s Square. The festival, which was delivered through funding from the Coastal Communities Fund and Arts Council England, also included 20 light-based installations by internationally- renowned artists including Yoko Ono.