Bootle’s Strand shopping centre could be set to lose millions of pounds over the coming years, council documents have revealed.
The council-owned shopping centre recorded losses of £2.7m between April 2020 and March 2021, adding to the strain on Sefton Council’s budgets caused by the pandemic.
Sefton purchased the struggling shopping centre in 2017, to mark "a new era" for the town, returning it to local ownership for the first time in years.
READ MORE: 73 people jailed in October for crimes linked to Merseyside
But while The Strand returned £1m for the council in its first year, profits fell sharply in subsequent years reaching just £30,000 in the year before the pandemic.
The shopping centre’s losses are also set to continue.
Figures set to be discussed by Sefton’s cabinet this week forecast that The Strand will lose £3.6m over the next three years.
A report says this prediction could be influenced by "uncertainty on future local on national lockdowns, on any extended future moratorium on landlords’ ability to pursue enforcement, and the ongoing pursuit of rent and service charge arrears".
Sefton Council has previously said the Strand is central to the future growth of Bootle, and at the heart of the town centre’s physical, social and economic regeneration.
It also provides essential services and amenities to local people.
The local authority funded its purchase of The Strand with a loan from central government, expecting to be able to use the profits from the shopping centre to pay back the loan.
However, that money will now have to come from other sources for at least the next few years, a fact likely to draw criticism from Conservative councillors who have repeatedly questioned the reasons for purchasing The Strand.
The council will also hope its plans to create a canalside market next to The Strand and refurbish the shopping centre itself will bring in more customers and limit the scale of future losses.
A section of land adjacent to Bootle Strand Shopping Centre is to be turned into a “vibrant space” to host a range of events.
Plans for the space, which sits alongside the Leeds Liverpool Canal, include a new food and drink offering and an urban garden.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
