The Littlewoods Pools building, located in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, was built in 1938 to serve as the headquarters of the

Littlewoods Littlewoods was a retail and football betting company founded in Liverpool, England, by John Moores in 1923. By the 1980s, it had grown to become the largest private company in Europe but subsequently declined in the face of increased compe ...

football pools In the United Kingdom, the football pools, often referred to as "the pools", is a betting pool based on predicting the outcome of association football matches taking place in the coming week. The pools are typically cheap to enter, and may enc ...

enterprise. It overlooks Edge Lane and Wavertree Botanic Park, and its design makes it a prominent landmark. The building was requisitioned by the government during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to house the postal censorship department, and was later used for the manufacture of floors for

Halifax bomber The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its ori ...

s. After returning to Littlewoods' ownership, the site was eventually closed in 1994, and now stands empty. A fire in 2018 caused damage to a large part of the interior. However, plans are underway to convert the building into a film studio, which will be tenanted by

Twickenham Studios Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

and

Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...

Operational history

was a

company founded by John Moores in 1923. The company rapidly expanded throughout the 1930s, and the Littlewoods Pools building, opened in 1938, was purpose-built to provide more space for its operations. Designed in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style, probably by Scottish architect Gerald de Courcy Fraser, the building is an imposing white-rendered structure consisting of a central clock tower and two long wings terminated by pavilions. In September 1939, immediately after the outbreak of

, the building was requisitioned by the government, becoming the home of the

postal censorship Postal censorship is the inspection or examination of mail, most often by governments. It can include opening, reading and total or selective obliteration of letters and their contents, as well as Cover (philately), covers, postcards, Parcel pos ...

department. Its printing presses were also used to print National Registration forms. Later in the war, the building was put to various other uses, including the manufacture of floors for

s. In November 1945, the building was handed over to the war casualties department, and was finally released to Littlewoods the following year. Littlewoods Pools continued to operate out of the building until November 1994, at which time the site was closed and its staff redeployed or made redundant. This was concurrent with the launch of the

National Lottery National Lottery may refer to: *National Lottery (Ireland), the state lottery of Ireland *National Lottery (United Kingdom), the lottery franchise in the United Kingdom *South African National Lottery, established in 2000 *A number of countries con ...

, which immediately became a major rival to the pools industry; the closure of the Edge Lane site was carried out in anticipation of reduced profits as a result of this new competition.

Regeneration project

In May 2016, the two pavilions facing Edge Lane were decorated with large art murals in celebration of Liverpool's creative industry. In June 2018, developers Capital & Centric announced plans to convert the abandoned Littlewoods building into a studio complex for film and television, with

expected to take over part of the space. On 2 September, a fire broke out inside the building, causing damage to the roof and upper floor of the west wing. The structure of the building remained sound, however, and Capital & Centric said that the regeneration project would go ahead. Further delay was caused by the need to establish training systems for potential employees. In 2020,

was signed up as the education partner for the new studio, and its second permanent tenant. In July 2020, the developers secured an £11 million grant from the

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) is the combined authority of the Liverpool City Region in England. Its jurisdiction includes the City of Liverpool local authority area, the Metropolitan Boroughs of Knowsley, St Helens, S ...

for the creation of two temporary studios on the land adjoining the Littlewoods building. Known as "The Depot", these studios were opened in October 2021. Remediation work on the main buildings commenced in December 2023, in lieu of work in summer 2024 which will see the creation of two new 20,000 square foot studios on site. In June 2024, the landmark clocktower was demolished for safety reasons, with plans to rebuild.

References

External links

*
Remembering Littlewoods and Vernons Pools
mainly photos {{coord, 53.408, -2.939, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures in Liverpool Art Deco architecture in Liverpool 2010s fires in the United Kingdom 2018 disasters in the United Kingdom 2018 fires in Europe Burned buildings and structures in the United Kingdom