UPDATE NOV 2022
At the time of updating November 2022 The building is closed and all the HMRC staff had been told not to come into work due to a massive leak. Which will have done great damage to the structure. This is what happens when greedy people who are only interested in money are in charge.
All the care and attention that was given to the building. The Architect of this historic structure Herbert Rowse will be definitely turning in his grave. What a complete and utter mess.
INDIA BUILDINGS HAS BEEN BUTCHERED BY LEGAL AND GENERAL (THE DEVELOPMENT ARM OF THE FAMOUS INSURERS).
THEY PURCHASED THE BUILDING FOR AROUND £120,000,000 FROM MARWEES LTD. A BRITISH VIRGIN ISLAND OFFSHORE BASED COMPANY WHO PURCHASED IT FOR £17,000,000. MAKING A MASSIVE PROFIT.......THAT THE TAXPAYER WILL ULTIMATELY PAY FOR!
As soon as they purchased the building MARWEES set about evicting all the tenants in a disgraceful act of greed.
People who had run businesses there were evicted as if they were dirt. Read More Here.
MARWEES employed a pair of Henchmen. Father and son duo Brian and Mark Rabanowitz of Shelborn Asset Management.
They subsequently slid around, behaving like gangsters, ruining the lives of many of the tenants.......for the HMRC. Read More Here
There is a big risk to the architectural integrity Holts Arcade.
Liverpool's famous architect, of repute, Herbert Rowse must be turning in his grave.
15 years ago I was so proud. I had
found a bronze plaque, the original, with detailing that reflected
India Buildings class. It was cast to commemorate the sacrifice of
those that lost their lives in the Great War. That worked for Alfred
Holt and Company. After lots of consternation and a word with the
owners of India Buildings at the time the pedantic building manager agreed to
erect it in the arcade. Though it had
originally been outside Holts Offices it now seemed the fitting place. And it was set on the marble.
I would cry every year at 11 o'clock on
the 11th November when the old Holts Line and Blue Funnel
employees would gather and it would become a focal point. Not just to
remember Holts employees but all those who fell so we could be free,
so we could speak our mind. Be free.
They are now going to twat a hole
right through where it hangs. There is no other way to say it. The HMRC, I overheard don't want it
there. They want it lost, again.
Unbelievable.
There is something magical about this
arcade. The dimensions are just right. Its Classical perfection.
It is as
perfect as you can get.
Some years ago I asked the c20 Society
if they would put their weight behind upgrading its listing status.Gavin Stamp one of the countries leading heritage fighters, who Liverpool will sadly miss, backed me.
He was a past Chairman of C20society and put his weight behind it. After a lot of work by Clare at C20society English Heritage upgraded it from Grade II to Grade II*.
That seemed to be a protection jacket wrapped around it. To save its integrity for future generations.
Yet it now seems this wont stop it
escaping the grubby paws of this current crop of unsophisticated
developers and the HMRC.
You know it makes me sick to my back
teeth when we do all that work to put it beyond ruination and then
the place will still get wrecked
In many of my heritage battles I have
often thought myself akin to David fighting Goliath and this bunch
really are Philistines.
They say they have employed heritage
experts. http://www.classicartdeco.co.uk/india-buildings.php
Well they cant be that clever or experts if they are in on this grubby little deal. Some people don't have the integrity to call themselves experts if they don't understand what heritage means.
Well they cant be that clever or experts if they are in on this grubby little deal. Some people don't have the integrity to call themselves experts if they don't understand what heritage means.
They take the
coin to do what they are paid for, not what should be done.
And the
architects are Falconer Chester Hall. It couldn't be worse. Well it could Stiles and Wood got the contract....after they put in the lowest price.
They were talking at one time about polishing all the bronze shopfronts.
To make them look like brass. Lose all the patina.
To make them look like brass. Lose all the patina.
Money, money, money that's all this new lot seem to be interested in.
There are some things that just need to
be left alone. One is Holts Arcade.
I fought the last lot, Green Property, (see Private Eye 1229 above) and their ideas to close part of the arcade.
But to no avail they had all the power
and did nothing to make lettings happen. India Buildings went into further decline, they were letting the tenants
leave the building with regular abandon.
They needed to empty it out. Mike Tapp of Green Property advised me that they see the future as a whole letting. Open offices and a call centre. That where the money was. John Lee from CBRE had told them so.
They needed to empty it out. Mike Tapp of Green Property advised me that they see the future as a whole letting. Open offices and a call centre. That where the money was. John Lee from CBRE had told them so.
So we watched its decline.
Like being strangled slowly every day
they would let another tenant leave.
The building, they said was 75% let
when they took it over after it was repossessed by the banks and the
biggest fraudster in British history Achileas Kalakis did time.
So I was about to close up and a new
lot bought the buildings. Things looked up. We would see a couple of
people walking round and clung on a bit longer. Lawrence Kenwright
was in the running for India Buildings and I have to say I did not
think he had the skill to restore it. It was bought by a British
Virgin Islands offshore company. Then the HMRC were
interested.
Or was there a bit more to it than that? Then they began threatening me. bullying everyone, and they offered me a
relocation terms and it was time to move.
Then they behaved like type and shafted
everyone around me and I knew it was the wrong thing to do.
I could not have held on any longer,
the centre of gravity of the business district had changed.
Then the Philistines shafted me.
But this now gives me a chance to go back. To carry out some unfinished business, because I always regretted not doing more
to alert the public to the vandalism that was about to begin.
I have to be honest I thought I had been abandoned by the public.
My business is
personal to me and I take all things personal. Its my life its not a
business.
If I had of been doing it for money I
would have gone back into property. I had packed that business in a
long time ago, but was afraid I would end up, well like the Philistines that
then owned me.
I am ashamed I let them take me for a ride.
Come back Lawrence Kenwight all is forgiven.
This lot have now closed the beautiful
arcade to the public and the Arcade will never open again, which is Grade II* listed in its
own right, and the shops are to be offices.
And Liverpool City Council are
complicit. Sort of partners in slime really.
The dodgy building manager used to go
past shouting out, “All these are going to be offices” he
would say and I just got angry inside.
But now its time to say it loud.
I am ashamed of myself that I did not
put up more of a fight up.
I am also ashamed that I did not make
more of arguing against it.
The local press had changed it seems
all about twitter now and to be honest even though I was critical of
the last lot of journalists they now seem great intelectuals compared to these new
kids on the twitter feed block.
It was always easy to persuade Peter
Elson as to the merits of history and heritage because he felt it
too.
The city council planners have been
given delegated planning powers over India Buildings.
A Grade II* listed building.
This means they can do virtually what
they want.
The owners and there is now another
company involved India Buildings Development Ltd, with a liability of £100.
Check them out at Companies House. Theres a few characters there. That the HMRC are doing business with. https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10844377
It stinks. So after they have shafted
me I am now free to shout it from the 8th Floor.
This is
the worst thing that could have happened to India Buildings.
I admit it I was wrong and I should
have done something about it.
But where were all the people to help. To complain about the right of way being stubbed out, like The Ramblers. I phoned
them once and this bloke just went on, and on and on, and on, so I
put the phone down.
I cant do it alone is there anyone
out there that cares about this amazing heritage asset. In the World
Heritage Site. (will may lose the WHS status this June, when the
UNESCO World Heritage committee meet).
The Friends Of India Buildings.
The HMRC unions are up in arms about
this move.
The Bootle Strand will be decimated.
The area of Water Street will be
re-invented. But will this be Plastic Town and not Liverpool the city
that used to have character. That is until London, investors with no
real links to the city were touted by Mr Anderson and smoothed along
by the likes of Gary Millar and Nick Small.
It could be the usual David amongst The Philistines, but
y'know I have a sling and I am going to have a fight. Better late
than never. Its that time.
Please if anyone with genuine interests
can help please don't hesitate to contact me.
Its time to fight them on the beaches.
And I Dreamt That I Dwelt In Marble
Halls. No More. Holts Arcade Is About To Be Butchered.
