Bliss to operate Southport Theatre and Convention Centre

Bliss Investment Partners is in talks with Sefton Council to take on the operation of the Southport Theatre and Convention Centre (STCC).

Bliss Hotels, a venture from Bliss Investment Partners, is understood to have entered a short-term operating agreement for the conference, banqueting and entertainment venue, and is expected to take over from the Ambassador Theatre Group, which has operated the STCC for Sefton Council since 1996, on 1 June.

Last year Bliss acquired the 250-year lease from Promenade Estate for the town's entire Waterfront Development adjacent to the STCC in a £15m deal. The development includes a Genting Casino, Ramada Plaza hotel, wedding venue and a Hungry Horse operated by Greene King.

The group plans to transform the 133-bedroom Ramaza Plaza into the first Bliss hotel. The fifth floor has already been extensively refurbished and three new penthouses are planned for later this year.

Daniel Broch, co-founder of Bliss Investments and founder of Everyman Cinemas, said: "This is a key moment for Southport to create an international identity and follow other great coastal and city regeneration stories such as Margate, Scarborough Barcelona and Berlin."

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