Wetherspoons in Southport cordoned off.

Wetherspoons Pub The Sir Henry Segrave on Lord Street Southport has been cordoned off this morning after masonry fell from the roof in high winds during the night.

The pub remains open as access can be gained by using the side door in Coronation Walk. The outdoor seating is closed.

Plans have recently been revealed to turn the top floors of the building into a hotel.

The Council was first approached by Wetherspoons in 2018 and received in January 2019 a formal offer to acquire the freehold interest in Pavilion Buildings. High level schematics accompanied the offer, which showed the upper floors of the building being converted into 28 ensuite bedrooms. The tenant would effectively continue to operate the Sir Henry Seagrave public house on the ground flood, with hotel accommodation provided above.

Conversion of the upper floors to the Pavilion Buildings to provide hotel accommodation ties in with and supports the wider regeneration aims of £50m the successful Town Deal bid. The Council’s Tourism and Regeneration teams recently commissioned a ‘Hotel and Visitor Accommodation Study’, which identified a need for a greater range of visitor accommodation types, and a need for a significantly increased supply of hotel bed spaces, particularly in Southport.

Pavilion Buildings is a four-storey building in Southport town centre, with the ground floor let on an internal repairing and insuring Lease for a term of 20 years from 28 June 2015 for a bar/public house. . The upper floors form an operational asset, partly occupied by Parking Services and NSL private contract staff with the remainder vacant. The total net internal area measures 1,593 square metres or 17,145 square feet.

Overall, the accommodation is dated and in need of repair. In recent years there have been issues with the roof leaking, leading to water ingress into the public house on the ground floor. The premises need a rewire. The current backlog of maintenance works informed by the latest Asset Management condition survey stands at £480,000.

Conversion to a hotel is in keeping with the wider Masterplan aspirations for the southern section of Lord Street, which support the active use of upper floors to support the evening economy and generate increased footfall in the town centre.

Employment creation: the disposal will secure the Company’s future in Southport and the Company estimates that circa 40 additional full and part time jobs will be created.