(Seems someone must have been reading the RF way to richer riches)
LFC star in £4m cafe bar venture
Jul 26 2005
EXCLUSIVE by Andy Kelly, Daily Post
JAMIE CARRAGHER is investing in a new sports cafe venture for Liverpool which is being masterminded by one of the city's most successful business groups.
After conquering Europe on the football field, the 27-year-old defender, named Liverpool FC's player of the year, is hoping to do the same in the business arena.
And it is hoped the concept - known as Sport Cafe England - will be extended around the UK.
However, Carragher and his business partners are determined to start their enterprise in Liverpool first with an initial investment of around £4m.
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The first venue being lined up by the Bootle-born international and his fellow investors is the city's famous ABC cinema site, on Lime Street.
They also hope to establish their new brand on key arterial routes into Liverpool, including Edge Lane, the East Lancs Road, Speke Boulevard and the Aintree corridor.
Carragher's partners in the project are the City Life Projects team which already owns Liverpool's exclusive Newz Bar, the Sir Thomas Hotel and the Park Hotel, in Aintree. The business plan involves joint ventures between the City Life team and leading sports personalities around the country.
Representatives from the Manchester United players' pool pension fund have already had talks with City Life about getting involved in a Cafe Sports England in Manchester.
Last night, Carragher said: "When I was approached I sat down and looked at the standard of business my partners were already involved with in Liverpool and that was good enough for me."
As well as the umbrella team of investors behind the Cafe Sports England idea, it is hoped each restaurant will be taken on by individual franchisees.
The cafes will be similar in concept to the likes of Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood, but much more individually tailored to their markets.
Andy Smart, general manager for City Life Projects, said: "If you look at some current sports cafes, they're full of baseball and ice hockey memorabilia.
"That's got nothing to do with Liverpool. We will concentrate on football, boxing, horse racing and golf, with memorabilia which people will relate to. That can change with each different city."
City Life are determined to have their first Liverpool sites up and running for Capital of Culture in 2008 but say they have been frustrated by the lack of progress in trying to secure the ABC site.
Owned by English Partnerships, it is due to be incorporated into the new Lime Street Gateway but no firm plans have yet been revealed for an end user.
City Life spokesman Daniel Hughes said: "ABC Lime Street is the ideal location for Sports Cafe England. It is an iconic building at a key gateway into the city centre.
"The building is in need of total refurbishment and we are prepared to do it. We have ben trying to speak to Liverpool Vision and Liverpool City Council since January about this site, but at times it has felt like we are faced with a wall of silence."
Liverpool Vision's development director, Martin Wright, said that bids for the site had been put on hold while the Culture Company decided if it would use it in 2008.
