Rod Holmes, who has died aged 78, was a Yorkshireman who came to love Liverpool and oversaw the £1bn Liverpool ONE project that transformed the city centre. Tony McDonough reports

 

Rod Holmes, the man who helped Liverpool “get its vibrancy back” as project director of Liverpool ONE, has died aged 78.

Yorkshire-born, Rod started out as a student building apprentice with Bromborough-based Holland, Hannen & Cubitts. His 40-year career culminated in the successful delivery of the Liverpool ONE scheme, a £1bn behemoth of huge complexity. It was an awe-inspiring achievement.

Opened in 2008, Liverpool ONE was the largest private sector investment in the history of the city. Phase one opened in May 2008 and between then and phase two in September there was a global financial crash.

Despite admitting it “took a hit” on Liverpool ONE, Grosvenor kept its nerve and pushed on with the second phase. John Lewis was one of the anchor tenants and its former chief executive Andy Street said that, without it, Liverpool’s retail core had been at risk of “market collapse”.

Rod Holmes started his career as a student building apprentice with Bromborough-based Holland, Hannen & Cubitts. His career in public and private-sector construction and property development took him to Europe, the Middle East, Far East, North America and South Africa.

After working for 12 years as director of operations for Dutch commercial property developer Mab Groep, in 1999 Rod joined Grosvenor as retail projects director and took on the Liverpool ONE project.

Its delivery was difficult and complex. The city council had to go to court to wrest control of the site from another developer. Then council leader Mike Storey, now Lord Storey, was determined the scheme would go ahead.

It transformed 42 acres of rundown property in the heart of the city. It opened up old streets that had been closed off since the 1960s, brought old buildings back to life and created 30 new buildings using 26 different architects.

Its scale and complexity was mind-boggling but Rod accepted the challenge and got on with the job. He headed a project team of 45 people who worked with several major contractors, many more sub-contractors and more than 1,500 consultants.

Grosvenor colleagues credit Rod as the driver and inspiration behind the successful delivery of Liverpool ONE. One former colleague at Grosvenor, Guy Butler, posted a tribute on Linked In.

He said: “Originally known as the Paradise Project, I was fortunate to be brought into the team by Rod in 2002.

“I worked closely with him through to the opening of Liverpool ONE and his retirement in 2008, witnessing first-hand his determination, clarity of vision and his ability to bring people with him.

“Rod was many things to me — a friend, mentor, leader and, at times, a father figure. There is no doubt I would not be who I am today without him. He built and inspired a large team whose shared passion reflected his own belief in the project.

“Rod had a rare ability to balance the delivery of a new city centre with genuine care for the people around him, creating not just a successful development, but a group of colleagues united by purpose and pride in what they achieved together.”

When he retired from Grosvenor in 2008, Rod said: “I have combined a life of living in the middle of nowhere and being in the centre of what is a vibrant city centre delivering Liverpool One over the past eight years.

“I am very pleased to be part of what is happening in Liverpool. A city that was one of the worst performing in Europe suddenly got its vibrancy back again and that is a wonderful thing to see.

“The atmosphere in Chavasse Park and on the street feels very much like a mature European city and that is a remarkable thing to see.

 

 

“In one corner you had pop music being played, a fashion parade in another part and lots of things happening and you could still stand and talk with friends. It did feel like being in the city’s living room.”

Rod was later appointed chair of economic development body The Mersey Partnership. He spent four years in the role, and oversaw the successful merger of the organisation with the Local Enterprise Partnership, which was finalised in March 2012.

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His contribution has been recognised through several awards, including the Liverpool Post Regional Business Person of the Year in 2012, Contribution of the Year in the 2010 North West Property Awards and Royal Institute of British Architects Client of the Year in 2009.

Despite his family home being in the East Yorkshire Wolds, he continued his involvement with regional bodies on the Lancashire west coast. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Liverpool and an honorary fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University.

Guy Butler added: “His influence lives on not only in Liverpool ONE, but in the many people whose careers and lives he helped shape.”