LEADERS IN BUSINESS
In keeping with the regeneration goals of Titanic Quarter an old industrial shed across the road from the Legacy Building next to the Northern Ireland Science Park is set to be retrofitted this year to create another new business premises option. Planning permission and some Heritage funding has also been secured to turn the old Harland & Wolff drawing offices into a boutique hotel, which TQL’s owners, Harcourt Construction, are likely to develop themselves, with work starting this year. Northern Ireland’s film industry is also set to get a massive boost with Titanic Quarter Ltd confirming it has submitted proposals to the planning service for two further movie studios in Belfast with additional office and workshop space for the likes of HBO to use on Game of Thrones. “We hope to get approval by the end of quarter one 2014 with a view to starting to build and having it completed by the autumn of 2014. We think there are one or two projects imminent for 2015,” says Gavaghan.
JANUARY 2014
Plenty then to occupy TQL’s CEO, who is also chair of Business in the Community’s environmental ARENA network and chair of the CBI’s Economic Affairs Committee. But that isn’t stopping him dreaming he also has a long wishlist of projects for the medium and long term, from establishing a data centre to attracting the BBC to Titanic Quarter, to what he calls a “mini Westfield” shopping centre. “It might seem ludicrous just at this minute but I also wouldn’t underestimate the possibility of looking at some more residential. Obviously we’ve got a big overhang in Belfast but once we move the remaining units in the Arc I think having a fantastic residential scheme on the other side would make sense. We’ve also got two other hoteliers interested in that site,” says Gavaghan with characteristic optimism. “We’re at such a fundamental moment now and Titanic Quarter is a vital part of the future success of Belfast. We all have to believe, because without that it will never happen.”
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