Every building in Ebrington now ‘has tenant or is being held for a tenant’ with Ebrington plaza ‘heading towards full capacity’ - video Dailymotion

Every building in Ebrington now ‘has tenant or is being held for a tenant’ with Ebrington plaza ‘heading towards full capacity’

Transcript

00:00Could you provide an update to last weekend's visit to the Everton Plaza in Derry?

00:06Thank you. I thank the Member for her question. It was always fantastic to be up in the North West

00:09and it was, I believe, a very successful visit. It was great to see such a dynamic company such

00:15as Alchemy move into Everton Plaza and not only just to move in but to be the very first

00:21tenant in there. I think it's good to see because, of course, the Executive Office has invested so

00:26much. I think over £30 million has been invested in the Everton site and it was invested because

00:32we wanted this to unlock the economic potential of the city. I think the links through the bridge,

00:37the buildings, really pleased to confirm that all of the buildings now have either a tenant signed

00:43up or it's held for a tenant. So we are heading towards that full capacity in due course. We're

00:48just working with those at the moment. So we really truly hope that Everton will be that

00:54economic driver and that the North West will see the benefit of that, not just through investment,

00:59not just through the creation of jobs, but good jobs and a good remuneration,

01:03which will make a big difference to people.

01:11Deputy First Minister, will you commit to working with your executive partners to promote regional

01:16balance and to promote places like the North West and other parts of the North as vibrant places to

01:22work, live and study?

01:25Thank you, Mr Speaker. Yes, of course, we've been very clear that we want to see

01:29Northern Ireland thrive and that doesn't just mean Belfast and the greater Belfast area.

01:33We all represent different constituencies across this place and I know that we will always fight

01:38for the very best deal for all of our constituencies, but the Member is absolutely

01:42right. If we are going to see the economic growth we want to see across Northern Ireland, then that

01:46must mean that every part, every town, every city can thrive and to do well and I think there's

01:52some really exciting things that are happening up there. We've got the opportunity, we've been up

01:57several times in the last month or so and each time we've been up we've seen such exciting

02:02businesses and organisations. We were at the AMP, I think it was called, where there was a lot of

02:06innovation and creativity happening as well. So I think it's a really exciting time, not just for

02:11Northern Ireland as a whole, but for the North West and that was definitely the message that we

02:16were getting when we were up just last week.