![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2_Dan-Davies-pictured-outside-the-Rightway-proposed-store-on-Victoria-Road-in-New-Brighton-Photo-by-.jpeg\")
Dan Davies said he was stepping back following a “very hard decision”(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\nIn an exclusive interview with the ECHO, Dan Davies explained why he is stepping back<\/p>\n
09:25, 21 Jun 2025Updated 09:26, 21 Jun 2025<\/p>\n
Dan Davies said he was stepping back following a “very hard decision”(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n
A man many credit with helping revive a Merseyside seaside resort said he is now passing the baton on as he looks to step back after nearly eight years.<\/p>\n
Dan Davies has been a dominant figure in New Brighton<\/a> for the past seven and a half years after he sold his business, CPL Training Group, for millions and began investing that money with help from others to buy up pubs and shops on Victoria Road<\/a>. The road has been described as empty and derelict before this, but now it is the centre of a number of popular bars, restaurants, and other businesses.<\/p>\n The area is sometimes compared to Lark Lane in Liverpool and has been the base where bands like the Mysterines have launched their careers. <\/a>Where a lot of high streets have gone backwards with more and more shops closing, many see Victoria Road heading in the other direction.<\/a><\/p>\n Looking back, Mr Davies said they had founded Rockpoint Leisure to regenerate at a community level, backing independents and hiring artists to do murals now dotted around the resort, adding: \u201cWe wanted to create an ecosystem that attracted talent, retained talent, and championed independent businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Davies, who has also been the chairman of the Institute of Licensing and spoken in Parliament on the future of seaside towns, said: \u201cYou can\u2019t regenerate a place behind a desk; you can\u2019t regenerate a place remotely. This wasn\u2019t about me running a few businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was trying to change the fortunes of the place I grew up in, and it used to p*** me off every time I came back from London seeing it go down and down. Seven and a half years later, it\u2019s working.<\/p>\n \u201c100% of the road is occupied, and you have only got to look at pictures from seven years ago and now to see the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cNew Brighton is doing a damn sight better now than it would have done if we hadn’t intervened. I think a lot of this road would be completely gone forever. Half of it had already gone.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHigh streets have been in terminal decline for a long time. You\u2019ve only got to drive from where we are now to Wallasey<\/a> Town Hall, and you will see what happens when you don\u2019t have a plan, when there\u2019s no placemaking, and there\u2019s no thought.<\/p>\n \u201cYou then get a mismatch of shops and boarding up frontages that have been turned into residential, often poor quality. It\u2019s not just around here; it\u2019s the length and breadth of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Now Mr Davies is planning to step back from the project he has been pursuing since 2017. Though he said there was no risk of liquidation, the ECHO<\/a> recently reported on legal action brought by HMRC against Rockpoint Leisure over unpaid taxes.<\/a><\/p>\n After the impact on business due to the Covid-19<\/a> pandemic, the cost of living crisis, a cancer diagnosis in 2022<\/a>, and the recent issues with HMRC, he is stepping back, as things have been difficult for him personally, telling the ECHO<\/a>: \u201cI have come to a very hard decision that I have taken New Brighton with what I\u2019ve got as far as I can at this moment.<\/p>\n \u201cI have put my house on the market, and what I have been doing over the last few years is selling everything I can personally to prop this up. I am running out of things to sell.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he was planning to sell a number of assets, including some properties on Victoria Road, and had cashed his pension in, adding: \u201cI will always champion New Brighton.<\/p>\n \u201cI will never not fight for New Brighton, but the reality is I need to pass the baton on and give the opportunity for the people who live in New Brighton, the people who think it\u2019s worth fighting for, to take over. I also need to draw a line in the sand where I can move on and back New Brighton at a higher level.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud of the fact we\u2019ve proved you can turn a high street around and you can get it open and you can get it vibrant. I\u2019ve had to spend a lot of money on things I do not own.”<\/p>\n Visibly emotional, he added: \u201cEvery single builder, plumber, electrician, everyone lives off these streets. Being proud of where you live is one of the most important things.<\/p>\n \u201cWho wouldn\u2019t want to be proud of where they live? It gives you a better start as well in life if you are living in an area where you have got some opportunity and pride. You don\u2019t just exist.\u201d<\/p>\n Due to Mr Davies\u2019 high profile figure, he has also attracted a lot of criticism too<\/a>. He said: \u201cA bit of scepticism isn\u2019t a bad thing. When we started, people were going \u201cOh, who\u2019s this guy coming in?\u201d Over the passage of time, we\u2019ve been visible; I\u2019m here day and night, and we have tried to listen and drive things from the street level up.<\/p>\n \u201cI spent a disproportionate amount of time on things I\u2019m not getting paid to do. On a daily basis, you end up giving a lot of things that are important to deal with and giving up a lot of time. It\u2019s not just me.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are dealing with a lot of issues that are a sign of the times we live in. I can be a p***k sometimes, but it’s through frustration \u2013 frustration when things that are so obvious get left or we get messed around.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was that much of an affront to me to see this place going downhill. It\u2019s very easy to be a critic. It\u2019s a damn sight harder to be an author. I\u2019d do it again, but I\u2019d do it differently.\u201d<\/p>\n Going forward, he has concerns about the future of the properties he is looking to sell, which won\u2019t include the James Atherton, Rockpoint Records, and Habibi. The properties up for sale will be going in an auction on July 24.<\/p>\n He wants to see the council protect the unique nature of Victoria Road, including its arts and cultural scene, and wants to keep working with the local authority\u2019s new leadership to build on this with further support. While he has previously hit out at the council over what he has seen as a lack of support, Mr Davies said he believed a more positive relationship could be found going forward.<\/p>\n A recent regeneration committee meeting he described as \u201ca breath of fresh air\u201d with cross-party positivity, and he believed there was \u201can opportunity to really start backing and supporting what we have done.\u201d He pointed to the recently set-up New Brighton Partnership as well as the support of Jayne Casey, who is credited with establishing the Baltic Triangle.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Two-Helmets-pub_06.jpg\")
Dan Davies once changed the James Atherton’s name to the Two Helmets after Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock.(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n![\"Victoria](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Victoria-Road-in-New-Brighton-Photo-by-Colin-Lane.jpg\")
Victoria Road is now home to a large number of independent shops, restaurants, and businesses(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_RHR_LEC_05092121newb1.jpg\")
Dan Davies, whose company Rockpoint Leisure has helped regenerate Victoria Road, said: “Being proud of where you live is one of the most important things.”(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n