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THE historic Cambridge Arcade in Southport has been turned into a tunnel of sparkling lights in a bid to encourage people to support the local businesses inside.

Local lighting experts IllumiDex UK Ltd have installed a kilometre (1,000 metres) of lights in the Victorian era 1871-74 landmark, which connects Lord Street with Chapel Street.

They have been contracted to carry out the work by Quadriga Contracts Ltd, which has erected scaffolding inside the area as it carries out a £400,000 restoration project on Southport Town Hall and the section of Cambridge Arcade adjacent to it on behalf of Sefton Council. The work is expected to take place until March next year.

A spokesperson for Quadriga Contracts Ltd said:- “We’re delighted to have worked with IllumiDex UK Ltd to illuminate Cambridge Arcade and make it welcoming and accessible for the local community.”

IllumiDex UK Ltd Managing Director Steve Clayton said:- “We worked over three days to install 100 sets of lights inside Cambridge Arcade. There is a kilometre of lights inside there now, inside the tunnel and the little square next to it The lights are in the section of the arcade where the scaffolding is, adjacent to the restoration work being carried out at Southport Town Hall. We have had superb feedback from people who saw the lights going up as we were working. They were saying it looks beautiful inside there now, and how it’s made such a positive difference. When you stand at one end of the arcade and look down, it looks fantastic. We’ve created a tunnel of lights. Every fifth light twinkles so it has a really sparkling look to it. When you compare the arcade now with how it looked before, with all the scaffolding and how it looked so dark, the lights have made such a difference. It will hopefully attract a lot more people to walk down there.We lost count of the number of times people came up to us saying:0 ‘Is it Christmas already?’ But these lights will be there for as long as the restoration work by Quadriga is taking place in the arcade, to let people know that all the local businesses inside are very much open. We have had lots of positive comments from the traders inside too. There are some superb shops, restaurants, bars, and cafes inside Cambridge Arcade and Cambridge Walks. Quadriga was keen to utilize our expertise to highlight how the arcade is very much open while their restoration work is taking place. You can see the lights shining during the day but when it goes dark they really stand out and make the arcade look beautiful for people enjoying a meal or a drink or just walking through. It's going to look even better when the nights draw in. The lights are going to be shining 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are very energy efficient, they use hardly any electricity at all. Each bulb is just 0.06 Watts. I'm looking forward to seeing what Cambridge Arcade looks like when Quadriga has completed its project. It is going to look really nice when it’s done.”

IllumiDex UK Ltd is growing from strength to strength, after expanding into new purpose-built 4,500 sq ft premises in Burscough in West Lancashire earlier this year.

The family run firm is enjoying a glowing reputation after being founded by husband and wife Steve and Jan Clayton.

They famously created the spectacular:- ‘boulevard of light’ along the mile long Lord Street, within Southport's Town Centre, installing 300,000 lights in a scheme contracted by Southport Business Improvement District (Southport BID).

The eye catching project, part of Southport’s extensive regeneration plans, involved the removal of 30,000 metres of failed tree lights and the installation of 30,000 metres of newly designed high specification lights within 80 trees across both sides of the road in 2020.

The firm also lights up Town and Village Centres in the North West; creates lighting inside homes, businesses, and gardens; and instals Christmas trees and Christmas decorations in Town and Village Centres, and on retail and leisure parks.

IllumiDex is the only festive decoration installer in the UK to be fully compliant and registered with HERS (Highways Electrical Registration Scheme). They have attained Gold Standard Status for their quality and safety standards and hold NVQs in the installation of Public Lighting to allow the installation of Christmas decorations across the country.

Quadriga was commissioned by Bernard Taylor Partnership (architects for the scheme) which is acting on behalf of Sefton Council to carry out essential heritage restoration works to Southport Town Hall and the section of Cambridge Arcade adjacent to it.

Sefton Council has earmarked £400,000 for the work to take place.

The historic arcade is home to a variety of independent retailers and food and drink outlets which will remain open throughout the works with disruption kept to a minimum.