Liverpool’s new “game-changer” life sciences development to create 10,000 jobs

A new development that could create as many as 10k jobs in Liverpool has been unveiled.

Announced today (June 13) by Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson at the launch of the International Festival for Business, the proposal outlines a 1.8 million sq ft development on the former site of Archbishop Blanch school on Minshull Street, on the outskirts of the city centre.

The plans would see a cutting-edge medical and life sciences complex created along with Grade A office space.

Forming part of the wider Knowledge Quarter Mayoral Development Zone, the first phase of the development is expected to begin in 2017.

To further connect the scheme to local infrastructure, the plans encompass a new railway station to provide access from Liverpool’s existing underground network and the national high-speed rail line via Lime Street Station.

Mayor Anderson said: “The extension of our Knowledge Quarter is a game-changer in terms of the high-quality jobs we will be able to bring into the city in hi-tech, 21st century industries.

“This will help us to develop our Knowledge Quarter as we work with all our partners, including the University of Liverpool and the proposed health campus at the Royal Hospital to make the city a beacon for investment in this and similar sectors.

He added: “We want to build on the success we are already achieving to make Liverpool a leader in this field.”

Speaking further, the Mayor drew attention to the North-South divide in life sciences investment, explaining that while an “overwhelming concentration of jobs and investment” is found in the South, the Minshull Street development could alter that.

He continued: “[This] landmark scheme provides the basis for Liverpool to now become a national and international destination for investment in life and medical sciences, bringing with it thousands of new, high-skill, high-wage jobs.”