LCR Asset Map
Liverpool City Region sits on extraordinary assets — a Freeport, £10bn+ in development pipeline, world-class universities, the UK's 4th busiest container port, and a £6.25bn visitor economy. The question is not whether LCR has the assets for growth — it's whether we have the ambition to use them.
Port of Liverpool
Port & LogisticsUK's 4th busiest container port handling 900,000 TEU annually. Serves 55% of UK population within 150 miles. New £400m Liverpool2 deep-water berth now operational.
Could double throughput to 1.5m TEU with Freeport incentives and enhanced road/rail connections.
Freeport Tax Sites
Port & LogisticsMultiple designated Freeport tax sites across LCR offering enhanced capital allowances, employer NICs relief, stamp duty relief, and business rates relief.
Enhanced freedoms could unlock £5bn+ investment and 25,000 jobs — the Singapore model.
Liverpool SuperPort
Port & LogisticsMulti-modal logistics cluster combining Port of Liverpool, LJLA, rail freight terminals, and motorway network. Unique multi-modal capability in UK.
Integrated SuperPort strategy could position LCR as UK's premier Atlantic logistics hub.
Knowledge Quarter Liverpool
Knowledge & InnovationOne of the UK's leading innovation districts, home to University of Liverpool, LJMU, Royal Liverpool Hospital, and major research institutions. 50,000+ students and researchers.
Paddington Village and surrounding development could treble the KQ's economic output by 2035.
Sci-Tech Daresbury
Knowledge & InnovationNational science campus and Enterprise Zone housing the STFC Daresbury Laboratory, particle accelerators, and 150+ tech companies. UK's leading science campus outside the Golden Triangle.
Masterplan envisions 10,000+ jobs and position as Europe's leading applied science campus.
University Cluster
Knowledge & InnovationUniversity of Liverpool (Russell Group), LJMU, Liverpool Hope University, and Edge Hill University collectively educate 70,000+ students with world-leading research in tropical medicine, materials science, and AI.
Improved spinout policies and commercialisation could double the economic impact of university research.
Liverpool Waters
Development SitesPeel Group's £5.5bn, 60-hectare regeneration of Liverpool's historic northern docks. One of the largest development projects in European history, creating a new waterfront city district.
Full build-out creates 17,000 jobs and 9,000 homes — transforming Liverpool's northern waterfront.
Wirral Waters
Development SitesPeel Group's £4.5bn regeneration of Birkenhead docks — 500 acres of former industrial land becoming a new urban district with Marine, Maritime, and Energy Zone.
Could create 20,000 permanent jobs and 13,000 homes — the Wirral's economic transformation.
Investment Zone Sites
Development SitesLCR Investment Zone designation across multiple sites, offering tax incentives and simplified planning for advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and green energy.
Could catalyse £2bn+ private investment in high-growth sectors over 10 years.
Paddington Village
Development SitesA 30-acre innovation district adjacent to the Royal Liverpool Hospital and Knowledge Quarter. New homes for Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and Proton Beam Therapy Centre.
Health innovation cluster could attract global pharmaceutical and medtech companies.
Merseyrail Network
TransportOne of the UK's most reliable rail networks with 68 stations across LCR. New £500m fleet of battery-electric trains entering service, extending range beyond electrified network.
Battery technology enables new stations and routes without expensive electrification — Skelmersdale, Wrexham, Warrington.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport
TransportServing 5m+ passengers annually with connections across Europe. Significant capacity for growth — runway can handle long-haul aircraft. Only major UK city airport without rail link.
Rail link + long-haul routes could triple passengers and add £500m+ to visitor economy.
Liverpool Cruise Terminal
Cultural & VisitorPurpose-built cruise terminal on the Pier Head handling 100+ ship visits and 200,000+ passengers annually. Gateway to the city for international visitors.
New terminal could double capacity and establish Liverpool as UK's premier Atlantic cruise port.
Cultural & Music Heritage
Cultural & VisitorUNESCO City of Music. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic — founded 1840, arguably the UK's oldest continuing professional orchestra. Tate Liverpool, National Museums Liverpool (3.97m visitors at peak), Beatles heritage (£81.9m/year), Albert Dock. European Capital of Culture 2008 generated £800m+ economic impact.
Everton Stadium, new cruise terminal, and continued investment could push visitor economy to £9bn. Target: retain the creative talent the city produces.
Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock
Sport & Visitor EconomyThe new 52,888-capacity Hill Dickinson Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock — an ~£800m catalyst project anchoring the Liverpool Waters regeneration. 1.4m visitors annually. Currently blocked from having a waterfront ferry stop by legislative restrictions — exactly the kind of barrier a metro mayor should be tearing down.
Catalyst for Liverpool Waters — 15,000 jobs across the wider development. A matchday river ferry service from Pier Head and Wirral would transform matchday access and showcase the waterfront. The mayor should use every available power to make it happen.
Glass Futures (St Helens)
Knowledge & InnovationA world-first glass research and innovation facility in St Helens, developing next-generation glass technologies including low-carbon manufacturing processes. Puts St Helens at the centre of UK industrial innovation.
Could anchor an advanced materials cluster in St Helens, attracting supply chain companies and creating 1,000+ jobs in the borough.
Knowsley Business Park
Development SitesOne of the largest business parks in the North of England, home to major logistics, manufacturing, and distribution operations. Excellent motorway access via M57/M62.
Expansion land available for advanced manufacturing and logistics. Better public transport links would unlock further growth and reduce car dependency.
Southport (Sefton)
Cultural & VisitorClassic seaside resort with major conference and events capability. Significant investment in town centre regeneration including the new Southport Cove leisure development.
A properly reinvented Southport could significantly boost Sefton's visitor economy and create a year-round destination, not just a summer resort.
Mersey Gateway (Halton)
TransportThe £1.86bn Mersey Gateway bridge connecting Runcorn and Widnes, opening up development land and improving connectivity between Halton and the wider city region.
Has already unlocked development sites on both banks. Combined with Sci-Tech Daresbury growth, positions Halton as a key growth borough.
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Health & Life SciencesThe world's oldest school of tropical medicine (founded 1898). Connected to the 1902 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Works in 60+ countries with a £220m+ research portfolio. Leads the £260m+ iiCON infection innovation consortium.
iiCON has boosted regional infection R&D spend to over £1bn. A new £20m AI robotics lab is being delivered. This is a globally unique asset — no other UK city region has anything comparable.
Clatterbridge Cancer Centre
Health & Life SciencesSpecialist cancer trust serving 2.4m people across Cheshire and Merseyside. New £162m, 11-storey hospital opened 2020 in the Knowledge Quarter. The Wirral site houses the UK's only low-energy proton beam therapy unit — one of the few worldwide.
Co-location with the Royal Liverpool and university research enables rapid clinical trial recruitment and pharma partnerships — a major draw for oncology investment.
Royal Liverpool University Hospital
Health & Life SciencesThe new £1bn+ Royal Liverpool — 640 beds, 18 operating theatres, the largest hospital in the country with 100% single en-suite rooms. Opened October 2022 after the Carillion collapse caused years of delay.
Anchor of the Knowledge Quarter health cluster. Adjacent to Clatterbridge and the university, creating a clinical research corridor that attracts pharma investment and top clinicians.
Alder Hey Children's Hospital
Health & Life SciencesOne of Europe's largest children's hospitals. Houses 1 of only 2 exclusively paediatric NIHR Clinical Research Facilities in the UK (out of 28 nationally). Runs 100+ clinical research studies at any time.
LCR Combined Authority invested £4m (2025) to make LCR a global leader in children's healthcare innovation. This is a unique asset for attracting paediatric pharma and medtech investment.
Speke Pharma Manufacturing Cluster
Health & Life SciencesOne of the UK's largest biopharmaceutical manufacturing clusters. Seqirus produces 50m+ flu vaccine doses/year (the UK's only injectable flu vaccine manufacturer). AstraZeneca (~400 staff), Pharmaron (£151m expansion in gene therapy), TriRx, Nutricia (320 staff).
Life Sciences Investment Zone designation (£160m govt funding) targets 8,000 new jobs. Pharmaron's £151m expansion will quadruple gene therapy capacity. HEMISPHERE One (£60m, 115,000 sq ft lab space) under construction.
Liverpool FC (Anfield)
Sport & Visitor EconomyLiverpool FC generates £497m GVA to the city region economy with over 1.5m matchday visitors per season. Visitors from outside the area contribute £102m to the visitor economy. Supports 5,700+ FTE jobs across LCR.
Combined with Everton's new stadium, LCR becomes the only city region with two 50,000+ Premier League grounds — a unique proposition for sport tourism and major event hosting.
Aintree Racecourse (Grand National)
Sport & Visitor EconomyHome of the Grand National — the world's most famous horse race. The 3-day festival attracts 150,000+ visitors and generates £60.4m economic impact for the city region. Nearly 50% comes from Grand National Day alone.
Aintree is an underused asset outside the National. Better year-round use of the venue and surrounding land, combined with improved transport links, could significantly increase its economic contribution.
Royal Liverpool Golf Club (Hoylake)
Sport & Visitor EconomyHost of The Open Championship 13 times — most recently 2023, which generated £187m in total economic benefit for the city region (£43m direct impact, £144m destination marketing). Located in Wirral.
Each Open brings global broadcast exposure equivalent to £144m in destination marketing. The Wirral benefits directly — £23.6m local impact in 2023, up 35% from 2014.
St Helens RLFC
Sport & Visitor EconomyThe most successful Super League club — 10 championships including 4 consecutive (2019-2022). 17 League titles and 13 Challenge Cups overall. Founded 1873. Plays at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
St Helens' sporting identity reinforces the borough's brand. Combined with Glass Futures and advanced manufacturing, the borough has assets that most places would envy.
Shakespeare North Playhouse (Knowsley)
Cultural & VisitorThe only 17th-century-style timber theatre outside London. Opened July 2022 in Prescot, Knowsley. 121,000 visitors and 55,000 tickets sold in first 14 months. Theatre Building of the Year 2023.
Transformational for Knowsley — the borough with the lowest Attainment 8 scores in England now has a world-class cultural venue. A catalyst for changing perceptions and attracting investment to the borough.
Video Games Cluster
Knowledge & InnovationLiverpool has one of the UK's longest-established games clusters, dating to Psygnosis (1984, acquired by Sony 1993 — instrumental in the PlayStation launch). Today: Firesprite (PlayStation Studios, ~200+), Lucid Games (Tencent, ~200), d3t (Keywords Studios), ~50 studios, ~1,800 employed.
Games is the city region's largest creative industry. Average wages 15% above other industries. Every borough has at least one games company. Baltic Creative CIC houses 180+ digital businesses.
LCR Connect Digital Network
Digital Infrastructure212km dark fibre network owned by the Combined Authority and operated commercially. Provides gigabit-capable connectivity across the city region, linking public buildings, businesses, and innovation sites. A genuine success story of public infrastructure enabling private growth.
Extending LCR Connect to every business park and innovation site would give the city region a unique digital infrastructure advantage for inward investment. Target: 100% business premises with gigabit by 2028.
Queensway Tunnel
TransportThe Queensway Tunnel (opened 1934) and Kingsway Tunnel (1971) connect Liverpool and Wirral under the Mersey. Vital cross-river links carrying 25m+ vehicles annually. Managed by Merseytravel. Critical infrastructure for Wirral Waters and cross-river economic integration.
Toll reform and integration with public transport ticketing could boost cross-river movement and support Wirral Waters development. The tunnels are a unique asset — few city regions have this kind of cross-river connectivity.
Mersey Tidal Power Project
Development SitesProposed tidal power project harnessing the Mersey's 10m tidal range — one of the highest in the world. Could generate up to 1GW of predictable, renewable energy. Has been discussed for decades but remains in feasibility/planning stage.
If viable, the Mersey Tidal project would be transformational — clean energy, construction jobs, and a globally significant engineering achievement. Needs an honest cost-benefit decision, not perpetual feasibility studies.
Merseyside Police
Public ServicesLowest crime rate of all 6 metropolitan police forces (100.8/1000 vs Greater Manchester 117.7). Overall crime down 15% year-on-year (national average: 2.8%). Highest charge rate in England & Wales at 87.7%. Rated Outstanding for disrupting serious organised crime.
Merseyside Police's performance is a competitive advantage for inward investment. Safe cities attract business. Continued investment in neighbourhood policing and serious crime disruption strengthens the city region's offer.
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service
Public ServicesAverage response time 7.5 minutes vs England average of 9.1 minutes. Rated Good by HMICFRS. Internationally recognised prevention programme — MFRS prevention work has been adopted by fire services worldwide.
MFRS prevention expertise is an exportable asset. Fire safety and prevention capability supports the city region's development pipeline — particularly high-rise residential in Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters.
Combined Asset Value
Together, these assets represent a development pipeline of over £15bn+, with the potential to create 100,000+ jobs and transform Liverpool City Region into one of the UK's fastest-growing economies. No other city region outside London has this concentration of unrealised potential.