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The unit would have 118 dock levellers. Credit: via Royal Pilgrim

GB Europe lodges plans for Liverpool mega shed

To be occupied by logistics firm Uniserve, the 947,000 sq ft industrial unit would be built on the site of the former Prinovis printworks factory in Speke.

GB Europe acquired the 50-acre site off Dakota Drive in December 2023 in a £22m deal and has now tabled plans for its redevelopment into a single shed for one of the companies within its group.

To pave the way for the scheme, GB Europe will demolish the 627,200 sq ft Prinovis factory estate, which has been closed since last year.

Designed by Chetwoods, the replacement scheme would feature 118 HGV dock levellers, 900,000 sq ft of industrial floorspace, and 32,400 sq ft of ancillary office space.

The adjoining car park will have space for 238 lorries.

A spokesperson for GB Europe Holdings, said: “We are seeking planning approval for a state- of-the-art logistics centre, which will create a substantial number of new jobs in Speke on what is currently a redundant brownfield site.

“The warehouse and distribution building has been carefully designed to provide a high-quality working environment for our future employees. We are also mindful of our relationship with the local community and so the new facility would sit within extensive and enhanced landscaping including newly planted trees.”

The scheme could create 500 jobs and have an economic impact of £35m.

Avison Young is advising on planning and KAM Project Consultants is the project manager.

Burrows Graham, FPCR, Hoare Lea, MBA, CDM, Lucion, Turley, and PJA are also on the project team.

To learn more about the scheme search for reference number 24F/2752 on Liverpool City Council’s planning portal.

Your Comments

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Fantastic news for Liverpool. Let’s see more of it.

By Stephen Hart

What about completely covering the roof in solar panels!
Does anyone know how many trees they intend to plant?

By LordLiverpool

There used be companies who would cover large roof areas with PV and feed the energy into the national grid. I am not sure what their status is now because of tariff reductions reducing ROI levels.

By Liverpolitis

Very convenient for the motorways M57,M58, M56 and M62, should encourage more to set up business there.

By Anonymous

Fantastic news once again as our great city displays the value of its location to the Americas. This novel project could be amalgamated with the Port of Liverpool. Thus giving a positive factor to other prospective new investors joining the new centre of investment in Speke.

A positive development of the Port of Garston and John Lennon Airport cargo handling facility would reintroduce a prosperous environment for this sector of Liverpool.
Congratulations to all involved.
Speke was developed as an positive industrial opportunity years ago. The main roads need updating to give clear access to the National Motorway system.

By Anonymous

Get it on

By tony

This development should have a mainline railway connection to reduce road traffic and pollution

By A. Draper

Great news for freight forwarding and transport links for the Airport and Port of Liverpool

By Liverpolitis

Right by residential homes ? The noise around here is bad enough without hgvs

By Lesley Smith

No chance of that being approved, local roads couldn’t take that much extra traffic. Speke Boulevard is a nightmare already.

By Anonymous

To those who don`t seem happy with this scheme, refusing investments like this will only lead to Liverpool`s downfall, we are a big city with a big port, we have to be somewhere that welcomes business. Speke has been an undustrial and commercial zone for decades some of the old businesses, like British Leyland, have gone but we must provide new work and opportunities for future generations.

By Anonymous

Beautiful river views from that warehouse. What a waste.

By Anonymous

Nice big rates boost for Liverpool. Get on with it.

By Sceptic

With Metro Mayor Rotherham currently in the USA seeking high tech high quality investment all this will bring is low paid, low skill set jobs.
Then the pollution and accident risk that goes with the increase in road traffic.
Speke Road is grid locked at the best of times.
We do not need this in Garston

By Gary

Fully support this great for jobs and the wider city region. But the comments on Speke boulevard and roads around the retail park are right ….totally congested..need sorting..but project need to progress

By George

Speke Road is not gridlocked at all, and anyone who thinks these types of development only generate low skilled and low wage jobs clearly don’t know what they’re talking about.

By Anonymous

Horrid! Such a waste of beauty.

By Bixteth Boy

Clearly people who leave comments on here do not live in the Garston / Speke locality.
They want to drive up and down Speke Rd between 8 and 9 am and 430 to 630 pm. They won’t get far pmsl

By Anonymous

@Bixteth Boy, there is a huge shed there now, just a more useful one which brings opportunities for other transport portals.
Stop being a troll and make sensible comments only your attitude on this and other Liverpool projects is really quite immature. Haven’t you got rabbits or something to look after in Bixteth country park?

By Liverpolitis

Will this include a facility for refrigeration HGVs? McBurney, off Sandhills, emit what would be intolerable for any family living nearby in banks road houses. Constant diesel droning noise from stationary wagons parked on site. Why not use solar power from warehouse roofing across the entire estate? Also, use section 106 powers to construct mandatory HGV- only lanes on adjoining dual carriageways, and require ‘road trains’ of multiple wagons to leave outside ‘rush hours’.

By Outside the Box

Heaven’s, it’s a shed…we’ve a long way to go if this is what excites people.

By Anonymous

It is a very useful shed, it will enable more trade and business for the region.
The same company have a similar one in the South of England and it has been a success there, this is the type of place that produces wealth in the real world.

By Just saying

I wish it was an actual building of merit rather than just a warehouse. Can’t get excited about something this mundane.

By Anonymous

Liverpool, we must be the capital of NIMBYISM, never known a place that cries out for investment have such a number of complainers. We are crying out for jobs but the negativity persists, even in this part of Speke which is full of industrial warehouses and sheds. We have the same in North Liverpool where a relief road is desperately needed to get the lorries from the docks to the motorways. People need to realise big and successful cities are busy and attract traffic, it’s as if these people don’t want Liverpool and the City Region to be successful.

By Anonymous

It’s a Distribution Centre, those who have operated in the logistics sector will know how important it is this is not a storage shed but a very active one and help transportation costs to be reduced and more efficient.

By Truck Driver

A potential RIBA winner

By Anonymous

It will be interesting to see how long LCC planning department take to actually take this one to Committee.

‘Gary and the gang’ like to complain about the lack of investment and job opportunities whilst doing what they can to frustrate any positive investment into the area.

By Anon

This facility should have been directed towards Parkside. The owners could have then got full freeport benefits, and easy motorway access

By Barney

I object to this being built, residents of Garston are being hammered enough with pollution as well as traffic it would not be fare on their wellbeing and health. Should be reconsider another approach

By Karen Murphy

Its using an existing site on an industrial estate and will create much needed jobs, so just Get It Built!

By GetItBuilt!

No to a further succession of HGV’s and other vehicles dominating the roads that perimeter a considerable amount of dwellings along Blackburne St/ Banks Rd. The local community does not need further noise and environmental pollution.

By Lorrain

The increase in noise and pollution from the HGV’s will hopefully cancel out the pervasive smell of weed from Blackburne St at that location. Not a bad thing.

By Matt Rung

I’m all for Investment and job creation but the council really need to look at ways of easing congestion on speke boulevard. Either add more lanes or some kind of flyover to direct motorway traffic away from the boulevard.

By Anonymous

How can this help the city, region and country get to net zero. Got to get stuff off roads. There is a port, river and rail link next door in Garston !?!. Surely this must be turned down?

By simon o'brien

@simon O’brien, how do you think cargoes and parcels get to and from Ports and railways, by cyclist on tandems.

By Why am I angry?

Of course all Simon O`Brien wants is to have no cars, no ships, and no airport, he would be happy riding round on his bike all day encouraging people to shop and go to work on this mode of transport while it pours with rain and you have large shopping bags to cope with. While the rest of society creates work, buildings and infrastructure too many in Liverpool want to do down all attempts at job creation and rebuilding the place as a serious city to do business in.

By Anonymous

Ah!, I wondered why so many unusual comments on here, a post on the South Woolton Neighbours forum asking members to make a comment on it on PNW for or against. I believe this development to be a good thing, economically, employment wise and as a great feeder for the local ports and airport.

By Liverpolitis

    Is that the case? I hope that neighbours forum will also encourage people to actually make their comments on the planning application if they feel strongly – as that will be what officers consider when looking at the application, now Place North West comments!
    As a reminder, this is a news site and not where you should be commenting to enact any sort of change in a planning outcome – whether that’s in favour or against!

    By Julia Hatmaker

This is a great employment opportunity for this depressed area of Liverpool, we want jobs, please build it and ignore any protests from a few people and so called community leaders.

By Mud Man

Just the most predictable NIMBY comments and attitudes. Speke and Garston have lost a hell of a lot of employment over the past couple of years. Turkeys voting for Christmas going against this kind of investment.

By Anonymous

This is good news for Speke much needed development in the area. Also include money for community projects. Bring more business to the area we have a great workforce and we need the money.xx

By Hazel

Hi Julia, One of the concerns raised by the SLN poster was the plan to create an opening on Banks Rd.
If you expand the image, you can see it is for the car park for the employees and not for the lorries to enter and exit from.
By the way a lot of people have challenged him over his post and countered his argument with the benefits this project will bring.

By Liverpolitis

We need this type of clean use in an otherwise heavy industrial area. Compared to the previous chemical driven printers works, this will be less polluting and have safer jobs. Also what is the SLN poster – haven’t seen this?

By Anonymous

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