Liverpool’s Sensor City primed for revamp  

Sciontec, the commercial spin-out of KQ Liverpool, plans to spend £2m delivering updated workspace and labs across the Copperas Hill development as the company nears completion of a deal to take the facility under its control. 

The transfer of ownership from current owners Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool would see Sensor City join the growing Sciontec group of facilities. 

Sciontec’s portfolio also includes Liverpool Science Park, which it took control of in 2020.

Once the Sensor City deal is complete, Sciontec plans to modernise and relaunch the 25,000 sq ft complex as a “global hub for innovation, technology, digitalisation and the internet of things”, it said. 

Kier Construction completed the scheme in 2017. 

The Sciontec consortium, made up of the universities, Liverpool City Council and Bruntwood SciTech, plans to submit a planning application for the upgrade before the end of the year.  

“We are looking forward to finalising the details with Sciontec for the new investment in the building, which will enable us to drive forward research and business growth in the technology sector,” said Professor Keith George, chair of Sensor City Liverpool and pro-vice chancellor for research and knowledge exchange at Liverpool John Moores University. 

Colin Sinclair, chief executive of KQ Liverpool and Sciontec, said: “This landmark deal with our university partners will mark an exciting transformation in the life of Sensor City.  

“We are really looking forward to operating Sensor City alongside the successful Liverpool Science Park and further helping to create high-value jobs and grow the City Region economy, through science and technology, health and wellbeing.”