Starship to deliver £4m Wirral Waters scheme 

The Wirral-based modular construction company will take over the Egerton Village scheme from Peel following approval from the local council.

Peel, which is Wirral Council’s development partner and majority land owner at Wirral Waters, wants to give Starship responsibility for Egerton Village, a £4m commercial scheme aimed at serving the growing East Float neighbourhood. 

The move is intended to “free up development capacity” within Peel and allow the developer to bring forward other projects in the Wirral Waters regeneration programme, according to a report to Wirral Council’s regeneration committee. 

The report outlines that a grant awarded from the Wirral Waters Investment Fund for the Egerton Village project could now be novated from Peel to Starship.  

The Egerton Village grant would cover around 40% of the project costs and the council has been advised not to action the novation unless Starship can demonstrate it has the money to deliver the project. 

“Until Starship puts forward a viable business plan and sets out its external financing arrangements to meet the 60% of the cost not funded by the council, it cannot be said that the novation of the grant funding agreement would be lawful,” the report states. 

The report makes clear the council is not entering into the grant novation lightly. 

The Subsidy Control Act “prohibits the council from entering into a grant funding agreement with Starship until it can demonstrate that its assets exceed in value its liabilities and that it can stay in business without the help of the council’s grant”, according to the report. 

As guarantor, Peel would be responsible for completing the project if Starship is unable to do so, the report states. 

Peel secured planning consent for Egerton Village in 2019 and would be located at Four Bridges and next to the existing Wirral Metropolitan College. It will also sit next to the proposed Maritime Knowledge Hub. 

Starship is a Wirral-based company whose head office is in Hythe, an office building within the Wirral Waters scheme. The firm also operates a manufacturing facility at Wirral Waters. 

David Dargan, chief executive of Starship, said: “We are really pleased to be bringing forward this fantastic project right in the heart of Wirral Waters, providing high-quality community, retail and hospitality space within one of the UK’s largest regeneration projects.

“Egerton Village will become a focal point at Wirral Waters, being one of the first retail and hospitality projects and providing a place for people to meet and socialise right in the heart of one of Wirral’s newest communities.”

He added: “We are really excited about the future at Wirral Waters, which is why we are committed to investing in this project and working with our partners Peel L&P to accelerate projects like this and help create real change across the Left Bank of the Mersey.”

• The headline of this story was updated on 25 January to reflect Wirral Council’s approval of the contract novation