Liverpool's historic Martins Bank building on Water Street is in line for £22m in public funding from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) to support an £83m renovation into Grade A office space.
The Grade II* listed former banking headquarters would be converted into Grade A offices with a ground-floor hospitality venue, potentially supporting up to 743 additional jobs, according to revised planning applications lodged with Liverpool City Council.
Historic Landmark to Be Restored
Built as the headquarters for Martins Bank between 1927 and 1932, the building is described in Pevsner's architectural guide to Liverpool as "the masterpiece of Herbert J. Rowse [architect] and among the very best interwar classical buildings in the country."
Martins Bank merged with Barclays in 1969 and continued as a Barclays branch until closure in 2009. The property has stood vacant since then.
Proposals to restore the building received approval from Liverpool City Council in December 2022. At that time, majority-owners Karrev, a London-based property investment firm owned by Thibault Jean-Francois Marie Jurie Des Camiers, and developer Kinrise sought to transform the structure into 140,000 sq ft of office space, a restaurant and a social venue in the former banking hall.
Funding and Timeline
Concept images depicted the central hall as a "culturally engaging, multifaceted space" with a café, restaurant, meeting, co-working and event facilities. The transformation was originally earmarked for completion by 2024, but that deadline passed without progress.
In 2024, Kinrise withdrew from the project, and the scheme was pushed back until at least 2026. Earlier this year, former Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced backing for major heritage regeneration within the Central Business District, pledging a further 140,000 sq ft of Grade A workspace through the restoration of long-vacant heritage buildings.
Karrev submitted fresh applications last month, underpinned by £61.5m of its own funding. The heritage statement produced in 2022 stated: "The principal use will be offices, which means that the alterations to the building will be minimised to the benefit of its historic and architectural interest."
Investment and Jobs
The LCRCA has confirmed a 'major intervention' and its intention to allocate £22m to the project. The funding would be drawn from Mayor Steve Rotheram's £2bn Liverpool City Region Investment Fund.
Officials believe a restored Martins Bank would help address a shortage of premium office space in Liverpool city centre, providing room for existing firms to expand and strengthening the city's capacity to attract new employers and investment.
Works are scheduled to commence at the end of this year and are expected to support 150 construction jobs, alongside apprenticeships and work placements, delivered to BREEAM Excellent standards.
Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram said: "Liverpool is home to more listed buildings than anywhere outside London, but for too long, too many have been left abandoned waiting for a new purpose."
"Martins Bank is one of our city's great architectural landmarks. The buildings that helped make Liverpool what it is today should be helping shape what it becomes tomorrow."
"Bringing it back to life would not only protect an important part of our heritage, but create the modern, Grade A office space we need to attract new businesses, investment and well-paid jobs. Get that right, and the benefits to our local economy could repay this investment many times over."
"This is exactly why we launched our £2bn Investment Fund – to get ambitious projects like this off the ground by using public money to attract much greater private investment."
"With £22m of backing from us helping to unlock more than £60m from the private sector, we can turn one of Liverpool's most iconic buildings into a place that will help make our region the best place in the country to grow up, grow a family and grow a business."
