Liverpool Science Park


Liverpool Science Park (LSP) was created as a Special Purpose Vehicle in 2002 by four key partners, namely Liverpool City Council (LCC), Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Liverpool University (UoL) and the North West Development Agency (NWDA).  LSP is a not for profit company limited by guarantee, with LCC, LJMU and UoL as its three shareholders. LCC owns 51% of shares, with the balance shared equally between the two universities.  LSP is designed to be commercially sustainable, although it is formally a non profit making company, with any surpluses having to be ploughed back into the business.


LSP's purpose is to create a world class centre for the commercialisation of knowledge economy activity and to help the Liverpool city region to become a destination of choice for knowledge based companies wishing to move to the supportive environment and fit for purpose facilities provided by LSP.  The further growth of LSP and its supporting infrastructure has the potential to be the catalyst for the continued delivery of commercial success and economic growth, co-ordinated with other projects in Liverpool, through the provision of specialist accommodation as well as support for companies from start up to flotation.  It will focus particularly on those areas of the market, which will benefit from LSP's community of like minded companies, but whose requirements are not met by standard office provision available in the city.  This includes graduate start ups, university spin outs and companies requiring laboratory space.


The LSP Board has set itself the goal of being a major national science park with international aspirations.  To achieve this, it has recognised that it will need to create a science park with more than 500,000 sq ft of floor space. The model of development presupposes that a first phase provides a flexible accommodation offer for young, innovative companies, where proximity to like minded companies and levels of potential support are paramount. 


LSP's intends to provide an environment, which allows even the youngest of companies to benefit from its totally flexible offer.  This includes an easy in/easy out policy, with support ranging from the provision of a postal address through to 5,000 sq ft of office space over virtually any period of time, 24/7 access and with the provision of state of the art IT capabilities.  In addition, LSP's Gateway policy ensures that only those companies engaged in the knowledge economy in its broadest sense are able to be tenants.  This is to ensure that similar companies have the opportunity to mix together and to create a community of like minded companies.  Equally, that same flexibility is attractive to investors who are new to the region or indeed to the country as they perceive the LSP offer as one which allows them to dip their toe in the market to see how well the city region's business and knowledge resources match their business offer.  The LSP offer could also appeal to more established companies from outside the area which might be looking to establish a presence in the city region or to act as a listening post to allow them to stay close to Liverpool developments.  The provision of laboratories to support the key elements of the city's knowledge economy is a key part of Phase 1 and the creation of 5,000 sq ft of laboratory space in ic2 goes some way to meeting identified demand.  Additionally, ic3 will provide a floor of biology laboratories for this purpose.