Wirral’s left bank is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, propelled by a impressive £200m of public and private sector investment. These developments are truly game changers for Wirral businesses and communities, and as a chamber, we are set to lead the way in driving this change.

In June 2019, we seized the opportunity to acquire Egerton House, a historic former banana warehouse built in 1874, now a premier business destination on Wirral’s left bank. This unique 42,000 square foot property is home to 30 diverse small and medium-sized enterprises. Wirral Chamber has been managing this building since 2015, making substantial investments over the years. We successfully secured £1.48m of Town Deal funding to revitalize the dilapidated West Wing of unused space to generate an additional 7,000 square feet of lettable business space. Increasing the revenue by £275k.

Whilst sourcing suppliers, as a chamber we felt it was important to use chamber members were possible, and were it wasn’t possible we’d source local businesses with an agreement that they too would join the chamber as members. Our decision to keep our supply chain local to chamber members demonstrated our chamber values and commitment to backing chamber businesses. Egerton House has been re-purposed by Wirral Chamber members, for Wirral Chamber to grow thus enabling us to invest more in growing and supporting our members, benefiting our network. This demonstrates the power of local supply chains and the importance of chamber’s backing local businesses, and most importantly its members – Egerton House is a touchstone of what chamber’s in their rawest of forms stand for.

Our decision to purchase Egerton House was not merely a transaction; it was an investment in the future of Wirral Chamber and the entire community it serves. We firmly believe that a strong local chamber is a linchpin of a strong local economy, and we were determined not to let our members down. Our ownership of the property secures a sturdy foundation for Wirral Chamber in the short term and sets the stage for its enduring legacy in the years to come.

We knew how important it was that the Chamber brand in the Liverpool City Region was strong and resilient, especially given the backdrop of sudden uncertain times facing our network locally. Through Wirral Chamber’s high-profile investment and acquisition of Wirral’s largest and premier historic business centre, it would generate a renewed confidence from businesses in the overall stability of chambers in the region.

From inception, this project was a huge endeavour. Accessing traditional financing was increasingly challenging, we recognised that we needed to bring in additional expertise – True to our overall ethos of encouraging member to member business, we looked to our membership for support.

We partnered with our Strategic Partner, Bathgate Business Finance based in West Kirby, Wirral to find a viable funding solution. After exhaustive due diligence and acquired Egerton House in March 2024 securing a sustainable future for the Chamber and creating a legacy for future generations of Wirral businesses.