Plan for Liverpool Cains Brewery Village approved

The Brewery Village scheme would create 800 jobs, a Cains spokesman said

Plans for the £150m transformation of a former Liverpool brewery into a major tourist venue, creating 800 jobs, have been approved.

Cains Brewery, which had produced beer in Stanhope Street for more than 150 years, was wound up in June with debts totalling more than £8m.

A separate firm, run by the owners of Cains, submitted plans to redevelop the site to Liverpool City Council.

The redevelopment is "really good news" for the city, MP Louise Ellman said.

Work on the Cains Brewery Village - housing a hotel, cinema, apartments, parking, artisan food market and spa - will start within a year, owners said.

Heritage restoration

The brewery will house a rooftop bar with views over the city, and the existing Brewery Tap pub would also be restored to produce traditional ales.

The redevelopment will attract 2.5m visitors per year, benefiting the city's economy by £25m, owner Sudarghara Dusanj said.

He added that development partners and operators for the cinema, hotel and supermarket are being sought.

They city's mayor Joe Anderson said: "The Cains Brewery Village scheme will transform one of the city's most important historic buildings and create a new tourist destination capable of holding food, craft and cultural events."

Mrs Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said: "The planning permission means we will see the restoration of one of the city's key heritage assets and the creation of a new visitor attraction for an important part of Liverpool. It's really good news for the city."

Union Unite said the 38 former Cains employees made redundant without payment when the brewery went into liquidation in June have now received payouts from a Government fund.