Parkside Regeneration is pushing on with plans to create 2.6m sq of logistics and industrial space in Liverpool city region and is set to offer multi-million pound contracts to local suppliers. Tony McDonough reports
A project to build up to 2.6m sq ft of logistics and industrial space on the site of a former colliery in Liverpool city region is to hold a ‘meet the buyer’ event in November.
Companies in the local supply chain are being offered the chance to bid for “substantial” multi-million-pound sub-contracting packages on the Parkside regeneration project in Newton-le-Willows.
Parkside Regeneration, a joint venture between St Helens Council and Langtree, has shortlisted four contractors to undertake enabling works for the project’s 800,000 square foot first phase development.
Their tenders will be scored with a “significant weighting” in favour of bidders who can show how they will use local sub-contractors and local labour.
In March 2024 St Helens Council approved a ‘reserved matters’ planning application for 800,000 sq ft of logistics and industrial space in phase 1 of the project, costing around £80m. Plans were submitted for a further 1.7m sq ft of space in August 2024.
Thanks to a £39m cash injection from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, as well as additional funding from St Helens Council and Parkside Regeneration, a new link road was completed in June 2025.
On Tuesday, November 4, at St Helens RLFC’s BrewDog stadium, the first ‘meet the buyer’ event will be held.
“We have said from day one that Parkside should be judged on its wider economic and social impact and this is the biggest opportunity to date to put that objective into practice,” said Malcolm Jackson, managing director of Langtree.
“This event is seeking to identify suppliers for a range of substantial sub-contracting packages as part of a large, multi-million pound programme of works.
“The joint venture has received a lot of interest from the local supply chain and this isn’t just an opportunity for them to bid for work on Parkside, but to position themselves with the shortlisted main contractors as suitable for other projects they may be working on.”
Almost 200 companies from across Liverpool city region have already registered with the project across all construction and materials needs, and the database remains open for late registrants… click here.
Delegates who register for the November event will be able to book time slots to speak with named representatives from each of the four short-listed bidders. Further events will be hosted when other key packages, such as unit construction, are up for grabs.
Parkside Colliery produced almost 1m tonnes of coal a year at its peak, employing around 2,000 people.
By the time of its closure in 1993, around 800 staff were employed. Employment forecasts for phase one of Parkside anticipate the creation of as many as 1,300 gross operational jobs.
Councillor Kate Groucutt, deputy leader and Cabinet Member for Business and Inclusive Growth at St Helens Council, added: “The Parkside regeneration programme represents a substantial investment in our borough and it is our priority as a council that local business and local residents benefit significantly from this.”