Completion of works on transformation of Lime Street brings sigh of relief from the centre director at St Johns Shopping Centre in Liverpool. Tony McDonough reports

St Johns Shopping Centre manager Neil Ashcroft says he is relieved the 36-month long transformation of Lime Street is now complete.

Work on the street, part of Liverpool City Council’s citywide connectivity programme, caused huge disruption to the centre and its retailers. Even allowing for the COVID effect, footfall and car occupancy at the centre plummeted during the project.

Costing more than £10m, the Lime Street revamp should have been completed late in 2021. However, in October last year main contractor NMCN collapsed into administration. This caused considerable delays as did a wrangle over the impact on bus routes in the city. Now the work is finally finished.

Neil Ashcroft, centre director at St Johns Shopping Centre, said: “We’ve had to deal with a series of challenges for the duration of the connectivity scheme, as have many other businesses in the area, and we’re pleased to see the scheme now in action.

“As a community shopping centre, we’re an important base for our shoppers, many of whom access our stores, facilities and services on a daily basis. Our car park is also a vital asset, feeding footfall to many other businesses in the area, and its inaccessibility has dealt a blow to those businesses that rely on us.

“Now, we’re looking ahead to a hopeful future for the area. We are open, we are accessible, and we hope that the redesign of the road will facilitate a return to normality for our community.”