Sainsbury's confirms plans for Wirral Waters store

If given the go ahead, the 4,300 sq ft purpose-built store will be located on the corner of Dock Road and Duke Street, on the doorstep of the £130m residential development.

It will include a free cash machine and a collection point for customers to order and collect from Argos, Tu clothing and a Habitat. It will also be accessible from the quayside walkway along Northbank.

The store will be open from 7am and 11pm, seven days a week.

Plans for the store include a number of high-spec sustainability measures – for example, the store will be powered by 100% renewable electricity and will feature 100% LED lighting throughout.

As an extension of the Millers Quay site, the construction of the new store will also engage students from Wirral Met College in the construction of this important local amenity.

If approved, building work is expected to begin in 2025, with completion expected late 2025/early 2026.

David Pilbeam, Sainsbury's director of acquisitions, capital projects and engineering, said: "We're passionate about delicious food and we want to make it easier for customers to access it wherever we can, so we’re delighted to confirm our plans for a new Sainsbury’s store at Millers Quay.

"Once open, our investment at Wirral Waters will create jobs and a convenient new place for people to shop locally while putting Sainsbury’s high quality, great value products on their doorstep."

The £130m Millers Quay development, when fully completed, will feature 500 highly sustainable and energy efficient waterfront rental flats.

It is named in reference to the historical use of the site as a flour mill and a copper-rolling mill with ‘Quay’ symbolising a positive change which echoes the dock’s industrial past, while reclaiming the waterfront for the local community

Richard Mawdsley, director of development at Wirral Waters, said: "This new Sainsbury’s store will be a very welcome addition to the regenerated Northbank neighbourhood.

"There will be a large residential community living along Northbank and it is important that we build in walkable, ancillary amenity provision to support this growing community, whilst also encouraging much better connections into those main retail centres at Birkenhead, Liscard and Seacombe.

The Sainsbury's Local store will be located between Duke Street and Millers Quay, to the left side of these buildings (Image: If we ran the zoo PR) "To make this a successful place, this community needs access to a wide range of groceries and convenience foods.

"It is also important that the store – including in its design and construction - brings benefits to the local community, by providing jobs and training opportunities, but also that it meets the high standards of sustainability that we employ across the whole Wirral Waters development.”