Liverpool is a city that is forever reinventing itself. The city began as a network of just seven streets, including Castle Street, Chapel Street and Dale Street, which you can still walk down in the modern day Business quarter.

Today, it’s a powerhouse of trade and tourism with brand new freight docks and a cruise liner terminal that have reignited its maritime traditions, and significant regeneration projects spanning decades saw the whole city centre redevelop. You'll find the old and the new shoulder to shoulder here, with grand waterfront buildings and Edwardian housing next door to brand new builds housing citizens and businesses alike. If you're looking to secure an office space in the North West, Liverpool should be on your list of options. Here's why.

The top business areas in Liverpool

Liverpool city centre’s close proximity to the docks means the business areas are not really distinct, and merge together. However, there are noticeable changes in feel between them, and that influences the types of businesses looking for Liverpool office space.

The docks area

The front of the docks on the Mersey has traditionally been the location for the leading commercial properties, and that largely remains the case. All along the front, overlooking Birkenhead, is now a string of new developments rubbing shoulders with the old. They range from office buildings to museums, the exhibition centre, and the cruise liner port. Right at the heart of all this is the Mann Island complex. It's a brilliant mixture of coworking spaces, private offices, meeting rooms, and virtual offices in one building overlooking Albert Dock, the Three Graces, the river, and the Liverpool city centre.

City centre West

Just up the road from Mann Island is Derby Square, another area of offices closer to Liverpool city centre. With the law courts and the western edge of the shopping district next door, it's an ideal space to set up your office. Derby Square's offices include plenty of coworking spaces popular with start-ups. The location within Liverpool gives that perfect blend of business and local amenities they're looking for.

Vauxhall and Everton

A little to the north, near the entrance to the Queensway Tunnel, is Vauxhall and Everton. It’s where the Passport Office is located, as well as legal and financial businesses and plenty of hotels, which all accounts for the growth of spaces devoted to business in this part of Liverpool. If you're expecting visiting clients or suppliers, having nearby accommodation is a must. Somewhere like Horton House, with its great office spaces, meeting rooms, breakout areas and coworking spaces, has a real urban buzz, and it's just shy of the traffic and noise.

Ropewalks and the university quarter

Finally, one of the newer developments in the city is in the Wood Street area, which runs adjacent to Bold Street, and is now a favourite space for start-ups and established businesses. It's a part of the Ropewalks area, which sits between the city centre and the student quarter. This location makes it a natural place for bohemian bars, clubs, cafes, and restaurants, as well as arts centres like FACT. 301 Tea Factory is one of Liverpool's trendiest office developments, right in the heart of Ropewalks. It is an all-inclusive hive of coworking, office spaces, meeting rooms, high-speed connectivity, and city life that entrepreneurs love.

Travel in Liverpool

Liverpool is easy to get to, largely thanks to its history as a critical port and commercial centre for the whole region. By road, it's perfectly located on the motorway network, with the M62 taking you to Leeds and Manchester and connecting to the M6. If you're coming from North Wales or Chester, it's a quick drive up Wirral on the M53, then under one of the tunnels right into Liverpool city centre.

Liverpool Lime Street Station has direct routes to London and Manchester, as well as Warrington, where you can pick up trains to anywhere in Britain. And if you're coming from further afield, John Lennon Airport is just on the outskirts, a short taxi ride into the city.

Liverpool's entertainment

Music and Liverpool are almost synonymous, and even if you ignore the apparent four-piece, there's a list of top Liverpool acts that go on forever. It's partly due to the links with Ireland, but the international sounds that have been brought in with the docks have certainly helped. In short, if you want live music, whether it's an acoustic night in a pub or an A-list performer in a theatre or arena, it has to be Liverpool.

The city is also clearly all about football, with derby matches bringing it to a stop, and nowadays, every season brings European football to Merseyside. And don't forget the racing over at Aintree if you like a flutter. Foodies are in luck here, too, with all your usual chains and countless independent restaurants and cafes all over the town. You'll also find copious comedy clubs, nightclubs, bars and late cafes to while away your evenings or entertain potential clients.

How much is it to rent office space in Liverpool?

You can expect to pay a minimum of around £145 per person per month for a Liverpool office, which will give you all the central office spaces, meeting rooms and access to Liverpool's centre. At the upper end, pricing is about £185 pppm for one of the more prime locations.

How to find an office space in Liverpool

Choosing the optimum space will come down to local amenities, transport links, flexibility and networking potential.

Amenities

Do you need to be at the heart of things for entertaining clients, staff events and interesting dining opportunities? Ropewalks is probably where you want to be, but with Liverpool being such a compact city, you’re never going to be too far from the action.

Transport links

Even in these days of hybrid working and WFH, an accessible office remains a key demand. Liverpool has superb links by rail, road and air, and thanks to a couple of tunnels and a very famous ferry, it’s easy to reach from Wirral, Chester and North Wales as well as Manchester, London and the North.

Flexibility

You might not think too much about flexibility when you’ve got just a handful of staff, but when you start growing, or if you have different needs throughout the year, you’re going to need room to breathe – in and out. Always look for flexibility and short-term contracts if you can find them.

Networking potential

Combining your permanent office with a few coworking slots not only improves your staff’s morale – it can actually lead to some very profitable chance meetings and conversations in the breakout area. And you’ll never struggle to start a conversation with a Liverpudlian!

Head over to Regus's page dedicated to Liverpool city centre and check out the descriptions of the places you find, based on the information in the guide above. Once you've found the perfect space, click on the "Get a quote" button to get more accurate pricing based on your specifications.

Interesting facts about Liverpool

Here are a few more fun tidbits about the city that may spark your interest.

• In March 2021, it was announced the Liverpool city region would gain freeport status, giving it different, and more attractive, tax and customs rules for trading through its seaport.
• In 2008, Liverpool was the first city in England to receive the title European Capital of Culture. A swathe of cultural activities that followed this award generated £750 million for the city’s economy.
• According to ONS travel trends which record overnight visits, Liverpool was the fifth most visited city in the UK.
• Liverpool is home to a bustling 10,070 inhabitants per square mile, making it the 9th most densely populated city in the UK.

Why Liverpool is a great place to do business

Liverpool really is built for business. The city is able to conduct a vast amount of business thanks to its road, air and sea networks. And, being home to numerous universities, colleges and training centres, it consistently nurtures and introduces new talent to the workforce. With a comparatively low rental cost for such a bustling centre of trade, it’s also a prime spot for entrepreneurs and established businesses alike.

Why you should rent an office in Liverpool

When starting in the business world, you need flexibility and accessibility, and this is where traditional real estate falls short. When it comes to office space, it's much more cost-effective to rent, with short-term contracts and an ability to grow and shrink as your business changes. And what better place to rent than Liverpool, with its connections, huge student population, entertainment, and an eye for commerce? Find out more about renting offices in Liverpool.