Apple Corps takes ownership of the Beatles Story

Liverpool is to get a new 100,000 sq ft Beatles visitor attraction in 2028, in what is billed as a huge upgrade of the Beatles Story, the museum that opened at the Royal Albert Dock in 1990.

Ownership of the Beatles Story will pass to Apple Corps, the band's company, which will make it the first official Beatles fan experience in the city where the group formed. The move takes the museum out of the docks to the former St John's Market shopping centre, near Lime Street station, which has stood empty since closing in 2024. The new building will make the museum four times bigger than its current home.

The project is led by Apple Corps together with Liverpool city council and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, with UK government support. Financial details have not been disclosed.

What visitors will walk through

The new Beatles Story is billed as a multi-hour experience that recreates settings from the band's history, many of them tied to places fans already make pilgrimages to as part of liverpool beatles tourism.

• •The childhood homes of the band members in Liverpool
• •The Cavern and the Hamburg nightclubs where the group played
• •Abbey Road
• •Shea Stadium, where Beatlemania provoked such fevered screaming that the band couldn't hear themselves play
• •The building at 3 Savile Row in London, where the Beatles played their final rooftop concert in 1969

St Johns Beacon becomes a Yellow Submarine attraction

A second site joins the plan. Apple Corps will renovate St Johns Beacon, a 450ft tower that is Liverpool's second-tallest building and has also been unused since 2024. The tower will become a separate attraction themed around the band's animated film Yellow Submarine.

Backing from McCartney, Starr and city leaders

Paul McCartney described the plans as "extraordinary".

McCartney went on to welcome the transformation planned for Liverpool. Ringo Starr also celebrated the project, saying he is still a scouser deep down and that Liverpool was, and still is, a music city.

Andy Burnham said the plans showed the kind of ambition he wants to see more of across Britain, adding that the project's charitable arm could help the next generation of young artists believe there is a route from their bedroom, rehearsal room or local venue to the top of the world.

Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram said people already travel halfway around the globe to visit the birthplace of four lads that shook the earth, and that the plans would take that extraordinary pull to another level, giving millions more fans a reason to visit.

A new charity, the Apple Corps Liverpool Trust, has been founded alongside the museum. It will receive a portion of every ticket sold and use that revenue to fund initiatives for local musicians.

Financial details of the project and its partnerships have not been disclosed; the new Beatles Story is due to open in 2028.