A major new ‘Beatles Story’ experience to be delivered in St Johns Liverpool

Apple Corps Ltd, Liverpool City Council and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority have announced plans to deliver a new 100,000 sq ft immersive tourist experience “The Beatles Story” at St Johns, the shopping centre and Beacon Tower owned by Veld Capital and RivingtonHark.

With support from central government, the ambitious plans will deliver a major global attraction in the heart of the city centre by repurposing the former St Johns’ market hall – part of St Johns Shopping Centre. In addition, Liverpool’s iconic Beacon Tower will house a Yellow Submarine themed experience with views across the city.

The Beatles Story will use immersive technology, original artefacts and spectacular reconstructed sets to bring the Beatles’ extraordinary story to life. During a multi-hour experience, visitors will journey through the world that created The Beatles. From the streets of post-war Liverpool, through their formative years in Hamburg and the explosion of Beatlemania, to the heights of their international fame. Fans will be able to step inside some of the most iconic locations and moments in Beatles history, including The Cavern, Abbey Road, Shea Stadium, Savile Row and more, several of which have been recreated using sets and props from the forthcoming Four Film Cinematic Event.

The St Johns Beacon Yellow Submarine themed experience will also give fans the opportunity to enjoy a panoramic 360-degree view of Liverpool, taking in the landmarks and key locations where pop history was made, as well as some of the city’s most famous sights from one of the best viewpoints in the city.

The arrival of The Beatles Story follows an extensive programme of refurbishment and repurposing to provide a successful, convenience led mixed use destination. This includes the installation of a fully refurbished digital screen which has secured the centre’s position as the gateway to the City’s core retail area. St Johns comprises 540,000 sq ft of retail, gym, leisure and F&B space, a 625-space car park, and a Holiday Inn and is strategically located in between Lime Street, Queen Square Bus Station and Central Station.

Neil Ashcroft, Centre Director at St Johns, said: “The repurposing of the St John’s market hall into the Beatles Story and the Yellow Submarine experience occupying the iconic St John’s Beacon will be game changing for this important part of the city.  Located in the heart of Liverpool city centre, these major global attractions will bring in visitors from around the world eager to learn about one of our greatest exports.

We look forward to working closely with the team behind the Beatles Story as these plans progress.”

Apple Corps’ CEO Tom Greene, said: “Liverpool birthed the greatest band in history and today we are announcing a new experience in the city that does justice to that legacy. Just like Graceland or Dollywood, it’s fitting that The Beatles will have a world class destination for fans to visit in the centre of the city where the story started. It marks a new chapter in Apple Corp’s history and we can’t wait for people to see what we’ve been working on.”