The Albert Dock is to be renamed today in recognition for the important role the landmark has played in the city’s fortunes.

From today (6 June), the waterfront destination will be known as The Royal Albert Dock Liverpool after receiving royal status.

Albert Dock requested the status as part of its preparations for a year of celebration in 2021 – 175 years since the dock was officially opened by Albert, Prince Consort in 1846.

The honour acknowledges the high standards represented by Albert Dock and highlights the numerous current and former sovereigns who have recognised the importance of the dock both for its historical and architectural significance and its place within Liverpool.

The next three years aim to assert the dock’s position as a world-class leisure destination for the visitors of the future, and a heritage asset that needs to be preserved and protected for future generations.

Hosted by The Royal Albert Dock Liverpool and Aberdeen Standard Investments, civic leaders will gather today to hear about how the dock is responding to the 2017 Heseltine Institute report, which highlighted recommendations for the long-term future of attraction.

Aberdeen Standard Investments took control of Albert Dock’s commercial interests in 2016, and in 2017 unveiled a long-term vision which aims to reinvent the dock with a “progressive and evolving” retail and food offer.

Sue Grindrod, chief executive of The Royal Albert Dock Liverpool, calls the news a “game-changer” for both the dock, the city and wider Liverpool City Region. 

She says: “I cannot tell you how happy we are that Her Majesty The Queen has bestowed this honour on Albert Dock. It marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the Dock’s history, highlighting the important role heritage tourism can play within the city and city region context, and firmly repositioning the Dock on the international stage. 

“It is also a tribute to the pioneering vision of the original Dock designer, Jesse Hartley, to Leonard Eppel and Michael Heseltine who helped shape its rebirth in the 1980s, and to the significant role the Dock has played in the history of this great city.”

Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram adds: “It is fantastic for Albert Dock to be recognised in this way. The new Royal status is a vote of confidence in an attraction that has become an iconic representation of not just Liverpool city centre’s recent renaissance but the continuing success of the Liverpool City Region as a whole.”

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