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Council says it has worked with building’s owners over a number of years

A care company who wanted to turn Merseyside’s oldest fire station into new housing has admitted it is now looking to sell the building. In January 2025, proposals were unveiled for the future of Aintree Fire Station on Longmoor Lane.

As Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) unveiled its new £40m super station on Long Lane, the 100-year-old site in Fazakerley was shut down in May 2024. MFRS sold the site to Best Care Liverpool Ltd who had sought to convert it into offices and housing.

After a housing plan was knocked back, the scheme was resubmitted to focus solely on new offices, which was accepted in October last year by Liverpool Council. Director Nora Darwin told the LDRS the company is now looking to sell the building as “we now have a property that we cannot afford to develop.”

Documents released by the MFRS authority policy and resources committee confirmed an offer of £650,000 was made by Best Care. Eddisons estate agents were appointed to market and sell the fire station, with the listing published in September 2023. Around 170 parties expressed an interest in taking on the station when its closure was first announced.

A total of 44 parties took part, leading to 11 bids. The highest offer was unconditional and made by Best Care Liverpool Ltd.

According to its website, the firm is a “family owned company, originally established in September 2018 by qualified nurses.” With experience in domiciliary and home care, it provides services in Knowsley, Liverpool and St Helens.

Mrs Darwin, 71, said: “We purchased the property with the intention of developing it into a worthwhile community and business project. Our plans included providing accommodation, offices and employment, as well as providing care services and creating jobs for local people.

“Unfortunately, our experience with the planning department has been so difficult, time-consuming and costly that we have now reached the point where we can no longer afford to continue with the project and are looking to sell the property.”

The director added how the company was disappointed to not receive planning permission for its housing proposals given the shortage in the city.

She added: “Our experience, however, has left us feeling that the process became unnecessarily difficult and costly. The consequence is that we now have a property that we cannot afford to develop.

“We are trying to sell it, but we have been told that having planning permission only for offices, together with the attached conditions, could make the property considerably harder to sell. This has potentially cost our company a great deal of money.

“We also believe that the wider community has lost out. We wanted to create jobs, provide care services for local people and make productive use of a former fire station that is currently not delivering the benefits we originally intended.”

Cllr Nick Small, Liverpool Council cabinet member for growth and economy, said: “The council has worked with the owners of the former Aintree Fire Station site over a number of years to support proposals for its future use. In 2023, a pre-application enquiry for residential use of the building was submitted and planning officers provided advice on how the proposal could be developed.

“As part of this process, the council seeks to ensure new accommodation is accessible to all members of the community, including people with mobility difficulties. A formal application to change the use of the building to offices was subsequently submitted in 2024.

“That proposal was refused in June 2025, however an amended application was submitted in August 2025 and approved in October 2025. The council works constructively with applicants and their professional advisers to help bring forward proposals that meet local and national planning policy and guidance.

“It is not unusual for amendments to be requested or planning conditions to be applied as part of the planning process. While applicants may not always agree with the advice provided or decisions reached, planning officers have a responsibility to assess proposals consistently and in the wider public interest.”

A secondary school in Surrey has secured its own uniform supplier so it can sell items at cost to pupils.

The Winston Churchill School in Woking opened its own uniform shop to cut back to costs for families, where parents can order items on site or online, with clothing including skirts, ties and PE kit available at no markup from what it cost the school.

Head teacher Zoe Johnson-Walker said that the approach had cut £20 off the cost of school blazers compared to the previous school year.

“We’ve been trying to reduce the cost of our uniform over a couple of years,” she told the BBC.

The school redesigned its uniform for 2026-27, coinciding with new government rules limiting secondary schools to three branded items, plus a branded tie.

According to the Department for Education, the new rules would save parents up to £50.

“Parents have told us they want fewer costly branded items – and that’s exactly what we’re delivering,” a spokesperson said.

“School uniform matters, but it shouldn’t break the bank.”

Johnson-Walker said That the school had proposed removing its branded blazers from its uniform as it was “one of our most expensive items” but had found “quite a large demand from parents to sell it with the badge on”.

“We’ve managed to do a negotiation with our supplier which means that there’s no additional cost to parents to have a badged item,” she said.

She added that the school had scrapped branded PE tops but was selling plain, black PE shirts in its uniform shop after requests from parents.

“We’re also trying to maintain standards because uniform, as far as we’re concerned, is quite levelling,” Johnson-Walker added.

St John’s Foundation is more than 850 years old and supports older adults in financial need

Bath’s oldest charity has appointed a new chief executive as it prepares to expand its work across the city. Laura Alexander has taken the helm of St John’s Foundation just 19 months after her predecessor, Catharine Brown, took up the job.

St John’s is more than 850 years old and works with housing and outreach services to help older adults in financial need to live independently for longer. It also runs a grants programme aimed at supporting individuals and families who have reached financial crisis across Bath and North East Somerset.

Ms Alexander joined the charity in 2023 to lead its commercial arm – St John’s Hospital Trading Company. She was later appointed director of operations, spearheading a more strategic approach to the charity’s extensive property portfolio.

Her appointment comes as St Joh’n’s prepares to create new almshouses in the centre of Bath and invest in existing homes in a bid to provide more safe, secure and affordable accommodation to older people.

“Over [the last] three years, I have had the opportunity to work with some truly brilliant teams and to see first-hand the very real, human impact their work has on our residents and the wider community,” said Ms Alexander.

“We’re at an important point for St John’s. With an ageing population and increasing pressure on affordable housing, the need for what we do is growing.”

She added: “For me, the opportunity now is to build on that incredible heritage while being forward-thinking and ambitious about the role St John’s can play in the future. It’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly, and I’m incredibly excited about what we can achieve together.”

The board of trustees said Ms Alexander’s promotion to chief executive comes at “an important point in the charity’s development”.

“Over the last three years, we have seen first-hand the enormous contribution Laura has made to both St John’s Foundation and our trading company,” the board said in a statement.

“Laura brings a clear vision for where St John’s needs to go next while understanding and respecting what makes the organisation so special. We are delighted to appoint her to lead St John’s into its next chapter.”