Apple Corps, the company The Beatles founded in 1968, announced on October 20, 2026 that it will take over The Beatles Story, Liverpool's long-running Albert Dock attraction, and move it in 2028 to a 100,000 square foot site in the former St Johns Market, opposite Lime Street station. It will also turn the St Johns Beacon tower into a Yellow Submarine viewing deck.
The deal was built with Liverpool City Council and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, with support from central government, according to the council's own release. Financial terms were not disclosed, Music Business Worldwide reported. The bigger story is who will own the door: for the first time, the people who own The Beatles will also sell the ticket in the city that made them.
Who runs The Beatles Story now?
Not Apple Corps. The attraction opened at the Albert Dock in May 1990 and has been owned since 2008 by Merseytravel, the publicly owned transport body that answers to the city region's Combined Authority, according to the attraction's own site. That same site says more than 315,000 visitors came in 2019, and that by its 25th anniversary the museum had welcomed more than four million people, an estimate it pairs with £300 million for the Liverpool economy.
The council's release says Apple Corps will run the attraction at the Albert Dock from 2027 before moving it. Apple Corps' sign-up page at thebeatles.com words the handover as 2028 and says the museum “will be open as usual in 2026 and 2027”. Neither page says what becomes of the Albert Dock building after the move.
What will fans actually walk through?
The release describes a multi-hour route from post-war Liverpool through Hamburg and Beatlemania, with walk-in recreations of The Cavern, Abbey Road, Shea Stadium and Savile Row. Some of those rooms will be built from the sets and props of Sam Mendes' The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event, which Sony Pictures releases in cinemas in April 2028. The Beacon, Liverpool's second tallest building, runs as its own attraction with a 360-degree view, and fans can bundle the two. Every Beatles Story ticket will contribute to a new Apple Corps Liverpool Trust for emerging local artists; details are still to come.
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.Tom Greene, CEO of Apple Corps, Liverpool City Council release
Why build a place instead of a playlist?
Greene's comparison is the tell. Graceland and Dollywood are not city museums; they are destinations built around one famous name, and fans plan whole trips around them. Greene, who MBW notes previously ran Pottermore Publishing and Wizarding World Digital, is assembling the same thing on a tight clock: 3 Savile Row in London at the end of 2027, the Mendes films in April 2028, the Liverpool site shortly after, and a global merchandise, licensing and e-commerce deal with Universal Music Group signed in August.
| When | Apple Corps move |
|---|---|
| Aug 2026 | Merch, licensing and e-commerce partnership with Universal Music Group |
| 2027 | Takes over running The Beatles Story at the Albert Dock (per the council release) |
| End 2027 | The Beatles at 3 Savile Row opens in London |
| Apr 2028 | Sony releases the four Mendes films |
| 2028 | New Beatles Story at St Johns, plus the Beacon |
It is the superfan economy with an address. Old songs already take a growing share of streaming, as our look at catalog's 45.1% of Spotify's global chart streams showed, but a stream is a small payment. A room people fly to sells a ticket, a viewing deck and a night in town. We made the same case about showing up versus streaming.
The people who own The Beatles will now also sell the ticket in the city that made them.
Liverpool wants the footfall as much as Apple Corps wants the venue. Council Leader Liam Robinson framed it as a chance “to kick-start the regeneration of an important gateway into our city centre,” and City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said the plans would give “millions more fans a reason to make the pilgrimage.” No partner has published a visitor forecast, a ticket price or a jobs figure yet. Compare that with the U.S., where the American Music Tourism Act became law with under $500,000 through 2030 behind it: here, a rights holder, a city and a regional authority are putting a building on the table.
Fans can register at thebeatles.com/liverpool for ticket news.