The funding will help the International Slavery Museum to extend into the historic Grade I listed Dock Traffic Office adjacent to its current location within the Merseyside Maritime Museum. The building will be home to an extended exhibition space as well as a new research space for the museum, a public archive, learning suite, and a community zone.

"The success of the International Slavery Museum so far can be measured by over 200,000 people that have visited since we opened in August 2007," said Richard Benjamin, Head of the International Slavery Museum.

"The support from the Northwest Regional Development Agency will help take the museum to a new level, developing new facilities to continue its work as thought-provoking, stimulating and challenging.”

One of the changes will be to the Dock Traffic Office, which will become the ‘front door’ of the International Slavery Museum, linking to the existing galleries via a glass bridge at high level.

Overall the development is designed to ensure the museum is better positioned to attract an even bigger and more diverse audience and to raise the profile of the city as a distinctive and culturally exciting place to visit.