LIVERPOOL wealth management firm Wilcocks & Associates has secured an option on a plot of commercial land on behalf of investors that could be worth up to £10m.

The land in Sunderland has been acquired for £1m and W&A, run by brothers Martin and Robert Wilcock, has secured planning permission for retail use.

The deal has been structured in such a way that will see all profit retained offshore and not liable to UK tax.

However, Robert Wilcocks was keen to stress that this was not a tax avoidance scheme.

He added: “The site is owned by a protected cell company that we set up and this sits underneath a specialist offshore pension arrangement.

“This is a structure designed specifically for intergenerational wealth passover to beneficiaries within a pension arrangement and it is entirely appropriate.”

The planning permission will allow the construction of a two-storey building set in landscaped grounds.

There will also be 186 parking spaces and it is estimated work on the site may begin as early as April 2012.

Martin Wilcocks said: “The uplifted value of the land sits somewhere around the £2.4m mark and we are now in advanced discussions with a third party to develop the site out as a joint venture.

“We have had a lot of interest from a number of businesses and a large supermarkets who are all keen to agree long -term tenancies that would see the value of the site increase to over £10m.”

W&A is based in The Plaza development in Liverpool city centre.

It has recently renewed its lease on the 1,000 sq ft office, having relocated there from Heswall in 2005.