“Liverpool has always had the natural assets and now it is using those to move forward in a dynamic way.”

He said Liverpool has an “opportunity to grasp investment on a scale that it has never seen before”.

“It is my view that Manchester has almost exhausted itself in room for economic expansion.”

He said the company had started investing in Manchester 20 years ago but that Liverpool was the place that would see the majority of the £50bn planned as part of its Ocean Gateway plan to regenerate the Manchester Ship Canal corridor and the Mersey.

“Peel's belief is Liverpool is the place of the future.”

He said despite the size of Peel it was still affected by the crisis in banking like any other company, which is why the expansion of the Port of Liverpool had been delayed.

“Next year construction is likely to start on the new post-Panamax dock at the Port of Liverpool.“

He said the planning application for Liverpool Waters should be submitted in a matter of weeks and said the biggest challenge had been making sure the plans fitted around the city's World Heritage Site.