But Gary Flint’s main passion is diving and exploring wrecks and it is this part of the business he is expecting to attract most interest. He has spent years diving off Liverpool Bay himself and has identified and visited dozens of wrecks off the Wirral and North Wales coast and invested in advanced equipment to examine the seabed.

As well as the famous Resurgam submarine, which lies off the Welsh coast, Mr Flint has explored the remains of the Munster passenger motorship which was sunk in 1940.

Also lying at a depth of 17 metres is the City of Brussels passenger steam liner which sank in 1883 – just 19 miles off New Brighton’s coast – and is one of the most dived wrecks in the bay.

Mr Flint said: “It’s not like the river Mersey when you dive there.

“The river has a lot of silt which makes it look murky. But when you’re two miles out or more it’s nothing like that.”

Within the next few years Mr Flint hopes his company will create up to six jobs.

The business will operate all year round as there is little difference in the water temperature in winter and summer.

The company is part of Wirral Council’s ongoing efforts to market the borough to tourists.

And the authority’s cabinet member for culture and tourism Cllr David Elderton said he believed the diving company was “a great new business for Wirral that was sure to attract many visitors to play, eat and stay in the peninsula”.