And so to 1908 in this image, and the beginning of work on the Liver Building, which springs into being layer by layer in this shot, from the ground up. Many of the businesses that prospered in the city were focused on the maritime industry, including banks and insurance companies. Royal Liver Assurance was set up in 1850, providing the city's residents with assistance in the event of losing a breadwinner in the household.
_
By 1907 the Royal Liver Group had more than 6,000 employees, and the go-ahead for the construction of a new, larger head office. Designed by Walter Aubrey Thomas, the foundation stone was laid on 11 May 1908 and the Royal Liver Building considered impossible to build by some opened just three years later, on 19 July 1911.
