Preservation of the kosher butcher which supplied the Titanic has been secured by millions of pounds of funding from the late Jewish philanthropist Sir Isaac Wolfson.

Plans for the Grade-II listed derelict building to be built into a new research wing by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have moved forward after £7 million of funding has been secured to create an internationally recognised centre for maternal and child health.

The cash is coming from the Wolfson Foundation, together with European and regional development funds.

The iconic green-tiled Galkoff’s shop in Liverpool’s city centre, which is considered of national importance by English Heritage, provided kosher provisions for passengers on the ill-fated ship in 1912 as well as Merseyside’s Jewish community until it closed in 1979.

Liverpool councillor Nick Small said the medical school was “completely on board to acknowledge the importance of Galkoff’s in celebrating the Jewish cultural heritage of Liverpool”.

The tropical medicine institution said discussions are ongoing with English Heritage and the city council to plan how best to preserve Galkoff’s, with construction working around the heritage site until an agreement is reached.