East Manchester: on the rise

A sensitive restoration of an historic part of Manchester is well underway, bringing opportunity and the promise of a dynamic place in which to live and work.

Led by urban regeneration company, New East Manchester Ltd, both the public and private sector are spear-heading the transformation of east Manchester, recognising the growth potential in a once depleted area.

The scale of development is unprecedented and the results astounding, with 2.2m sq ft of business space already built, attracting the likes of Fujitsu, Greggs and Red Vision with more than 4,000 new jobs created.

With close to 5,000 new homes also developed, a collection of new schools and health and community centres, east Manchester is starting to reflect its heritage – the heart of Manchester’s business community and a place to call home.
 
Sportcity – the future is here
One of the area’s most valuable and visited assets is Sportcity located in the heart of east Manchester. The national sports, leisure and entertainment destination which includes the Manchester City Football Club stadium boasts the largest concentration of sporting venues in Europe and is situated only two miles from the City Centre, making it hugely accessible for visitors from across the country. 

More than 400 sport and leisure events are held within the Sportcity grounds each year, attracting 4.5m visits annually. This will soon increase with the development of a new £24m National Indoor BMX Centre together with the announcement of another major investment deal which will significantly contribute to the future of the destination as a high-profile must-see sports and leisure attraction.

Central Park: Key to East Manchester’s growth
As well as the place of choice to live and visit, east Manchester is also one of the best places in which to invest.

Central Park is undoubtedly the most significant opportunity for business development and employment within east Manchester and is at the core of plans to grow the area’s modern economy. The park will ultimately provide 1.4m sq ft of business space and create up to 10,000 new jobs.

Information technology giant Fujitsu, were one of the first to see the potential in the urban business park and re-located their regional office to the site in 2005, contributing to re-establish east Manchester as a powerhouse for new IT industries.

The site is also home to One Central Park, a unique £19m project fusing education, commerce, innovation and enterprise. Housing a number of education providers including Manchester and Salford Universities, it provides a comprehensive range of activities from vocational training, foundation degrees and postgraduate research to business creation and incubation. The site is also home to the newly established Peter Jones of ‘Dragons Den’ TV programme inspired National Enterprise Academy which provides training for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Central Park is certainly becoming one of Manchester’s prime locations for re-locating businesses and in 2011 the space will become home to the new Greater Manchester Police Force Headquarters.

Eddie Smith, Chief Executive of New East Manchester, is delighted at the decision. He said, “The £64m 240,000 sq ft force headquarters will be a highly sophisticated office building, designed to support modern day policing requirements and ensuring an even more effective work force.

“GMP has recognised what a great location Central Park is, with the transport interchange and proximity to the city centre and having such a high profile organisation based here will bring significant investment and jobs to the area.”
The park’s potential is further enhanced by new transport infrastructure, which incorporates a £36m transport gateway, a modern interchange combining light and heavy rail alongside an improved road structure.

Metrolink will boost accessibility
A transport revolution is coming to east Manchester, with major construction work well underway on a new multimillion-pound Metrolink service.

Work on the east Manchester line began earlier this year and is due to open in spring 2012, allowing trams to run from the City Centre through to Sportcity and then to Clayton before heading to Droylsden and Ashton-under-Lyne.
Further connections will also be available with the Oldham to Rochdale line which will enable passengers to travel to Central Park in Newton Heath from spring 2011.

Eddie Smith, Chief Executive for New East Manchester said: “Metrolink will bring enormous benefits to east Manchester and we are very fortunate to have not one, but two new lines serving the area.”

The Sharp Project brings digital entrepreneurs together
The Sharp Project, a new £15m digital media production complex will bring together and nurture small and medium businesses as well as national and international production companies that focus on animation, CGI and visual effects by creating worldwide networking between tenants.

At its centre is the former Sharp warehouse, which is strategically located adjacent to Central Park and next door to the Metrolink station. The existing 200,000 sq ft complex is being converted into a new centre for digital content production and the first phase of tenants are getting ready to move in. Work is also well underway on the rest of the site to provide large-scale cost-effective studio, office and workshop accommodation.

Project director Sue Woodward OBE says that the Project is Manchester’s answer to the demand from the creative industries sector to create a new home for digital businesses.

She said: “We are the growbag that will supply the digital labour market with talent. We will allow young people to come here, to start up, to fail, to start again, to prosper – the kind of conditions that will allow someone to develop the new Google.”

A revolution for Ancoats
Many additional factors are also contributing to east Manchester’s claims as the ideal location for business relocation and expansion and among them is the much sought after area of Ancoats, which is only a ten-minute walk from Piccadilly train station.

Known as the world’s first industrial suburb and with one of the largest concentrations of Grade II and Grade II* listed buildings in Manchester, Ancoats is a significant part of the redevelopment of east Manchester and is already one of the most up-and-coming addresses in the North West.

Around £370m of public and private sector investment is helping to revitalise the area and by 2011, 8ha of once derelict or underused land will have been transformed into 50,000 sq m of business space, thousands of high spec houses and apartments and exciting new public space with close to 3,000 residents and 1,800 workers.

Support for businesses
A knowledgeable team of advisers from New East Manchester are on hand to provide a unique business support package that is especially tailored to meet the differing needs of businesses interested in moving to the area.

Staff can help talk businesses through the many elements of the package, starting with the right property and business location through to support for training and recruitment of staff.