Morgan Leahy property investment group
Manchester City
The city of Manchester and its surrounding conurbation is the most significant business and financial sector outside London.
The city continues to attract leading European business and more than £3 billion is currently committed to major new real estate and infrastructural projects.
Manchester has a long tradition of cultural, artistic and architectural excellence and seeks to set the standard for the next generation of city centres. Spinningfields real estate development is playing a key role, helping to elevate Manchester's standing as a modern, dynamic, international city and a centre for major investment.
Demographics
Greater Manchester is a large consumer and business market with a population of 2.5 million, a workforce of 1.2 million and a GDP of £28 billion (38% of regional GDP).
- Over 25% of the UK's motorway network runs through Manchester placing it within a 2 hour drive of 20% of the UK population (12 million people).
- Over 2 million people live within a ten mile (16km) radius of Manchester.
- Over 5 million people live within a radius of 30 miles (48km).
- Multi-cultural population, predominantly young with 65% under 45 years of age.
- Manchester is considered to be one of the top 10 European cities after London for cost and availability of staff. (independent survey of senior executives responsible for location of more than 500 companies)
Regional Economy
Manchester is England's second largest financial centre outside London and the administrative centre for the North West Region.
Manchester's economy is extremely diverse and benefits from the following features:
- 80 of the FTSE 100 Companies have representation in the region
- Over 600 overseas companies are located in the region
- In contrast to many other office markets Manchester has maintained levels of occupational demand set against dwindling supplies of new office accommodation.
- Major city employers include Great Universal Stores, CIS Limited and Siemens.
- The city is the most popular tourist destination in the UK after London and Edinburgh with over 3.5 million annual visitors.
- Manchester hosted the 2002 commonwealth games, the largest multi-sport event hosting in the UK. The city also hosted the UEFA Champions League Final. Both events raised the profile of the city and acted as a catalyst for development.
- The city has one of the largest student campuses in Europe, with 78,000 students at four universities.
Communication Network
Manchester is approximately 307 km (192 miles) north west of London and 130km (81 miles) north of Birmingham
Road: the city is served by one of the most comprehensive local motorway networks in the UK with in excess of 170km (106 miles) of motorway throughout the region.
Air: Manchester Airport is located 14.5km (9 miles) south of the city and is the UK's third largest airport. It is estimated that by 2005 approximately 30 million people will be using the airport annually.
Rail: Manchester benefits from two major railway stations, Piccadilly and Victoria, serving the national rail network.
Metrolink: The City's Metrolink (tram) system serves the Greater Manchester conurbation interlinking the city's two railway stations. The network carries approximately 30 million passengers annually.