Manchester's Growth: A Year in Media City's Thriving

It’s been a year since we opened our doors in Manchester’s Media City and, I’m delighted to say, we’re still going strong. It was definitely the right choice as a second base for us as it is possibly the strongest and most vital UK commercial destination outside of London, at this point in time.

Most significant, commercial operators either want to have, or already have, a space in Manchester. It’s high credibility factor is having a big impact on commercial letting with the City now boasting what is expected to be its most expensive office space per square foot, following the launch of the much anticipated No. 1 Spinningfields.

The largest single asset sale in the region on record, No 1 Spinningfields was bought for £203 million by asset management firm Schroders in 2017 and is fast becoming a landmark commercial address.

With the pundits predicting that Manchester will continue to dominate commercial property investment across the regional markets for at least another 12 months, this particular northern city really is the place to be.

Our base, just outside of central Manchester, in Salford Quays was a carefully chosen location. A vibrant and dynamic mixed-use space, Media City has very much made its presence felt and garnered a huge amount of national coverage thanks in short to the presence of headline-grabbing media titans like ITV studios and the BBC.

We were, quite simply, attracted by the sheer energy of the locale. Populated by more than its fair share of tech companies, new media and start-ups, there is a real can-do energy and enthusiasm within this location that is hard to ignore.

Manchester has become a huge digital presence in the last few years and that, in itself, is a crowd puller. The City has positioned itself at the heart of the tech explosion and has garnered itself a reputation on the international stage.

All of these tech and media SMEs value good design and are very keen to cultivate and enhance their brands by optimizing their office spaces so for Saracen, at this moment, Media City is a great place to be.

Meanwhile, back in the City Centre, the Ivy is expected to open its first restaurant in the Spinningfields locale and there are plans afoot for a particularly dynamic green space, proving that Manchester has a far way to go before it peaks and will carry on being exceptional for some time to come.