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WHY MANCHESTER?

investinmanchester.com

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ContentsAbout MIDAS 2

Why Manchester? 3

Key sectors 6

What our businesses say 10

Skills and recruitment 12

Finding the right space 14

How Manchester can help 16

The Growth Company 17

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About MIDASMIDAS is the award-winning inward investment agency that has helped hundreds of businesses locate to and expand into Greater Manchester. Our remit is to attract, retain and grow significant levels of new investment for the city region to create and safeguard jobs. This is achieved through the global business marketing of Manchester and the provision of an extensive package of advice and assistance for potential investors and location consultants.

Our services are complimentary, confidential and tailored to individual business’ needs. Support is available to both national and international companies, which includes:

Why Manchester?Manchester is recognised as the UK’s fastest growing and most economically productive city, making it a high-quality, low risk investment location.

Access to talent

As well as being home to one of Europe’s largest commuter workforces (with 7.2 million people within a one-hour travel time) Manchester also has one of the largest European student populations, with 100,000 students across the city’s five universities – providing companies with unrivalled access to the UK’s most fully evolved, scalable and sustainable talent pool.

Manchester’s central UK location puts it at the heart of the Northern labour market, enabling businesses that are established here to access skills from other strong neighbouring cities such as Leeds and Liverpool; which are both well within an hour’s commute, and with sufficient distance from London to allow maximum salary arbitrage for relocation.

The city’s strong quality of life offer also helps businesses attract top talent from across the globe. Manchester is not just world famous for football. Its theatres, International Festival and music scene receive international acclaim; factors which combined with significantly lower living costs than London, give Manchester an unrivalled quality of life offer.

Population of Greater Manchester

2.7 million

Population within working age

1.8 million

People living within a one-hour commute of the city centre

7.2 millionMIDAS is wholly owned by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and forms part of The Growth Company; which supports the growth and prosperity of Greater Manchester through the provision of services that will raise Manchester’s profile, attract investment, help generate new business, support existing businesses to grow, and provide individuals with new skills and employment opportunities.

Investment case development including market intelligence and research

Sourcing property solutions

International market support

Advice on recruitment and training

Introductions to appropriate networks, suppliers, agencies and educational establishments

Help you understand and navigate potential market opportunities

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In good company

Manchester has established an outstanding reputation as a competitive place to do business. The city region boasts a diverse and high-quality portfolio of business properties, which has created an environment rich with commercial opportunities.

That’s the reason why some of the world’s leading brands, including Amazon, BNY Mellon, Kellogg’s, Jaguar Land Rover and Cisco, have chosen to make Greater Manchester their home.

With strengths in attracting world-leading businesses, a strong track record of supporting major investment projects, a resilient economy, and by providing outstanding access to market opportunities – Manchester is a world-class investment option.

Top 10 Large European City of the Future – Financial Times fDi Magazine

Best UK City to Live – The Economist

7th Most Exciting City in the World – TimeOut

Economic opportunity

Manchester is one of the most active markets in the UK. It is considered the UK’s second city and is the largest and fastest growing regional capital centre. The ten metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester represent the largest city region economy outside of London, with a gross value added (GVA) of £62.8 billion, which is larger than that of Wales and Northern Ireland.

The city is located at the heart of the UK and has excellent connectivity with Europe and the rest of the world, providing companies with outstanding access to market. The region’s connectivity and infrastructure enable it to compete on a global level, making it the place of choice to do business. Manchester Airport sits at the heart of the region’s transport infrastructure, connecting more than 27 million passengers to over 200 destinations, and is the UK’s third busiest airport, after London Heathrow and Gatwick.

Additionally, employment growth in Greater Manchester has outperformed the UK average over the past 20 years and it is forecast to grow at a faster rate than the UK over the next few years.

Manchester’s GVA

£62.8 billion

Number of destinations connected by Manchester Airport

200+

Number of annualpassengers served byManchester Aiport

27 million

Greater Manchester

M67

M60

M60

M602

M56

M60

M66

M61

M6

M62

M62

RochdaleBury

Oldham

Tameside

Stockport

Bolton

Wigan

Salford

Trafford

Manchester

regional economyFastest growing Academic powerhouse

100,000 students

Gateway to the

North of Englandcheaper than London30-40%

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Key sectors Over the past 200 years, Manchester has played a pivotal role in shaping how the world does business. Since the Industrial Revolution, the city has helped to realise atomic theory, the modern computer and graphene.

Today, Manchester is an economic powerhouse with the fastest growing regional economy in the UK. It has developed a strong reputation as a competitive place to do business and Manchester is a magnet for attracting global talent, making it the location of choice for savvy investors.

Creative, Digital and Technology

For 250 years, Manchester has been creating and shaping the future. Creativity and pioneering new ways of working is in our DNA. Birthplace of the first stored program computer and the world’s first commercial computer, Manchester has continued to pioneer when it comes to computer science, software programming and development. Manchester’s creative, digital and technology sector employs more than 70,000 people across 10,090 companies, contributing to the region’s £62.8 billon economy.

As the UK’s largest creative, digital and technology cluster outside of London, Manchester has a thriving community of businesses; from start-ups and home-grown companies valued at or near £1 billion, to global players including the BBC, GCHQ, Amazon, Booking.com, Google, MediaCom, IBM, Cisco and Red Production Co. These companies sit side-by-side in the city’s creative and digital clusters, incubators and co-working spaces, where they converge, collaborate and drive innovation.

Advanced Manufacturing

Manchester is at the heart of the UK’s largest regional centre for manufacturing employment; the North West of England. Whether you are looking for a lab for research and development or large-scale manufacturing, Manchester offers the right environment to support commercialisation.

Nearly 115,000 people are employed in the sector, working in areas as diverse as 2D / lightweight materials, aerospace, chemicals, defence, electronics systems, precision medical instrument manufacturing, software

engineering and transport. The region’s supply chain, talent and access to market are why it is home to some of the world’s biggest names including BAE Systems, P&G, Siemens, Thales, and Unilever.

Additionally, Manchester’s five world class universities have a track record of working with industries to deliver innovation across major industrial sectors, including aerospace, automotive, technical textiles and the nuclear industries.

GVA £7.4bn 114,900employees in the advancedmanufacturing industry

Top 20European digital city

10,090creative, digital and tech companies

working in creative and digital companies

GVA

£4.4bn72,135

start-ups4,203

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Financial, Professional and Business Services

Manchester has the largest regional financial, professional and business services (FPBS) industry outside of London. With a number of global financial services companies located here, the city proudly counts large firms like BNY Mellon, Barclays, RBS and HSBC as major employers. It is the most highly-evolved, meaning it has depth and diversity in all disciplines from banking and financial services, insurance, legal, accountancy, consultancy, and FinTech.

Manchester is also a leading back office operation location, making it the perfect location for your next HQ. With a proven track record of attracting, supporting and sustaining businesses, the region is home to more than 45 shared service centres and 250 contact centres including global names such as Latham and Watkins, Ford Credit Europe, PZ Cussons, Marks and Spencer, SPX and WorldPay.

Life Sciences and Healthcare

Manchester is at the cutting edge of health innovation. A city of firsts, Manchester introduced test tube babies to the world, as well as pioneered hip replacement surgery and bionic eye implants. Today, the city is a location for top global pharmaceutical, MedTech and healthcare companies such as Kratos Analytical, Waters Corporation and Qiagen.

Manchester has a proven track record in establishing partnerships between industry, academia and the National Health Service (NHS), and is home to Health Innovation Manchester; a unique partnership formed to speed up the discovery, development and delivery of innovative solutions and access to market.

It is also the only UK city region to integrate health and social care, having gained devolved control of its £6 billion healthcare budget. This provides unique opportunities to improve patient outcomes, test new integrated delivery models, and adopt new systems and technologies.

GVA £16bn 229,600

employees

Multi-lingual staff speak

200+languages

GVA £5.1bn health & social care health & social

care budget

£6bnhealth & social care workforce

175,900

Home of the UK Biobank

Home to over

organisations30 NHS life sciences & allied

subjects graduates

13,405

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What our businesses say

Manchester is a vibrant, well-connected place with an infrastructure that is world-class. Its spirit, culture and academic prowess made it a pretty obvious choice for the BBC’s Northern HQ. It gave us the chance to develop a new culture that was more collaborative, open, fluid and digital.

Peter Salmon Director England, BBC

The principal thing about Manchester is the huge depth of employees here in back office and business services. It was a very attractive place and we felt we could get the right talent mix. We were looking for a particular type of person. We’re delighted with the quality of staff here – vibrant in languages with deep skill sets.

Aidan Connelly Chief Financial Officer, WorldPay

I’m obsessed with Manchester. I’m a huge fan of the Manchester music industry. People here are so open and funny, but while people want to go to work in LA, as a comedy writer and someone who has been in the animation and the creative industry for many years, Manchester is the place to be.

Josh Weinstein Former writer and executive producer, The Simpsons and Futurama

“““Manchester was at the heart of the industrial revolution and has a fantastic history of innovation. The city offers an incredibly talented workforce and a budding tech scene with some of the most exciting, fast-growing tech companies in the UK situated here.

Doug Gurr UK Country Manager, Amazon

“

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In addition, Greater Manchester is recognised as a leading European business destination across numerous industries and is a magnet for attracting global talent. The city region is unique in that it has a large quantity of high-quality potential employees that comprise its existing, skilled workforce across a wide range of industries, including digital and creative technologies, energy and environment, financial and professional services, life sciences and health innovation, logistics and manufacturing.

Manchester also offers unrivalled access to multi-lingual staff, boasting a population that speaks more than 200 languages and has

attracted 41,500 international students as well as 227,500 foreign professionals to the North West region.

No matter what kind of workforce you are looking to establish, MIDAS can help you plot where you’ll find the right talent and will work with you to develop a recruitment strategy, sharing insights on market conditions, average salaries and skills availability to ensure you attract the right people.

Skills and recruitment Building an effective and competitive workforce is critical to ensuring the success and sustainability of any business operation. Greater Manchester’s talent pool is well positioned to enable companies to establish and scale operations.

Manchester’s central location and excellent transport infrastructure provides it with the largest travel-to-work catchment area of any regional city. This, in addition to having a young and growing population, means Manchester has a constant stream of talent – enabling companies to scale up operations within short timescales, while keeping wage inflation and attrition levels low and stable.

Greater Manchester is home to more than 2.7 million people, 1.8 million of whom are of working age, although there are 7.2 million people living within a one-hour commute of the city centre; enabling companies located with the city region to draw in a significant

commuter population from nearby cities and towns in every direction.

Manchester also has one of the largest student populations in Europe, allowing investors to tap into an emerging labour force. The city has the largest and most diverse student population outside of London, with the University of Manchester having the most international students of any UK institution. With four universities offering world-class higher education to more than 100,000 students and around 66% of students who study in the North West staying in the area to work after graduating, recruitment and retention of high-quality staff is guaranteed.

Up to 40%lower operating

costs than London

GVA

£62.8bn(ONS 2016)

Greater Manchester

Population 2.7m

Greater Manchester businesses export

1 in 5

1,322,200people in employment

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Finding the right spaceManchester is one of the most active office markets outside of London. It is also established as one of Europe’s fastest growing cities with record volumes of office space under construction as the city centre pushes outwards and upwards, providing investors with a vast range of options to meet their requirements.

Manchester continues to lead the way in providing for an increasing metropolitan population, developing entire new neighbourhoods and redefining the parameters of the city centre.

Increasing local and national demand has pushed the case for further development, which is now very active. Demand is evidenced by the level of crane activity in Manchester, which also signifies investor confidence in the market.

In 2018, 13 office developments began construction in central Manchester – totalling more than 2 million sq ft floorspace, which is 37% higher than in 2017. The city has also seen a huge rise in the number of co-working and serviced offices across the city region, with more than 10 different brands set up in Manchester including WeWork, which has three different locations in the city centre.

While prime rent in the city centre is £35 per sq ft, there is a wide range of new and existing Grade A properties that fall significantly below that price point - only 5% of all office transactions in 2018 were above £30 per sq ft.

Headline rent for some of the city’s newest offices, including First Street and New Bailey, is approximately £28 per sq ft although there is an array of Grade A offices across the city that offer costs as low as £18 per sq ft.

Location Grade A Grade B

City Centre (Prime) £35 £27

City Centre (Average) £25-30 £18-25

Manchester North £15 £11

Salford Quays £24.50 £18

Manchester South £24 £18

Manchester Airport £24 £17.50

Source: Colliers

Price Paid No. of transactions % of deals

£30+ 15 5%

£25-£29.99 63 21%

£20-£24.99 104 34%

£15-£19.99 88 29%

£0-£14.99 35 11%

Total 305

Source: OBI

Manchester offers an excellent range of property options, from co-working and Grade A office spaces to state-of-the-art labs and manufacturing centres. MIDAS will work with you to find the perfect option for your business that suit your requirements and budget, as well as arrange discussions with property agents to disclose that rent-free periods and lease breaks are available.

We have strong relationships with some of the city’s biggest developers, enabling us to offer in-depth advice as well as provide practical support such as property viewings. Our partners include:

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How Manchester can help

Manchester is a city committed to entrepreneurship and there are several organisations, initiatives and funding programmes designed to support businesses, helping them to grow and thrive.

With a reputation for understanding diverse business needs and providing a smooth entry for companies looking to locate to expand in Manchester, MIDAS – Manchester’s inward investment agency, can help you and your business with relocation and expansion plans.

MIDAS’ specialist business development team can assist you with a range of free, bespoke packages of confidential support that will make your journey as smooth and simple as possible.

MIDAS can signpost businesses towards all the relevant initiatives and provide guidance on funding to enable growth and develop

new products. Other areas of support include angel investment, accelerators, enterprise zones, knowledge transfer partnerships and tax relief.

The services provided by MIDAS and the sister companies within The Growth Company, which are also available to intermediaries such as location consultants, will save you money, time and effort; as well as enhance your project with the expert knowledge and local intelligence that result in a faster and more successful move.

Contact MIDAS and see how Manchester can help you create future innovation.

T: +44 (0)161 237 4470 E: info@midas.org.uk W: www.investinmanchester.com @MIDAS_MCR

MIDAS’ Services

• Provides investment case development support

• Sources property solutions

• Offers advice on recruitment and training

• Provides international market support for investors

• Identifies financial support for businesses

• Makes introductions to appropriate networks, suppliers, agencies and education establishments

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The Growth CompanyThe Growth Company is a not-for-profit conglomerate of support services that drive business, economic, personal and professional development within Greater Manchester by boosting employment, skills, investment and enterprise for the benefit of all.

MIDAS is just one business support service that sits within The Growth Company ecosystem, through which our team can help potential investors navigate The Growth Company’s range of services – saving you time and money, while increasing your opportunities in the city region.

Helping businesses grow

Business Growth Hub Offers expert business support to ambitious companies since 2011 and is part of a network of hubs that stretch across the UK.

GC Business Finance Provides alternative business finance options for growing businesses that have been unable to obtain funding through a mainstream lender.

Department for International Trade The UK team of expert advisers, which are located across the globe, can help businesses fulfil their international ambitions.

Recruitment and employment

GC Education and Skills Dedicated to supporting businesses and individuals with apprenticeships, higher education and commercial training.

Skills for individuals

Aspire Recruitment Award-winning, not-for-profit ethical recruitment agency that helps both businesses and individuals by matching the right people with the right jobs in the right way.

National Careers Service Publicly-funded careers and skills advice service delivered online, over the phone and in person.

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Marketing Manchester The agency charged with promoting Greater Manchester on the national and international stage to visitors, investors, conference organisers and students.

Promotion and profile

Organisational development

The Manufacturing Institute With a proven track record of helping manufacturers to make significant and lasting improvements to their businesses.

GC Organisational Improvement Organisational development specialists and licensed Investors in People partners that help companies improve processes and systems, develop their staff and grow their business.

Centre for Assessment Providing assessment and certification services to organisations, both in the UK and further afield.

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MIDASTel: +44 (0)161 237 4470Email: info@midas.org.ukWebsite: www.investinmanchester.comTwitter: @MIDAS_MCR