The actions of the local authorities in Manchester, combined with the help of the Northern Powerhouse initiative, have seen Manchester rise proudly from the cold, dead, ashes of its industrial past.
Now its economy is so robust that it is predicted that it will be Manchester which leads the UK’s economic growth in a post-Brexit world. There are three main reasons for this forecast.
Modern transport connections
Up until relatively recently, if you needed to do business with people outside the UK, then it often made complete sense to be based in or around London as it had the best international transport infrastructure in the UK – by a long margin.
Bit by bit, however, one of London’s biggest assets actually became a major problem as global trade led to a huge increase in the number of people travelling internationally, to the point where London’s airports struggled to cope.
This was one reason for the development of regional airports and the result is that now it is possible to reach a significant number of key global cities directly from Manchester.
What’s more, for those who do need to travel to London to catch a flight to more unusual destinations, rail (and road) links are excellent and improving all the time.
Digital infrastructure
Manchester has also worked very hard to improve its digital infrastructure to the point where it is now giving London a very strong run for its money as the UK’s main centre for digital industries, particularly creative industries.
Greater Manchester, namely Salford, is already a flagship media centre including being a major production hub for the BBC. Those with long memories may recall that when the BBC first announced that it was moving significant resources from London to Salford, there were many people who predicted that this would lead to a mass exodus of staff.
In actual fact, only a few people left because of the move and it’s very possible that the staff who remained are now very happy that they did so as they now benefit from the affordability of property investments in Manchester.
Respected universities
Respected universities attract the brightest and most talented young people, in other words, exactly the sort of people who are of huge value to employers.
Respected universities in affordable locations are, quite simply, talent magnets and businesses are well aware of this as demonstrated by the fact that so many of them are making their homes in Manchester.
University cities also tend to be places with a major “start-up” culture as intelligent and passionate young people are motivated to make a career out of doing what they love – and potentially changing the world for the better in the process.
Manchester is a great location for start-up companies (and other entrepreneurs such as freelancers) as it combines excellent infrastructure with superb affordability for both buyers and renters and is also, quite simply, a high-quality place to live with facilities and amenities for people of all ages so young adults can continue to make their home in the city even when they are of an age when they want to have children of their own.
For more information on the Manchester property market or to arrange a free online property valuation, please contact Indlu Estate Agents.
