Manchester is a thriving city in the heart of northern England. More and more businesses across all sectors, including some big hitters from London, are choosing to move their centre of operations to this booming centre of commerce and industry. Whether you’re a small start-up tech business or a multinational conglomerate, there are loads of reasons why you should consider moving your company to Manchester. Here are the top five reasons why you should take the plunge!
1. Location
Situated west of the Pennines, Manchester has
fantastic road and rail connections. The M62 runs from Liverpool in the west to Hull in the east, and you can easily link to the M1, which will take you north or south. Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Victoria and countless smaller stations across the city combined with a convenient, efficient tram system makes travelling to or from Manchester by public transport easy as pie.
2. House prices are reasonable
To commute to London, you’d have to look at living in the surrounding counties if you want to invest in buying your own property (or if you want to avoid paying a small fortune on rent) but even so, house prices down south are far, far higher than you’ll find up here. There are plenty of smaller towns and villages surrounding Manchester (like Salford, Stretford and Ashton-Under-Lyne) that you can easily commute from by train or car, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the cost! Manchester is about an hour from
Leeds and
Liverpool, so it’s feasible that you could live in either of those areas, too, and still be within a reasonable commuting distance from work.
3. Graduates abound
With no fewer than nine universities within and around Manchester, there are
plenty of talented and skilled graduates in the area seeking work. Plus, if you have children of your own who are reaching that stage of their education, they won’t be short of choice of where to study if they want to stay local.
4. Great for SMEs as well as large corporations
The city is dedicated to supporting SMEs and helping them to grow to further improve its already impressive economic growth (up 7.5% since 2014). To this end, Manchester Metropolitan University has a Centre for Enterprise, which provides expert support and advice to micro businesses and SMEs. Take advantage of their knowledge and experience to further develop your business.
5. It’s a fabulous city to live in
If you decide to live in or around Manchester, you’ll never run out of things to do in your free time. There are numerous museums and galleries - notably the Manchester Art Gallery, the Science and Industry Museum and the National Football Museum and countless attractive parkland areas and public gardens. There is a thriving music and design culture, and if shopping’s your thing the city centre has all the big names you’d expect plus several markets (and there’s always the Trafford Centre if you want to get out of the rain). And of course, whether you're a Red or a Blue supporter, you'll be able to watch football to your heart's content!
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Tempted?
If you decide to move your home and/or business to
Manchester, we can help you to store any excess furniture and furnishings, stock and archives until you’re settled. We also rent office space at several of our 11 stores in and around the Manchester area; including Central Manchester, Stockport and Oldham - ideal if you’re not sure whether you want to invest in a long-term commercial lease yet. Stay as long as you like or for just a week - click for a quote or call us to ask about our facilities in your most convenient store and we’ll do our best to help your business get settled in Manchester.