- Next wave of investment from GM Good Growth fund unveiled, pumping £420m into new homes, infrastructure and industry
- UK-first £1bn fund will almost double in size, including new £500m partnership with National Wealth Fund in a bold new approach to public investment, and £175m from Government
- New Good Growth Contract will make the most of every pound we invest, ensuring grant and loan recipients – including private sector partners – bring social as well as economic benefits to communities.
- Projects backed in second phase include £314m of transport investment and £85m for new housing schemes
- New link road in Bolton will help Greater Manchester get ready to host the biggest ever Ryder Cup, with golfing champion Tommy Fleetwood backing the tournament coming to the North
- Mayoral Development Corporation in Oldham set to back £70m state-of-the-art SportsTown, while film and TV sector boosted by new £10m GM Production Fund, and green energy cluster becomes Energy Campus
- President of the British Chambers of Commerce Andy Haldane has praised the Good Growth Fund as “fantastically innovative” and called for it to be replicated across the UK “to make good on the holy grail that is national growth”
- MAYOR Andy Burnham has unveiled the latest plans to deliver a decade of good growth in Greater Manchester, backed by at least £500 million of investment from the National Wealth Fund, as the city region launches a bid to host the biggest ever Ryder Cup in 2035.
The new National Wealth Fund backing comes on top of a £314 million transport funding boost, and £175 million from Government – meaning Greater Manchester’s UK-first Good Growth Fund is set to grow from £1 billion to almost £2 billion.
Greater Manchester is already the UK’s fastest-growing city region – and now we’re pioneering a new model of economic growth which lifts all our people and places and brings good growth to every district.
Andy Haldane, the President of the British Chambers of Commerce, praised the Good Growth Fund as “a fantastically innovative way of solving a really deep-rooted longstanding problem in the UK, which is that far too little money is flowing outside of the South East.”
The former Chief Economist for the Bank of England said he hopes Greater Manchester’s approach can be replicated across the UK “to make good on the holy grail that is national growth.”
Greater Manchester is using its unique devolved powers and a bold new approach to public investment to unlock major infrastructure sites and an integrated pipeline of projects which will create thousands of new jobs and deliver regeneration on a scale and at a pace not seen before this century.
This approach will help us turn the tide on the housing crisis by providing much needed new homes – including socially rented housing. For example, in this second round of funding we’re allocating £26 million for 423 homes across three brownfield sites in Wythenshawe, to kick-start a 2,000‑home masterplan.
This includes 233 social rent homes, 109 extra‑care units, and 81 affordable rent homes. We’ll also delivering the transport links to connect everything up.
At the same time, we’ll make sure regeneration brings both social and economic benefits to communities through our new Good Growth Contract. All recipients of Good Growth funding will make social value commitments – from signing up to our Good Employment and Good Landlord charters, to including local businesses in their supply chain and creating new training placements for young people.
A chance to host the biggest ever Ryder Cup in Greater Manchester
Culture and sport have been major drivers of growth in recent years. Already in 2026 Manchester has hosted the most-viewed BRIT Awards ever – the first time the event was hosted outside of London in its nearly 50-year history. And next week the MOBO Awards will be held in Manchester for the first time, as they mark 30 years of celebrating black music and culture.
Now, we’re planning to submit a compelling bid with Peel Retail & Leisure to host the biggest ever Ryder Cup in the city region in 2035. The Mayor is supporting plans to bring the tournament to a new world-class, purpose-built golf course planned at Hulton Park, Bolton. It would be the first time in more than 30 years that England has hosted the world-renowned tournament.
Hosting would deliver a major economic boost – showcasing the North on the world stage, attracting an influx of visitors and driving spending across hospitality, retail and transport. With around 350,000 fans anticipated to attend, it would create a wave of job opportunities and create a lasting legacy for our communities.
To help make it a reality, we’re committing up to £69.8 million to deliver Park Avenue – a significant package of transport improvements that will benefit the area. This will support delivery of the first phase of a new M61-M6 link road, new cycling and walking routes, and new bus routes to the Ryder Cup site.
During the tournament, special Bee Network bus services would be tailored to get spectators to and from the site, like during Oasis’ triumphant homecoming gigs last year.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said:
“The success of the BRIT Awards in Manchester shows that we can we attract and deliver international events to a brilliant standard. Culture and sport will be major drivers of our good growth, and that’s why we’re bidding to host the biggest ever Ryder Cup in Bolton in 2035.
“We’ve had promising conversations with organisers about bringing the tournament to a bespoke, world-class course at Hulton Park. But it will only be possible with the right infrastructure. We’re doing our bit to make it happen. We’re committing up to £70 million to deliver a transport package to not only help spectators get to the site but deliver major benefits for the people living in the surrounding areas.
“As well as the new jobs and tourist spend the Ryder Cup would deliver, there’s also a chance to deliver a lasting legacy. We want to work with Government to align transport investment to the tournament – delivering more frequent and modern trains on the Atherton line, investing in better rail stations and speeding up work to connect the area to the Metrolink network.
“We’re serious about making sure every part of Greater Manchester benefits from our approach to good growth. By almost doubling our Good Growth Fund, thanks to a landmark partnership with the National Wealth Fund and new investment from Government, we can invest in bringing even more homes, jobs and opportunities to our communities.”
FedEx Cup champion, eight-time European Tour winner and current world number three-ranked golfer, Tommy Fleetwood – part of the Europe team that won the Ryder Cup in 2025 – has now backed the ambition to bring one of the world’s most popular contests to the North West.
Tommy Fleetwood, professional golfer and Ryder Cup winner, said:
“As a golfer, a Ryder Cup being in England, first and foremost, would be something special. On top of that, to do it in the North West of England, where I’m from, would be amazing.
“We have so much to offer, the people have a lot to offer, the infrastructure has a lot to offer, and I think it would be something that would be incredible. I’m totally in favour of it and would be happy to support as much as I can!
“Whenever it’s on the Ryder Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world, and bringing that to the North West of England would be something very special that we’d remember forever.”
Hosting the event would add more than £1.2 billion to the North West’s economy in Gross Value Added (GVA), while restoring the historic parkland would leave a lasting legacy locally for generations.
A new partnership with the National Wealth Fund
The National Wealth Fund is backing our Good Growth Fund with at least £500 million of investment, taking the total capacity to almost £2 billion, following the addition of more than £300m worth of transport funding and £175 million announced by Government.
This £500 million investment, under the National Wealth Fund’s new partnership with GMCA, will help us pioneer a bold new approach to public investment, ramping up delivery and moving faster than anywhere else in the country, while supporting the Government’s economic growth mission.
Through this partnership we’ve already identified a pipeline of investable transport, regeneration, and clean energy projects across Greater Manchester – a key factor in the National Wealth Fund’s decision to back the Good Growth Fund.*
Oliver Holbourn, Chief Executive Officer of the National Wealth Fund, said:
“The National Wealth Fund’s ambition to provide significant investment across the city region will help create skilled jobs and opportunities and contribute to long-term, sustainable growth for Greater Manchester and its communities and businesses.
“This announcement is a reflection of our confidence in Greater Manchester’s capacity for innovation and growth, and a testament to the close partnership we have established with the combined authority.”
Backing from the British Chambers of Commerce President
Andy Haldane, the President of the British Chambers of Commerce, said the Good Growth Fund was an innovative way to attract investment which should be replicated across the UK.
“The truth is we are awash with money but far too little of it is flowing outside of the South East,” he said. “In the Good Growth Fund we have a new piece of financial plumbing that can solve that problem at scale in a risk matched way that crowds in monies both from sources like the National Wealth Fund and also being able to tap that big reservoir of private cash as well, crowding that in and therefore crowding in growth in Greater Manchester and then beyond.
“Ultimately what I hope is that that fund can be replicated outside of Greater Manchester to unlock all of that potential, all of that talent, all of that good growth in Greater Manchester and ultimately across the whole of the UK to make good on the holy grail that is national growth.”
Bringing Good Growth to every part of Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester’s ambition is to spread the benefits of good growth across our city region.
Our pioneering Good Growth Fund, launched last year, will pump-prime a pipeline of growth-driving projects throughout our towns and cities, making them viable, unlocking private investment, and building investor confidence.
It’s an approach that’s now been backed by Government, as the Chancellor announced on Tuesday 3 March that Greater Manchester will get £175 million from the City Investment Fund to support jobs and development across sites like Victoria North – one of the regeneration projects being supported through our Good Growth Fund.
Another 12 projects are now set to receive investment in the second round of allocations from the GM Good Growth Fund, which has now doubled to almost £2 billion.
This includes £35 million for new 248 homes in Prestwich Village, £26 million for 423 social rent, extra-care and affordable homes in Wythenshawe and £24 million for 249 homes in Stretford town centre as well as £60m for a new Metrolink stop in Sandhills in north Manchester.
We’re also backing Oldham’s £70 million SportsTown masterplan, which aims to create state-of-the-art sporting, health, education and community facilities around Boundary Park, improve infrastructure and create new job opportunities.
A new Mayoral Development Corporation will bring together partners to drive forward an ambitious vision for the area, speeding up development and attracting investment.
These state-of-the-art sporting facilities, which includes a multi-sport centre of excellence, with world-class netball and basketball facilities, will be built with the North of England’s bid to host the next Olympic and Paralympic Games in mind.
In January, the Mayor set out a plan to create and develop five growth-driving clusters across the city region. Further good growth announcements today target investment in these clusters as part of a drive to bring high-value new jobs.
A new Wigan-Hindley link road and a relief road for New Carrington in Trafford are also among six transport projects to benefit from £314 million worth of backing through the fund.
The new Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Centre in Rochdale, which is the first major development within the Atom Valley Mayoral Development Zone, will also benefit from up to £15 million of investment from the fund.
It comes after the first projects to benefit from the Good Growth Fund were announced last November, with £400 million invested in new homes, jobs, and regeneration schemes.
Backing film and TV projects in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester will also be launching a new Screen Production Fund this Spring with an initial £10.5 million set aside to back film and TV projects throughout our towns and cities.
This will help us deliver our Creative Industries Sector Development Plan, with a clear ambition to make Greater Manchester the strongest screen industry cluster outside London by 2028, by creating financial incentives to make film and TV in our city region.
The fund will prioritise projects that spend more money in Greater Manchester, use crew based here and use local studios, post‑production facilities and wider production service providers as well as favouring applicants with strong local skills and traineeship plans in place.
It comes after Greater Manchester was awarded £25 million in Creative Industries Growth funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) – a clear vote of confidence in the city‑region’s strength and long‑term vision for the creative economy.
The new initiative is part of a wider package to support the creative industries, one of our five ‘frontier’ sectors identified as Greater Manchester’s greatest strengths.
Energy Campus – a pioneering green energy cluster
Recognising the importance of the Low Carbon sector – another of the five ‘frontier’ sectors – the Mayor has unveiled the new name for the green energy cluster which is forming in the South West of Greater Manchester around Carrington in Trafford.
Last November, Highview Power begun construction of the world’s largest liquid air energy storage plant which will sit alongside a new green hydrogen production facility, a battery storage plant and the existing Carrington Power Station.
This cluster of low carbon, green energy businesses has been named Energy Campus. A relief road at New Carrington will also be backed by nearly £90m from the GM Good Growth Fund, unlocking 350,000sqm of employment space and up to 5,300 new jobs.
