Manchester: The City to Scale

Recognised as a ‘Top 10 Global Emerging Centre for Start-ups’ by Genome 2020 and boasting five unicorns that have scaled here including Boohoo, AO and THG (now valued at £6 billion), Manchester has a mature scale-up ecosystem that helps firms drive productivity and profitability.

Six Reasons to Thrive in Manchester

1. Manchester provides access to a wealth of skilled talent, the vital component of scaling any business. With the largest commuter workforce in Europe and 100,000 students at the city’s five universities – SMEs of any size, scale or sector can recruit the right skills.

2. Manchester is home to a thriving community of rapid growth businesses, creating an ecosystem that is agile and sustainable enough to help small-medium sized business leaders address both present and future challenges of their fast-growing firms.

3. Manchester has the infrastructure, investors and investment mechanisms to support the growth of businesses. In November 2020, it became the second most attractive UK city for tech investment – with VC investment reaching $687.6m up from $199.1m in 2018.

4. Officially the UK’s Top Digital Tech City and a national leader across multiple industries, the breadth and strength of Manchester’s ecosystem provides endless commercial opportunities directly within and across different sectors and industries.

5. With up to 40% lower operating costs than the capital, Manchester offers all the benefits of a thriving ecosystem at a significantly lower cost – both for businesses that establish in the city and employees that live here.

6. At the heart of the UK and with Manchester Airport serving more than 210 destinations worldwide, Manchester has the best international connectivity outside of London - enabling the city to compete on a global level.