Manchester’s new £1.7bn innovation district and neighbourhood opens the doors to its first building while unveiling its new name as Sister.
The district has also announced its first customer, Sustainable Ventures, Europe’s leading climate tech hub, which will officially move into the Renold Building in November.
Previously known as ID Manchester, Sister is a joint venture between The University of Manchester and Bruntwood SciTech. The project will see the transformation of the University’s former North campus into a 4 million sq ft globally competitive innovation district. It will help elevate Manchester’s position as a national centre for science and technology.
Sister will specialise in advancing innovation across digital tech, health innovation, biotechnology, advanced materials and manufacturing sectors. It will provide access to state-of-the-art facilities, connecting early-stage high-growth potential businesses with investors, while creating a collaborative ecosystem that enables UK and global businesses to benefit from cutting-edge innovation. Sister is primed to be a catalyst for economic growth and prosperity across the North of England and is projected to contribute around £1.5bn GVA per annum to Manchester.
The opening of the Renold Building is a major milestone in the development of Sister, capitalising on The University of Manchester’s research, innovation and education capabilities to catalyse the growth of successful science and technology start-ups. Sister will be home to some of the most exciting businesses in the UK developing solutions to help tackle society’s biggest challenges. We’re excited to open the doors to a vibrant new innovation district that will drive growth for ambitious start-ups and scale-ups, attract new science and technology companies to Manchester, and create new opportunities for our staff, students and local communities.
John Holden, Associate Vice-President, The University of Manchester and Executive Committee Member, Sister
The opening of the Renold Building marks the first phase of the ambitious 15 year project and is supported by funding through the Greater Manchester Investment Zone, of which the district is a key initiative supporting the growth of the advanced materials and manufacturing sector.
The 110,000 sq ft newly renovated building has been transformed into an innovation hub, celebrating its history as a purpose-built teaching facility and centre for science and technology excellence. To support the growth and scale-up of early-stage start-ups and spin-outs, the Renold Building will provide a range of low and no-cost coworking facilities, private office suites, as well as a community cafe and flexible event spaces accessible to local businesses and community groups.
The first customer to move on site this November is Sustainable Ventures, which helps climate start-ups and entrepreneurs scale through investment, workspaces and venture support. Sustainable Ventures will expand its presence outside of its London headquarters, currently Europe’s largest climate tech hub, by occupying three floors of the Renold Building.
It will be joined by several University innovation initiatives at the Renold Building, including the Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester, accelerating the growth of AI start-ups; the Christabel Pankhurst Institute for Health Technology Research and innovation; and the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Catalyst, a cross-sector collaboration to empower the growth of biotechnology businesses.
Following the opening of the Renold Building, Sister will soon announce plans for the district’s first major development zone, set to include a new commercial workspace, a mix of retail and leisure facilities and new public realm spaces.
The name, Sister, represents the close bond between industry and academia and expresses an ethos of collaboration, openness and the use of knowledge to solve problems. It builds on the heritage of the former academic campus, once home to the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), and represents a vision to create an ecosystem of like-minded companies, institutions, districts and cities to drive innovation forward and help tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges.
Bradley Topps, Project Director, Sister and Chief Commercial Officer, Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Sister is founded on the belief that it takes a community to raise an idea and that although ideas may appear in a single mind, they flourish when people come together. This new district marks a new chapter in Manchester’s history of science and innovation. Over the next 15 years, we’re dedicated to developing an inclusive space that connects talent, investment, education and enterprise, providing the perfect conditions for ideas to spark, collaboration to flourish, and world-changing innovations to scale.”
Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “This is a significant moment for Manchester. The fact that Sister will ultimately create 10,000 jobs and add £1.5 billion a year to the city’s economy underlines its scale and the sheer ambition behind this major new district. This development will add to Manchester’s thriving innovation ecosystem and, true to the heritage of a site from which great ideas and innovations have previously sprung, will help keep the city in the forefront of future innovation.”
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Sister will be a thriving innovation district at the heart of Greater Manchester. With the Renold Building opening and welcoming its first occupier, we’re seeing the first signs of what this area will become – a home for start-ups, innovation-led businesses, universities, researchers and investors, where the clustering effect helps create jobs and opportunities. Sister is also a key site for our Investment Zone, which is supporting the growth of the advanced materials and manufacturing sector. Our city-region has been a centre of scientific and technological innovation for two centuries and places like Sister are where the next chapter of that story is written.”