Advanced Manufacturing
Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Manchester was the world’s first industrial city, with the first factories and industrial estates; it’s where Ford built their first cars in Europe. Today, the city is at the heart of the UK’s largest manufacturing and advanced engineering cluster - the Northern Powerhouse and is the gateway to the North West, the rest of the U.K. and Europe.
Whether you are looking for a laboratory for testing or large-scale manufacturing, Manchester has the infrastructure in place to support innovation, business growth and commercialisation. From research and development, architectural services and civil construction; to assembly, distribution and technical consultancy; our companies are well-established across the whole business life cycle.
The region’s supply chain, talent and access to market are why businesses such as Jaguar Land Rover, ARM, AECOM, BAE Systems, Balfour Beatty, Cargill, Heinz, Hitachi, Jacobs Engineering, Kellogg’s, NXP, Siemens, Unilever and WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff have a presence here.
Companies located here have access to some of the best global talent with access to five universities which collectively have 25 Nobel Prize winners, over 100,000 students, 14,000 students studying STEM subjects and specialist strengths in advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, 3D printing, data analytics and electronics. Manchester also has a highly skilled manufacturing workforce of nearly 115,000 people working in areas as diverse as aerospace, defence, electronics systems, software engineering and transport.
Advanced Manufacturing and Low Carbon Factsheet
DownloadInvestment Zone Prospectus
DownloadRachel Eyre
Sub Sectors
Manchester has the infrastructure in place to support innovation, business growth and commercialisation.
Advanced Materials
Complimenting the city’s innovation and expertise in Graphene, Manchester is home to an advanced…
Lightweighting
Manchester is located at the heart of the largest aerospace cluster in Europe and the second largest…
Smart and Sustainable Packaging
With a combination of academic excellence, advanced materials science, manufacturing digitisation…
Logistics
Manchester has the best international connectivity in the UK outside of London – a gateway to a…
- 3 minutes
Sustainable and greener fuel expertise for businesses in new partnership with Bosch
The environmental benefits of hydrogen fuel for small and medium-sized (SME) businesses are set to be realised through a new partnership bringing technology, research and manufacturing together.
- 2 minutes
£1bn Mix Manchester scheme gains approval
Manchester city councillors have signed off the strategic regeneration framework following a public consultation on the scheme, which reframes the 60-acre, office-focussed Airport City as an…
- 2 minutes
Oldham Council to sign off Muse 2,000-home development plan
Oldham council’s cabinet gave the green light to a 15-year framework for the residential-led regeneration of the town centre, while proposals for the first 295 homes are being developed…
Key Sectors
Manchester's breadth and depth of expertise enables cross-industry opportunities for collaboration and a world-class offer for the international investor.
Advanced Manufacturing
Manchester is at the heart of the UK’s largest manufacturing and advanced engineering…
Creative And Media
Manchester is recognised as one of Europe’s largest creative, digital and technology…
Digital and Technology
As well as being home to a fast-growing £5 billion digital ecosystem, Manchester is…
Financial, Professional And Business Services
Manchester is home to the largest regional financial, professional and business…
Net zero
Manchester offers access to world-leading research facilities, state-of-the-art…
Life Science and Healthcare
Home to world-leading research and development assets as well as the largest clinical…
The UK’s most ‘AI ready’ city
AI and analytics software firm SAS
#2 large city for connectivity
fDi European Cities of the Future 2019/20
University of Manchester 8th best university in Europe
TopUniversities.com
UK’s leading city for attracting FDI outside London
EY's 2023 UK Attractiveness Survey
#5 ranking emerging ecosystem out of the top 100
Global Start-up Ecosystem Index 2024
Largest regional FinTech ecosystem outside London
Whitecap Consulting
UK’s most liveable city
The Economist’s Global Liveability Index 2022