Financial and Business Services
Manchester is home to the largest regional financial, professional, and business services (FPBS) industry outside of London, employing more than 280,000 people.
It is the only UK city outside of the capital with all elements of the sub-sectors represented at scale – from banking, financial services and FinTech to insurance, accounting and legal – providing depth and diversity across a range of disciplines.
Manchester is the second largest consulting market in the UK and a significant number of our FTSE 100 clients have operations there. The city is also easily accessible from neighbouring cities and is a hub that’s rich in talent – particularly digital talent – with an emphasis on project management, change, process and agile skills. As we continue to build the most enviable culture on the planet, this opening makes perfect sense for us. It couldn’t be more aligned to our current needs, particularly in our large and growing Managed Services deals
Manchester is home to some of the world’s leading financial, professional and business services companies from Barclays, BNY Mellon, AXA, Latham & Watkins, OakNorth and Adyen.
This diversity enables the city to provide expert support to a range of businesses, allowing them to quickly scale up operations at minimum cost and making Manchester a high quality, low risk investment location.
The city is also a leading destination for back office operations, offering businesses access to the UK’s most fully evolved and scalable talent pool as well as 30-40% average savings on operating costs.
Manchester’s financial, professional and business services sector can be traced back to the industrial revolution when the growing cotton industry received immense support from the city’s banks, insurers and professional services firms that set up here to take advantage of the opportunity.
Fast forward to today, the sector is the largest outside of London, accounting for 20% of the local economy, and Manchester is home to the UK’s largest regional FinTech ecosystem.
Manchester has historically been the location of choice for back office and technology operations but now also attracts more complex middle and front office financial services roles due to the highly-skilled workforce the city region has developed.
Spinningfields, one of Europe’s most successful urban regeneration projects, sits at the heart of the city’s FPBS industry, where it is estimated that 20,000 people work. Firms including Barclays, Deloitte and Brewin Dolphin are located here, a sign of their confidence in Manchester as a place where the largest transactions can be made and signed off.
Key Contact

Deborah Walker Head of Business Development – Financial and Business Services
Financial, Professional and Business Factsheet
Manchester- The UK’s Largest Regional Financial, Professional and Business Services Hub
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#1 of 15 Tech Cities
(exl. London) – CBRE Tech City Report 2022
#2 large city for connectivity
fDi European Cities of the Future 2019/20
UK’s leading city for attracting FDI outside London
EY's 2020 UK Attractiveness Survey
UK’s most entrepreneurial city
Business Cloud report 2021
#3 Best City in the World
Time Out 2021
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The Economist’s Global Liveability Index 2022