The home of
professional services.
Financial, professional and business services in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is home to the largest financial, professional and business services (FPBS) sector outside London, contributing 20% of the local economy and employing more than 350,000 people across the North. Its scale, diversity and maturity make it one of the UK’s most compelling locations for organisations looking to grow, innovate and operate at lower cost, without sacrificing access to talent, clients or global markets.
From banking and fintech to legal, insurance, consultancy, contact centres and shared services, the city region offers a fully integrated services ecosystem that supports businesses at every stage of growth.
Why Greater Manchester?
Businesses operating in Greater Manchester benefit from deep collaboration across industry verticals including fintech, ecommerce, cybersecurity, AI and digital services, and access to a strong pipeline of digital, financial, legal and professional talent.
Key advantages include:
- The fastest-growing fintech sector in the UK outside London
- A highly scalable, multilingual workforce supported by over 120,000 students
- Direct flights to 200+ global destinations via Manchester Airport
- The UK’s most AI-ready city, enabling innovation across finance, risk, compliance and embedded finance
- An established base of global firms, unicorns and next-generation service providers
This combination allows organisations to offset rising regulatory, compliance and risk costs, while building resilient, future-ready operations.
A global banking and financial services stronghold
Greater Manchester is home to more than 60 banks, many of them international. Global institutions including Barclays, Santander, HSBC, NatWest, Lloyds, J.P. Morgan and BNY all have significant operations in the city region.
BNY, for example, has grown from 100 employees in 2005 to more than 2,000 today, identifying Manchester as one of its strategic global growth locations.
Alongside established players, challenger and digital banks such as Starling Bank, OakNorth, Zopa and Aldermore have chosen Greater Manchester to scale technology, product and client service teams. Across retail, corporate, wealth management and investment banking, the sector employs over 60,000 people locally.
Fintech
Greater Manchester is the UK’s largest regional fintech ecosystem and the location of the fastest-growing fintech sector outside London. Businesses investing here can develop, test and deploy next-generation financial products with direct access to:
- The tech operations of major banks including Barclays, BNY and NatWest
- A fintech workforce of 10,000+ professionals
- Strong retail, ecommerce and payments markets
- Cost advantages that make scaling 30–40% more efficient than London
The region is home to fintech unicorns including Starling Bank, Klarna, OakNorth Bank, Radius Payment Solutions and SaltPay, alongside fast-scaling firms such as Adyen, MoneySuperMarket and Zopa. Homegrown B2B fintechs, including AccessPay, Raisin and Nivo, further strengthen the ecosystem.
This growth is underpinned by strengths in AI, data analytics and cybersecurity, enabling businesses to build secure, trusted and intelligent financial services.
Decentralised finance, blockchain and green finance
Greater Manchester is the UK’s second-leading decentralised finance and blockchain hub. With 2,850 graduates annually across blockchain-relevant disciplines, the region offers a consistent pipeline of future-ready talent.
The Centre for Financial Technology Studies at Alliance Manchester Business School leads research into DeFi, NFTs, cryptocurrencies, AI and green finance, shaping the future of digital finance nationally and internationally.
Green and alternative finance is also a major strength. The region is home to the UK’s first regional environmental impact fund, aiming to generate £100m for sustainable projects, aligned with Greater Manchester’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2038. This builds on a proud legacy as the birthplace of the modern cooperative movement, which reshaped ethical banking worldwide.
Legal and professional services
Greater Manchester hosts the UK’s largest regional legal sector, employing 20,000 professionals across 400 firms, including the highest number of top 100 UK law firms outside London.
Key strengths span corporate, commercial, employment and intellectual property law, serving sectors such as financial services, technology, media, property, transport and the public sector. Firms including Freshfields and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner have established delivery centres here, reflecting the region’s leadership in new models of legal service delivery.
A sustainable talent pipeline, with 14,000 law students within an hour of Manchester, supports continued growth. Manchester’s legal sector is expanding at more than twice the rate of Central London.
Alongside legal services, Greater Manchester has a deep pool of consultancy, advisory, accountancy and pensions expertise, with more than 21,000 professionals supporting business growth and transformation.
Insurance and insurtech
Greater Manchester is the largest general insurance community outside London, employing over 20,000 people. The sector accounts for one third of all financial services employment in the city region and includes global insurers, brokers, mutuals and a strong intermediary network.
The region has emerged as a hub for insurtech innovation, with firms such as Uinsure, Ripe Insurance and CDL recognised globally in the InsurTech100. Strong links to technology, data analytics and cybersecurity create new opportunities for insurers to innovate, collaborate and access emerging markets.
Contact centres, BPO and shared services
Greater Manchester offers a mature, low-risk and highly scalable environment for contact centres, BPO and shared service operations – supporting both global firms and fast-growing businesses.
Industry leaders including Capita, Concentrix, Vodafone and Ticketmaster have chosen Manchester to serve UK and European markets, while more than 54 shared service centres, including **Bupa, Latham & Watkins and Marks & Spencer, underpin a strong operational ecosystem.
Shared service operations here are increasingly driven by automation, digital transformation and AI, enabling continuous improvement, resilience and value creation across finance, HR, legal and customer services.
250
customer contact centres
23%
more people working in customer services than the UK average
-20%
Operating costs around 20% lower than London
Investment, capital and confidence
Greater Manchester is the UK’s most active corporate finance market outside London. The city region is supported by a thriving ecosystem of private equity firms, angel investors, family offices and public funding vehicles.
Public investment further strengthens the offer. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has invested £1.2bn into the local economy, while the Good Growth fund has been built to deploy £1bn of capital into redevelopments across all 10 boroughs. The £26.9bn Greater Manchester Pension Fund underpins long-term stability and ambition.
A services ecosystem built for the future
Greater Manchester has evolved far beyond back-office functions. Today, it offers high-skill, high-value financial and professional services across derivatives, global client services, specialist products, risk, compliance, digital and technology.
For financial, professional and business services organisations, it is a place to scale faster, operate smarter and compete globally, at a cost and pace that few other cities can match.
Andrew Toolan
Head of Sector, Financial Professional Business Services
- 14+ years of experience in inward investment and economic development, having worked across all four of Greater Manchester’s key sectors
- Led major investment projects and strategic partnerships throughout his career at MIDAS, with particular expertise in Financial, Professional and Business Services