Manchester Northern Powerhouse

Linesight sitting squarely at the center of Northern Powerhouse execution

Linesight has been servicing the greater Manchester region for over 10 years now and is currently investing in more resources to meet the increasing demands of clients within the Northern Powerhouse. The Northern Powerhouse encompasses Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, and Sheffield and city regions therein. The purpose of the Northern Powerhouse was to give a tangible name, focus, and Government support to thinking around economic and inward investment strategy for the North of England.

The private Rented Sector (PRS) and residential sector is also a hotbed of activity in Manchester right now with Network Rail currently finalising plans to release land for 3,600 city centre homes to be built, Owen Street recently approved which will provide four towers, Greengate Development which will be mixed-use commercial and residential of 286,000 sq m as well as St. Johns, Circle Square and Oxygen all delivering mixed-use solutions to the wider community.

Similarly, the commercial sector is buzzing with activity around Victoria Train Station with plans for a £185m development to include a new 15,000 sq m office and residential block and public space.

The Neo and City Towers are also under refurbishment.

Linesight Projects Linesight has been commissioned to work on a 37 storey private rented sector development in the city centre at 10-12 Whitworth Street West. When complete the development will be one of the tallest towers in Manchester and provide 327 high quality apartments along with tenant amenity areas such as a gym, lounge areas, and rooftop amenities. Linesight is also refurbishing one of the largest Primark stores in the world on Market Street and is also involved in the refurbishment a number of commercial office projects.

Linesight is being repeatedly called upon to work on commercial and mixed-use developments of this kind predominantly because of:

• A high level of experience in commercial and residential development
• Deep domain knowledge and expertise that can be brought to bear in planning and execution
• Availability of highly competent teams on the ground in the Northern region

Benefits to the North

The commercial logic for companies considering investing in the North is that the region presents an opportunity to benefit from rental growth at a rate above the rest of the UK (excluding London and the South East). Rental growth will be a key driver in investor return forecasting, which should point to a greater potential for property values to strengthen. Although the yield gap between London and the regions has narrowed over the last 12 months, there is still a substantial discount when investing outside of the capital. In addition, there is a huge labour force available with some high-quality third level education institutions pumping out talent annually. It has been well documented that further investments in infrastructure are required in the region to enable enhanced connectivity for this labour force however quality of life and standards of living are argued to be better than in the South East. Accessibility to coastlines, the Lake District and Dale, eight of the most research-intensive universities and a relatively accessible housing market make for an interesting lifestyle choice.

Future opportunities for Linesight

The success of the Northern Powerhouse will be judged against its major economic deliverables. The beauty of Linesight having a solid presence in the region is that it is continuously gaining local market knowledge through real-time implementations and can bring this to bear when working closely with clients. In addition, Linesight global teams have extensive experience in High-Tech Industrial, Data Centers, Health, Life Sciences, Hospitality and Retail as well as Residential and Commercial sectors which will prove beneficial to commercial organisations considering housing their businesses in the region. As the investments mature we expect to see clusters of sectors emerging in the different cities and city regions and Linesight is ready to service those sectors.

Linesight has a clear and stated ambition to expand its portfolio of clients, continue to attract the best talent available to them, and extend its strategic partnerships in the North and is excited at the potential opportunities for the future. It cannot be underestimated the value of being able to bring experienced, large teams to site on demand for Linesight’s clients. The clarity that Linesight can offer on how to navigate through the challenges that can be faced, the commitment of the resources available to clients from project inception through to conclusion, coupled with the consistent experience that clients have in working with Linesight teams, all contribute to their selection on some of the most prestigious work happening in the North right now.