Transport Minister Sadiq Khan announced the government’s full approval of plans to extend the Metrolink from Droylsden to Ashton-under-Lyne in Tameside and from Chorlton to Didsbury in South Manchester.

A further eight new trams will be ordered to serve Greater Manchester’s expanding Metrolink network, six of which will be funded by the DfT. In addition funding has also been provided for two new Park and Ride sites at Ashton Moss and Ashton West able to accommodate over 600 cars in total.

Councillor Keith Whitmore, chair of the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA), has welcomed the news.

He said: “GMITA created the Greater Manchester Transport Fund in May 2009 to provide a public transport system that will help the economy of Greater Manchester to keep growing.

“Today’s announcement by the Minister alongside the order for an additional eight trams marks another step towards achieving our ambitions for the future of the city region’s public transport network.”

Councillor Ian Macdonald, Vice Chair of GMITA, said: “We were the first authority to bring trams back to city streets, and this announcement is testament to the success of that decision.

“Metrolink has gone from strength to strength since it opened in 1992 and I’m delighted that we’re now going to see it expanded even further.”

GMPTE will now appoint contractors for the Metrolink extensions in Tameside and South Manchester. Detailed design and preparatory works will now be carried out, and local approvals secured, with construction work starting early next year.

Both extensions are part of the Greater Manchester Transport Fund, a £1.5 billion investment programme covering 15 major transport schemes for Greater Manchester.

The new trams are additional to the 40 new vehicles which are being added to the network to serve the existing lines and the extensions to MediaCityUK, Chorlton in South Manchester, Droylsden in Tameside and the line through Oldham Mumps to Rochdale Railway Station.

Source: GMPTE

This striking glass fronted building on the A6 comprising a total of 51,402 sq ft provides the first Grade A office space in the town centre for seven years and is the first to achieve green status with its BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.

St Peter’s Square and Stockport matched Sky’s criteria. The building satisfied its corporate social responsibility policy in terms of its green credentials, that is, sustainability, quality of construction and high specification, which together with the town’s excellent public transport and incomparable demographics proved a winning combination.

Chris Stylianou, who runs Sky’s customer centres, said: “Sky is excited about finding a new home in Stockport and I’m delighted to be able to announce these new opportunities. We look forward to recruiting a great team here in Stockport and to making a real contribution to the local community.

Neil Mort development manager of Salford based BAM Properties said: “To have secured half the space at St Peter’s Square to Sky certainly justifies BAM’s commitment to building this development speculatively. It’s a great start to 2010 and we are actively working with Sky to complete the opening of its customer service centre. We are further encouraged by the level of interest in the remaining accommodation.”

Councillor Dave Goddard, Leader of Stockport Council, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sky to Stockport. This is fantastic news, and will boost the local economy and employment opportunities. Stockport offers a first rate business location with great transport links and skilled workforce, and to attract such a prominent company to the borough only confirms this, especially during such tough economic times. This great news is just the beginning, and goes to show that Stockport is well and truly open for business.”

Colin Sinclair, Chief Executive at MIDAS, Manchester’s Investment and Development Agency said: “This investment is fantastic news for Stockport and will serve to kick-off the town centre redevelopment in great style. We are delighted to welcome such a high-profile brand to the city region and MIDAS will continue to work with the firm as it establishes its presence in the city region.”

This six storey landmark office scheme, designed by HKR Architects features cutting edge design and column free floor plates of 11,800 sq ft. The high standard of finishes, impressive double height entrance, flexible air-conditioned space and secure parking has certainly set a new standard for the town. The remaining office accommodation is available in suites from 2697sq ft.

Source: BAM Properties

Milk Digital, a web design and marketing specialist spanning business sectors including recruitment, is launching a pioneering product from its newly-opened Manchester office.

The pan-European digital media agency will use 111 Piccadilly to unveil Recsite – an off-the-shelf, cost-effective system to help employers in the social work, education, catering and call centre industries to manage their online recruitment more effectively.

Milk selected Manchester ahead of Cape Town, South Africa, because of the expert support and guidance available from the newly launched Hello Manchester ‘soft landings’ service for investor businesses.

The two-year-old firm was introduced to the service by MIDAS, Manchester’s investment and development agency, and Business Link Manchester.

The ‘soft landings’ service offers new investors free desk space for the first 12 months of their relocation to the area as part of Manchester City Region’s continued drive to attract investment and jobs.

MIDAS is encouraging businesses to invest in the Manchester City Region by offering the service in partnership with leading serviced office providers Bruntwood, Avanta and Orega and the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).

The offering to domestic and foreign-owned businesses is designed to promote and maintain Manchester’s status as a top ten European business location with a wide-ranging and flexible talent pool of people, excellent transport infrastructure including Manchester Airport and a diverse and high quality portfolio of business premises.

Oliver Gibbs, the managing director of Milk, said Hello Manchester was one of the key reasons for his firm adding the city to offices in London and Barcelona – because it made the search for suitable office space that much easier.

Milk was also attracted by the city’s expanding creative, digital and media sector and competitive office and labour costs.

MIDAS continues to work with Milk on its opening in Manchester, assisting with the recruitment of staff, identifying networking opportunities and supporting usability testing for the new e-recruitment product.

Milk aims to have up to 15 staff at 111 Piccadilly. It is using contacts within local universities such as Salford and Manchester to recruit graduates and also looking to bring in front end web developers and account managers from the private sector.

Mr Gibbs said of MIDAS’ role: “The expert staff at MIDAS showed an excellent understanding of our business needs when relocating. They facilitated excellent office space in a great location and helped to connect our business to Manchester networks.

“We have also found the information provided by MIDAS to be extremely helpful in terms of getting a feel for life in Manchester.”

Colin Sinclair, chief executive of MIDAS, said: “We were delighted to bring Milk to Manchester as the latest addition to the City Region’s thriving creative, digital and media sector.

“The fact that we were able to offer them the Hello Manchester ‘soft landings’ service proves its potentially enormous benefits to the area’s economic prospects.”

Source: Milk Digital

Following the announcement at the 2009 UK-China Business Summit with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, the main aim of the China Tomorrow initiative is to better equip organisations in the UK and China to work together on a wide range of innovation & technology projects and to commercialise the outputs.

China Tomorrow provides increased access to information; highlights the opportunities for commercialisation; and encourages increased collaboration between the UK & China.

This event, supported by Northwest Regional Development Agency and held at Daresbury Science & Innovation Campus, will address the processes and issues involved in working collaboratively on projects related specifically to environmental technologies and sustainable development.

The agency, with offices in London and Barcelona, has taken space in 111 Piccadilly in one of the first Hello Manchester soft landings service deals – a new initiative offering investors 12 months free desk space.

Milk plans to recruit up to 15 staff for its Manchester base and aims to use it to launch a new e-recruitment product called Recsite later this year.

Oliver Gibbs, Sales and Marketing Director for Milk, said the availability of Hello Manchester was one of the key reasons for Milk selecting Manchester ahead of Cape Town, South Africa.

He said: “We were attracted to Manchester because the Hello Manchester offering made our search for suitable office space that much easier but also because the city has a booming creative, digital and media sector and competitive office and labour costs.”

MIDAS played a key role in bringing Milk to Manchester and is working with the agency on the recruitment of its staff, networking and usability testing for the new e-recruitment product.

And Oliver added: “MIDAS showed an understanding of our business needs in relocating. The team facilitated excellent office space in a great location and helped to connect our business to Manchester networks.”

Hello Manchester was developed in partnership between the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), MIDAS, and leading serviced office providers – Avanta, Bruntwood, Manchester Science Park (msp) and Orega.

Hello Manchester offers new investors to the Manchester City Region free desk space for the first 12 months of their relocation to the area as part of Manchester’s continued drive to attract investment and jobs.

Colin Sinclair, Chief Executive of MIDAS, said: “We were delighted to bring Milk to Manchester as the latest addition to the City Region’s thriving creative, digital and media sector.

“The fact that we were able to offer them the Hello Manchester soft landings service highlights the potential is has to bring significant economic benefits to Manchester City Region.”

Source: MIDAS

Over the last year the regional office has delivered 100% business growth and recruited six new professional staff. To accommodate this expansion the office has relocated to Old Trafford, Manchester where AWD Chase de Vere already operates its national administration and support centre.

The Manchester regional office serves clients in the Northwest of England and North Wales, providing independent financial advice to individuals and businesses.

David Rawcliffe, Senior Manager, AWD Chase de Vere, Manchester, said: “Over the past year our Manchester office has gone from strength to strength. The difficult economic conditions have led to a boom in demand for our wealth management and corporate advisory services, as more people understand the value of taking top quality financial advice. We have already recruited six new professional staff and are actively recruiting for more top quality financial advisers who can meet our exacting standards.

“We have established excellent working relationships with some of the region’s leading solicitors, accountants and other professional firms – which enables us to provide financial advice to their clients and for us to provide our clients with access to wider professional advice. We are working to further expand this network of professional relationships during 2010 as we aim to become the leading firm of Independent Financial Advisers in the UK.”

Colin Sinclair, chief executive at MIDAS, Manchester’s investment and development agency said: “AWD Chase de Vere’s success demonstrates the strength of the wider wealth management sector in Manchester City Region due to the large pool of wealthy entrepreneurs and high net worth individuals in the area. We look forward to supporting the company as it continues to expand.”

The new office is at: Washbrook House, Talbot Road, Manchester M32 0FP.

Source: AWD

The event will explain the impact of new inheritance tax legislation and sensible steps that individuals can take to reduce their tax liability.

David Rawcliffe, Senior Manager, AWD Chase de Vere, Manchester, said: “People don’t understand the inheritance tax rules. In particular there is a misconception that the individual threshold for inheritance tax has risen to £650,000. As a result, many people in the Northwest will not be aware that the Chancellor of the Exchequer stands to be a major beneficiary of their estate.

“It is really important that people are aware of their inheritance tax position and the sensible steps they can consider to address this. This seminar will help to provide them with this information.”

Investment will provide the public infrastructure needed to set in motion a major mixed-use redevelopment scheme in the heart of the city, which will eventually generate over £650 million in private sector investment.

Funding of £8.97 million from the NWDA and a further £1.79 million under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which is managed in the Northwest by the NWDA, will establish high quality public spaces and highways will which connect future retail, housing, leisure and office developments.

The final scheme will generate some 11,000 jobs, 220,000sqm of commercial floor space for office, retail, and leisure development, 849 homes and 390 hotel rooms.

Public sector investment in infrastructure is critical to make the Chapel Street area financially viable and attractive to the private sector.

Paul Lakin, Director of Land and Property at the NWDA, said: “The proposals for Chapel Street will create a vibrant new city centre in Salford and I am pleased that this funding means we can begin to turn these plans into reality. This illustrates how our targeted interventions can help to stimulate private investment and support economic recovery.

“The Chapel Street area has huge potential but needs significant public investment to create the type of environment which is essential to attract high levels of private investment.

“It will be a monumental project which will mean more jobs, economic vitality and a better future for both Salford and Manchester.”

The redevelopment plans for Chapel Street, which have been led by Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company (URC) with developer partner English Cities fund (ECF) were approved by Salford City Council in January 2010 following more than two years of consultation with the community and stakeholders. It aims to deliver the holistic regeneration of this important part of Salford for the benefit of existing and potential residents, businesses and visitors.

Chapel Street links Salford, including MediaCityUK, to Manchester city centre and currently carries some of the highest traffic flows into Manchester city centre from the west.

Source: Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA)

Running from May to October 2010, it is the first World Expo that will welcome individual cities alongside nation states.

The exhibition will promote the Northwest to a massive international audience and is expected to provide business opportunities for 240 Northwest businesses. The expo is expected to be the largest ever held with an estimated 70 million visitors over six months.

Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), which is supporting for the Northwest delegation, said: “This six month world expo will provide businesses in the Northwest with a unique opportunity to promote themselves to the expanding Chinese economy. Our support for the Expo will ensure this opportunity is open to the entire Northwest business community and will help generate greater outcomes for our region, including inward investment, an increase in trade, and an influx in tourism.”

Source: Northwest Regional Development Agency

The Sport Sector Strategy for England’s Northwest, launched to coincide with the Soccerex global football conference being held in Manchester, focuses on four key areas that have the potential for economic growth in the Northwest, including:

• Supporting the growth of new and existing sport businesses including sport venues, professional sport clubs and specialist businesses supplying the sector
• Increasing innovation to improve product development, particularly within the manufacture of advanced flexible materials
• Promoting activity which levers investment into the region, including the outdoor adventure market
• Maximising the economic, social and health benefits of sport to individuals and communities across the Northwest

In the Northwest, the sport sector has a major impact on the regional economy, with over 8,350 businesses employing almost 100,000 people and generating a turnover of £6.5 billion. The new Strategy provides a window of opportunity to capitalise on predicted growth as result of the UK’s ‘Golden Decade of Sport’, including London 2012 and associated Government policies to increase activity levels.

Steven Broomhead, NWDA Chief Executive, said: “The Northwest has a strong sporting heritage, and the sector itself plays a vital role in our economy, generating more sport businesses, employees and a higher turnover than other English regions. Our sporting profile can only grow further with innovative technology opening up new markets, not to mention the relocation of BBC Sport and Radio Five Live to MediaCityUK. This new strategy will help to capitalise on our existing assets, exploit opportunities for future growth and ensure the sector continues to thrive well into the future.”

Source: Northwest Reginal Development Agency