The British Foreign Policy Group (BFPG) has released its 2019 report and paints a vibrant picture of modern Manchester as a global city in the making.  After London, Manchester is England’s most visited city with a growing tourism economy attracting more international and business visitors than all English cities other than London.  In 2018, Manchester’s revenue from tourism reached over £8.1bn.  The BFPG’s report confirmed that Greater Manchester ranks second in receiving Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with the current level now an estimated £2.7 billion with international trade worth £5.36 billion in value of goods.  The foreword to the report has been written by Sir Howard Bernstein, now strategic advisor to Deloitte, Sir Howard Bernstein is one of the chief architects of Manchester’s resurgence over the last four decades.  Formerly Chief Executive of Manchester City Council (1998-2017) and former Head of Paid Service for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (2011-2017).   Sir Howard Bernstein comments: “For Manchester, challenge...

Manchester is among the world's top 10 cities for foreign direct investment, according to a new report. Specialisms in cyber security, FinTech and advanced materials helped the city bring the largest number of investments into the UK, outside the capital, during 2017, IBM’s annual Global Location Trends report found. In order to compare regions around the world more appropriately, IBM looked at metropolitan areas based on equal labour catchment areas. On this basis they looked at a joint Manchester-Liverpool area, which attracted a combined 68 FDI projects last year, beating Dublin, Barcelona or Toronto. Top of the global pile was London, followed by Paris, Singapore, Amsterdam-Rotterdam, Chicago, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Dubai. Manchester and Liverpool pulled in the 10th highest number of FDI projects which jointly created 7,000 jobs, according to IBM. Liverpool’s core sectors include digital manufacturing, health and life sciences. Commenting on the report, Tim Newns, chief executive...

Plans to build 15,000 new homes north of Manchester city centre have been approved by councillors. Planners at Manchester City Council have backed the Northern Gateway project, which will see the new homes built by 2038. The project is a joint venture between the council and the Far East Consortium developers. People will be invited to take part in an eight week consultation period throughout August and September. The council said the plans would be among the largest regeneration projects in the UK, stretching 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Angel Meadow on the edge of the city centre to Collyhurst. Photo: The project would feature several green spaces It would feature a large park "connecting seven new and emerging neighbourhoods through high quality open green spaces and public squares". The council said it would also feature at least 3,000 affordable homes. People will be invited to view the plans in...