ID Manchester

Sector and market opportunity

ID Manchester is aiming to create over 10,000 high quality jobs in spin-outs and start-ups, SMEs that are scaling up, and global R&D businesses new to the region. It will also create over 2,000 new apartments, retail and leisure spaces, and a net increase of 90,000 square feet of public realm including a new civic square. The scheme has a 15-year development horizon across multiple phases, with an initial ‘meanwhile hub’ opening within existing buildings in 2024 and the first redeveloped building opening by 2027.

A joint venture was established between The University of Manchester and Bruntwood SciTech in February 2022 to develop the site – they are now seeking a development partner with experience of delivering high-quality residential schemes within innovation clusters, in the UK or abroad.

ID Manchester’s focus will be building high productivity clusters in frontier sectors aligned to local and national priorities, playing a central role in government’s net zero, levelling up, and science superpower missions. It will create a commercially-led innovation ecosystem that promotes multidisciplinary and cross-sector pollination.

Location

ID Manchester is located on The University of Manchester’s former North Campus, in the heart of Manchester city centre. It lies within Manchester’s Oxford Road Corridor, Knowledge Quarter. In one square mile this includes the main campuses of The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the Royal Northern College of Music, as well as the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (which has 5 hospitals on one site in the Corridor) and cultural assets such as the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Museum, and Contact Theatre.

The residential developments at ID Manchester will occupy prime real estate in the city centre within this exciting new commercial development, including around the iconic Sackville Building and Whitworth Street conservation area. Manchester has a high proportion of international students and a shortage of student housing, increasing its attractiveness for student accommodation and Build to Rent projects.

Connectivity

The site is immediately proximate to Manchester Piccadilly Railway and Metrolink station, in what is the most accessible site by public transport in the North of England. The train journey from Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester International Airport is less than 20 minutes, and to London in just over 2 hours.

Local talent and skills

The Oxford Road Corridor is home to a number of interconnected, innovation-led clusters in high value, high growth sectors such as health and life sciences, advanced materials, and digital industries. Around 80,000 people work in the area – in sites which include Manchester Science Parks, CityLabs, and Circle Square – generating an estimated £3.6 billion of economic output each year. More widely, the concentration of research and commercial R&D assets on the Oxford Road Corridor is at the centre of the wider regional innovation ecosystem. ID Manchester will be the commercial innovation catalyst that will accelerate the R&D capabilities on the Oxford Road Corridor to create jobs and productivity impacts across Greater Manchester and the wider North.

Research and expertise

The University of Manchester, one of the ID Manchester joint venture partners, is recognised globally for its pioneering research, outstanding teaching and learning, and commitment to social responsibility. It is a member of the prestigious Russell Group and ranked the sixth best university in the UK and 38th in the world (Academic Ranking of World Universities).

The University is a powerhouse of research and discovery with 25 Nobel laureates among its former staff and students. It was also ranked fifth for research power – the quality and scale of research and impact – in the UK government’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

ID Manchester will leverage the university’s world-class research strengths and act as an innovation platform in the digital tech, health innovation, biotech and advanced materials and manufacturing fields. It neighbours key institutions and existing innovation facilities such as the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, the Henry Royce Institute and the Christabel Pankhurst Institute, amongst others.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) highlights

ID Manchester will be recognised as a global exemplar in sustainable development, and underpinning this ambition will be its commitment to key ESG themes. IDM’s sustainability ambitions will also manifest themselves in the outputs of the start-ups and scale-ups that become part of its innovation ecosystem, from green tech to sustainable materials.

All proposals will be in line with Manchester’s 2030 Net Zero carbon strategy.

Promoters and partnerships

ID Manchester will become a leading innovation platform globally by leveraging the unique experience and expertise of its joint venture partners. The University of Manchester has a long history of industry collaboration and world-class research strengths, with major strategic partnerships across the world. This includes in Melbourne, Toronto and Hong Kong, and working in collaboration with businesses ranging from international blue-chips, SMEs, charities and more.

Bruntwood SciTech has vast experience working in strategic partnership with city councils, universities and NHS Trusts to deliver connected science and technology infrastructure. Its portfolio is across 31 city centre innovation hubs in Manchester, Cheshire, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge and Glasgow, and nine campus locations, including Alderley Park in Cheshire, Innovation Birmingham. Manchester Science Park and Citylabs.

Local and national government support

Manchester City Council has approved the Strategic Regeneration Framework for ID Manchester.

ID Manchester also forms a key element of the Greater Manchester Innovation Plan – jointly developed between the UK government and Greater Manchester in 2022 as part of the ‘Innovation Accelerator’ pilot announced in the Levelling Up White Paper.