Countdown to the Games

Posted on December 5, 1999 by admin

July 25, 2002 will signal the onset of one of England’s greatest moments in its sporting history – the opening ceremony of the XVII Commonwealth Games. The 2002 Games will be the biggest in its 72-year history and the most significant multi-disciplined sporting event to be held in England since the 1948 Olympics.

The Games will take on special significance falling as they do in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee year, and this will form a key element of the celebrations marking the event.

Running for ten days from Friday 26th July to Sunday 4th August, the action will be focused on fifteen venues, four of which will be within the Sportcity complex at Eastlands.

Preparatory work at the site has been underway since the beginning of the year and the beginning of 2000 will see the start of substructure development.

At the heart of the complex is the new City of Manchester Stadium, the framework of which will start to rise above the Eastlands site in spring. It looks set to transform the skyline of East Manchester.

The 38,000 seater stadium will have a cantilevered, cable-stayed roof with a dozen 57-metre masts supported by huge towers, dwarfing the ones at Wembley. A suspended rim will both shelter seated spectators and provide a high-tech sound board to amplify the roar of the crowd.

From 2003, the stadium will become home to Manchester City Football Club once the specialised running track has been removed. The two ends will be built out at the same time to increase seating capacity to 48,000.

Alongside the stadium there will be a new squash centre and an athletics arena with an additional outdoor warm-up track. A £3.5m indoor tennis initiative, complete with outdoor courts will be located on land to the north of the Ashton Canal.

Already within the Sportcity complex is the Manchester Velodrome – the National Cycling Centre. Developed as a joint venture between the English Sports Council, Manchester City Council and the British Cycling Federation, the centre is one of only two sports facilities in the country to have been awarded British Olympic Association Accreditation – the other one being Lilleshall in Staffordshire.

A commercial belt of restaurants, leisure attractions and a mix of shops will complete the complex.

Assisting at Sportcity and the other venues to ensure the Games run smoothly will be a 15,000 strong army of volunteers. A recruitment programme is due to start at the beginning of 2001

Coverage

BBC Television has won the rights to be host broadcaster of the Games following agreement with the Manchester 2002 Organising Committee. The announcement was made in Fiji during Manchester 2002′s presentation to the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly.

Mike Miller, controller of TV Sport for the BBC said: “The scale of the Commonwealth Games is second only to the Olympics and is one of the most popular multicultural events on British television. Only the BBC has the resources to partner the Organising Committee and we are looking forward to another landmark event for BBC Sport.

“We will be pulling out all the technological stops for this event which will introduce many people in this country to the huge benefits of digital and interactive television and radio.”

The projected cumulative global television audience is more than one billion people. As host broadcaster the BBC will transmit pictures around the world and also provide facilities for other broadcasters who wish to carry their own additional coverage and commentary

The Sports and Venues

Opening and Closing Ceremonies: City of Manchester Stadium, Sportcity

Aquatics: Manchester Swimming Pool Complex

Athletics: City of Manchester Stadium, Sportcity

Badminton: Bolton Arena, Bolton

Bowls: Heaton Park

Boxing: Preliminaries – Wythenshawe Forum

Finals: – Manchester Evening News Arena

Cycling: National Cycling Centre, Sportcity

Gymnastics (Artistic): G-MEX Centre

Judo: G-MEX Centre

Shooting: National Shooting Centre, Bisley

Squash: National Squash Centre, Sportcity

Table tennis: Indoor Tennis Initiative, Sportcity

Triathlon: Salford Quays

Weight-lifting: Royal Northern College of Music

Wrestling: G-MEX Centre

Team Sports

Hockey: To be confirmed

Netball: Manchester Evening News Arena

Rugby: 7′s Stadium, Sportcity

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New beginnings for M&S

Posted on December 1, 1999 by admin

The world’s biggest Marks & Spencer store has opened in Manchester – a culmination of three years and five months work in the wake of the 1996 IRA bomb.

Offering customers a glimpse of shopping for the future, the £85 million premises includes all Marks & Spencer’s services, initiatives and facilities under one roof for the first time ever.

With around 18,500 square metres of sales floor space across four floors, the state of the art development, which opened its doors on November 25, is linked by travelator to a basement car park while four glass lifts link the upper floors.

Visitors to the shopping extravaganza will find the food hall on the lower ground floor, complete with bakery, butcher’s shop and delicatessen counter. In addition, shoppers can browse the home furnishing department on the same level, together with a coffee bar in which to mull over purchases. A new-look wine department includes a tasting area where advisors are on hand to point you in the right direction.

The ladieswear department is spread across the ground and part of the first floor with lingerie and childrenswear accommodating the remainder. Meanwhile, menswear and a second coffee bar can be found on the second floor.

If the size of the store proves too much, shoppers are able to take a break in the customer lounge, putting their feet up while reading newspapers or watching TV. For the younger visitor, the welcome break is more likely to be found in the store’s play area.

On a more serious note, and helping to cater for every need, is the new-concept M&S Financial Services area. This includes a commission-free Bureau de Change and for visitors from further afield, tax free shopping can also be arranged.

Other special services include a complimentary personal shopping service where trained consultants can help customers find the ideal outfit in an exclusive suite.

The inaugural foundation stone marking the start of building work on the store was laid in June 1997, followed by the concrete foundations at the beginning of 1998. Construction of the building’s steel frame had been completed by the middle of 1998 with the topping-out ceremony performed in February 1999 by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. In early autumn, external elevations were completed followed by three month of hectic activity seeing the internal fixtures and fittings finally being put in place.

During the intervening period M&S has been operating from two temporary stores in the city centre – a food hall on Spring Gardens and M&S Piccadilly on three floors within Lewis’s. The former closed its doors on November 24 and the latter will close at the end of the year.

A total of 450 staff from the two sites have been moved into the new store, together with 400 permanent and temporary new employees.

Regional manager of M&S Manchester David Eyre said: “We promised the city a stunning new store for the Millennium and that is exactly what we have delivered.”

It’s all a far cry from Michael Marks’ first ever shop on Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester in 1893

Facts and Figures about the new Store

- 1,200 stone panels clad the building, weighing 3,000 tonnes

- The store is fitted with 5,000 sprinkler heads, serviced with more than 15 miles of piping

- Each sales floor is roughly the size of a football pitch

- The sales floors are lit by a total of 6,650 lighting units, including 4,000 spotlights

- There are around 280 miles of electrical lighting cables.

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Fresh face for East Manchester

Posted on December 1, 1999 by admin

A major new agency designed to bring about the regeneration of East Manchester was launched at the end of October by Minister for Regeneration Hilary Armstrong. In a joint initiative by the City Council, the North West Development Agency and English Partnerships, The East Manchester Urban Regeneration Company will actively promote the area as a place to live, work and invest.

Chief Executive of the Agency is Marianne Neville-Rolfe, former head of the Government Office in the North West.

Chairman of the Board Sir Alan Cockshaw, who is also chairman of English Partnerships, said: “We are on the verge of a new chapter in history and together we will ensure East Manchester achieves its full potential.”

The cumulative impact of the regeneration programmes, already on the drawing board for East Manchester will result in more than £500 million of new investment. The Agency will co-ordinate and integrate individual initiatives, promote the positive re-use of strategic sites and assume responsibility for area wide masterplanning. It will also provide a strong and coherent investment framework to set the context for detailed regeneration projects.

Four teams have been shortlisted to work up their ideas for a Masterplan to shape the redevelopment of East Manchester over the next 10 to 20 years. They are David Lock Associates, Kohn Pederson Fox Associates/DTZ Pieda Consulting, Richard Rogers Partnership and Urban Strategies Inc/GVA Grimley. Following public consultation on their proposals a team will be selected to work with local residents and the business community to finalise a redevelopment masterplan and delivery programme. The winning formula will provide the framework for a multi-million pound transformation of the Region’s former industrial heartland

Beacons for a Brighter Future

The Beacons For a Brighter Future Partnership is a critical element in a long- term regeneration programme to be overseen by the Agency. A partnership between local residents, Manchester City Council and other key agencies, the voluntary sector and the private sector, it will allow for the right balance to be struck between people- based and physical investment ensuring problems are successfully tackled.

Opportunities such as Sportcity will also be harnessed to maximise benefit to the local community.

‘Beacons for a Brighter Future’ targets an area which has changed dramatically over the last 30 years – heavy industries which were the reasons for the areas success have shut down, leaving a legacy of high unemployment. Poor quality open space and a patchwork of housing, much of which is vacant or in poor condition, adds to the problem.

The five key strategic objectives of the Beacons Partnership are:
- improve the condition of housing
- increase the capacity of local communities
- enhance economic conditions
- tackle crime
- improve facilities and amenities

New Deal Means Great Deal for East Manchester

The Beacons for a Brighter Future Partnership has secured New Deal for Communities status for East Manchester – the first partnership to do so nationally.

The £51.7 million over a ten year period to comprehensively regenerate the areas of Beswick and Openshaw was announced by Government Minister Hilary Armstrong in November.

New Deal for Communities has been established by the Government to improve the most deprived areas of the country. There are four key areas which the programme will seek to address:
- tackling unemployment
- improving health
- tackling crime, and
- raising educational achievement

Manchester’s New Deal for Communities area covers Beswick and Openshaw in East Manchester, with a population of 11,231.

While Manchester has been identified as the third most deprived local authority area according to the Governments’ Index of Local Deprivation, Beswick and Openshaw rank among the most disadvantaged areas of the country. The complex nature of the problems call for an integrated approach to secure sustainable regeneration.

Announcing the funding Hilary Armstrong said: “It promises to deliver real and lasting change for the area and its community.”

The New Deal for Communities initiative will complement other regeneration funding that is being targeted in the East Manchester area.

A successful SRB Round 5 bid, approved in September 1999, has secured £25 million over seven years for the three East Manchester neighbourhoods of Beswick, Clayton and Openshaw. The SRB 5 scheme ensures those parts of Openshaw and Beswick excluded from the New Deal for Communities programme, due to restrictions in the size of the area, will be the focus of complimentary activity. The nearby neighbourhood of Clayton will also benefit from the initiative.

Although conditions in Clayton are not as severe as those found within the NDC area, the rate of decline is such that without early intervention it will become irreversible, seriously undermining the community’s future sustainability.

The £25 million from SRB Round 5 should attract around £33 million of additional private sector funding and more than £34 million of other public sector funding.

It is hoped this investment will create 320 jobs, support 85 new business start- ups, improve 3,150 houses and help 13,125 residents to benefit from 35 community safety initiatives.

Other recent initiatives announced for the area are the creation of an Education Action Zone with funding of £3m over three years and the securing of Surestart funding of up to £3 million providing support for families with children under 4 years old in Clayton

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Shop ’till you drop

Posted on December 1, 1999 by admin

This years Christmas lights will illuminate a City Centre both vibrant and a Mecca for the determined shopper.

Top of the hit list for shopping, and adding around 3 per cent to the retail space in the City Centre, is the new M&S Store with a vast 18,450 sq m of shopping space, customer lounge and cafe’s. But it doesn’t stop there.

Across Corporation Street from M&S is the newly opened extension to the Arndale Centre. Replacing the previous blank wall, the new double height space has created flagship stores for WH Smith, Top Shop, Dorothy Perkins and Burtons. A replacement bridge links M&S to this section of the Arndale, assisting customer flow.

Boots refurbishment of its £12m flagship store on the other side of Market Street opened earlier in the year. Firmly at number one in the Boots chain in terms of turnover, the new-look store is piloting a number of services. These include a chiropodist, free dental hygiene checks and even a midwife on hand to offer advice.

At the opposite end of Market Street, Debenhams is now fully air-conditioned with innovative new lighting. A redesign has seen the cappuccino bar move to the ground floor, the third floor now playing host to a Gold Card lounge and family restaurant. A new menswear department, cosmetic department and a wider range of young brands complete the work at what was already the largest Debenhams store in the country.

Lewis’s, across Market Street from Debehams, has cleaned and renovated the exterior of their building and plans are in hand to fill the space being vacated by M&S at the end of the year. Top Manchester store Kendal’s is to be given a £4m internal facelift.

Looking ahead

The Millennium has even more in store for the dedicated shopper, with over 80,000 sq m of new and refurbished retail space due to come on stream over the next three to four years. The Triangle will open at Easter offering up to 14,000 sq m of designer outlets including the largest Jigsaw store in the country.

The Printworks, opening in the summer, offers leisure-led retail outlets while the Great Northern includes retail units, both along Deansgate and within the main block. Also on course for completion in 2000 is Orbits conversion of 55 King Street.

From 2002, Prudential’s £50m Shambles West scheme add another 20,000 sq m to the stock, including a 7,500 sq m department store on Deansgate. The refurbishment and redevelopment of Piccadilly Plaza covers another 17,000 sq m, with the potential for creating further destination stores. Plans are also in the pipeline for remodelling works to the Arndale, with a Wintergarden on Cannon Street and a build-out onto Exchange Square.

Manchester City Centre is going through one of the most exciting periods of growth ever experienced in such a short space of time by any major city. At the same time top retailers’ confidence has never been so high, with major name stores still queuing up. According to retail property experts Lambert Smith Hampton the amount of shop space due to come on stream in the City Centre in the next few years still won’t satisfy demand, with current requirements of around 82,000 sq m, the largest requirement of any in-town centre in the UK.

Pressure in the market has already given Manchester the second highest rental growth in the country over the past three years. Rents on King Street have doubled over the same period to reach around £200 Zone A, while those on Market Street have hit a massive £281 Zone A.

A taste of things to come

September saw ‘All Over The Shop’ – Manchester’s first ever festival devoted entirely to the shopper. More than 100 retailers took part with designer chic hitting St Ann’s Square. Spectacular fashion shows were held and experts from leading cosmetic houses were on hand. Traders in the City Centre reported exceptional sales over the two weekends of the festival. Food and drink retailers saw it as an ideal opportunity to warm up for their own event in October.

In the run up to Christmas a German market is being held in St Ann’s Square. With more retailing jobs on offer in the City Centre, a skills competition has been held to improve standards of customer service. Organised by Manchester Tec, Manchester City Council and the Chamber of Commerce, SkillRETAIL is designed to test 58 different skills including customer service, selling, product knowledge, stock control and training. Mystery shoppers also visited the stores involved, reporting back to a panel of judges.

Winner Debbie Clarke from Boots was chosen at an award ceremony compered by former Blue Peter presenter John Leslie at the end of October. She will represent the City at the national SkillRETAIL event in Birmingham next July.

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All change at Piccadilly

Posted on August 5, 1999 by admin

The Piccadilly area of central Manchester is to receive a £100 million revamp, transforming what is at present a disappointing first point of contact for those arriving by bus, train or tram, into one of the most exciting public spaces in Europe and an attractive and dynamic gateway to the Regional Centre.

Piccadilly Gardens

For many years the hub of a busy and thriving City Centre, Piccadilly Gardens was once home to the Manchester Royal Infirmary, public baths and Central Reference Library. The Gardens lie between the main retail, business and hotel areas of the City and represent an important civic square and green space in the centre of Manchester. For many years, however, they have been in need of investment and concerns over their poor condition and appearance have grown.

The City Council, along with a range of private sector partners, plans to transform the area into an international quality public space in the heart of Manchester which will reflect its standing as a European regional capital. A team made up of EDAW, the company responsible for the City Centre Masterplan; the Manchester office of engineering firm Ove Arup; acclaimed Japanese architect Tadao Ando; Chapman Robinson Architects and Peter Fink Lighting Specialists, are responsible for the re-design of Piccadilly Gardens.

The scheme will include walk-through fountains spanned by a catwalk bridge and new horticultural gardens will be planted next to the Queen Victoria statue. More lawns will be planted, a tree-lined boulevard along Piccadilly created and there are ambitious plans to light the entire area, not only improving the aesthetic quality of the area but also safety at night for users of the Gardens and the public transport interchange.

Another key objective of the scheme is a dramatic upgrade of the bus interchange and pedestrian area. Passenger waiting and information facilities are to be improved with new shelters and buildings. Buses are also to be re-routed and general traffic will be removed from Lever Street to improve conditions for pedestrians on the north side of the gardens. Part of the Metrolink line will be realigned from Market Street to Piccadilly Gardens in order to release more land for the central open space. The design will widen the public realm and improve links between Piccadilly, the railway station, China Town and the Northern Quarter of the City.

Funding for the improvements will come in part from a prestigious new building to be developed on Portland Street which will also act as a shield from car traffic noise. Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese said: “We want to create an improved environment for residents to enjoy as well as creating a positive and welcoming first impression for visitors to Manchester who pass through the area when arriving in the city.”

Piccadilly Plaza

A planning application for the comprehensive refurbishment of Piccadilly Plaza was submitted to the City Council for consideration in May 1999. Built between 1960 and 1965 the Plaza was to form the first stage of a massive development stretching to Oxford Road and incorporating 50 other tower blocks. Although the plan was never realised, the Plaza has still become a major landmark on Manchester’s skyline.

Sunley Tower is the second tallest building in Manchester after the CIS Tower and the Plaza continues to occupy a prime retail and office location. But, as with the Piccadilly Gardens, the Plaza has become run down and poorly maintained. A large proportion of the Plaza’s floorspace has become vacant and, due to its deteriorating physical condition, it is becoming an increasingly unattractive feature of the City Centre landscape.

In 1991 the Plaza went into receivership and low investment levels have led to rapid decline. Now, after assuming control of the Plaza in 1998 for a reported £22 million, Piccadilly Plaza LP is to take the complex into the next century.

When completed, the refurbished Piccadilly Plaza will be renamed the Piccadilly Exchange. With long leases currently being held by NCP, the Government Office for the North West and the Jarvis Hotel Group, the wholesale redevelopment of the site would not be feasible. Instead it was decided to carry out a more realistic but extensive refurbishment programme. The scheme will involve:
- Creation of a new two-level shopping arcade and a link between York Street and Parker Street
- Refurbishment and recladding of Sunley Tower, to be renamed City Tower l Internal refurbishment of City Tower and a new ground floor reception area to create ‘grade A’ office accommodation
- Refurbishment of and improvement of facilities for the Jarvis Piccadilly Hotel
- Removal of Bernard House to make way for new retailing space
- Revitalisation of the current street-scape, featuring three-level retailing
- Enhancement of retail and leisure facilities throughout the entire development.

Refurbishment of Sunley Tower will have a major impact on the City’s skyline. It is to be totally reclad in green tinted solar reflective glass and floodlighting will turn the tower into an important and attractive night time landmark. Internally, there will be a complete overhaul of the buildings services in order to establish the new City Tower as a prime office location.

Access to the tower will be gained through an impressive new ground floor reception area which will reflect its enhanced status. The existing escalators will be removed and replaced by an extension of the lifts to ground floor level. The work programme has been agreed with the Government Office for the North West which will remain in the building during the work

A new two-tier shopping arcade linking York Street and Parker Street will be perhaps the most significant addition to the Piccadilly Exchange. Incorporating the area of the former petrol station and car hire centre on York Street, the arcade will feature dramatic glazed canopies at its two street level entrances and a glazed roof. Greatly improved pedestrian access between the Gardens and China Town was a key element of the City Council’s design brief for Piccadilly, opening up surrounding areas and increasing the number of pedestrians. The new shop units will be let at affordable rents.

As with Sunley Tower, the Jarvis Piccadilly Hotel is to undergo a total external refurbishment, making use of a glass and metal cladding system which will match the rest of the Piccadilly Exchange. A new entrance will be built on Portland Street to enhance the approach to the building, and will be floodlit at night. The internal refurbishment includes the addition of 14 premium quality rooms, taking the total number up to 285, and a new event and meeting room large enough for 250 people.

Bernard House, the third block above the podium, is currently in a state of disrepair. Largely unoccupied, its roof is now supported by temporary scaffolding and the building will be demolished above podium level in the first stages of refurbishment. The existing basement, ground and first floors will be used to create large retail units fronting Mosley Street, Parker Street and York Street.

Piccadilly’s new image will be further enhanced by recladding of the ground floor and piazza levels in keeping with the materials used on the Sunley Tower and Jarvis Hotel. Improved lighting and CCTV will also be introduced to ensure the safety of all people entering the Exchange, particularly at night. The NCP car park will not be substantially altered, though improvements will be made to pedestrian access, lighting CCTV and lift access.

When completed, Piccadilly Exchange will comprise over 31,000 sq m of office space, 17,000 sq m of retailing and a 19,000 sq m hotel. It is estimated that it will employ 1,797 people and is expected to be completed before the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The refurbishment of Piccadilly Plaza reflects other activity throughout Manchester, and it is the renewed confidence in the City Centre, along with the City Council’s objectives for Piccadilly Gardens that made it an ideal time for the developers to act.

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Countdown to the Games

Posted on August 5, 1999 by admin

Work began in late April at the Stadium site in East Manchester, with Alfred McAlpine Civil Engineering moving on site to begin preparatory groundworks. Work on the Stadium itself, for which the planning application was submitted at the end of May, should start later in the year.

The 48,000 seater stadium will be the centrepiece of Sportcity, which will become one of, if not the most, significant sports facility complexes in the country. The key focus for the Sportcity development will be the sports facilities which will serve to stimulate the regeneration of the Eastlands site and wider East Manchester area. The other sports facilities will comprise the UK Sports Institute, which will be the hub of the UKSI North West and an ITI Tennis Centre. The Velodrome completes the range of sports facilities within Sportcity.

The provisional programme for the Games, which will be held over ten days from July 25 to August 4 2002, has now been proposed by the organising committee, ready for approval by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth Games Federation in October.

Three team sports and 14 individual events are planned as follows
Team events – netball, rugby sevens and hockey. Individual events
Aquatics, Gymnastics, Table tennis, Athletics, Judo, Triathlon, Badminton, Bowls, Weightlifting, Boxing, Shooting, Wrestling, Cycling, Squash

Manchester has also decided to include sports for disabled athletes, honouring the spirit of the decision made by the CGF to include events for disabled athletes from 2006. Eight events will be selected from a list of 12 recently agreed with the International Paralympic Committee for disabled athletes.

Participants in the Games will be housed at an athletes village at Manchester University’s Fallowfield campus. It has a capacity of 4,850, although there may be potential to include additional accommodation nearby for officials . A second village for participants in the shooting competition at Bisley will hold approximately 400 competitors and officials, bringing the total to 5,250. This compares with 5,065 at the Kuala Lumpur Games in 1998.

Sir Rodney Walker has accepted the post of chairman of Manchester 2002 Ltd, the subsidiary company charged with delivering the Games. He will also be vice chairman of Manchester Commonwealth Games Ltd. The former Rugby League forward and Yorkshire shot-put champion is chairman of the UK Sports Council and since October 1998 has chaired the Financial and Business Review Committee for the Games

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Manchester Civic Society Awards

Posted on August 5, 1999 by admin

At its recent Annual Award Cemony, The Manchester Civic Society made a number of presentations recognising significant developments in the City. The Manchester Renaissance Award was shared by the Northern Quarter Association Public Art Scheme and Manchester Millennium with the City Council for the rebuilding of the City Centre following the 1996 bomb explosion. The Northern Quarter Association was founded in 1993, with an artist in residence appointed. In the last three years some 34 works of art have been produced using funds from the Lottery and Europe.

Quay bar in Castlefield won the Victorian City Award which celebrates a modern development, building on Manchester’s established architectural and urban design character. Judges described the design by Stephenson Bell as “Uncompromisingly contemporary to its age but makes the best use of its location, using strong and robust materials to reflect the industrial heritage of its setting”.

The Manchester Shop Window Award went to 76 King Street, a scheme by Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams. Originally designed by Alfred Waterhouse, the architect of Manchester Town Hall, the former Stock Exchange has been converted into shops and offices, with the retail units occupied by DKNY and Jigsaw.

The Manchester Phoenix Award for the successful restoration of a building or area went to the Bright Eyes Child Care Activity Centre on Demesne Road in Whalley Range. The former YMCA sports club provides 33 jobs and 15 training opportunities and offers child care for almost 200 children. Also receiving commendations were 109 Princess Street, Stalybridge Station Buffet Bar, the Malmaison Hotel and CUBE on Portland Street.

The Spirit of Manchester Award was presented to Jim Ramsbottom for his work in the Castlefield area. He was praised as the man with the vision to realise the potential of the area, which has won wide acclaim for its rejuvenation. Ramsbottom set up both the Mark Addy pub on the River Irwell and Dukes 92 in Castlefield and has subsequently been responsible for he modernisation of a series of buildings in Castlefield including merchants Warehouse

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Trade & Investment News

Posted on August 5, 1999 by admin

The face of Manchester in Malaysia

Caroline Douglas has taken over from Mervyn Stephenson as Manchester’s representative in Kuala Lumpur. Previously with the British Tourist Authority as country manager for Malaysia, she has taken on a two-year contract from April.

Douglas will be building on the growing links between Manchester and Malaysia to secure the greatest economic benefits from the Commonwealth Games coming to Manchester. These include a Manchester Chamber of Commerce & Industry trade mission scheduled for November and other activities which build on last year’s successful Manchester in Malaysia Week

New start for Japan Centre

The Greater Manchester Centre for Japanese Studies is celebrating a new start, with a new name and a move to a prestigious new premises. The Japan Centre officially opened in June at Waterloo Place in Oxford Road. A partnership between the Greater Manchester universities, the Japan Centre’s main activities are teaching Japanese, supporting Japanese students at Manchester’s universities; developing relationships between the North West and Japan and building links with local Japanese communities. They are also agents for the Japanese work placement scheme, Keiken UK.

Funding for the Japan Centre was raised through a campaign supported by the Osaka Chamber of Commerce, Japan Banpaku organisation, BNFL, Manchester University, The Greater Manchester Japan Club (Japanese alumni), Manchester City Council, MIDAS and the Osaka Manchester Forum trade missions and Sharp Electronics For further information, contact Zoe Talks at the Japan Centre on 0161 275 2305/3255, or fax 0161 275 3354 or email: zoe.talks@man.ac.uk.

Manchester champions creative industries at world congress

Manchester City Council took part in the World Bank’s World Competitive Cities Congress in May, held at its Washington headquarters. The City Council presented a case study of innovative work in using information and communications technologies to underpin the City’s economic regeneration. In a paper entitled “Harnessing Multimedia for Economic Development, Public Service Delivery, Education, Cultural Innovation” the City promoted its leading role in the creative and new media industries.

The presentation outlined Manchester’s emerging dynamic supply chain, demonstrated by developments as diverse as the conversion of redundant warehouses by innovative property developers and local architects into accommodation for design, software and multimedia companies; the clubs where many of the UK’s leading music groups have emerged and the cafŽ bars and restaurants fitted out by young designers.

It described Manchester as a “seedbed of youth enterprise and creativity”, citing the presence of strong universities as a major influence and underlining the importance of providing opportunities for students to remain. “Creative industries are important in their own right,” the paper concluded, “but they are also a source of innovative capital investment, of ideas and communication, which is so vital to the future”

North West’s top 100 companies

Manchester TEC has published a guide to the North West’s top 100 companies in 1999, giving a unique insight to the region’s economic base. The guide contains complete profiles of the businesses, including number of employees, trading figures, parent company information and details of web site addresses. In addition, company addresses and contact names can be supplied on disk or labels For further information contact Manchester TEC information department on 0161 237 4000

North West partnership with China

The China Gateway North West Project – approved in December 1995 under a Regional Challenge bid, with a total cost of approximately £3 million – is now approaching a crucial stage in its development. Set up as a partnership with Manchester City Council, Manchester Chamber of Commerce and Business Link, UMIST Ventures/China Technology Link, Chinese Marketing & Communications, Manchester TEC, and Yangtze Enterprises, its remit was to “deliver lasting commercial, cultural, and civic links between the North West of England and China.” The project in its present form has come to an end and agreement has been reached to extend the China Gateway influence and support by closer involvement with the newly-established Regional Development Agency. The model being developed is a North West Trade Company for China, which has as its key objectives:-.
- Maximise trade levels between companies in the North West and China to secure and create local employment.
- Increase the amount and improve the quality of trade support to China available to North West companies. l Attract maximum investment from China to the North West.
- Assist development of Chinese businesses in the region.
- Provide a potent, co-ordinated, and high quality service to businesses.

Leading this initiative is Brian McCann, former chairman of China Gateway North West Advisory Board, – a leading member of the Asia Pacific Advisory Group to the UK Government – and Kath Robinson, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, who has been long associated with Manchester’s special relationship with Wuhan City in Central China. The “new” company will operate across the whole of the North West as a public/private sector agency.

Kath Robinson said the new organisation had the potential to stimulate trade and promote business, cultural, and community to community links with China. “It can become a robust and sustainable organisation with local government support, in the North West, thus strengthening the UK’s overall trading position with China.”

In supporting a new model organisation, the RDA will be building on a secure base. The resident Chinese Community, alongside the endeavours of local authorities, educational institutions and the business community, have given the North West a specific China focus. This unique partnership has already attracted the interest of the UK government and the Local Authorities International Bureau, which is holding a one-day event to promote UK/China links in early September. This will coincide with a China in Britain campaign, to be launched shortly by the Chinese Embassy in London, fitting in with UK National and European Union ventures

Tale of two cities

While Manchester United was winning an historic treble in Barcelona, City leaders were signing an historic agreement signalling the beginning of a strategic alliance between the two cities.

The agreement is the idea of Marketing Manchester, the City’s marketing agency. Professor Bob Boucher, the agency’s chairman, said: “I am delighted we have been able to bring together two great European cities with much in common. Like Manchester, Barcelona is at the heart of a diverse region with great potential.” Indeed, both cities have looked to major sporting events as a route to regeneration. Since the 1992 Olympic Games tourism in Barcelona has doubled, and direct foreign investment increased by 43.7 per cent in 1998.

The two cities will work together in exchanging experiences, encompassing the organisation of key events, public/private sector collaborations, culture, airport management, tourism and city marketing.

A team from Marketing Manchester spent a week in Barcelona’s main tourist information office in May promoting Manchester to both the people of Barcelona and the thousands of people visiting the city for the European Cup Final, the Spanish Motor show and the Formula 1 Grand Prix

Wuhan winners

Manchester City Council led a sport and leisure delegation to Wuhan from this summer to explore cooperation opportunities with Wuhan designers, architects and sport sector companies working on the development of a major sports complex in the city. During the visit, Council representatives met with the Beijing State Sport General Administration Bureau, re-established relationships with the China People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the China Council for Promotion for International Trade. More importantly, the mission provided a first-hand opportunity for British companies to experience the potential and business opportunities of this vast market

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City welcomes the Friendly Games

Posted on March 5, 1999 by admin

The closure of the 16th Commonwealth Games by the Queen in September 1998 marked the start of a new stage in Manchester’s long and distinguished history.

During the closing ceremony, watched by a TV audience of around 500 million, the ‘Friendly Games’ were passed on to the people of Manchester. The focal point of the 17th Commonwealth Games will be Sportcity, the biggest sporting development in British history. Central to Sportcity, located in Eastlands in east Manchester, will be the 48,000-capacity Millennium Stadium. Just a mile from the City Centre, the £90 million stadium will transform the City’s landscape with its distinctive circular form and 75 metre-high masts.

The Sports Council has contributed £77 million of the £90 million needed to build the stadium with the outstanding £13 million provided by the City Council. The stadium will be built in two phases: 21,000 covered seats will be ready for the Commonwealth Games athletics events in 2002, and the second phase will involve the expansion of the stadium to a seated capacity of 48,000.

Manchester City Football Club will take over the stadium when the Games have finished if shareholders and fans agree to the move. Sportcity will also include a new £3.5 million Indoor Tennis Initiative, the existing Velodrome and a Sports Academy dedicated to nurturing young sporting talent throughout the North West.

The Academy will be a world class venue, boasting a range of facilities including:
- A large sports hall which can be sub- divided into four stand-alone sports halls.
- A Gymnastics High Performance Centre.
- A Sports Injury and Sports Medicine facility.
- A floodlit all-weather athletics track with indoor athletic facilities.
- A floodlit all-weather sports pitch.
- Accommodation and training facilities for the nation’s elite sports squads.
- A resource centre for local clubs/leagues and regional governing bodies.

Sportcity will be one of numerous Commonwealth Games venues throughout the City. The City Centre will be home to boxing, gymnastics and netball, which will be shared between the G-Mex Centre and Europe’s largest indoor area, the Manchester Evening News Arena. Weightlifting events will be held in the Royal Northern College of Music. A new state-of-the-art aquatics centre, one of the most comprehensive swimming facilities in Europe, being built on Oxford Road, will host the watersport competitions.

Manchester’s accessibility and high quality public transport system were key factors in its successful bid to host the Games. Most visitors will arrive in the city via Manchester airport, which will have a second operational runway by 2002 and will be handling more than 25 million passengers a year. Once in the city people can move easily between all venues using public transport, including the Metrolink tram system.

The Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games will be more than just a sporting event, it will ensure the longterm regeneration and sustainability of East Manchester and enhance Manchester’s international standing and profile

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Planning for the future at Sharston

Posted on March 5, 1999 by admin

Following the successful launch of Sharston Green, Sharston Industrial Estate is to be regenerated in a joint venture between Ringway Developments and Manchester City Council. The 44 hectare estate dates back to the 1930s and over the years has played a key role in the development of Wythenshawe. In 1998, it was identified as a major redevelopment opportunity – to create a modern, up-to-date industrial estate through a phased programme of redevelopment and refurbishment, which will see upgrading of existing premises and a number of new-build opportunities.

Ringway Developments is leading the new partnership in the ten-year plan, and is responsible for the coordination of private and public sector funding, which will be invested in the provision of new premises, infrastructure, landscaping and upgrading of the common areas of the estate. Financial support from the government’s Single Regeneration Budget is being made available through the Wythenshawe Partnership and the first tranche of funding has already been approved. Work has just started on improving the estate’s identity by developing better signposting and creating a significant entrance feature on Sharston Road, the estate’s main through-road. From April, the second element of the budget will be released for infrastructure improvements on Sharston Road itself, including new footpaths, signage and lighting.

Ringway’s development manager Charles Perrin says Wythenshawe is undergoing a period of major change, with improvements to the shopping centre, new housing, improvements to existing housing and the second runway at Manchester Airport.

“Sharston Industrial Estate has always been a major employer in the area. We hope the investment will significantly boost local employment opportunities and the prestige of the area even more,” he explained. “Where possible we are investing in local suppliers – the new signage, for example, is being manufactured by Harbright Signs, one of the existing occupiers in the estate.”

In addition to the infrastructure works, the partnership has started to acquire redundant vacant buildings on the estate in order to deal with historic dereliction. The first purchase was the former Manor Bakeries’ property, whose 1.4 hectare site has been cleared, re-named Alpha Point and is now available for the immediate development of up to 6,500 sq m of purpose-built manufacturing or warehouse accommodation.

European Regional Development Fund and Single Regeneration Budget support has also been secured, in tandem with Manchester City Council, for two other sites which are to be refurbished to provide a complimentary range of small and medium sized industrial units. “Now existing occupiers can see something happening they are becoming more proactive and beginning to invest in their own properties,” says Perrin. “Although still in its early days, one of our aims is to encourage tenants to invest in their premises and modernise their leases and therefore help improve the overall image of the Estate.”

In addition to Sharston Industrial Estate, Ringway Developments has also launched Sharston Green, a 14 hectare mixed-use business park, on an adjacent site on the opposite side of the M56 motorway. Work on a new 9,290 sq m manufacturing facility for local employer Hellermann Insuloid, an existing occupier on Sharston Industrial Estate, is nearing completion. Construction has also started on a new 2,044 sq m unit for Airline Service which is expanding its current operations at Manchester Airport. Perrin says both Sharston Green and the industrial estate are both ideally located due to their proximity to both the M56 and Manchester Airport. The imminent completion of the M60 orbital motorway will enhance the location even further. “With the expansion of the second runway, many airport-related operators will be looking for accommodation for their businesses both on and adjacent to the airport,” he adds. “We are looking to provide these companies, and other businesses attracted by the motorway access, with a range of advanced units and flexible design and build opportunities at a choice of developments, all of which benefit from the excellent strategic location.”

For further details on Sharston Industrial Estate contact Tom Davis of DGI Davis George on 01925 490 490

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