Manchester Council says that it expects that up to £1.1bn will be added to Manchester’s economy over the first 10 years of the Aviva Studios venue’s operation through the jobs it creates and supports
This, says the council is estimated to rise to more than 1,500 – and visitor spending
The venue is expected to attract up to 850,000 visitors a year, increasing to a million visitors in Manchester International Festival years.
The council set aside a sum of up to £22.3m to see the project through to completion last September and while final accounts are still being agreed on a package-by-package basis, it is anticipated that it will come in within the revised £240.99m budget.
£106m of the funding came from National sources to Manchesterincluding £78.1m Treasury Funding, £21m Cultural Capital Kickstart funding from the Cultural Recovery Fund, £7m in National Lottery Funding from Arts Council England and £620,000 additional Arts Council England funding.
The reminder came from the council’s capital budget,money which is only available for infrastructure and construction projects and cannot be used for services – and external fundraising.
The venue they add,is cementing Manchester’s global reputation as a centre for the arts and creativity.
Its just-announced autumn/winter season ranges from a blockbuster retrospective exhibition by beloved painter David Hockney to powerful new works by Laurie Anderson and British artist and filmmaker Jenn Nkiru, highlighting the building’s versatility.
The emergence of the venue has already acted as an anchor to the development of the St John’s area where it stands at the heart of Enterprise City, a major new mixed use development of commercial, cultural, leisure, residential and cultural space. A significant new cluster of innovative city centre workspaces and content production studios are also being created. Enterprise City has the potential to accommodate 17,000 jobs from new start-ups to major corporates. Among the latter who have been attracted to the city are global tech company Booking.com who chose to open its headquarters in Manchester – amid competition from other European cities – and video game development giant Cloud Imperium Games. The St John’s area generated an extra £1.3m in business rates in 2022/23, money which is helping fund council services. This income will increase as further development is brought forward.
The construction of the venue has also delivered social value, with 86% of spending within Greater Manchester and 56% of labour being sourced from within the city region with 25 new jobs created and 52 apprenticeships created or supported.
Deputy Council Leader Councillor Garry Bridges said: “Aviva Studios is an incredible asset for Manchester – culturally, economically, and as part of the rich mix of what makes this such a dynamic city.
“We have never wavered in our commitment to this game-changing project and although there have been bumps in the road along the way we have never lost sight of the destination. It’s hard to imagine this unique venue anywhere else. It’s even harder to overstate the ongoing impact it is going to have.”
