Business investment into Stockport is at an all-time high, with deals on over one million square foot of commercial space completed during the past 12 months.
Creating 2,060 new jobs and ensuring another 952 stay in Stockport for the future, the news comes as the town continues to undergo an exciting £1 billion transformation that reinforces its position as a leading business location.
The decisions made by companies to seize the opportunities Stockport offers means the future use of one million sq ft of office, retail and industrial space has been secured over the past year.
Companies choosing to invest in Stockport have included Advanced Laser Technology who moved to Reddish from Manchester; Prince’s Street dessert restaurant Creams and LSH Auto who are investing £60 million into a new Mercedes-Benz dealership and regional hub. A number of local companies have also chosen to expand their business here in Stockport including Rowlinson Knitwear, Wheatley Plastics, CDL and O’Neill Patient Solicitors.
At the same time, new developments across Stockport town centre are quickly filling up.
Eight out of Aurora Stockport’s ten units are already let with many of the businesses moving in choosing Stockport for the first time. Since November, The Light Cinema, Zizzi, PizzaExpress, Berretto Lounge and The Gym Group have all opened at Redrock, and are trading ahead of expectations. Redrock is proving so popular that the Light Cinema welcomed their 200,000th guest recently.
Stockport Exchange, the town’s new award-winning business district has also proven to be a phenomenal success. The first office building, One Stockport Exchange was fully let within just six months to Stagecoach and musicMagpie, who were looking for the perfect locations from which to grow their business. The new Holiday Inn Express is also proving exceptionally popular.
Stockport’s strong investment performance has seen the town placed in the top 10 locations nationally for office occupier investment by “CoStar 50”, as well as the fastest growing economy in the north west in the recent UK Powerhouse report.
Pam Smith, Chief Executive at Stockport Council said: “Stockport is undergoing an exciting transformation that is building on all of the town’s strengths making it a great place to live, work play and connect.
“Stockport is arguably one of the UK’s prime and best connected business locations, and I’m delighted that so many businesses have chosen to take advantage of this and the opportunities our transformation is creating by investing in our town over the past year, with many more looking to move here over the coming months. I’d like to wish each of them a successful future here in our town.”
Steve Oliver, Co-founder and CEO of musicMagpie commented: “We were both extremely proud and excited to move into our new home in the new Stockport Exchange building after a lengthy search of looking for new high quality offices for our growing team. As a proud Stockport business that started in a garage in Hazel Grove to now employing nearly a thousand people in the town, we were extremely keen to stay in Stockport, to find a location that was so well connected to local amenities with its position right next to Stockport train station was fantastic for us. That connection allows colleagues to easily commute from Manchester but also means we can attract talent from as far and wide now as Stoke, Liverpool, Preston and Sheffield, which is invaluable. The direct link to Manchester Airport is also invaluable to us as we regularly visit our fast growing US brand, Decluttr, in Atlanta.”
