WPP today opens a creative powerhouse in the North of England with its new Manchester Campus, signalling its ambition to invest in the city and grow its business outside London.
The move strengthens the company’s 30-year-long presence in the city and unites 550 people from long-established WPP agencies in Manchester – EssenceMediacom, Cheetham Bell, Code Computerlove, Wavemaker, Cloud Commerce Group and Kinetic – as well as agencies new to the area: Ogilvy Health and VMLY&R Health.
The modern, 67,000-sqft office space was designed by BDG architecture + design, a WPP company, and is split over eight floors to provide collaborative and dynamic co-working areas for the agencies which have grown significantly in the last five years.
The campus has put inclusive design at its heart to meet the evolving and diverse needs of its people, including flexible workspaces that reflect WPP’s continued focus on mental wellbeing. It boasts three double-height social hubs with feature stairs, additional accessible toilets and dedicated mothers’ rooms. The building also includes a roof terrace with views across the city, as well as a café, bar, and business event space. Sustainability is at the centre of the renovation – as it is for all new WPP campus buildings – and the Manchester Campus is targeting a BREEAM rating of Excellent.
The Manchester Campus will also serve as a catalyst for growth in the local community. Through partnerships with organisations like The ScaleUp Institute, WPP plans to support and foster small businesses in Manchester, providing them with opportunities to collaborate and grow alongside its agencies. The campus will also partner through a variety of volunteering opportunities with local community groups such as The Trussell Trust and Mustard Tree, who are dedicated to addressing food waste, and preventing homelessness and poverty respectively.
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: “Our Manchester agencies have achieved significant growth and success, driven by the extraordinary talent and dedication of our people. It is their accomplishments that have paved the way for the creation of this new state-of-the-art campus. Manchester is a thriving creative hub and it has always been our intention to invest in a campus that would bring our agencies together in the city. This move further demonstrates our commitment to facilitate collaboration, fuel creativity, and give clients access to the breadth and depth of WPP talent in one location.”
