ID Manchester announced as key site for Greater Manchester Investment Zone, targeting growth and jobs in advanced manufacturing sector

• More than 30,000 jobs and £1 billion of private sector investment forecast for the Greater Manchester Investment Zone 

• £160 million of public funding to boost growth of city-region’s advanced manufacturing and materials sector

A new Investment Zone for Greater Manchester, announced by the Chancellor in today’s Autumn Statement, is expected to create 32,000 jobs and leverage £1.1 billion of private sector investment.

The Investment Zone will provide £160 million in public funding over 10 years to support initiatives and interventions agreed between Greater Manchester and Government, which will include new research and innovation, sector-focussed skills programmes, local infrastructure enhancements, and targeted business support.

Greater Manchester’s Investment Zone will focus on the advanced materials and manufacturing sector. The package will support established strengths, including ID Manchester and other assets in the city-region core, and build on longer-term ambitions to scale up and deploy innovations in growth businesses, for example through Atom Valley. 

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) will continue to work with Government, the universities in the city-region, and other partners to co-develop the plans for their Investment Zone, including priority development sites and specific interventions to drive cluster growth, ahead of final confirmation of plans.

Speaking on behalf of ID Manchester, a joint venture between Bruntwood SciTech and The University of Manchester, John Holden, Associate Vice-President at The University of Manchester, said: "We’re delighted that ID Manchester will be part of the Greater Manchester Investment Zone plans to put the region at the forefront of advanced materials and manufacturing innovation in the UK and globally. The ecosystem we’re building at ID Manchester will leverage The University of Manchester’s world-class R&D strengths to help scale and commercialise new ideas, driving new jobs across the city region in future-facing industries. We look forward to working closely with our neighbouring centres of innovation in Greater Manchester to create valuable new opportunities for local residents and businesses across the North.” 

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “The Investment Zone will help us attract investment and create jobs and opportunities that will benefit people across Greater Manchester. Our city-region has been a centre for manufacturing and materials innovation for centuries, from leading the Industrial Revolution right through to the development of graphene, and the Investment Zone will ensure that continues.

“It’s also a vote of confidence in devolution and its ability to deliver levelling up. Providing more flexibility and local control over spending can help unlock Greater Manchester’s potential.”

Greater Manchester’s advanced manufacturing and materials sector comprises hundreds of innovative companies and the city-region’s universities host world-leading research. Advanced manufacturing alone employs approximately 110,000 people and generates around £8bn of economic output each year.

Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council and Greater Manchester Lead for Economy, Business, and Inclusive Growth, said: “Greater Manchester has an attractive proposition, with world-leading advanced manufacturing and materials research at our universities, a strong skills base, and an existing ecosystem of innovative companies.

“The Investment Zone will build on that cluster, linking and investing in different sites across the city-region, and helping us translate research and development and new discoveries into business growth.”