Economy of Manchester - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The economy of Manchester is amongst the largest in England. Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, a city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

of 498,800 people in North West England

North West England

North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...

. The city lies at the heart of one of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

's largest metropolitan area

Metropolitan area

The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...

s, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

, with a population of 2.6 million. The city is also part of the recently formed Manchester City Region

Manchester City Region

The Greater Manchester Statutory City Region is a pilot administrative division of England, coterminous with the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester...

with a population of approximately 3.2 million and aims to fuel economic growth with the surrounding areas of Greater Manchester.

Historically, the world's first industrialised city,•
• Manchester today is a centre of the arts

ARts

aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....

, the media

News media

The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...

, higher education

Higher education

Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

and commerce, the city is also a major legal and financial centre. Its economy features 65 of the FTSE 100 companies.

In a poll of British business leaders published in 2006, Manchester was regarded as the best place in the UK to locate a business. In 2010 it was ranked the second-best city in the UK to locate a business, and the twelfth-best city in Europe.
A report commissioned by Manchester Partnership, published in 2007, showed Manchester to be the "fastest-growing city" economically. It is the third most visited city in the United Kingdom by foreign visitors.

The late 2000's recession generated a economic contraction across all UK regions with Manchester included, however Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

and the North West England

North West England

, which Manchester is situated in contracted the least in 2009 according to GVA. In late 2010 and 2011 employment in Manchester remains volatile, but has been steadily increasing bucking the employment rise trend in North West England.

The city and Greater Manchester region have benefited from large-scale developments such as Metrolink expansion, the £650m MediaCityUK development and the largest development outside South East England in NOMA, Manchester

NOMA, Manchester

NOMA is a large mixed-use development in Manchester which is due to open in 2012, and will be home to The Co-operative Group. It is the largest development project in the North West England ahead of developments such as MediaCityUK and Atlantic Gateway and overall is the largest development outside...

at a cost of £800m. Future developments include the £650m Manchester Airport City, the Etihad Campus project in conjunction with Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

and the £50 billion Atlantic Gateway

Atlantic Gateway

The Atlantic Gateway is a proposed transport project in Canada. It aims to take an integrated approach in developing transport infrastructure within Atlantic Canada to enhance Canada's ability to capture a larger share of growing trade flows between North America and Asia.The federal minister...

project which aims to reinvigorate the Manchester Ship Canal

Manchester Ship Canal

The Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...

GVA

*GVA for Greater Manchester region 1999-2007*
Year	Regional Gross Value Added
2001	35,206
2002	38,685
2003	38,922
2004	40,915
2005	42,291
2006	44,089
2007	46,189

In 2007, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

's GVA

Gross value added

Gross Value Added ' is a measure in economics of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy...

was £46,189m

There is a large disparity between the south and north of Greater Manchester - with the south (which includes the boroughs of Manchester

Manchester

, Stockport

Stockport

Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...

and Trafford

Trafford

The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 211,800, covers , and includes the towns of Altrincham, Partington, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston...

) nearly double the GVA of the north of Greater Manchester.

The south of Greater Manchester includes the City of Manchester - the financial heart of the north, Trafford

Trafford

with Trafford Park

Trafford Park

Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Located opposite Salford Quays, on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, it is west-southwest of Manchester city centre, and north of Stretford. Until the late 19th century it was the...

- a major industrial park nationally and Stockport

Stockport

which has a low unemployment.

Overall Greater Manchester produced £46,189m of the North West's £116,466m GVA output in 2007 - with North West of England producing the 3rd highest GVA after London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

and the South East

South East England

South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...

accounting for 10% of the United Kingdom's total GVA.

Tourism

Manchester is the second most visited city in England (after London) and the third most visited in the United Kingdom (behind Edinburgh).

Retail

The pedestrianised Market Street

Market Street (Manchester, England)

Market Street is one of the principal retail streets in Manchester, England. It runs from its junction with Piccadilly and Mosley Street, close to Piccadilly Gardens, in the east to where it meets St. Mary's Gate at the crossroads with Exchange Street and New Cathedral Street in the west. St Mary's...

forms the core of the city centre's retail area. It is dominated on the north side by the Manchester Arndale

Manchester Arndale

Manchester Arndale is a large shopping centre in Manchester, England. The centre was built in the 1970s when many other cities were constructing large malls. Manchester Arndale is the largest of a chain of Arndale Centres built across the UK in the 1960s and 1970s...

and a branch of Debenhams

Debenhams

Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...

. The city centre also has smaller centres including The Triangle

Corn Exchange, Manchester

The Triangle is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. The building was originally used as a corn exchange and was previously named the Corn & Produce Exchange. Following the IRA bomb in 1996 it was renovated and is now a modern shopping mall....

, which caters to youthful and upmarket clientele, and the Royal Exchange Centre

Royal Exchange, Manchester

The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed Victorian building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann’s Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street...

. The Shambles includes Harvey Nichols

Harvey Nichols

Harvey Nichols, founded in 1813, is an upmarket department store chain. Its original store is in London. Founded in 1813 as a linen shop, it sells many international brands of clothing for women and men, fashion accessories, beauty products, wine and food...

, Marks and Spencer, and Selfridges

Selfridges

Selfridges, AKA Selfridges & Co, is a chain of high end department stores in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge. The flagship store in London's Oxford Street is the second largest shop in the UK and was opened on 15 March 1909.More recently, three other stores have been...

stores, as well as a number of designer boutiques. Overall, Manchester has the highest number of "premium retailers" and in 2010 turnover in Manchester city centre was £921m.

Deansgate

Deansgate

Deansgate is a main road through the city centre of Manchester, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mile long....

also has many shops, including department store House of Fraser

House of Fraser

House of Fraser is a British department store group with over 60 stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891 it was known as Fraser & Sons. The company grew steadily during the early 20th century, but after the Second...

(formerly Kendals), along with pubs and bars. King Street

King Street, Manchester

King Street is one of the most important thoroughfares of the city of Manchester, England. Once the centre of the north-west banking industry it is now predominantly an affluent shopping area.-History:...

is an affluent shopping area with exclusive fashion brand stores, as well as many notable buildings preserved in a conservation area. Other hubs in the centre include St Ann's Square, and Exchange Square

Exchange Square (Manchester)

Exchange Square is located in the English city of Manchester. The square was heavily redeveloped after the IRA 1996 Manchester bombing. This reconstruction included the moving of two pubs to make room for the new Marks & Spencer store....

.

Former stores include Lewis's

Lewis's

Lewis's was a large department store in Liverpool city centre. It was formerly the flagship of a chain of department stores under the Lewis's name, that operated from 1856 to 1991, when the company went into administration. Several stores in the chain were bought by the company Owen Owen and...

, Henry's, and Affleck and Brown (now Affleck's Palace

Affleck's Palace

Afflecks is a building housing an indoor market located at the junction of Church Street/Tib Street and Dale Street with Oldham Street in the Northern Quarter of Manchester in England. Dozens of independent stalls, small shops and boutiques operate in the one building...

).

There are various markets held regularly within the city. In the run up to Christmas, the Manchester Christmas Markets take over Albert Square

Albert Square, Manchester

Albert Square is a public square in the centre of Manchester, England.It is dominated by its largest building, Manchester Town Hall , a Victorian Gothic building by Alfred Waterhouse...

, St. Ann's Square and surrounding streets. It started as a traditional German/French Christmas market, hence the large number of Glühwein & sausage stalls. This has grown year on year and boasts an increasingly wide range of stalls from Western Europe

Western Europe

Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

(such as Holland, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

). The markets provide food and drink into the evening extending the use of the city centre and lending a friendly spirit to Christmas shopping.

Banking

Manchester is a focus for businesses which serve local, regional and international markets. In 2008, the city was the fifth-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom outside London with more than 96,300 people employed in banking, finance

Finance

"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...

and insurance

Insurance

In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...

. The Co-operative Group

The Co-operative Group

The Co-operative Group Ltd. is a United Kingdom consumer cooperative with a diverse range of business interests. It is co-operatively run and owned by its members. It is the largest organisation of this type in the world, with over 5.5 million members, who all have a say in how the business is...

, the world's largest consumer-owned business, is based in Manchester and is one of the city's biggest employers. Legal, accounting, management consultancy and other professional and technical services exist in Manchester.

Spinningfields

Spinningfields

Spinningfields is a large business, retail and residential development in Manchester, England that lies in the western portion of the City Centre, between south Deansgate and the River Irwell. The Spinningfields complex is the masterplan of Allied London Properties, a London-based property...

is a large new business centre west of Deansgate that will serve as home to several headquarters, squares, and cafes. The first building on the site was the Royal Bank of Scotland

Royal Bank of Scotland

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...

's new headquarters. Some have speculated that Spinningfields is fast becoming the Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...

of the North, with the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

noting, "London

London

has Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...

and Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

has La Défense

La Défense

La Défense is a major business district of the Paris aire urbaine. With a population of 20,000, it is centered in an orbital motorway straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux...

, Manchester has its own modern financial centre in the form of Spinningfields".

Construction

Manchester currently has the largest development outside South East England

South East England

at NOMA

NOMA, Manchester

in Manchester city centre

Manchester City Centre

Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England. It lies within the Manchester Inner Ring Road, next to the River Irwell...

. Despite other largest developments projects such as MediaCityUK, the Etihad Campus development, Atlantic Gateway

Atlantic Gateway

and Metrolink expansion around the city, experts have claimed that construction North West England will contract until 2015.

Technology

Manchester is also home to a burgeoning community of digital companies, specialising in fields as diverse as SEO

Search engine optimization

Search engine optimization is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid search results...

(search engine optimisation), web design

Web design

Web design is the process of planning and creating a website. Text, images, digital media and interactive elements are used by web designers to produce the page seen on the web browser...

and online PR. The rise of Manchester's digital commerce scene is evidenced by the establishment of its own online hub Manchester Digital

Manchester Digital

Manchester Digital is an association of people and organisations working with digital media and digital technology based in and around Manchester, UK. It acts as a trade association and collaboration network...

, along with websites aimed at bringing together companies and individuals involved in more specific fields, such as SEO.

Sport

The city has links with Umbro

Umbro

Umbro is an English sportswear and football equipment supplier based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England. The company is now part of Nike. Umbro designs, sources, and markets sport-related apparel, footwear, and equipment...

and Reebok

Reebok

Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...

, both companies were founded nearby in Wilmslow

Wilmslow

-Economy:Wilmslow is well known, like Alderley Edge, for having many famous residents, notably footballers, stars of Coronation Street and rich North West businessmen. The town is part of the so-called Golden Triangle in the north west together with Alderley Edge and Prestbury...

and Bolton

Bolton

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

respectively. Another major sports apparel company, Adidas

Adidas

Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...

has its UK head office in Stockport

Stockport

and its national distribution warehouse in nearby Trafford Park

Trafford Park

- both site total 60% of Adidas's UK workforce.

Manchester is also popularly known for its footballing connections, Manchester City and Manchester United, both have a combined revenue of €503m world's wealthiest footballing cities (Manchester City - €144m and Manchester United - €286m). Both clubs popularity places Manchester

Manchester

as the second richest footballing city by revenue. Only the capital

Capital City

Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....

, City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

with three clubs (€637m - total revenue of Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

, Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

and Tottenham Hotspur) can boast better figures according to the 2008-09 Deloitte Money League table.

Food and drink

Manchester has a range of restaurants, bars, and clubs, spanning the famous "Curry Mile

Curry Mile

The Curry Mile is a nickname for the part of Wilmslow Road running through the centre of Rusholme in south Manchester, England. The name is earned from the large number of restaurants, take-aways and kebab houses specialising in the cuisines of South Asia and the Middle East, thought to be the...

" in Rusholme

Rusholme

-Etymology:Rusholme, unlike other areas of Manchester which have '-holme' in the place name is not a true '-holme'. Its name came from ryscum, which is the dative plural of Old English rysc "rush": "[at the] rushes"...

to traditional ‘grub’. The Chinatown

Chinatown

A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...

area of the city features many oriental foods. Modern bars and bistros line Deansgate Locks in the city centre. In addition to these there are many independent fast food retailers throughout Manchester. There are now many top class restaurants.

The city is also home to some famous food manufacturing companies. Kellogg's have based their European headquarters in Trafford Park since 1937. It is currently the largest cereal factory in the world, with Corn Flakes the most widely produced product. McVitie's also has a key production site in Stockport Road where it has been based since 1917.

Transport

Manchester is a central hub in the North of England for transport with the largest airport in the UK outside of London

London

, Manchester Airport. The airport is a public sector

Public sector

The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...

controlled by the holding company, Manchester Airports Group. Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council is the local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It is composed of 96 councillors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. Currently the council is controlled by the Labour Party and is led by...

has a majority 55% stake with the remaining 45% controlled by the nine boroughs of Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

who all have a 5% stake. The airport employs approximately 19,000 people and annually carries around 21 million passengers a year - over double its nearest rival.

The city is served by the Metrolink

Manchester Metrolink

Metrolink is a light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. It consists of four lines which converge in Manchester city centre and terminate in Bury, Altrincham, Eccles and Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The system is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester and operated under contract by RATP Group...

system which stretches from Bury

Bury

Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...

in the north to Salford, Eccles

Eccles, Greater Manchester

Eccles is a town in the City of Salford, a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England, west of Salford and west of Manchester city centre...

to the west and Altrincham

Altrincham

Altrincham is a market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on flat ground south of the River Mersey about southwest of Manchester city centre, south-southwest of Sale and east of Warrington...

in the south. There are works in place to extend the Metrolink service to other parts of the city.

The cities bus services, GM Buses

GM Buses

GM Buses was the main bus company serving Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. The company was public owned by Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, which is a public body responsible for helping to co-ordinate public transport services in the Greater...

were demerged in 1996 with Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...

gaining control of the GM South bus services and First Bus

First Bus

First Bus can mean:*New World First Bus, third largest bus operator in Hong Kong*FirstBus, a United Kingdom bus company that was renamed First Group in 1998...

gaining GM Bus' gaining GM North bus services. Stagecoach Manchester is the Stagecoach Group's their largest subsidiary carrying over 87 million passengers a year and employing 1,700 staff. First Manchester

First Manchester

First Manchester is one of the bus companies serving Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...

also operate a thorough bus service in Manchester alongside Stagecoach.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.