Manchester office market summary September 2024

We’re into the final quarter of what has been an extremely busy year for Manchester’s office sector.

September saw lots of notable new office moves in the city as we said goodbye to the summer and started looking ahead to 2025.

Manchester has some real momentum at the moment, and the latest new office moves in the city are some of the biggest yet.

BNY

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY) has taken over the entirety of 4 Angel Square at NOMA this month.

This 200,000 sqft sustainable, smart space will be home exclusively to BNY, the oldest bank in America, and is the largest “big 6” regional office deal since 2020.

The building holds BREEAM Outstanding and WiredScore platinum ratings, a Five Star NABERS Design for Performance certification and is net zero in operation, making it the ideal modern home in Manchester for BNY.

Paul Pavia, Commercial Director at MEPC said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming BNY to 4 Angel Square. The building’s outstanding sustainability credentials and state-of-the-art facilities will support them in meeting their focus on client and people experience.”

It has been argued that this will be such a significant move in the city that Manchester’s commercial core will be pulled northwards towards the new BNY office.

Newline Group

Newline Group, a market leading insurance company has opened a new office in Manchester at 11 York Street. This modern office space is the company’s second regional office in the UK after Leeds and brings them closer to business partners and clients.

Andrew Pecover, Chief Underwriting Officer at Newline Group, said: “Manchester is another hub for our core product offering. We’re eager to meet with our trading partners in person, bringing our expertise and suite of products to local markets.”

G2V Recruitment

G2V Recruitment operates more than 25 offices around the world and chose to expand its footprint in Manchester this September.

Moving from their existing space at The Chancery, 58 Spring Gardens, G2V now occupies a 12,300 sqft space at 3 Hardman Square in Spinningfields.

The 10-year lease reaffirms G2V’s commitment to Manchester and its booming technology sector.

Ryan Woods, divisional director, Vivid Resourcing (G2V Group), said: "We feel establishing our new Manchester office in the heart of Spinningfields is a perfect location to grow, while attracting and retaining highly capable staff, further solidifying our position at the forefront of the recruitment sector. It's an exciting time for our people who will enjoy a vibrant workplace."

AMS Group

Professional services firm AMS is another mover into Spinningfields, this time to 1 Hardman Square.

Taking 16,400 sqft in the building, AMS is relocating from Portland Street and bring its various teams together in a new home at the heart of Manchester’s business district.

“We are in an ambitious but well-planned trajectory of growth” said Ebrahim Sidat, AMS Group chief executive. “The impressive space and style offered by our new headquarters will serve both our clients and growing teams very well.”

‘DKNY’ building acquired by Northern Group

The Grade II Listed 76 King Street has been acquired by Northern Group for an undisclosed sum and added to the company’s impressive portfolio.

The 41,414 sqft office and retail space will now become a new branch of Northern Group’s COLONY workspaces, with existing clients DKNY and Belstaff making way.

It will be Northern Group’s eighth COLONY location in Manchester following the acquisition of 19 Spring Gardens earlier this year.

Northern Group COO, Paul Dobbs, said: “Northern Group is a distinctly and proudly Manchester-born and based 360-degree property company with a trusted reputation for our top end development, management and residential and commercial spaces.

“As such, we are really excited to bring 76 King Street into our property portfolio. This is a special building, instantly recognisable to many Mancunians and its intricate, listed architecture and superb location aligns with our ethos to create, retain and operate outstanding spaces to work and live in vibrant parts of the city.”

Baily Garner

Baily Garner, a multidisciplinary construction consultancy, has made its first move into Manchester by taking 1,500 sqft of office space on the third floor of 15 Oxford Court.

This office joins the company’s existing spaces in Birmingham and London, and the plan is to growth the northern office to 20 people in the coming years.  

Dan Bridgewater, Head of Architecture at Baily Garner, said: “The opening of our Manchester office represents a significant step forward in our growth strategy. As an organisation, we are committed to delivering excellence in the fields of architecture and construction.

“We are excited to support local communities with innovative and sustainable solutions, which is pivotal to our company’s purpose to positively impact people’s lives.”

Crowe

The audit and accounting firm Crowe has moved to a new 7,400 sqft space at St George’s House, just of St Peter’s Square.

Having relocated form their old home on Mount Street, Crowe has taken a big step in its strategic growth plans. The St. George’s House space is bigger and better able to help the company support its employees.

Phil Smith, Crowe FinancialPlanning Managing Partner, said: “We are thrilled to make St George’s House our new home in Manchester. This move reflects our commitment to providing an exceptional work environment for our team and a welcoming space for our clients. With our office’s growth, we needed a location that aligns with our vision for the future.”

Quoin

Urbana Partners has completed a £9m renovation of Quoin, a 54,000 sqft workspace on Quay Street in the heart of the city centre.

The refit work included an overhaul of the entire façade, the complete refurbishment of the office space, the addition of a roof terrace and new ground floor retail/leisure space to transform the building.

Quoin has now also achieved BREEAM Excellent, EPC A, and WiredScore Platinum accreditations.

Nick Lloyd, director at Urbana Partners, said: “The combination of location, prominence and amenity has already translated into strong demand and we look forward to announcing the completion of a number of leasing deals shortly.”

Considering an office move? Our office space cost calculator is a great first step! Use it to get a free estimate of what your move might cost  before you start looking, then get in touch with the team to learn everything you need to know about the best new office spaces in Manchester, the hidden costs of an office move, what type of office you need and more.