Innovators to get helping hand at Mayfield
The Mayfield Partnership has launched a search for the Manchester’s brightest and most exciting innovators, and is offering rent-free office space for up to six entrepreneurial businesses in a new facility opening this autumn.
Occupiers of the new co-working space, Mayfield & Co, will restore technological innovation to area near Piccadilly station, which in the 19th Century was the beating heart of Manchester’s booming industrial powerhouse when it was home to Thomas Hoyle’s Mayfield Printworks.
Mayfield & Co will establish a collaborative community of like-minded people, organisations and businesses, innovating, inventing, sharing ideas and creating a springboard for business success.
An expert panel of judges, including Mike Cunliffe, principal economic regeneration officer at Manchester City Council, Michael Taylor, head of external affairs at Manchester Metropolitan University and James Heather, project director at property regeneration company U+I will select the innovators who will be able to move into Mayfield & Co from November.
Heather said: “We have made great strides in the last few months putting Mayfield back on the map thanks to the GRUB street food fair and our gardening initiative with the Green Health Alliance. The natural next step for us is to attract and nurture some of the brilliant start-up businesses in this great city.
“At its pinnacle, Mayfield in Manchester was a world leading place of technical innovation. It was here that Thomas Hoyle pushed the boundaries of printing colours onto fabric in the 1800s. This was industrial achievement through technology and we want to see Mayfield in 2017 start to embody some of this visionary pioneering spirit.
“Mayfield & Co. will bring innovation back to the site. Our co-working space will be a home for the next generation of technical innovators to shape their future, the future of Mayfield and Manchester’s too,” he added.
Taylor added: “I am delighted to support the launch of Mayfield & Co – any initiative that supports innovation and technical entrepreneurship among start-ups is to be welcomed. I am sure the standard of entries will be really high and look forward to seeing this project evolve as the vision for Mayfield comes to life.”
Successful applicants will not have to pay rent, but will be asked to meet a monthly charge of no more than £99. There’s also potential for seed funding for materials and equipment that occupiers may need. Requirements will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
The co-working initiative is being brought forward by the Mayfield Development Partnership – a joint venture between Manchester City Council, LCR, Transport for Greater Manchester and mixed-use property regeneration specialist U+I.
The partnership’s long-term plan for Mayfield is to create an iconic, £850m mixed-use community over the next 10 years, including commercial, residential and leisure facilities. The 24-acre site, next to Piccadilly Station, has been derelict for more than a decade.
The wider Mayfield regeneration vision will potentially provide 1,300 homes, 807,000 sq ft of office space, a 350-bedroom hotel, retail and leisure facilities and a new city park, creating over 7,500 office, retail, leisure and construction jobs.
