‘Northern Quarter needs more quality space’

MANCHESTER’S Northern Quarter is not catering for creative business that have outgrown their humble beginnings.

That’s the view of Atul Bansal, co-founder of design company The Sheila Bird Group, who is working on a new Lever Street scheme which will aim to offer more high specification space.

The Sheila Bird Group has already worked with landlord Stevenson Estates and the digital agency The Neighbourhood on the revamp of 24 Lever Street, which is also home to training organisation Hyper Island and design firm Music.

Now it is teaming up with Stevenson Estates again to renovate a Georgian terrace at 8-14 Lever Street.

Mr Bansal said: “What we have discovered with Lever Street is we can accommodate businesses that want 3,000 sq ft, but there are so many people who want to be part of that culture that only want 1,000 sq ft.

“The rent’s not that important. These people don’t want Grade A, they want Grade A attitude. In the Northern Quarter there’s a massive demand for 1,000-1,500 sq ft lets. And they don’t want dirty, squalid space because that’s what they’re in now. The market’s growing up and there’s nothing there to fill it.”

Code Computerlove, the city’s biggest digital agency, has outgrown its 5,500 sq ft base on Jutland Street and is understood to have struggled to find the right space in the Northern Quarter.

A recent report on the growth of the technology media and telecoms (TMT) sector in Manchester by Savills estimated that there will be demand for 140,000 sq ft of space from these companies over the next 10 years.

It pointed out there is no shortage of cheap space with around with 300,000 sq ft availalbe below £15/sq ft, but the demand is for the right sort of space in the right location and that is likely to be met by refurbs such as 24 Lever Street.

Cheetham Hill-based Sheila Bird has bagged several significant contracts in recent months. It is working on the interiors at the new European headquarters of 3D specialist EON Reality in east Manchester, and it is overseeing the design of the top secret Tomorrow project. A major technology business has taken 180,000 sq ft across 20 sites to deliver an as yet undisclosed technology to business customers.

Mr Bansal has now been working on the project for three years. He said: “We’re directing other people’s creative thought processes to give them the freedom to create space without any restrictions or worries about technology. And to make sure every single space looks different from every other space.”