Manchester continues to thrive, says report

MANCHESTER  is continuing to attract more people and businesses into the city, according to a new report.

Manchester Partnerships has just published its fourth annual State of the City report, which shows that the number of people living in the city has continued to rise and is on track to meet city bosses’ target of having 450,000 residents by 2015.

The report also showed that the number of businesses also increased by more than 1,4000 during a ten-year period between 1998 and 2008 – although these numbers are likely to have fallen back since the recession.

The report said that Gross Value Added in Greater Manchester South (an area that includes Tameside, Stockport, Salford and Trafford boroughs) virtually doubled in 2007 to £22,172 per person – pulling it above the national average of £20,000.

However, it also pointed out that the city still has high levels of worklessness and that a fifth of residents have no formal qualifications. And although male life expectancy rates rose from 70.8 years in 199-2001 to 73.8 years in 2006-08, they are still the second-worst in the country.

Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese said the report gives the council “a clear vision of where we need to get as a world-class city.”

“The picture it reveals is encouraging,” he said.