etc.venues postpones Manchester move
LONDON-based training and conference venue group etc.venues has put its plans on hold to take a 16,000 sq ft floor at 3 Piccadilly Place.
The business, backed by Growth Capital Partners, won planning permission for change of use in April but has since had a change of heart.
A spokesman for etc.venues said: “It remains a strategic objective to open venues in all the important UK cities and Manchester remains top of our list. A Manchester city centre venue is just a question of when not if, but right now the balance between supply of and demand for venues is tricky.
“In macro terms economic recovery in the North West seems to be behind where we would like it to be and the hotel market over-supplied. The city and its landlords could not have been more welcoming and we would certainly reactivate our search around Piccadilly if we could find more cost effective space that we now need to make our business model work.”
He said there had been downward pressure on the rates it can charge which means it must pay lower rents to make a return.
A planning statement filed with Manchester City Council, prepared by consultant Andy Frost, shows how the company wanted to break the space up into 15 training and conference rooms for 260 delegates.
The move, which would have created 20 jobs, would have been etc.venues’ first location in the North. At present it has 11 venues in London and one in Birmingham. Joint letting agents at Piccadilly Place are Savills and GVA.
