Sharp move for JD’s production team

JD SPORTS Fashion, the North West retailer, has signed a deal to move more than 50 staff from its Bury HQ to a new facility at The Sharp Project in Manchester.

JD has taken 10, 400 sq ft of production space at the Newton Heath-based creative hub for its multi-channel content team in a deal worth more than £2m.
 
It has agreed a long-term lease on facility at The Sharp Project’s ‘Stage 02’ and 58 staff including photographers and designers will relocate from the Pilsworth headquarters in September.

The unit will deliver multi-channel content across a dozen of the group’s brands to service the  business.  As well as the ‘mother ‘brand, JD, marketing material will be produced for Size?, Bank, Scotts, Tessuti, Blacks, Millets, Ultimate Outdoors and Foot Patrol.

Peter Cowgill, executive chairman of JD said: “This is a very exciting step for us. Multi-channel is a significant growth area for us and a key strategic priority.  Taking this facility at The Sharp Project means we can facilitate our rapid growth and future demands while still keeping it local. We are combining all of our content, photography, design and production into a single multi-channel team.

“We are a forward looking company and taking permanent production space is an innovative approach for a retailer that enables us to be much more self-sufficient and productive. It will help us keep ahead of the competition.”
 
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, which owns The Sharp Project,  said: “It’s great to have a worldwide business base themselves at The Sharp Project making a significant investment into their presence on site.

“The creative digital sector in Manchester is going from strength to strength and The Sharp Project has been a big part of that story and continues to deliver opportunities for local people.”
 
Rose Marley, chief operating officer at The Sharp Project added: “We’re entering a new phase as the stages at The Sharp Project shift from being drama-based to being the home of commercial content production.”

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