Revival or recording studio used by icons of rock

A forgotten music recording studio in Manchester once used by artists like New Order, Spandau Ballet, Paul Weller and Depeche Mode is being revived.

A team from law firm Shoosmiths has advised Allied London’s St John’s Neighbourhood on its agreement for the newly-christened Low Four, at the Old Granada Studios site.

The deal has been struck with music producer Brendan Williams and TV producer/music manager Dan Parrott, by the legal team led by Shoosmiths partner Laura Harper, head of the IP & creative industries group.
 
St John’s is a new city-centre neighbourhood masterminded by Allied London alongside Manchester City Council.

Allied London acquired the landmark site on Quay Street from broadcaster ITV in 2013, ahead of its move to MediaCityUK.

The Low Four concept, developed by the St John’s cultural director Katie Popperwell in partnership with the University of Salford, sees the space operating as a recording studio, a television studio broadcasting new music programming on a digital platform lowfour.tv, a live broadcast studio and training hub for students, as well as a private hire space for live events.
 
Allied London has leased the 1950s studio – formerly home to Granada TV’s music department – to Williams and Parrott, and invested in the project under a strategic initiative to reintroduce original music production back into the space.
 
Harper, who worked on the deal with associate Carol Isherwood, said: “It has been a privilege to be involved in bringing this cultural hidden gem back to use, Manchester has such a fantastic heritage it is great that the rising musical stars of tomorrow can now share the same studio as some true greats.”

Popperwell said, “Our cultural objectives for St John’s are about facilitating creative enterprise – we want to inspire and support new talent, create space for artistic experimentation and generate opportunities for creative learning.”

As well as the visiting pop bands, the studio was used to record the theme music for several award-winning Granada shows including The Jewel In The Crown, Brideshead Revisited and Sherlock Holmes.