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Project Digital - Tomorrow

49K views 239 replies 51 participants last post by  Lee F 
#1 ·
An American technology giant is set to lead a property deals spree in Manchester city centre.

Surveyors DTZ say that so-called Project Digital is now close to taking 100,000 sq ft of central Manchester office space.

Sources have indicated the company on the search for premises in Manchester is a global brand.

Speculation is rife that it could be Apple.

Assessing the city’s office market, DTZ said: "In a significant move, it is understood that an undisclosed US technology corporate has terms agreed on 17 different Greater Manchester buildings, with seven more to follow.

"Project Digital is set to take up to 100,000 sq ft of grade A space in 2012, progressing to an eventual total of around 170,000 sq ft."

The Project Digital deal is expected to be followed by a series of other transactions.

DTZ calculates that as many as 29 occupiers are looking for around 830,000 sq ft of space in and around Manchester.

An announcement is expected this autumn from health giant BUPA, which has been looking a 160,000 sq ft Greater Manchester base.

A shortlist of Salford and city centre sites is being considered.

Jacbos Engineering is also looking for 90,000 sq ft, with Cheadle tipped as its likely destination.

Private college BPP is seeking 50,000-60,000 sq ft to consolidate operations in the city centre while another college, Futureworks, has a requirement for 25,000 sq ft.

Rob Yates, director of office agency at DTZ in Manchester, said: "We expect the second half of 2012 to show improved levels of activity.

"There are a number of deals due to commit plus larger transactions to come to fruition. We expect the final take up figure for 2012 to be around 700,000-800,000 sq ft."

In a separate report, surveyors at GVA disclose that business confidence has continued to affect regional office occupier markets.

Christopher Cheap, a director at GVA , said: "The overriding theme across all north west markets is occupier nervousness and higher levels of due diligence increasing the

time taken to convert firm interest into transactional commitment.

"This is particularly the case with larger lettings or pre-lettings, which essentially underpin take up levels.

"It is clear that this has contributed to a lag in the pipeline of transactions over the last quarter.

However, with a number of these ‘deals’ still very much on track, we expect there to be increased activity towards the end of the year.

"The central Manchester market continues to see a high number of smaller transactions within the secondary sector which yet again illustrates its scale and robustness as

indigenous occupiers continue to move."


Source: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereve...ject-digital-takeover-of-office-space-in-city
 
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#174 ·
Tomorrow HQ to be based in Manchester
26th June 2013

THE consortium behind the high-tech, top secret Tomorrow project in Manchester is to base its European headquarters in the city.

Tomorrow, formerly known as Project Digital, was partially unveiled in August when the agent Edwards & Co said a collaboration of global companies was bringing a groundbreaking technology to the city and had signed 10-year leases on 180,000 sq ft at 20 locations.

More detail was expected soon after but the launch was postponed.

Today Edwards & Co director Andrew Timms told an audience at the Liverpool and Manchester Property Forum in Manchester that it will be launched within weeks and that the companies behind it had a sizable requirement for a headquarters building.

He said: "Manchester has been chosen as the European headquarters and we are in quite detailed discussions on that and will be announcing it after the launch."

He added: "The clients have chosen Manchester because it's got MediaCity, the science parks, and the universities. The talent here is one of the major drags. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll be getting the go-ahead and announcing the launch. It will be very exciting, it's a world first and I'm looking forward to speaking about it in greater detail."

He said his clients had looked at all parts of the world, including South East Asia, but it came down to Europe and an English-speaking country. Capital cities were considered but in the end Manchester "ticked all the boxes".

"They're not just opening a business but delivering a concept that will go to other cities and they knew Manchester was a key city where they could start it off," he said.

Last August the technology was described as being able to "facilitate collaborative problem solving, new product/service development and commercial innovation".

Thirteen of the buildings involved are: The Hive, 47 Lever Street; 1 New York Street; Chancery Place; Orange, MediaCityUK; One First Street; The Peninsula Manchester; Riverside, New Bailey Street; 304 Bridgewater Place; Towers, Manchester; Booths Park, Knutsford; Citilabs; 196 Deansgate; Manchester Science Park.
 
#178 ·
2 of my friends are both in jobs as a result of their companies relocating to Manchester from London; and they don't work for the BBC! My partner also works for a large bank that is increasingly taking staff out of London and Europe, and moving their business to Manchester.

It really is pathetic how some Mancunians choose to blame every single thing that goes wrong in their city on London. It must be lovely to always have someone else to blame. Be sure to mind that huge chip on your shoulder. :|
 
#183 ·
I don't believe I've seen anyone post this as yet...announcement only a matter of weeks away? (Again)

"Tomorrow HQ to be based in Manchester"

http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/nort...be-based-in-manchester.html?news_section=4151

The below is intriguing:

Today Edwards & Co director Andrew Timms told an audience at the Liverpool and Manchester Property Forum in Manchester that it will be launched within weeks and that the companies behind it had a sizable requirement for a headquarters building.
 
#186 ·
Interesting.

But let me tell you what will happen:

They'll do a soft launch here. Little fuss.

They will soon after do a massive launch in London which will attract global attention, you know the 'Nooz just in from London' kinda thing....ends report with....'showing that London continues to lead the world in digital innovation'.

Unless of course our own media types get their acts together and shout it from the rooftops.
I'm not optimistic about that though: 3 minutes on Granada Reports and a pile of badly composed garbage in the MEN.
 
#187 ·
Interesting.

But let me tell you what will happen:

They'll do a soft launch here. Little fuss.

They will soon after do a massive launch in London which will attract global attention, you know the 'Nooz just in from London' kinda thing....ends report with....'showing that London continues to lead the world in digital innovation'.

Unless of course our own media types get their acts together and shout it from the rooftops.
I'm not optimistic about that though: 3 minutes on Granada Reports and a pile of badly composed garbage in the MEN.
Doesn't really matter. If Manchester is to be the European HQ it'll have the good jobs whether the acclaim comes here or not.
 
#189 ·
I think the publicity around this does matter. Here's why:

If people out there in the investor world think London is the home of this (-----) whatever it is, then they are going to be more attracted to taking further investment and jobs to London.
If they understand that Manchester is the starting point and the European HQ, that's going to make people seriously sit up and take notice of us.

This sounds increasingly like it's a once in a decade (or more) opportunity to get the marketing big beasts beating the Manchester drum. We can't afford to squander this opportunity.
I'm just saying I'm fearful that we will because our media/publicity capacity is so shite.
 
#193 ·
I think it presents an opportunity for the city to market itself as a good place for businesses in general to invest because this investment is proof of the qualities Manchester claims to have (skilled workforce, growing digital sector, cheap) but people in this industry who may choose to make similar investments will know because they'll be dealing with the European HQ in Manchester and will have heard through Googiscapplesofts own PR.

For a project that's not even been formally announced the publicity they've got so far has been pretty impressive.
 
#191 ·
Please refer to your own sign off, you know, the one in blue, underlined.

Worse still you work for a bank don't you?
Bank's clearly know nothing about investors otherwise they wouldn't have ended up screwing the economy.

We haven't used a bank in 5 years to fund one of our projects, we use investor clubs and crowd sourcing. You know what? We've increased our margins on projects significantly by not having to fund overpaid know it alls like you to pontificate from the comfort of a cushy office (and spending too much time online when you should be working)

So yes, I know how investors think and work. I am one, and I work with other investors every working day.
 
#192 ·
Look!

London or not, this is a very big coup for Manchester, if it is........? I have no reason to think it isn't.

Deals like this only come along once in a lifetime, if that. And if you consider the amount of Manchester property companies, their buildings and floor space, etc, involved, it's not surprising it's taken so long to get to an announcement stage.

So rather than looking at it as something negative(London, etc), let's embrace it and the jobs bonanza it will bring Manchester now and in the future.
 
#195 ·
Manchester is on the up (speaking as someone with no stake in the place). I think this could seal it. We need a viable alternative to the overheated and overpriced London. We need our LA or Portland or Chicago (I talk both culturally and economically).

London does get everything... but there has to be a tipping point and saturation point and I think we're reaching it. Manchester, with its embrace of digital unlike any other UK city, is best placed to take on the capital. It will never be London, but it can be the more exciting alternative.
 
#197 ·
Just thought that I would share this with you all...

So last night I went out with some old friends and in the taxi ride got onto an interesting subject about the internet. A friend of mine told me about a new technology/idea that has come from none other than.... CISCO.

It's called 'The Internet of Everything'. It's basically having everything connected to the internet to share information with each other. For example your alarm clock will wake you early if it gets information from the internet that there is traffic on your daily commuting route, or you can tell your oven that you will be home in 10 minutes and to pre heat etc.

He used the terms 'sharing information' and 'communication between businesses'. He also said (and also in the video on the Cisco page that I linked to) that your sprinklers would be connected to check the weather so if it is going to RAIN they can automatically power down to save you money and water, this seemed relevant to me considering it was posted on here about Manchester been chosen partly due to the rainy weather (yes I'm subscribed to this thread).

Anyway in my head I was connecting all the dots and I also told him of this project and the secrecy behind it and the fact that it is due to revolutionise the way we communicate, and it just sounded bang on the money from what we have heard about this project.

Just to point out neither me nor my friend are affiliated or even work in this sector, it was mearly a conversation between friends. Anyway if this is what is due to hit Manchester then it is fantastic news, but as others have commented its undoubtedly going to be rolled out nationwide. The fact that Manchester is to be the 'European HQ' implies this is going to be a global project eventualy, which also falls in line with The Internet of Everything.

Anyway just thought it was some information relevant and you would all like to hear about it. :)

More info here: http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/innov/IoE.html
 
#201 ·
The Internet of Things has been around for quite a while now - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things, it's not just a Cisco thing, although they are one of the many companies looking at it (the BBC R&D North lab at MediaCityUK have done stuff with it too)
Yeh thats the Internet of things, the one that Cisco is now pushing is the Internet of EVERYTHING. It's the next step up from the Internet of Things. I know its not just a Cisco thing but I seem to remember Ciscos name being thrown about on here and it seemed to tie in together. Like I said I don't know if it is this but the possibility is there.
 
#209 ·
You might have expected that they would be sure that whatever it is actually works before they (allegedly) sign up for a lot of space.

Not having the faintest idea what it is but it does seem odd that they can't "connect" one building to another, again, allegedly.

So a 2014 launch, then. Or maybe not. :)
 
#211 ·
Aye - I asked if consolidating all the space into one office building was a potential solution and he said that they were still intent on spreading the HQs about in different buildings across the metropolitan area
If that's true, and no doubt all will be revealed in due course, (maybe) but it does seem somewhat bizarre.

Cannot understand why a properly run project would be announced only to be effectively stalled on a technical issue that appears to be fundamental to its success?

Either they can't run a piss up in a brewery or this is some sort of hoax.:)
 
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