A billionaire owner of Asda, a four-star hotel and a food delivery giant are among a whole host of investors, companies and prominent buildings involved in high-profile commercial property deals across the North West in recent weeks.
The likes of Zubar Issa, Evans Cycles, Deliveroo and Sure Valley Ventures have all announced that they have taken significant space in the region.
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Here, BusinessLive rounds up 14 of those deals we feel you should not miss:
Hotel Brooklyn
The four-star Hotel Brooklyn in Manchester city centre has been sold for £24.1m.
The 189-room hotel has been snapped up from Roundapple Hotel Partners by CDL HREIT Investments (II) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CDL Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust (H-REIT).
It opened its doors for the first time in February 2020 and includes two food and beverage outlets, three meeting rooms as well as a casino with a restaurant and bar.
The move comes after the hotel was sold to a private party in May 2021.
Apadmi
A digital agency headquartered in Salford, which works with the likes of Co-op, Domino’s and the NHS, has opened a new office in the Netherlands.
Apadmi's Utrecht base will be its first outside of the UK, with the company already having operations in London.
The office will be headed up by managing director Jasper van de Luijtgaarden.
Stockport County
Stockport County Football Club have agreed a 250-year lease for their Edgeley Park stadium.
The National League side's deal with Stockport Council is now subject to being approved by the authority's cabinet at a meeting on March 15.
In a statement, the club said the new lease would allow them to ensure that further investment can be made on the ground and its facilities.
Zuber Issa
One of the billionaire brothers who own Asda is launch a new supermarket in his home town of Blackburn.
Zuber Issa is behind the new venture, called Euro Grocers, which will be a standalone business and not form part of the wider EG Group.
His brother and fellow EG Group and Asda owner, Mohsin, is not involved in the new enterprise.
Euro Grocers is expected to be a small supermarket and focus on fresh food. It will also include a butcher as well as a fishmonger.
SEEN Connects
A Liverpool marketing agency which works with Jack Whitehall, Gok Wan and Frankie Bridge has opened a New York office.
SEEN Connects, which also has a base in London, currently has four members of staff in the new office which is being headed up by founder Sedge Beswick.
The company grew its team to 55 in 2021 while it is set to fill 20 roles during the first few months of this year.
Sure Valley Ventures
A venture capital firm, which invests in metaverse, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity companies, is to open a new office in Manchester after securing a £85m boost.
Sure Valley Ventures already has offices in London, Cambridge and Dublin and has now completed an £85m first close of a £95m UK software technology fund.
This includes a £50m investment from the British Business Bank through its Enterprise Capital Funds programme, which aims to increase the supply of equity capital to high-potential, early-stage UK companies.
Deliveroo
Deliveroo has launched a new office in the centre of Manchester after tripling its headcount in the city over the last year.
The delivery giant has moved into a new base in New York Street near Piccadilly Gardens.
The new flagship office comes after the company grew the number of employees in Manchester to around 180.
Bury FC
Football could be set to return to Gigg Lane after the sale of Bury FC’s stadium was completed.
The ground along with other assets, including club memorabilia, goodwill and intellectual property as well as the Bury FC name have been acquired by the newly-formed Gigg Lane Stadium Ltd.
The firm is a company limited by guarantee whose members are the Gigg Lane Propco and Bury Football Club Supporters Society.
TrueSteel
A manufacturing business specialising in high-quality workshop furniture, Craig Specialist Services (t/a TrueSteel), has purchased a new premises.
The company's new base is located at Altham Industrial Estate in Accrington.
The purchase was secured after the firm received a six-figure commercial mortgage from Barclays.
The business was established by managing director Craig Harris in 1998.
Lane7
Boutique bowling alley brand Lane7 has opened a new office in Manchester.
The office in the newly-renovated Ducie House will be home to a team of new hires that include operations director Dan Kelly from Beautiful Drinks and head of brand, Lauren Wynne-Williams formerly of B&M Retail.
They also include well as head of creative Jack Jolly and group bars manager Stephen Evans from New World Trading.
Tim Hortons
Manchester Arndale has announced that international fast-food chain Tim Hortons will be moving into a 1,921 sq ft unit on Market Street in April.
Founded by National Hockey League legend Tim Horton in 1964, the Canadian-based outlet expanded into the UK in 2017 and has grown to 50 restaurants located across the country.
Colin Flinn, spokesperson for Manchester Arndale, said: "Our goal is to create a diverse tenant line-up for Manchester Arndale, and this letting to Tim Hortons has helped us to increase the mix of F&B outlets and strengthen our position as a premier destination in the North West.
"We continue to be excited by how many people are returning to Manchester Arndale and have been delighted to announce a series of strong new openings with a range of popular aspirational and innovative brands.
"We look forward to sharing more positive news over the coming months as we continue to widen our occupier base."
Rhino Doors
Industrial Door manufacturer Rhino Doors has relocated its North West operation to a new base in Preston, Lancashire.
The company, founded in 1983, produces high-performance engineered doors for the protection of people and assets, working with organisations spanning the sectors of defence, transport and critical infrastructure.
Rhino Doors has moved to Preston from its former offices in Burscough, while still continuing to operate the main manufacturing facility in Port Talbot, South Wales.
Evans Cycles
Evans Cycles has opened a new store in Cheetham Hill, Manchester.
The company, which is owned by Mike Ashley's Frasers Group, said the 17,554sq ft store will be Britain’s biggest bike shop.
The Cheetham Hill Retail Park shop will stock over 400 bikes.
Matthew Atkinson, head of cycling strategy at Evans Cycles, said: "We are thrilled to announce the opening of the UK’s biggest bike shop in our new Cheetham Hill store.
"Manchester is a very important location for us and this will be our third store in the city."
Rullgardin Bespoke Blinds
Commercial contractor Rullgardin Bespoke Blinds has moved into a new unit at Moss Industrial Estate in Leigh.
Moss Industrial Estate is owned by 100-year-old family-run business, George Moss & Sons.
The Industrial Estate is home to around 100 local businesses of varying sizes and industries and is currently working towards making the estate carbon neutral through a range of sustainability initiatives, including the refurbishment of its older units.
Neill Wood, managing director of Moss Industrial Estate, said: "We’re very pleased to welcome Greg, Sarah and their team at Rullgardin on to Moss Industrial Estate.
"The unit they have taken is one of the first older units that we have fully refurbished to bring it up to modern standards both for their needs but, equally importantly, so that it meets modern environmental and sustainability standards."
