Manchester saw 36 new businesses created every day in the first half of 2022 — a huge rise of 34 percent compared to the same period last year.
Analysis of Companies House records by iwoca shows that 6,431 firms were registered from January to June of this year, meaning there were 1,165 new companies per 100,000 people. That rate is the second-highest in the country, with Manchester only behind London.
To see why the city is a magnet for start-ups, the Manchester Evening News spoke to two new businesses on how they got set-up. Primo Bagel and Loaf Mcr, both food firms, are based in the city centre.
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“There's so much exciting stuff going on in the city - it seems like people are much more willing to take a risk on somebody who's just starting out,” Niall Harley, a co-founder of Primo Bagel, said. He launched his bakery at the end of last year, when Niall and his two co-founders, Scott Shannon and Fay Brown, were working at Pollen Bakery in New Islington.
The 31-year-old continued: “We initially got stuff together to build a small kind of commercial bakery within Scott's house and it started off with just Instagram and collection and delivery through the app.
“From there, we got a pop-up with Cloudwater Taproom which was really good. We did that for three months, every weekend. And then through that we got our current residency at SEESAW.”
Niall, who handles the operations and marketing side of the business, said having access to the pop-up space offered by Cloudwater Brewery Taproom was vital to growing the business: “It's extremely important because we were just on Instagram and in our flat. So having somewhere to actually operate and get in front of people and be able to chat to customers and things like that are really important.
“Obviously, Cloudwater is a really established and amazing company in Manchester. So it was great to be able to kind of piggyback off them for a little bit.”
While Manchester is still second to London in terms of business creations, the bagel operator says he did not think of launching in the capital: “I don't think we would have ever gone for London as such — we use London as an example of people who are trading and doing amazing things at a very high level — but we would have been in Manchester regardless.”
He said the growth of MediaCity and ongoing developments right across the city show that Manchester is rapidly “becoming a place for big businesses” as well as small and medium sized enterprises — which is a change he sees in his clientele. He explained: “Going into SEESAW, our customers changed a little bit with more office workers and nine-to-five crowds coming in Monday to Friday.
“I think a lot more business is going to continue to come to Manchester and those people are going to need feeding. So we're ready for that.”
Another new firm is Loaf Mcr, which is the city’s first loaf cake company. Aiden Ryan set up the firm from home during the pandemic, and the popularity of his cakes led Northern Quarter cafe Ezra & Gil asking him to supply them with products.
“I wouldn't have been able to do it if I didn't have that support,” the 30-year-old, who quit his day job to launch the business, said.
“Ezra & Gil could have gone for a regular established supplier, but they were actually key during the pandemic in supporting home bakers or anyone who was starting out. They saw the opportunity of something unique and individual on their counter that would then give them a point of difference.
“Any small business needs those types of clients and it takes a certain type of business and mentality to take a risk on something that is quite new and unknown.”
Aiden then found his first physical premises through a container at Pollard Yard in Ancoats after the company expanded to supply 13 cafes within three months.
"Pollard Yard is a mixture of businesses, it's quite a creative hub," says Aiden. "And I don't think you can find that in many other places. Anyone I know who has set up there is super grateful for the fact that they're able to have manageable overheads. It doesn't break the bank, but it gives you something that's versatile enough to turn it into whatever you want.
“So Pollard Yard gave me that opportunity to develop what we're looking at today. And if I didn't have it, I probably wouldn't be here right now.”
The firm seems to be going from strength to strength, and is set to open its own store to replace the former Patisserie Valerie on Oxford Street. That’s something Aiden called ‘pretty wild really considering we only started two years ago’.
Both Loaf and Primo are examples as to why Manchester ‘is a really attractive place for start-ups’, according to Coun John Hacking, who heads the council’s employment division. He added: “Manchester has an ever-growing business sector and this is because there is a huge amount of confidence in the city as a place where businesses can thrive.
“We also provide ecosystems for small businesses to incubate and grow - and the city has an impressive pool of talent for employers to draw from, not least from the city's universities.
"For us, supporting the growth of new businesses means we can increase employment opportunities for our residents and help to expand our emerging industries - particularly in the tech and digital sectors. Our challenge, however, is to ensure we provide pathways to these new jobs for our residents to make sure Manchester people are able to share in the city's success.
"As part of Manchester's recovery from the pandemic, £72m has been committed to help residents to gain qualifications, stay in education and reduce employment. 4,500 residents are now in work clubs, and we want this to be the catalyst for our residents to find the right job for them."
Read today's top stories here.
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