Works starts on £12m Workington Innovation Centre

Jon Matthews Architects and Planit have been appointed to create an overarching development plan aimed at attracting new residents, improving connectivity, and encouraging economic growth.

Long reads, happy people, and splashes of colour.

Nearly 900,000 sq ft of offices are proposed in the Government Property Agency’s plans for the former Central Retail Park site in Ancoats – a project that the agency says could generate £310m for the area’s economy during its four-year construction period.

The official start of the festive networking season was marked yesterday when 200 guests gathered at Junction in Manchester to reflect on 2024 and look ahead to 2025.

Developers hoping to deliver shared houses in nine of the borough’s wards will soon no longer be able to do so under permitted development rights.

Wythenshawe Community Housing Group will use half of the money to deliver more than 230 homes in the South Manchester community, with the other half dedicated to refurbishing some of the 14,000 homes that make up its existing portfolio.

Designed by Planit, the city council’s proposed 2.25-acre park on the former Central Retail Park site in Ancoats would include terraced gardens, play areas, and a lawn.

Penwortham Girls High School’s more than 800 pupils will be relocated roughly 320 ft south to an L-shaped, three-storey block to be constructed by Bowmer + Kirkland.

Luke Atkinson has been promoted from associate director to company director at the commercial property consultancy.

A platform that will provide an exit route for the developer and allow the investor to enter underinvested residential markets is close to being formalised, Place North West understands.

“What is the point of setting a target that you can deliver without bold action?” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told an audience at Pinewood Studios on Thursday.

A new future has been outlined for the 220-acre former Penrhos Aluminium Works in Holyhead, with Stena Line-owned property company Anglesey Land Holdings unveiling its ambitions to build up to 2.6m sq ft of data centre buildings, 107,600 sq ft of offices, and 53,800 sq ft of dedicated R&D space.

Located between the town centre and Prestbury, the site is to be redeveloped to address an “urgent need” for housing in Cheshire East.

With Richard Hemmings on board as managing director, the development financier has committed £60m to regional projects – a number it hopes to grow.

A vehicle headed up by former Beech Holdings director Stephen Beech has lodged plans for a 97-unit scheme.

The joint venture has submitted a planning application for the 1,300-home neighbourhood, one of the largest regeneration projects in the town’s history.

With 30 companies and local authorities on board as partners, the media group has shared how it will lead the Northern charge at the global expo with two dynamic panel sessions at the event’s UK stage.

Sefton & Formby Developments has secured the signatures of the two well-known retailers as it progresses plans for a shopping and employment complex east of the bypass.

Despite delays to the promised government reforms on planning, housing minister Matthew Pennycook has outlined ambitions to bring back regional spatial strategies. Plus: rent controls and Manchester offices.