Gandhi statue approved in Manchester

Developer U+I will submit planning applications for offices totalling nearly 300,000 sq ft at Manchester’s Mayfield over the next two months with a major deal with Barclays still on the table.

The developer is understood to have partnered with the council to buy the 367,000 sq ft shopping centre in a move that has been welcomed by the town’s business community.

The developer has brought forward plans for a mixed-use scheme at Academy Business Park near Kirkby, featuring nearly 100,000 sq ft of retail, trade counter, and self-storage space.

The retailer is to close its supermarket in Ince along with three others in England, with Morrisons instead looking to invest in four other stores.

Blackpool has been burdened with a negative reputation but the town is far more than the sum of its parts, writes Liv Parr of Hawkins\Brown.

After a contentious battle between councillors, campaigners, and The Christie, the replacement for the fire-damaged Paterson building has won approval at Manchester City Council’s planning committee, while a 12-storey student block was refused, and a conversion of Pearl Assurance House into a hotel was deferred.

A fresh planning application for the redevelopment of the football club’s Anfield Road stand is set to come forward with “ambitious” new proposals now under consideration.

The business advisory firm has agreed a deal with Bruntwood SciTech to open a national technology innovation hub at the Manchester Technology Centre, next to the emerging Circle Square neighbourhood.

Newry Construction has started site clearance for the 304-room Epic Hotel overlooking Queen’s Dock for developer Elliot Group.

The council is understood to have agreed to buy the 367,000 sq ft shopping centre, allowing it to guide development of a swathe of the town centre, while a deal has also completed at Clarendon House.