College of Law to open in New York Street
Bruntwood has signed the College of Law to take the problematic space alongside City Tower in central Manchester that was originally built by the previous owners for use as a gym.
The new £5.5m legal centre will open in September 2009. The college recently completed a £2m refurbishment of an existing centre in Chester.
Tricia Chatterton, regional director of the college, said: "This is an excellent location for our new centre, in the heart of a dynamic, regenerated commercial quarter, with great transport links.
"The college will be investing in the regional economy by retaining prospective legal talents and nurturing top law professionals of tomorrow."
Michael Clavell-Bate, senior office partner of Eversheds in Manchester, said: "The Manchester legal market is extremely competitive and growing. Work that historically would have gone to the City is now being undertaken within the region. As a result, the demand for high calibre graduate trainees continues to grow and the presence of the College of Law will justifiably enhance the crop of students available in the North West."
Colin Sinclair, chief executive of MIDAS, Manchester's investment and development agency, said: "Manchester is the perfect fit for the expansion of the leading provider of vocational legal education and training in Europe."
Research from Pro Manchester said the legal sector has grown by 25% in Manchester in the last five years.
