Dissecting OBI’s digital difference

Laing O’Rourke has reached a significant milestone in the construction of the £60m Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre in Manchester, with the building on course to open next year.

Chief executive and founder Daniel Burton says his smart home technology, which is partnered with Amazon’s Alexa, will protect consumers from burglars, reduce energy bills by 30% and have the heating on by the time users get home. 

The Dot app is designed to connect all of Allied London’s ECUK tenants using a ‘chance encounters’ model.

Barclays' fintech banking centre, Rise Manchester, in the arches of Great Northern Warehouse, has closed and the vacated space taken by start-up coffee operator Grindsmith, currently being courted by many of the city’s developers who are keen to bring attractive independent brands to their new buildings.

Manchester Science Partnerships has officially launched the Bright Building, its 70,000 sq ft flagship building at Manchester Science Park.

The Northern Arc proposal led by Ryder Architecture and Arup has been selected as one of ten winners in the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, a competition to see where pod-based high-speed transport systems could be implemented.

The outlook for retail includes both uncertainty and opportunity, according to a panel of industry experts speaking at the latest Place North West event last week.

Manchester Science Partnerships has let more than 12,000 sq ft at its flagship Bright Building to NorthWest EHealth, a provider of data platform technology that has outgrown its current base at MSP’s Citylabs campus.

Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire are among six pilot areas of the UK to share £10m from Government to help bring full fibre broadband networks straight to the doors of homes and businesses.