Tomorrow HQ to be based in Manchester
26th June 2013
THE consortium behind the high-tech, top secret Tomorrow project in Manchester is to base its European headquarters in the city.
Tomorrow, formerly known as Project Digital, was partially unveiled in August when the agent Edwards & Co said a collaboration of global companies was bringing a groundbreaking technology to the city and had signed 10-year leases on 180,000 sq ft at 20 locations.
More detail was expected soon after but the launch was postponed.
Today Edwards & Co director Andrew Timms told an audience at the Liverpool and Manchester Property Forum in Manchester that it will be launched within weeks and that the companies behind it had a sizable requirement for a headquarters building.
He said: "Manchester has been chosen as the European headquarters and we are in quite detailed discussions on that and will be announcing it after the launch."
He added: "The clients have chosen Manchester because it's got MediaCity, the science parks, and the universities. The talent here is one of the major drags. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll be getting the go-ahead and announcing the launch. It will be very exciting, it's a world first and I'm looking forward to speaking about it in greater detail."
He said his clients had looked at all parts of the world, including South East Asia, but it came down to Europe and an English-speaking country. Capital cities were considered but in the end Manchester "ticked all the boxes".
"They're not just opening a business but delivering a concept that will go to other cities and they knew Manchester was a key city where they could start it off," he said.
Last August the technology was described as being able to "facilitate collaborative problem solving, new product/service development and commercial innovation".
Thirteen of the buildings involved are: The Hive, 47 Lever Street; 1 New York Street; Chancery Place; Orange, MediaCityUK; One First Street; The Peninsula Manchester; Riverside, New Bailey Street; 304 Bridgewater Place; Towers, Manchester; Booths Park, Knutsford; Citilabs; 196 Deansgate; Manchester Science Park.
