Managing Director of Barings Real Estate also calls Manchester a “magnet” for attracting students and workers as his company plans expansion in the city.

Summary:

• The resilience of Manchester’s investment market and location has been praised by the head of global real estate manager Barings
• Ian Mayhew called Manchester a “growth” city, predicting a prosperous post-pandemic recovery unlike other key investment cities
• Mayhew also highlighted the North West city’s ability to attract and retain students and new workers as a strong indicator of continued growth

The future continues to look bright for Manchester as an investment location.

That’s the belief of the head of one of the world’s largest real estate investment managers.

Ian Mayhew, Managing Director of Barings Real Estate, called Manchester a “growth” city, as his company continues to expand its commercial property presence in Manchester city centre.

Barings Real Estate is the company that’s delivering Landmark, a new 180,000 sq.ft. office development in Manchester’s St Peter’s Square. In recent weeks, Barings has struck several new deals with firms that will operate and manage the large city centre work hub which completed in summer 2019.

This expansion comes despite the global pandemic, which caused businesses and their staff to take day-to-day operations away from city centre offices.

However, Mayhew told Insider Media that it’s the strength of Manchester as an investment location that’s fuelling confidence post-COVID-19 for Barings.

Commenting on a deal struck with Hana – a company which will design, build and operate a flexible workspace at Landmark – Mayhew described it as an “endorsement of the resilience of Manchester as a location and a market”.

Mayhew acknowledged current challenges for the commercial property sector. However, he said that Barings’ ability to strike such deals during these times “demonstrates that Manchester is a growth city”.

Discussing Manchester’s position as a strong investment city, Mayhew added: “The population is growing, it’s got a talent pool coming through from world-class universities and education systems – Manchester is a magnet.”

“This demonstrates to the wider market that we’re very supportive of Manchester, and that on the other side of COVID-19, it’ll do really well.”