Booming business

WHILE the face of Stockport town centre has physically changed over the past few years, we, as a major commercial property landlord in Stockport, have also seen an ‘invisible’ shift too, quietly boosting the positive perception of the area.

Stockport is presenting itself as a prosperous, wellconnected and forwardthinking town centre and this has started to show with many of the businesses looking for and taking office space, relocating from outside the town centre and the borough.

Over the past 12 months, we have seen continued growth in the trend for businesses outside the centre to move into it, with the likes of Green Monkey AV and Aqua Design both coming from around a mile outside the town centre.

Similarly, Rush Insurance and MechaTech Systems have both come from further afield – Old Trafford and Macclesfield respectively.

The companies praised the transformation of the town centre. The variety of new amenities was also a contributing factor in their decision to relocate.

There is another story to tell behind all this activity which is the continued growth of our existing town centre customers.

Grassroots Recruitment, Guardian Education and Safety to Business have all expanded into larger office space in the past year and they aren’t alone, with merchandise specialists Hatters and Bellyflop TV also upsizing in Regent House and taking on new staff to cope with the additional workload.

So, while the new developments are a physical reminder of change in Stockport, it’s important we analyse the wider impact the investments are having.

It is resulting in new businesses coming in and existing ones growing – businesses which will hopefully become Stockport’s biggest advocates.