From beer to eternity
New future for brewery site as £93m college
FOR more than 200 years, Boddingtons brewery in Strangeways was one of Manchester’s most famous brands.
The famous Boddies chimney tumbled down when the brewery was demolished in 2007 and the site has been used for cheap city centre car parking ever since.
But from September 2022, this historic scrap of land opposite the AO Arena is set for a rebirth.
A £93million new campus is being built for the Manchester College, for students heading into careers in the creative and digital industries.
Where once workers would have been malting and mashing, there will be teenagers learning 3D animation in a Hollywood-style Green room, or mixing a production in a sound-proof music studio.
Instead of copper tanks, there will be a glittering ‘Jewel Box’ theatre – the centrepiece of the building with 180 seats – where students can study Stanislavski and Strasberg.
Budding chefs will hone their cooking skills in a street-level restaurant open to the public, while creatives can make use of cavernous ceilings to display sculptures, textiles or modern art.
Lisa O’Loughlin, principal of the Manchester College and its higher education provider UCEN, said: “That’s what we want to see, really exciting careers that are future proof.”
Work on the five-storey building opposite the AO Arena, led by construction firm Wilmott Dixon, has been progressing quickly.
During a tour this week, the M.E.N was given a first glimpse at one of the city centre’s new landmarks.
Around 3,000 students are expected to start BTECs, T-levels and degrees next year in a wide range of curriculum areas including computing and digital, creative and digital, hospitality and catering, performing arts and visual arts.
“It will be competitive [to get in],” Lisa admitted.
“We’ve got so much interest in this new campus now it’s getting crazy. This year we had our first open day and we had double the number of students we would normally expect.
“If you were a kid why would you not want to come here [into the city centre]? But also the curriculum benefits, being co-created and delivered with employers.
“Industry placements are built into [the qualifications].”
The Manchester College stopped providing A-levels at all last year.
Instead it will be offering a number of T-levels, a two-year qualification equivalent to three A-Levels that combines classroom learning with industry placements of at least 315 hours (approximately 45 days).
Available subjects include accounting, catering, finance, human resources, construction and engineering.
Lisa sees this model as the way forward and says all Manchester College courses are now tailormade with industry experts and delivered in a setting as close to the ‘real world’ as possible.
“There is a perception that needs to change,” she says.
“People tend to see A-Levels as the route to a really good job. “One of the things we pride ourselves on is all our courses are co-created with employers. We’re working with them to decide what qualifications to offer, what should be in the curriculum. “They are struggling to recruit so it’s in their interest.”
There is no better illustration of that ethos than students Mackenzie Garrett, Jack Livesey, both aged 17, and Felix Palin, 20.
All three are on construction and engineering scholarships offered by Wilmott Dixon and are helping to build the very campus where they may study. “It’s massive to be working in real life on something that’s going to be around for a long time,” said Mackenzie, from Oldham. “We’re going to have two years of experience working with the company, rather than just sitting [in a classroom] learning.
“It helps you develop a professional front that you wouldn’t get in school.”
Lisa also sees the new campus as an opportunity to connect some of Manchester’s most deprived communities with the city centre success story.
“Our whole strategy is about inclusive growth – making the most of the opportunities for our residents,” she said.
“It’s about making sure communities come here, rub shoulders with people who have great careers and money to spend.
“In Manchester and Greater Manchester you can earn a fabulous salary but the key thing is connecting our residents to these opportunities.
“We want kids from Harpurhey, or Wythenshawe, Ardwick or Cheetham Hill, Oldham or Salford, to come here and have those kind of opportunities.
“It’s their city and this is their college, it’s in the heart of the city and an opportunity to reclaim that space.”
Our whole strategy is about inclusive growth College principal Lisa O’Loughlin