Details about the much vaunted ‘Project Tomorrow’ and its core partners is just a matter of weeks away now from being announced Prolific North understands. In advance of the announcement, over 200,000 sq ft of office space across Manchester, Salford Quays and Knutsford has already been contracted.
Project Tomorrow, rumours of which have been leaking out for the past 18 months or so, is still shrouded in secrecy with none of the three lead professional advisers willing to talk and none of the contracted companies publicly confirmed.
Talk of the who the companies might be who are leading the project, has ranged from Apple and Google to IBM, Sony and various US entertainment groups.
However what Prolific North understands is confirmed is that:
- Contracts for over 200,000 of office space spanning a dozen locations across the Manchester conurbation have been exchanged
- Manchester will be the European HQ
- The initiative will be anchored around interactive 3D modelling, virtual reality and data management with the aim of enabling companies to share information on a scale never previously envisaged
- Plans to launch in London are well under way with plans for future bases in Europe currently being actively explored
- The consortium comprises a small group of international technology brand leaders with ‘leading-edge’ global reputations. Most of these companies will be new to Manchester in terms of the investment they are undertaking, although in some instances they may have an established satellite sales office already in the region
- Manchester was chosen because it was felt that the city has established a (growing) niche for itself as a city with a sophisticated digital infrastructure. This doesn’t specifically mean cabling or technology installations but more generally refers to the city’s reputation for innovation, supporting start-ups, digital entrepreneurship and the substantial pool of students. From the first computer to graphene, it seems the consortium has quite taken to our rainy city
- And finally…the name. The initiative, when it goes public, will be known as Tomorrow, not Project Tomorrow or any other name hitherto suggested…
The three advisers who are managing the project with the unnamed members of the consortium are: property agents Edwards & Co (led by partner Andrew Timms), law firm Turner Parkinson and the Sheila Bird Group, which has been retained to handle the interior design and co-ordinate the project going forward.
It is also believed that the three firms have been retained to launch the operation in London with some premises already reserved and the three firms may be retained to develop the European roll-out.
