Multi-million pound funding awarded to £110m cultural development Factory Manchester

The development of a new £110m flagship cultural venue for the North has secured a multi-million pound funding boost this week.

The investment announced today (June 27) by Arts Council England for The Factory Manchester, part of the new St. John’s neighbourhood, includes £7m capital from the Lottery Fund and a further £9m in annual revenues.

To be operated by Manchester International Festival, the Factory will seek to capture the creative vision and breadth of the city’s cultural life, offering visitors the opportunity to enjoy art forms and cultural experiences incorporating multiple media and technologies.

The site is designed by Dutch architectural firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture.

The capital funding will be paid to Manchester City Council, while Manchester International Festival will receive £9.730m annually from 2018 to 2022. Of that figure, £9m is for The Factory and £730k for the continuation of its biennial festival.

The start of enabling works on The Factory will be marked by a groundbreaking ceremony next week (July 8).

Manchester City Council Leader ​Sir Richard Leese said: “Factory is going to change lives as well as the cultural landscape – not just here in Manchester but nationally and internationally.

“The economic benefits to the city and wider region are huge. The impact it will have on arts education and the development of creative and technical talent is significant.”

He continued: “And the range, scope, and scale of cultural opportunities it will provide for audiences from far and wide to come to the city and enjoy in this transformative and unique space will be unrivalled.

“Factory is, without doubt, what the arts world and Manchester has been waiting for.”

The Factory is expected to accelerate the region’s economic growth, creating or supporting around 1,500 jobs and adding £1.1bn to Manchester’s economy over the next decade.