Manchester United recently announced plans to build a new £2 billion super stadium near their current ground at Old Trafford.
If you are investment planning in Cheshire or neighbouring Greater Manchester, the project is predicted to bring tangible economic benefits to the wider area.
The 100,000-capacity stadium is likely to unleash substantial property investment in the city, as well as wider regeneration, creating circa 92,000 new jobs – bringing in an extra 1.8 million visitors per year and adding a further £7.3 billion to the British economy.
Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said he is aiming to create the world’s “greatest football stadium”, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has confirmed government backing for Manchester United’s proposals.
The club believes the new stadium can be completed within five years, even though ordinarily a project of this ambition would take 10.
Ratcliffe has said the club can halve construction time by using the Manchester ship canal. This, he believes, can be achieved by assembling various parts of the stadium elsewhere before shipping them off to the main site. This is a sentiment endorsed by award winning architect Lord Foster, who said specialist yards can build large structures prefabricated in modular form, before physically shifting them.
Ahead of the confirmation of a starting date, Ratcliffe said the speed of the project will depend on how fast the Government moves with regeneration plans for the area. United’s chief operating officer Collette Roche added that the club is looking to work closely with the authorities to ensure the project proceeds as smoothly and quickly as possible.
