Factory International, the huge arts centre being built in Manchester city centre, has blown past its budget again.
The building is set to be a world-leading theatre, performance space and cultural hub, and unveiled its opening programme just last week.
Plans for the unique structure, which boasts 21m-high ceilings and an enormous warehouse-style space that can be divided up for different audiences, were first announced in 2016.
Back then, its total budget was set to be £110m and its opening date was pencilled in for 2019.
Now, it’s looking at a total cost of £210.8m – almost double its original budget – and a completion date in 2023.
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Factory International. Credit: Pawel Paniczko
The flagship arts centre requires an additional £25.2m to complete the work on site, as construction costs skyrocket.
When it is completed, it’s expected to create or support around 1,500 jobs, attract 850,000 visitors a year, and contribute around £1.1bn to the economy over a decade.
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Factory International will be programmed and operated by the team behind Manchester International Festival, and will act as a permanent home to the roving arts festival.
A report published on Factory International yesterday described the ‘extremely challenging wider environment the project is being delivered in’, from workforce shortages to supply chain issues to high levels of inflation.
Factory International has gone over its budget again. Credit: Pawel Paniczko
It cites figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which show a 26.4% increase in prices for all construction work since June 2021.
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This includes a 58.2% increase in the price of concrete reinforced bars, a 46.3% increase in the cost of fabricated structural steel and a 28.3% increase in the cost of precast concrete products.
The report states: “While the existing budget made reasonable allowances for contingencies, it could not have predicted the exceptional circumstances with steep levels of inflation and considerable supply chain challenges that are still being experienced as Factory International approaches its opening in June 2023.”
The Executive and Manchester City Council will be asked to approve a budget increase of £25.2m, £10m of which will come from contingency funding set aside in the Council’s capital budget. The rest will come from borrowing.
More than £105m of the £210.8m total budget is funding from the Government and Arts Council England.
£55.4m has come from Manchester City Council, with the remainder coming from commercial and philanthropic fundraising.
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Separately, the local authority will also underwrite Manchester International Festival’s increased costs for the fit out of the building which have also been driven up by soaring inflation by up to £7.8m. This is ‘critical to enable the venue to operate’.
The Council hopes that selling the long-term naming rights agreement for Factory International will help to recover a significant proportion of the costs.
Cllr Luthfur Rahman, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Factory International will be an incredible asset for Manchester. Not only will it strengthen the city’s reputation as a nationally and indeed globally important centre for the arts, it will also help stimulate and sustain our fast-growing cultural sector which contributes £1.4bn to our economy every year. It will act as a major training centre for Manchester people pursuing careers in the arts.
“Factory International will further create and support jobs in the hospitality sector by attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city every year. Sitting in the heart of the St John’s Quarter it has already helped attract investment and job creation here and will continue to do so.
“It will be inclusive and inspiring – with plenty of free and low cost events and opportunities for Manchester people to get involved – as participants as well as audiences.
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“It’s an audacious project and with that comes challenges, especially when set against a volatile economic backdrop, but the ongoing benefits for many years to come will far outweigh the one-off cost. We must not lose sight of that.”
The report will be considered by the Council’s Resources and Governance Scrutiny Committee on 11 October and the Executive will be asked to approve the increased budget when it meets on 19 October.
Featured image: OMA 24
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Trafford Centre announces opening hours for 2025/26 festive season – including Boxing Day
Emily Sergeant
Trafford Centre has published its full list of opening hours for this current festive season.
We all know that the Christmas period is one of the busiest times of the year for the retail industry, with people flocking to the shops in their millions to snap up festive gifts for their loved ones, and it only gets busier from Boxing Day onwards too when all the sales launch, offering shoppers some unmissable deals and bargains.
And nowhere in Greater Manchester gets busier during the festive season than the Trafford Centre. After all, with more than 200 stores all under one room, it’s not hard to see why.
This year, shoppers can make the most of extended opening hours at the Trafford Centre right through to New Year’s Day – with late night shopping until 11pm on selected dates in December leading up to the big day.
Alongside being a one-stop-shop for gifts, there’s also dozens of festive events and new Christmas lights to enjoy at the Trafford Centre too, so visitors can tick everything off their list and have a great day out while they’re at it.
The shopping centre will be open from 9am – 5pm on Christmas Eve, so you can whip round and grab any last-minute presents, before it’s closed fully on Christmas Day, and then opens again bright and early at 8am on Boxing Day.
Trafford Centre Christmas Opening Hours 2025/26
18 and 19 December: 10am – 11pm
20 December: 10am – 10pm
21 December: 12pm – 6pm
22 and 23 December: 10am – 11pm
Christmas: 9am – 5pm
Christmas Day: Closed
26 December: 8am – 8pm (some stores may be closed, please check with individual brands)
27 December: 10am – 9pm
28 December: 12pm – 6pm
29 and 30 December: 10pm – 10pm
New Year’s Eve: 9am – 5pm
New Year’s Day: 12pm – 6pm
It’s also worth noting, however, that not every store inside the Trafford Centre will be open on Boxing Day, so you’ll need to check with individual brands ahead of time.
For the restaurants, stores, and leisure venues that are open, you can check their specific trading hours on the Trafford Centre website here.
When it comes to festive event, The Grotto is open until Christmas Eve for pre-bookings only, and the Christmas fairground and ice rink, Big Wheel, and Gandeys Snowstorm Firebird show are all open until 4 January (closed Christmas Day).
Featured Image – Trafford Centre (Supplied)
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Greater Manchester’s ‘clean taxi’ plans backed by government funding
Danny Jones
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA) ‘clean taxi’ initiative has been officially backed by the UK government, with an extra boost coming from a leading electric vehicle brand.
Millions of pounds are set to be pumped into the scheme over the coming years as the North West at large strives to become greener.
The Mayor himself, Andy Burnham, has made environmentally conscious travel a core part of his plans for the city region ever since he took up the post back in 2017; now he and his team are helping link up with connections in the capital to secure further investment.
With the new £8 million Hackney Support Fund being put into action as we speak, a further £2m is now set to go towards Manchester city centre and its surrounding boroughs via LEVC.
LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) have done away with classic petrol and diesel engines in their particular corner of the automotive industry, setting a more eco-friendly example for metropolitan cities up and down Great Britain.
As a result, Manchester City Council and the GMCA as a whole are looking to take a leaf out of their book as part of their wider carbon reduction targets, with local authorities having recently reaffirmed their five-year ‘climate change action plan’.
For context, the Hackney Support Fund in question is a series of government-backed grants aimed at helping taxi drivers replace older black cabs with more modern, zero-emission capable vehicles.
Not only that, but LEVC will also be offering licensed carriage drivers extended warranties on new and used TX cabs – like their new ‘eCity powetrain’ pictured above – as well as taxi scrappage allowance on other models.
Like any part of the country, our region itself has its own clean air goals, and with the continued expansion of the Bee Network continuing to advance that progress, we’re heading in the right direction.
It goes without saying that adding a fully-fledged fleet of cleaner, more energy-efficient EV taxis into that mix could help benefit these greener pursuits.
Managing Director at LEVC, Chris Allen, noted that the company has “helped the capital achieve legal air quality targets for the first time” and strongly believes that they can do the same up North.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Our taxi trade is a vital part of Greater Manchester’s transport network and supports the local economy.
“That’s why we’re working hard to secure funding and practical support to help drivers upgrade to cleaner, greener vehicles – improving air quality for everyone, while protecting livelihoods. By backing our taxi trade, we’re building a fairer, healthier city-region for all.”
Daisy Jackson -
4th October 2022 
