The positive impact which Aviva Studios – the home of Factory International – has already had, and its future legacy for the city, are detailed in a final report to councillors.
The world-class arts venue has been wowing audiences and critics since it first opened its doors last summer and, with its construction complete, the Council’s Resources and Governance Scrutiny Committee will receive a wrap-up report when they meet on Thursday 18 July 2024.
In September last year a sum of up to £22.3m was set aside to see the project through to completion. The venue reached practical completion in March this year and while final accounts are still being agreed on a package-by-package basis, it is anticipated that it will come in within the revised £240.99m budget.
Up to £1.1bn will be added to Manchester’s economy over the first 10 years of the venue’s operation through the jobs it creates and supports – estimated to rise to more than 1,500 – and visitor spending. The venue is expected to attract up to 850,000 visitors a year, increasing to a million visitors in Manchester International Festival years.
Aviva Studios is cementing Manchester’s global reputation as a centre for the arts and creativity.
Its just-announced autumn/winter season ranges from a blockbuster retrospective exhibition by beloved painter David Hockney to powerful new works by Laurie Anderson and British artist and filmmaker Jenn Nkiru, highlighting the building’s versatility.
Creative industries are a key sector in Manchester and make an annual contribution to the city’s economy of around £1.4bn. Aviva Studios will not only act as a major training centre for future generations of talent, opening up new opportunities for Manchester people and ensuring that creative talent is retained in the North, but also a magnet for other creative industries to cluster around.
The emergence of the venue has already acted as an anchor to the development of the St John’s area where it stands at the heart of Enterprise City, a major new mixed use development of commercial, cultural, leisure, residential and cultural space. A significant new cluster of innovative city centre workspaces and content production studios are also being created. Enterprise City has the potential to accommodate 17,000 jobs from new start-ups to major corporates. Among the latter who have been attracted to the city are global tech company Booking.com who chose to open its headquarters in Manchester - amid competition from other European cities - and video game development giant Cloud Imperium Games. The St John’s area generated an extra £1.3m in business rates in 2022/23, money which is helping fund council services. This income will increase as further development is brought forward.
The construction of the venue has also delivered social value, with 86% of spending within Greater Manchester and 56% of labour being sourced from within the city region with 25 new jobs created and 52 apprenticeships created or supported.