It’s no secret that Stockport has seen major improvements over recent years, including the now-beloved Produce Hall, plenty of swanky apartments, and, of course, the thriving Redrock complex – giving residents far less of a reason to travel into Manchester city centre for their leisure needs. And now, it seems our friends in the South are taking note – with The Sunday Times officially dubbing the town one of the best ‘up and coming’ areas to invest in in the UK.
Joining the likes of Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham and Coventry, who the paper also considered to be on the up. Currently receiving a whopping £1 billion cash injection, Stockport was praised for its ideal proximity to Manchester city centre, alongside its thriving hospitality scene which continues to grow with fantastic businesses such as Where The Light Gets In and Yellowhammer.
The Sunday Times said: “It’s partly by accident that Manchester’s most interesting people desert the increasingly corporate city centre to outer suburbs in search of family houses, fresh air and better places than Piccadilly Gardens to walk the dog. It’s also part of a plan, championed by the Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, to create town centres good enough to rival the city, with the same quality of homes and amenities, but at much lower prices.
“The best example so far is Stockport. Only 15 minutes from central Manchester by train, and already a magnet for interesting independent businesses such as the much-lauded restaurant Where the Light Gets In, the indie bookshop Rare Mags and the Produce Hall food market.
“The imminent conversion of the beautiful Weir Mill, next to the Mersey, and the iconic railway viaduct by the leading Manchester social impact developer Capital & Centric into flats, shops and public spaces is the highlight of a £1 billion regeneration that will transform a historic centre that’s already looking like one of the coolest little corners of the country.”