Working in Bury
With over £.5 billion investment Bury is better placed to do business. The ambitious spirit of Bury is driving forward exciting change across the borough. A growing office market, expansion in the retail sector and a doubling of prime floor space in the town centre will see Bury transformed into a thriving location for business. This is a brighter, bolder and more ambitious Bury.
Why Invest in Bury?
There are eight great reasons to be here:
- £.5bn being spent on a brighter, bolder and more ambitious Bury
- A plentiful of skilled workers
- Excellent access to transportation links
- Bury's education is positioned amongst the best in the country
- 2 million consumers within a 30 minute drive
- 12 million visitors to the towns award winning market
- Raising Bury 97 places to be 62nd in the retail footprint ranking
- Great public and private partnerships
Working in Bury
There are 6,350 businesses in Bury (2006). The rate of new VAT registrations at 11% exceeds the average for the North West at 9.6% and indicates that Bury has an entrepreneurial population.There are 62,000 jobs in Bury, 41,000 being full time and the rest are part time (2006). The percentage of full time jobs, exceeding 31 hours a week, at 67% is slightly lower that the national average 71%.
The principal sector for employment is services (83%), with manufacturing at 13% and construction at 4%. The fastest growing sectors (by employment) are:
- Health and Social Work
- Post and Telecoms
- Education
- Retail
- Construction
- Real Estate activities
The borough of Bury has a strong industrial heritage linked to the papermaking, engineering, woolen and worsted manufacture, However, today Bury is home to leading companies in carpet manufacturing, luggage and distribution companies.
The largest employment sectors are public administration, education and health at 21,600, followed by distribution hotels and restaurants and manufacturing. O2 is Bury's largest employer with a call centre in Radcliffe and high street store JD Sports has its head quarters in the borough. A number of specialist manufacturers can still be found such as Milliken who weave airbag fabrics. Carpet manufacture based in the borough are Cormar carpets, Rylux carpets and Milliken make carpet tiles. The James Halstead Group is the winner of a Queens Award for Enterprise for its international trade, distributing its Polyflor products all over the world. LGC, the Government chemist is based in the borough and has recently announced that it will move to new accomodation at the Green, Chamberhall.
Digital Bury
Digital Bury is an exciting and ambitious project which involves local companies from the digital sector. Through a series of networking and promotional events Digital Bury aims to help, support and link businesses in the Digital Sector to allow them to collaborate on future projects.
Want to find out more about the changes taking place in the town. Log on to BuryTV.net to watch our films.
To find out more about business opportunities in Bury download our Investment brochure by clicking here.
The first phase of development comprises four commercial buildings which will be home to a state-of -the-art health centre for NHS Bury, an office building adjacent to the Town Hall for Bury Council and a new three - storey car park providing around 400 spaces. The second phase of the development will provide new office space for Six Town Housing and a 110 bed Premier Inn Hotel.
Phase 2 of the Knowsley Place development provides a range of options for future investors. For more information please contact communications@bury.gov.uk or log onto the Ask Developments website.
With a £1 million funding from the North West Development Agency, part of the road network to the new business park site was completed in 2009.
The site will become home to the Greater Manchester Police's Bury headquarters. The new building will be a replacement of the Irwell Street buildings and this new divisional HQ will stand only a short distance from the house where Robert Peel, founder of the modern police force, lived as a child.
For more information about opportunities at this site please email economic.dev@bury.gov.uk or download our factsheet here (Please note the factsheet is also available on request as a word document if you contact communications@bury.gov.uk ).
Comprising four individual buildings and providing approximately 92,000 sq ft of accommodation, The Green has been designed to afford flexibility and can accommodate requirements ranging from 2,300 sq ft to 31,000 sq ft with the ability to subdivide floorplates. The buildings include full accessed raised floors, air conditioning and full height atrium receptions. There will be 265 car parking spaces.
Available on a design and build basis, The Green design concept evolves around the creation of a balanced worklife - the best of urban amenity within a tranquil and natural setting