Online travel giant, Booking.com, is set to open a new global headquarters at Manchester Goods Yard for its ground transportation company, Rentalcars.com. The 12-year 222,000 sq ft let agreed makes Booking.com one of the key anchor tenants for St John’s, Manchester’s newest city centre neighbourhood.
Booking.com said its global transport hub will represent a £100m investment in Manchester over 10 years and advised the move could create up to 900 jobs in Manchester in coming years. In the first instance, the company will move 1,500 employees to St. John’s from four existing Manchester offices and will create 200 new jobs “as soon as possible”.
Of the Booking.com move, Allied London’s chief executive, Michael Ingall said: “We have formed a great working relationship with the senior management at Booking.com, which has enabled us to reinforce the company’s commitment to Manchester.”
He added: “Enterprise City at St. John’s provides vital infrastructure to creative, digital and tech companies, across 10 buildings in total. We’re proud to be working with companies such as Booking.com at Enterprise City, ensuring the cluster will have an international role in the tech and media sectors.”
Ian Brown, chief executive of Booking.com’s transport division, said: “We are committed to the city of Manchester and to its future as one of Europe’s largest and most important tech hubs. We plan to develop Manchester Goods Yard into one of the most exciting and dynamic workplaces in the UK.”
Manchester Goods Yard is located in the heart of Enterprise City, a new media, tech and creative cluster at St. John’s. Featuring three 10-storey workspace buildings, Manchester Goods Yard is a New York inspired warehouse concept that will offer flexible workspace and promote creativity. The construction of the development is due to be completed by 2020.
Visit the Enterprise City website for more information.