It would be churlish to take a cautious view on the region given the improvement in the market and the fundamental optimism of the business community.
Once again Manchester has led the numbers for take up among regional cities and it now has a new phase of development to look forward to at St Peter’s Square and parts of the Spinningfields site.
In addition, there is the major scheme by the Co-operative Group which will transform another part of the city.
It is the breadth of the factors underpinning the market improvement that counts. Thus Bruntwood has refinanced itself and Allied London has obtained the funding for a management buy out. The internationalisation of Manchester continues with Hines going for its first scheme, joining in the jamboree at St Peter’s Square.
But the really big horizon is provided by Peel with its vast plans for Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters. It is planning on government level with the expansion of Liverpool Docks and the growth of container traffic on the Manchester Ship Canal, not to mention MediaCity.
What will the North West be like in 10 years’ time, with a mass of skyscrapers in Liverpool at one end of the canal and dynamic Manchester and Salford at the other? It sounds an exciting prospect and there is the added attraction that all these plans will create a considerable number of new jobs.