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A large number of technology firms have opened up shop in Manchester, as the centre of the developing Northern Powerhouse starts to give London a run for its money.

Enterprise City, thetechnology cluster in central Manchester, UK has been awarded a 2mgrant from the UK governments Department for Culture, Media andSport (DCMS) to support its Exchange programme. The money will beused to support and attract more cloud service, cybersecurity andedge technology firms to the area.

Last year, forinstance, US cloud and IT consulting services firm Slalom choseManchester as the location for its second UK office after London.Partnering with over 200 solution providers including Amazon WebServices, Google Cloud, Salesforce, Microsoft and Tableau, Slalomhelps companies tackle digital transformation.

Slalom plans to employover 200 people in Manchester by 2025. Manchester is a city ofdigital enterprise with strengths in a wide range of industries,including manufacturing, healthcare, utilities and consumer services,which perfectly complements Slaloms breadth of expertise, saidDave Williams, Slalom UK country managing director at the time.

Manchester wants moresuch firms to enter its designated Enterprise City. The new centralgovernment funding, which will be managed by Manchester City Council(MCC) on behalf of DCMS, will be used to help create and sustain over2,000 jobs in the city over the next 15 years.

Exchange, a newbusiness support programme, based within Enterprise Citys 2m sq ftcommercial district, will give ambitious, early stage techcompanies and entrepreneurs access to the tools and infrastructurethey need to grow and succeed, said Enterprise City.

Exchange will be basedon the second and third floors of Bonded Warehouse, the oldestbuilding in the Enterprise City district. It will initially supportmore than 15 businesses within its first cohort over a 6-12-monthperiod. Applications for this have now closed, and the programmesfirst wave of businesses will be announced later this month.

Entries for Exchangessecond cohort will open in August 2020, giving new organisations theopportunity to apply. New cohort call-outs for the scheme will runevery six months, as the scheme pledges to offer on-going support tothe growing tech ecosystem in Manchester and the North of England.

Tanya Grady, head ofpartnerships at Enterprise City, said: Exchange is a uniqueprogramme that adds genuine value to the city and its booming techand digital sector. We would not be able to deliver this level ofcomprehensive training and coaching without the funding from MCC andDCMS, which will create more than 2,000 jobs in the city.

She said: EnterpriseCitys vision, to create a home for startups through to global techbusinesses, has received a significant boost thanks to the funding,which will allow us to work with, and foster, a community oflike-minded entrepreneurs.

The Exchange programmewill be delivered in collaboration with its knowledge partner TechNation, the UK national network for technology entrepreneurs.

Sir Richard Leese,leader of Manchester City Council, said: The growth in Manchesterdigital and tech startups has been remarkable over the last decadeand has set the mood for the citys economic direction. As thelargest tech hub outside London, the city has become renowned as aplace where SME entrepreneurs are supported to incubate theirbusiness, grow and collaborate with major players and investors.

He added: The DCMSfunding has helped to refurbish a priceless heritage asset in theBonded Warehouse at the heart of Enterprise City, creating a stunningexample of how we should celebrate our citys heritage to helpcreate the conditions of our future growth. Our aim is to be aleading European digital city.

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