The majority of small and medium-sized businesses located in MediaCityUK are engaged in TV and film production.

Based on the waterfront in Manchester and developed by The Peel Group, MediaCityUK houses larger institutions such as the BBC and ITV. Contained within the grounds are business hubs such as the Greenhouse, The Pie Factory and White Tower house.

Figures from Gather Digital, which is housed at the Greenhouse, finds that 22 per cent of businesses at MediaCity UK provide services associated with TV and film production.

Of the 120 businesses there, 12 per cent are in app development, 10 per cent in design and 8.5 per cent in public relations (PR).

Richard Silk, from Gather Digital, comments, ‘We moved to MediaCityUK because we wanted to be part of a creative hub where we could mix with like-minded businesses and expand our professional network.

‘One thing that stood out for us was the amount of single person businesses that are located on the site (at least 7 per cent of businesses). To us, that shows that in a location dominated by the BBC and ITV, there’s still plenty of room to be a small fish in a big pond.’

Its analysis of company size shows that beyond the 7 per cent of businesses being one-man bands, 31 per cent employ between two and ten staff, 22 per cent 11-50 and 6 per cent 51-200. Gather Digital also reports that six out of ten companies had locations other than MediaCityUK.

The BBC recently came under fire for the cost of moving 900 of its staff from London to Manchester. Some £24 million was spent, an average of £28,000 per person.

See also: Ten years, Manchester, and me