ALTHOUGH Birmingham may still traditionally be known as England's second city, for a number of year's now Manchester has been arguably the country's most cosmopolitan and invested in.

Manchester Articles

Ever-changing face of Manchester

James Ducker

SURVEYORS are being run off their feet trying to "re-map" the ever-changing face of Manchester.

The city centre has undergone such a dramatic transformation since the IRA bomb in 1996 that it is now barely recognisable from eight years ago.

That has resulted in a radical overhaul of mapping in Manchester by Ordnance Survey teams.

Eamonn Prowse, regional manager for Ordnance Survey in the north west, oversees a team of seven Oldham-based surveyors responsible for mapping across Greater Manchester.

Mapped

The team's remit is to have every new building plotted and logged on their national database with- in six months of completion. In the last year alone, 16,000 new apartments and houses have been mapped.

Mr Prowse said: "Manchester is a very busy area and together with Leeds and Liverpool accounts for about a quarter of all the work we do nationally."

Warwick Green, 40, from Bolton, is part of the Greater Manchester surveying team. He is currently mapping the new Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters, in Deansgate, and the recently finished City Magistrates' Court at Spinningfields.

Using the latest hi-tech measuring equipment, including theodolite workstations, hand-held pen computers and the Global Positioning System (GPS), he can input new co-ordinates and mapping details of buildings and roads straight into the Ordnance Survey national database.

Mr Green said: "Manchester has provided some of the most interesting and challenging work in recent years."

Double award for putting manchester on the map

AN advertising campaign which promotes Manchester by evoking images of other famous cities has picked up two industry awards.

The 'This Is Manchester' campaign was devised by Manchester advertising agency BDHTBWA on behalf of Manchester City Centre Management Company.

The campaign won a Bronze Award and Most Original Paper in the recent IPA AREA Ad Effectiveness Awards held in Birmingham.

The campaign paper demonstrated how the high-impact campaign achieved its objectives of having a positive effect on attitudes and awareness of the City Centre, consequently attracting more people to visit.

Images used in the adverts; which have all been shot using a LOMO camera, are designed to challenge perceptions of Manchester, using comparisons to cities all over the world, including Sydney, Paris, Hong Kong and Vienna, in a bid to prove that Manchester has cultural offerings to rival any city.

Stanfords puts Manchester on the map

GROWTH OF INDUSTRY: Douglas ding to managing director Douglas Schatz, Manchester's retail renaissance played a key part in attracting the company to the region.

"We have an international brand that offers something special to travellers," he said. "We hope to reach a much wider market in Manchester because of the airport expansion and the growth of the travel industry.

"It was also important for us to carry on the history of the company by choosing a period building."

The building's interior has been gutted and re-designed for the 21st century, complete with walnut furniture, silver shelving and a store-within-a-store that creates customised maps at the touch of a button.

Stanfords could give a new lease of life to Spring Gardens, which has enjoyed mixed fortunes as a shopping area.

Designer shoe store Patrick Cox and household retailer The Baggage Company found that life in the Gardens was not a bed of roses. But grande dame of fashion Vivienne Westwood has fared better. Her flagship boutique, housed in a 150-year old bank, still draws in style-conscious shoppers.

Manchester is a magnet for big names such as Louis Vuitton, Selfridges and Tommy Hilfiger. The city boasts the largest number of designer boutiques outside London and attracts world-class chefs, architects, hoteliers and business people.

Flood map fear for homes cover

Tariq Panja

THOUSANDS of homes around Manchester have been shown to be at risk from flooding in a new government map - and owners' insurance premiums could increase as a result.

Large swathes of the region from Radcliffe to Cheadle are included in the Environment Agency's map of low, moderate and significant flood risks.

Most of Lower Broughton in the Irwell Valley is shown to be at risk of flooding even though United Utilities has spent more than £10 million on flood defence schemes in the area.

Nationally, more than two million properties have been given risk ratings in the £30m online map. Many householders fear their insurance premiums could rise but the Association of British Insurers is trying to quell homeowners' worries.

Alan Leaman of the association said: "I don't think premiums will rise. If anything it will mean insurers will have a better understanding of the risks and premiums will be more accurate.

Lumped together

"The information is much more finely available.

"The old postcode business where every house was lumped together is fading away. For example if you have a house on a hill near in an area affected by flooding your location will be reflected in the premium."

But some insurers admit the map may lead to a rise in insurance costs.

Manchester-based Co-operative Insurance Society said: "What we tend to do is follow the recommendations of the ABI where they grade the risk of flooding.

"Any properties on the map could face a higher premium. But it would not be automatic. We do not want to see any of our customers without adequate insurance."

Nick Haughton, a partner in surveyors Haughton Warburton & Co, said it is almost certain that areas marked out as flood plains would deter investors.