Manchester City Council

Procurement policy
Manchester City Council uses five procurement methods, which vary depending on a project's complexity and value. Methods include design-and-build, two-stage tendering, standard JCT forms of contract, construction management contracts and PFI.

All projects worth more than £3.5m are advertised in the European Union's Official Journal, and the council will invite tenders from an approved list of suppliers.

Current and future projects
Manchester council is one of England's largest, with capital expenditure of close to £250m a year. Housing has dominated investment over the recent past, although regeneration will grow in importance. Manchester council has a host of major regeneration projects planned, and hopes to benefit from a growing influx of private sector investment. The main event over recent years was the Commonwealth Games. With the games came 6000 jobs and £600m of investment, which has helped promote regeneration in east Manchester. The new stadium will form the centrepiece of a 10-year project to bring jobs and investment to the various estates in the area.

The local Cardroom estate is being rebuilt as a £200m mixed-use development and will be renamed New Islington. This development is being led by Urban Splash. Other major investments include a £90m plan to refurbish about 600 homes and build an additional 500, and in partnership with SK Property and Taywood Capital Development, Manchester council plans to redevelop the Southern Gateway area of the city. This project will cost at least £130m, and cover 72 ha of land. In the Oldham road area, close to £1bn of investment is planned by regeneration body New East Manchester. This will be concentrated primarily on commercial and industrial space, although the emphasis is urban renewal.

Essential information
One of the largest investments set to go ahead in the short term is the Piccadilly Gateway regeneration. This project will transform the city centre at a cost of £350m. The other megaproject is Spinningfields, which is backed by Manchester council, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Allied London. The £650m scheme is in the western core of the city centre. It encompasses a 22-acre site and will include office, retail, retail and civic facilities.

The aim of most projects at present is transforming Manchester into a European business location. Investment in mixed schemes is possible due to land availability, and access to them will be enhanced through transport improvements (such as the £525m Manchester Metro extension). Meanwhile, inner-city population growth is being facilitated by an influx of high-rise residential developments.