The government committed £43m towards the estimated £1bn cost of rebuilding bomb-damaged Manchester city centre. The UK government’s cash will allow the completion of Manchester’s inner relief route, which was axed last year as part of cuts to the road-building programme in the Budget.
Marks & Spencer will build a replacement Manchester store this summer. It won preliminary planning permission last week. The store, which will have 18,580 sq m (200,000 sq ft) of selling space, will be the second largest M&S in the world.
Manchester Millennium taskforce, in charge of the rebuilding, will overhaul the city centre’s transport system. Manchester bus companies are planning to invest £20m in new fleets.
The cash comes on top of £20m European Union funding.
- Financial Times 11/02/97 page 1
- The Times 11/02/97 page 8
- The Guardian 11/02/97 page 6
- The Independent 11/02/97 page 5
- The Daily Telegraph 11/02/97 page 10
