Postgrads in the North

Another field trip to Manchester, this time for the postgraduate students. Another excuse for me to go on about Manchester (see previous post here). This time though, a different focus. This field trip has been designed to introduce the postgraduate students taking the MSc Real Estate Management/MSc International Real Estate to issues of sustainable use and development in the context of a specific commercial property market and will:

• develop an understanding of sustainable use and development
• examine the use, investment and development of commercial property
• set commercial property in a wider economic, social, political and legal context

The city has changed so much over the past 200 years when it played a major part in the industrial revolution. Manchester went from being the centre of the world's cotton industry to a city in decline in the 1950s and 60s with the loss of the traditional manufacturing industries. The city and its people fought back and the 1980s saw massive investment and regeneration which continued after the 1996 bomb attack. Throughout all this one thing has remained the same: the northern grit, humour and creativity of its people. As a bloke from Bolton once said: They return the love around here, don't they? (read to the bottom for a clue as to who said this). Here's what happened on the field trip...

Monday 29 October started with a coach journey up the M6 to Manchester and ended with dinner in Wagamama. In between there was just time for the students to go on a self-guided tour (a walk with a map) around central Manchester.

Exploring Manchester - photo courtesy of Ye Zhou

Dinner - photo courtesy of Ye Zhou

Tuesday 30 October was a busy day starting with breakfast at 7.30 (am). The rest of the day consisted of a series of presentations and tours:

• Development and regeneration in Manchester: the Urban Splash model - presentation by Paul Jones from Urban Splash
• Office redevelopment, investment and management in Manchester - presentation and site visits by Jon Rymer from Bruntwood
• Visit to 1 Angel Square. This development recently won the Sustainability Award at the 2012 North West Business Insider Property Awards and is at the heart of NOMA - a new, 4 million sq ft, mixed-use redevelopment in the heart of Manchester.
• Salford/Manchester orientation tour with Jamie Bottomley (Jones Lang LaSalle) and Jonathan Schofield (manchesterconfidential.co.uk) - inlcuding a visit to Media City at Salford Quays (presentation by Peel Holdings)

Urban Splash - photo courtesy of Ye Zhou

Site visits with Bruntwood - photo courtesy of Ye Zhou

Salford Quays - photo courtesy of Ye Zhou

Wednesday 31 October was the last day of the trip and the students got to visit another great city: Liverpool. They went to Liverpool for a presentation and tour of Liverpool One (given by Niles Dunnett of Grosvenor Fund Management). Then back to Manchester and the mighty Trafford Centre for lunch. A working lunch - the students had been  asked to make a visual assessment of the centre. Click on the links to find out more about the story behind these shopping centre developments. Finally, the return to Oxford in time for a spot of trick or treating. Although in Manchester this is saved for Mischief Night.

Back to Oxford - photo courtesy of Ye Zhou

You've reached the bottom now watch this video for your clue.