In The MIX – The Role Of Mid Tech Units At MIX MANCHESTER

As the MIX MANCHESTER team joins Manchester’s delegation for MIPIM 2025 they’ll showcase the diverse range of spaces which will be delivered at the UK’s first airport-based, globally connected science, innovation, and manufacturing campus.

Spanning over 2 million sq ft, the development will include Mid Tech units, advanced manufacturing, R&D labs and office space, alongside hotels, leisure facilities and public areas for people to enjoy.

One of the first products on the 60-acre site will be up to 118,000 sq ft of Mid Tech units, providing flexible and affordable R&D, scale up laboratory, manufacturing and engineering space.

Also known as Tech Boxes, these easily adaptable spaces offer a high degree of flexibility for both start-up and established companies, supporting industries ranging from satellite components to cell and gene therapy, carbon capture, and advanced robotics.

Often these companies will be working on the advancement and acceleration of ideas and concepts that have been successful at early research stage but need further development to scale-up production and prepare for large scale manufacture. The airport location means MIX MANCHESTER is ideally located for national and global connections, so the Mid Tech units are often at the very start of the process of development, commercialisation and effective global supply.

That road to commercialisation may ultimately require larger scientific manufacturing facilities, which will also available at MIX MANCHESTER, providing the opportunity for the research, development and manufacturing teams to co-locate in a highly connected, collaborative environment.

These facilities will help to retain and develop the world-leading research that is undertaken at our universities and research institutes such as the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, The Henry Royce Institute, Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre and NERIC. By retaining those projects within the city, we create jobs, wealth and prosperity for the region.

The flexibility of Mid Tech units allows them to accommodate a wide range of requirements – from companies with minimal investment needs to those whose fit-out costs might significantly exceed the cost of the building itself.  They offer a value alternative for those that don’t need super-high specification fitted R&D labs.

The Mid Tech units will feature office space and large, adaptable production areas with 8m ceiling heights, enabling them to accommodate a range of infrastructure including cleanrooms, fume cupboards, gas cylinders, additional plant areas, significant power needs and bioreactors.  To date these kinds of facilities have developed largely around Oxford and Cambridge, reflecting their suitability to knowledge intensive economies.

At MIX MANCHESTER they will be located in a first-class setting, alongside the kind of amenities typically found in thriving town centres – with hotels, cafes, gyms, nurseries and shops all nearby.

With a comprehensive public transport system and road network connected to the airport it will be a fantastic and accessible workplace – one which will see esteemed scientists working with new apprentices in an environment that attracts, nurtures and retains the very best talent in the region.

It is estimated that over 8,000 jobs will be created at MIX MANCHESTER and the development of the Mid Tech spaces will be the start of delivering that ambition for the region.