I’ve spent a lot of time in Manchester over the past few years. Every time I visit, something new has gone up, another co-working space has opened, and I bump into founders doing genuinely interesting things. It’s hard not to be excited about what’s happening there.
Manchester has always had a chip on its shoulder about London, and honestly, that energy is part of what makes it work. There’s a determination among Manchester founders that I don’t always see elsewhere. A sort of “we’ll do it ourselves, thanks” attitude that translates brilliantly into building businesses.
Why Manchester works for startups
Let’s start with the obvious. Manchester has a population of around 2.8 million across the Greater Manchester area, making it the largest city region outside London. It has four universities pumping out graduates, a deep talent pool in digital and tech, and a cost base that makes London look absurd.
MediaCityUK at Salford Quays has become a proper hub. What started as the BBC’s move north has turned into a cluster of digital, media, and tech businesses. ITV, dock10, and dozens of smaller companies are all there. The talent spillover from those anchor tenants has been massive.
Then you’ve got the Northern Quarter, which has evolved from a collection of vintage shops and bars into a genuine tech neighbourhood. Walk down Lever Street or Stevenson Square on a Tuesday afternoon and you’ll pass half a dozen software companies before you reach the coffee shop.
SpinningFields is where the professional services firms sit, and that matters for founders too. Having Deloitte, KPMG, and a string of law firms nearby means access to advisors, potential clients, and the sort of corporate partnerships that help early-stage companies scale.
Manchester Science Park and the Sharp Project in Newton Heath add to the picture. The Science Park focuses on science and tech businesses with proper lab and office space. The Sharp Project is more creative and digital, but both give founders access to facilities and networks that would cost a fortune to build from scratch.
Where the angel money comes from
Manchester Angels is the most established network in the city. It’s made up of around 40 exited entrepreneurs who’ve built and sold businesses themselves. That matters enormously. These aren’t passive investors ticking a box for portfolio diversification. They’re people who understand what it’s like to hire your first employee, lose your biggest customer, and lie awake at 3am wondering if the cash will last until next month.
Beyond Manchester Angels, there’s a growing number of individual angels investing through SEIS and EIS. The tax reliefs are significant. Up to 50% income tax relief on SEIS investments and 30% on EIS. That changes the risk calculation for investors and makes early-stage deals more attractive. If you’re a Manchester founder and you’re not structuring your raise to be SEIS or EIS eligible, you’re making your own life harder. Have a read of our guide to SEIS and EISif you’re not sure how it works.
There are also several funds focused on the North West. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has backed various initiatives, and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund has been active in the region. These institutional sources often co-invest alongside angels, which means founders can build larger rounds from a mix of sources.
Manchester’s strongest sectors
Digital and e-commerce are probably the most obvious. Manchester has a long history in retail, from the Co-op to Boohoo to The Hut Group. That DNA runs through the startup scene. I see a lot of founders building B2B SaaS tools for e-commerce, logistics platforms, and marketing tech. The talent pool for these businesses is deep because there are so many established companies in the space.
Healthtech is growing fast. The city’s proximity to major NHS trusts, combined with university research from the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan, creates a natural pipeline for health innovation. I’ve seen some genuinely impressive companies working on patient data, remote monitoring, and clinical workflow tools.
Fintech has a foothold too. Manchester has a large financial services workforce, and some of those people are building the tools to modernise the industry they came from. That’s always a good sign. Founders who know their market because they’ve lived in it for a decade tend to build better products.
Creative and media tech is the other big one, driven by the MediaCityUK ecosystem. Content tools, adtech, production software. If you’re building something at the intersection of media and technology, Manchester might be the best place in the UK to do it.
The funding gap that still exists
For all the positive momentum, there’s still a real gap. Research suggests that around 45% of firms in the North West cite access to funding as a significant barrier to growth. That’s higher than the national average and it tells you something important. Good businesses are going unfunded because the investment infrastructure outside London hasn’t caught up with the quality of the companies being built.
Part of this is visibility. London has hundreds of angel groups, VCs with offices in Mayfair, and endless networking events where founders bump into investors. Manchester has fewer of those touchpoints. A founder in Ancoats building something brilliant might not know where to start when it comes to raising capital.
That’s one of the reasons we set up Lomond the way we did. We invest across the whole of the UK, not just London. We’ve seen too many talented founders outside the M25 who struggle to get in front of investors simply because they’re not in the right postcode. That’s a problem we want to help solve.
What we look for in Manchester founders
The same things we look for everywhere, honestly. We invest in people first. We want founders who know their market, who’ve got early traction, and who can articulate clearly what the capital will do for them. We typically invest between £50k and £250k, and we like to see that money going towards growth, not just keeping the lights on.
But there are a few things I notice about Manchester founders specifically. They tend to be practical. They build things that solve real problems for real customers, rather than chasing trends. They’re also well connected locally. The Manchester business community is tight-knit, and founders who are plugged into it can move faster than those who aren’t.
We’re hands-on investors. We don’t just write a cheque and disappear. We attend board meetings, open doors, and help with hiring, strategy, and commercial introductions. If that sounds like the kind of relationship you want with your investors, we should talk.
Getting started
If you’re a Manchester founder thinking about raising angel investment, start by getting your house in order. Make sure your company is properly structured, ideally as a limited company. Check your SEIS/EIS eligibility. Get your numbers together, not a 50-page financial model, but a clear picture of where you are and where you’re going.
Talk to other founders who’ve raised. The Manchester startup community is generous with its time, and people will tell you what worked and what didn’t. Attend events at places like Manchester Science Park, the Sharp Project, or any of the regular meetups in the Northern Quarter.
And if Lomond sounds like a good fit, have a look at how our process works or start a conversation with us. We read every application, and we make decisions quickly. No six-month processes, no committees of 20 people. Just a straightforward conversation about whether we can help you grow.