Manchester’s Office Boom: What All That New Floorspace Means for Connectivity

The Short Run: Manchester’s office market is having its strongest run in years, but most of the space coming through is refurbished older stock rather than new build. A smart refit doesn’t mean the cabling behind the walls has been touched, so the network’s worth checking before you sign. Look at the structured cabling, the comms room and the Wi-Fi design for how your team actually works, ideally with a survey before you commit.

The space looks incredible on the viewing. Exposed ceilings, a living wall in reception, bike storage, the kind of building that impresses clients and helps you hire. Then you move in, plug forty people into it, and the video calls start dropping.

That gap, between how a building looks and how it performs, is worth thinking about right now, because Manchester’s office market is moving fast and a lot of businesses are about to upgrade their space.

The numbers behind the boom

Manchester’s had its busiest spell of office delivery in over a decade. Deloitte’s 2026 Crane Survey recorded around 1.2 million square feet of office space delivered across Manchester and Salford in 2025, the most since 2008, with more than 1.5 million square feet still under construction. Prime rents sit at roughly £45 per square foot, and most forecasts have them climbing through the year because demand for the best space is running well ahead of supply. Prime vacancy has dropped to some of the lowest levels on record.

Businesses are competing for good space, paying more for it, and moving to get it. If your lease is up in the next couple of years, you’re probably one of them.

Most of it is refurbishment, not new build

Here’s the part that matters for your network. Most of that “new” space isn’t new at all. Refurbishments now make up around 68% of Manchester’s office pipeline, up from about 30% a decade ago, and no new-build office is due to complete in the city this year, with the next major scheme not expected until 2028.

So for most businesses moving in 2026, the realistic choice is a refurbished building. That’s not a bad thing in itself. Some of the refits are excellent. But a refurbishment is a decision about where the money goes, and it usually goes where you can see it.

A smart refit doesn’t mean smart infrastructure

A landlord refurbishing to attract tenants will spend on the lobby, the shared spaces, the lifts and the sustainability credentials that win lettings. What often doesn’t get touched is the part behind the walls and above the ceiling tiles. A building can have a new café, a green roof and a waiting list, and still be running the same tired cabling it had ten years ago.

You can’t see cabling on a viewing. You can see the finish, the light and the amenities, but the category of the cabling, the state of the comms room and whether the floor boxes are where your desks need them, none of that shows up in the brochure. And it’s exactly the stuff that decides whether day one works.

What to check before you sign

Before you commit to a space, it’s worth getting a few specifics rather than taking “recently refurbished” at face value.

• What’s the structured cabling category, and has it been certified? Cat6a as a minimum gives you headroom for years. Older Cat5e might cope with email and struggle with everything else. If nobody can tell you what’s installed or show you test results, treat that as a gap.

• Is there a proper comms room, and is it big enough, cool enough and powered for your kit? A cupboard with a switch in it isn’t the same thing.

• Where does the fibre come in, and is the in-building fibre up to the job? A quick look at the fibre optic cabling saves a nasty surprise when the leased line goes live.

• Does the Wi-Fi suit your layout, or was it built for the last tenant’s floor plan? A different desk plan means different dead spots, so a proper business Wi-Fi installation is a survey and a design, not a case of reusing what’s already on the ceiling.

Why this matters more than it used to

Offices carry more network load than they did a few years ago. Hybrid working means the days people are in are the busy ones, with more devices per person and back-to-back video calls. Tech firms made up around a quarter of Manchester’s office take-up last year, and they’re the least forgiving of a weak network. A building that felt fine for a quieter, more static office in 2018 can struggle with the way a team works now.

The real problem is the cost of finding out late. Once you’ve signed and moved in, fixing the infrastructure means working around a live business, which is slower and more disruptive than getting it right before anyone sits down. A survey of the building before you commit tells you what you’re taking on, and it’s a lot cheaper than discovering the gaps in month one.

Signing a Manchester lease? Get the network surveyed first.

If you’re weighing up a move in Manchester, the smart step before you sign is a proper look at what’s actually behind the walls. Not the brochure. An actual survey, on site, of the cabling, the comms room and the coverage.

Viking Communications installs and certifies structured cabling for businesses across Manchester and the UK, backed by a 25-year manufacturer warranty and a fully accredited team. Site surveys are free with no hidden charges in the quote, so you can walk into a new space knowing the network’s ready for it.

📞 0161 660 3002

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