Global sportswear brand Puma is making a major commitment to the North by relocating its UK headquarters from London to Manchester.
The company has signed for 20,000 sq ft at Circle Square, Bruntwood SciTech’s £87m flagship development in the city’s Oxford Road Corridor – a growing hub for digital, tech and creative businesses.
While Puma already has a small presence in Manchester, the move to No.3 Circle Square will consolidate its teams across sales, marketing, merchandising, finance, people and operations, and direct to consumer bringing them under one roof for the first time in the North.
Lucynda Davies, Puma’s UK Managing Director, said: “The move to Circle Square and state-of-the-art facilities on offer forms a key part of our strategy for providing Puma’s employees with a first class working environment with top facilities and amenities. All whilst being at the centre of a community which offers leading technology, fashion, AI and innovation.”
She added: “Being surrounded by such a strong line up of industry was an important factor, and to find somewhere in the heart of Manchester’s thriving tech community is exactly what we hoped for.”
No.3 Circle Square is the newest phase in the site’s masterplan, offering 267,000 sq ft of workspace across 15 floors and specifically geared towards innovation-led businesses. The building is due to complete construction and open this summer.
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Davies said the relocation will also help deepen existing links with Manchester’s academic institutions, particularly Manchester Metropolitan University, which is part of Bruntwood SciTech’s wider partnership network.
“Being based at Circle Square will also open up a host of opportunities to tap into the city’s creative talent pool and strengthen our existing links with academic partners like Manchester Metropolitan University – of which we get the added benefit of Bruntwood SciTech being a partner,” she said.
Josh Whiteley, Commercial Director, Bruntwood SciTech, said: “PUMA joining Circle Square underlines our ambition to build a thriving community of technology, digital and creative leaders and promote knowledge-sharing and innovation. The brand’s own ethos to innovate and grow marries perfectly with our vision, and its arrival highlights the vibrant and collaborative destination that we have built at Circle Square.
“At Circle Square we offer our customers – whether they’re large global companies or flourishing start-ups – access to new connections, introductions to like-minded businesses, and talent networks while providing state-of-the-art workspaces. Manchester has a reputation as an economic powerhouse that draws in disruptive, pioneering brands and skilled professionals. It also has the largest concentration of fashion students and undergraduates in the UK outside London, and a rich history in innovation and textiles as the birthplace of the industrial revolution. Being the UK home of a global brand like PUMA will be a powerful two-way partnership – helping support regional growth, as well as offering them access to workspace, talent and companies that will shape the future of innovation.”
Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “When a major global brand chooses to have its UK headquarters in Manchester it is a significant announcement for our city which illustrates our international impact. Manchester is a city of innovation and a city of style and we’re pleased that PUMA have decided our existing ecosystem – the talent pool available and links with like-minded businesses and institutions – make it the perfect fit for them.
“We look forward to welcoming PUMA to Circle Square and seeing what interesting new opportunities their presence here will open up both for them and for Manchester people.”
The move comes ahead of the brand opening its first-ever European flagship store on London’s Oxford Street this autumn.
