The space, located at the heart of the city’s new £1.7bn innovation district on the former UMIST campus, Sister, can host over 100 businesses, providing business advice and support services together with space and funding to help climate tech start ups to scale faster and create jobs in the region. Sustainable Ventures new Manchester site hopes to build on the success of its existing hub in London.
The new hub has been built from materials sourced from pioneering local companies from Manchester and the surrounding areas using sustainable materials, while the private and public sector-backed hub has been powered by investment from Barclays and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Famous for its brutalist architecture, the recently Grade II listed Renold Building opened in 1962 as part of The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), providing a home for generations of engineering students. It now forms the first phase of Sister: a joint venture between Bruntwood SciTech and The University of Manchester.
Sustainable Ventures, the leading growth partner for climate tech start-ups, has woven sustainability into every decision, from repurposed university furniture to modular, flexible design features. Informed by experience from Sustainable Ventures’ award winning hub in London, the HQ in the North is a leading example of circular and sustainable renovation. Together, Sustainable Ventures, Sister and Barclays have supported more than 15 companies to install and trial their sustainable material innovations across the Renold Building.
The innovations include low carbon wall tiles by Dekiln, sheep wool acoustic tiles by Wull Technologies, carbon negative bricks made by earth4earth, and partition walls made from 100% breathable, natural fibre board consisting of hemp straw and a mineral binding agent by Ubuild.
Sustainable Ventures Manchester hub will also provide expert business support for climate tech companies, strengthening Greater Manchester’s competitive advantages. Starting with sustainable materials in commercial property, the hub will provide opportunities across the climate tech sector including support for:
- Startups & Entrepreneurs: connecting them with potential customers, investors, partners, and the Sustainable Ventures team can help businesses scale faster and smarter.
- Investors & Corporates: engaging with high-potential climate tech start-ups and learn from real-world case studies of successful early-stage partnerships.
- Public Sector & Academic Partners: exploring a replicable model for strengthening the regional climate tech ecosystem and discovering collaboration opportunities to drive shared economic and environmental outcomes.
Alongside launching its hub, Sustainable Ventures has already created programmes in Manchester and the surrounding areas to help climate start-ups accelerate their growth including: The Hydrogen Innovation Challenge (about to launch a second phase this autumn); collaboration with AMEY around the built environment; GM Colleges Innovator in Residence; as well as the Sister Innovation Challenge for sustainable materials. Sustainable Ventures has a proven track record in growing and commercialising net zero companies and its programmes have supported 1000+ start-ups, achieving a leading survival success rate of 85% (compared to the industry average of <60%.) generated 7,000 plus green jobs and provided £1.2bn in funding.
The first businesses to be based in the centre include The Carbon Literacy Project, Hydrogen Safe, Fuuse, SkenarioLabs and CQuel, with an ambition to ultimately welcome over 100 businesses in the space.
The new hub and its tenants,will create hundreds of high-skilled jobs across the region, and support the UK’s wider net-zero journey by focusing predominantly on the built environment and energy sectors, although the climate tech hub will open its doors to anyone working in climate tech in the north west.
Cllr Bev Craig, leader Manchester City Council, said: “This hub is doing what Manchester does best – bringing together the right expertise from a broad range of disciplines to deliver our vision for low carbon investment and economic growth. This is at the core of what we want to achieve in the city and locating this hub at the heart of Manchester’s new innovation district provides unparalleled opportunity to combine the strengths of the public sector and academia, alongside commercial partners, to deliver great outcomes for the climate tech businesses in our city and the wider region.”
James Byrne, partner, Sustainable Ventures, said: “We’re thrilled to co-invest with regional partners into this exceptionally well located climate tech hub at Sister in Manchester. The unique approach to its development, has accelerated the use of innovative sustainable materials, many of which have come from the local area or are supported by Greater Manchester’s world class academic institutions. As the UK’s leading growth partner for climate tech businesses, we are excited to bring together over 100 businesses as part of our hub to support Manchester’s continued climate tech growth trajectory.”
Bradley Topps, project director at Sister and chief commercial officer for Bruntwood SciTech, added: “Just 12 months ago we opened the doors to the Renold Innovation Hub, the first phase of our ambitious 15-year regeneration project. The launch of Sustainable Ventures’ Northern hub is a natural next step in growing this ecosystem. They’ve already demonstrated their impact by bringing local suppliers of low-carbon building technologies into the transformation of the Renold Building and their own space, showcasing the collaborative way in which they operate. Their presence at Sister brings huge potential to accelerate support for climate tech innovators and partners across the region and beyond.”
