A 200K SF speculative Manchester office scheme has been launched as some of the world’s largest tech companies size up the city for new northern HQs.

The move comes as Manchester’s office market is gripped by reports that other tech giants, some of them already represented in the city like Peter House-based Google, are to follow Amazon by launching large northern HQs.

In the latest move, MEPC, asset manager on behalf of Hermes, has unveiled plans for an 11-storey office building that will sit on the corner of Corporation and Miller streets. It will be the 20-acre NOMA neighbourhood’s first new-build speculative scheme, branded as Four Angel Square.

Eventually NOMA will provide 2.5M SF of new office floorspace, expanding the existing, mostly refurbished, stock in the tech-dominated Northern Quarter.

The scheme creates a new link to One Angel Square, which will help to open up the part of the site that is further away from the existing creative cluster in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

The speculative new build follows three speculative refurbishments. Earlier this month NOMA owners Hermes announced the start of refurbishment at the 50K SF Redfern Building.

Construction work at the 45K SF Dantzic office building is due to complete in spring.

Global tech giant Amazon announced last year it would be opening the company’s first UK office outside of London at the 90K SF Hanover building.

“Manchester is booming and needs high-quality new office space like Four Angel Square to sustain its growth and help the city remain competitive and attractive to major occupiers on both a domestic and global scale,” Colliers International’s Head of Manchester Peter Gallagher said.

Joint agents are JLL.

Hermes Investment Management is the investment manager of NOMA, working on behalf of an institutional investor, with MEPC appointed as development manager.