Since the opening of the Foundation building in March, the collaborative workspace and leisure destination has attracted global sports marketing agency SPORTFIVE and video-game start-up FourthStar. The space also includes a diverse mix of hospitality and leisure brands with Nell’s Pizza, the popular New York style pizza restaurant, bringing their iconic ‘za' to Altrincham; boutique bowling brand, Lane 7; Yum Cha, the independent Dim Sum Kitchen and iconic coffee brand Starbucks completing the offering.
Leading national and regional brands have made the neighbourhood their home with innovative new concepts coming to the Stamford Quarter including LOOKFANTASTIC, with the opening of the brand’s first ever IRL concept store and outdoor retailer, Mountain Warehouse. In addition, 02 is due to open before Christmas.
The summer saw the opening of the revamped Stamford Square with a huge street party for the local community. The area now includes a new stairway and ramp from Stamford New Road giving residents and visitors easy access from Altrincham Interchange. The public realm area is home to fresh greenery, trees and flowers and new furniture alongside a community mural and brand new rendering with complementary green and white colourways.
Externally, the workspace is also boosting the health of the town with its 375 sq m HYVERT living wall. Working with I Want Plants, the green wall is wrapped around the building’s facade to enhance biodiversity net gain, reduce air pollution, and provide green space, contributing to sustainable living. It is the largest in south Manchester and provides a vertical solution where space is limited. I Want Plants is also using the wall as a testbed for new AI plant health tools set to tackle disease, heat stress and track biodiversity interactions automatically. It is already proving its benefits, with a recent rapid biodiversity sampling of the wall recording approx over 56,000 invertebrates, showcasing a thriving food source for birds and bats.
Commenting on the past 12 months, James Tootle, Head of Retail and Leisure at Bruntwood, said: “2024 has been an exceptional year for the Stamford Quarter in terms of visitor numbers, new openings and the opening of the new public realm. The neighbourhood is thriving and the increase in visitors numbers is testament to the curated blend of national and independent retailers and hospitality and leisure operators that now call the Stamford Quarter their home. The whole ethos behind the development is that regeneration has to be thoughtful, sustainable and for the long-term, and this year has seen that come to fruition.
“It’s been a busy year for events including the LOOKFANTASTIC/Prada pop up and the local community are enjoying the public realm improvements which are a vital part of the whole experience. The growth in footfall clearly demonstrates the appeal of the area and because of this demand 2025 is set to be another important milestone year as we continue with the development of spaces into retail and leisure offerings.”
Cllr Liz Patel, Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Economy and Regeneration, said: “The fact that footfall is up 24 per cent in November is fantastic news and I am delighted that Altrincham continues to go from strength to strength. High streets across the UK are continuing to struggle so this is obviously a huge achievement. Working with Bruntwood, we aim to continue this growth in the New Year and make Altrincham even more of a success story going forward.”