Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has officially opened KPMG’s new Ignition North centre in its Manchester office.
The centre represents a £5.5m investment and brings together expert insights, people, and technology to help organisations spark and foster innovation.
It follows a rethink by KPMG of Manchester’s traditional office layout to cater for new and developing ways of working.
Ignition North provides a flexible physical environment, supported by industry-leading facilitation and technology, and with collaboration spaces that enable deep, digital immersive sessions.
The centre can also support large-scale collaborative problem-solving and hackathons/sprints.
KPMG’s Manchester office is home to 1,200 employees, including more than 260 people in technology roles. Ignition North will create jobs in the city as the firm recruits to support its new offering.
During the launch of Ignition North centre, KPMG showcased how they’re delivering powerful design methods via specialist facilitation and bespoke physical spaces, to support clients to tackle their most complex challenges at an accelerated pace.
Warren Middleton, senior partner at the KPMG’s Manchester office, said: “Bringing our Ignition proposition to our clients in the North is a statement of KPMG’s commitment to clients in the region and acknowledges the region’s growth and ambitions when it comes to technology.
“We’ve already had more than 20 clients benefit from our Ignition North services and we are looking forward to welcoming many more over the coming months.
“Manchester has a thriving tech community and I’m proud that Ignition can now be a part of that, connecting our clients with insights, technology and experts.”
Speaking at the initial announcement of the £5.5m Ignition North initiative, Burnham said: “This investment, which will create new jobs in our digital and tech sectors, is a real vote of confidence in Greater Manchester’s thriving innovation economy.
“We’re the fastest-growing digital and tech hub in Europe, and Ignition North will be part of an expanding network of businesses and working spaces across our city-region driving that growth.”