Being just seven miles from central Manchester has been both an advantage and a disadvantage for Stockport town centre. It has benefitted from being close to a city that has developed apace in recent decades. Yet that same city has likely drawn some of the economic activity out of Stockport itself. In this report we will look at the market here and at what is being done, and being planned, to regenerate the town.

Far from being just a Manchester suburb, Stockport has always been a sizable regional town in its own right. The wider Metropolitan Borough of Stockport has a population of around 300,000. Within that it is a very diverse area. It comprises very affluent areas and semi-rural areas which fringe the Peak District, alongside more deprived and post-industrial areas.

While significant numbers of Stockport residents commute into Manchester and the wider region the town has a sizable economy of its own. Once being known as the centre of the hat making industry key employers are now within wholesale and retail, health and social care, administration and professional services. There is also a significant manufacturing sector.

Fortunately, the local authority here seems to have recognised the issues that being so close to a fast expanding Manchester poses. It has set out on a mission to regenerate and develop the town in a way that, rather than trying to compete with Manchester, capitalises on the town’s unique identity.

The Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation was initially established in 2019. It brought together powers devolved to the Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, Stockport Council and Homes England to focus on regenerating a 130 acre area known as Town Centre West. Several key schemes have now been completed as part of these plans, more are underway and more are planned. So far around 1,200 homes have been completed or are underway.

Stockport Council has a Strategic Regeneration Framework, dating back to 2020, for the area. It provides a long term vision based on the guiding principles of community, innovation and sustainability. It sets out how up to 4,000 new homes, 1m sq.ft. of new employment floorspace and supporting infrastructure and amenity will be delivered across Town Centre West.