Today London is widely regarded as the centre of the UK economy, but go back 250 years and you'll find that a northern city - Manchester - was very much in the driving seat, being the world's first industrial city. But how is the city faring today, and what implications might this have for the property investor-landlord?

The City of Manchester sits at the heart of the Manchester City Region which has a population of 2.68m - the third largest region outside London. Beyond the city itself it encompasses nine other metropolitan boroughs - the city of Salford plus Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. Today Manchester is rated as a Beta world city (the UK's only such city), which puts it on a par economically with Geneva, Stuttgart and Vancouver. According to the 2011 census the population of the city itself grew by 80,000 over the previous decade. Forecasts suggest it will grow by another 80,000 inhabitants by 2027.

According to MIDAS, the local inward investment agency, the Greater Manchester area is the largest functional economic area outside London, generating gross value added (GVA) of £46bn. It experienced a 40% rise in private sector jobs in the 'boom years' of 1998-2008. Almost half of the Northwest's 'Top 500' businesses are based in Manchester and the city region is home to over 2,000 foreign owned companies, many of which are very significant employers. In the latest 'Cities Outlook', published recently by the Centre For Cities, Manchester ranked highly (fourth out of the top ten cities in the UK) as a centre for private sector job growth during 2010-12 with 13,200 jobs being created.