Property company Tatton Estate is joining forces with Manchester Metropolitan University to create a new £6m 3D printing facility close to the Bowdon roundabout.
The two organisations will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the 40,000 sq ft development this week at MIPIM, the property and investment conference taking place in Cannes, France.
The facility will be located on Tatton Estate’s Yarwood Heath Farm, located between Altrincham and Knutsford and part of its Cheshire Gateway scheme.
Known as the Cheshire 3D Print Hub or C3D for short, the facility will also provide grow-on incubation space to accommodate the emerging North West Industrial Digital Technologies market and supplement Manchester Met’s existing central Manchester Print City facilities.
Henry Brooks, managing director of Tatton Group, said: “C3D is a very exciting prospect, regionally, nationally and internationally. It will help contribute to the global imperative for the UK and the North West to increase manufacturing, to create wealth, jobs and social cohesion.
“It will also become an integral part of Cheshire’s international corridor of science and innovation which has some of the most significant science based assets in the North of England, some of which are of global importance.”
He continued: “Sitting at the geographical heart of the UK, Cheshire Gateway already boasts fantastic connectivity to all major cities via train, which will be yet further fed by the HS2 hub stations at Crewe and Manchester Airport, where it is expected to connect to Northern Powerhouse rail, connecting C3D to the global community.”
C3D will operate in conjunction with the university’s existing PrintCity facilities in Manchester.
Prof. Craig Banks, personal chair in electrochemical and nanotechnology at Manchester Metropolitan University, added: “The long-term ambition of the project is to create an open and inclusive science and technology hub.
“It will enhance our research and innovation infrastructure and capacities to develop excellence and promote business investment, including for SMEs.”
