Manchester is world renowned as the first industrialised city in the world, but the city also boasts an important cultural and musical heritage. The city’s role in showcasing innovative punk bands in the 70s, and underground music in the 80s, cemented Manchester’s reputation as a contemporary and vibrant area.

The city’s nightlife, restaurants and cultural facilities rival those of the capital city, and the shopping facilities are unparalleled. Millions of pounds of regeneration funding have flooded in since the IRA bomb of 1996, and the city developed world-class sporting facilities for the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Manchester’s continued rise in importance is evidenced by the new Beetham Tower, the tallest residential building in the United Kingdom, and ‘B of the Bang’, the tallest sculpture in Britain.

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