Manchester leaves rivals trailing

Manchester has left its rivals trailing in its wake in a recently published survey. The UK Competitiveness Index benchmarks UK localities and regions. Manchester is ranked tenth in the Local Index of places with a population of 100,000 people or more. The report's authors, experts from the Centre for International Competitiveness (at the University of Wales) note that Manchester has risen twenty-four places on the Local Index since 2006.

Five London boroughs occupy the top five spots. London is classified as a region rather than a city.

Leeds is ranked fourteenth in the year's Local Index. Newcastle upon Tyne is twenty-eighth, Birmingham is down in thirtieth position in the Index and Liverpool comes in at thirty-seventh.

The report's authors "consider competitiveness to consist of the capability of an economy to attract and maintain firms with stable or rising market shares in an activity, while maintaining stable or increasing standards of living for those who participate in it."

Manchester continues to attract "creative industries, information technology, digital media and other knowledge-intensive businesses" as the Birmingham Post acknowledged on Friday, September 5.

Visitors to Manchester can discover that the city has much to offer businesses or delegates attending conferences in the city. Conference delegates, business travellers or people enjoying a short break in the city can explore Manchester on foot with a Walk Talk Tour audio walking tour.

The Manchester: Then & Now city guide costs just £5. Visitors to the city can also hire the Walk Talk Tour Manchester travel guide from the city's Visitor Information Centre for £6 (the additional £1 covers the cost of a set of disposable headphones and a printed map of the tour's route).

As the report indicates Manchester has succeeded to a greater degree than many rival cities in the UK in re-inventing itself. Visitors to the city can hear about the history of this city with the Manchester: Then & Now mp3 guided tour.

Hear about the origins of the name Manchester, the history of the Roman settlement. Find out how Manchester is a city of firsts. Hear about some of the colourful characters to have made their mark on the city and the wider world. To hear an audio sample from the Manchester: Then & Now podcast guided tour please click here.

Unlike with a conventional guided tour, listeners to the Walk Talk Tour Manchester iPod travel guide can stop, start or listen again as they wish - or as the weather dictates. Many of the visitor attractions along the Walk Talk Tour of Manchester's route are admission free, like the Museum of Science and Industry. Have a look at our Where & When pages which provide information about the opening times and admission charges of many attractions on the tour's route.