Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has officially opened KPMG鈥檚 new Ignition North centre in its Manchester office.
The centre represents a 拢5.5m investment and brings together expert insights, people, and technology to help organisations spark and foster innovation.
It follows a rethink by KPMG of Manchester鈥檚 traditional office layout to cater for new and developing ways of working.
Ignition North provides a flexible physical environment, supported by industry-leading facilitation and technology, and with collaboration spaces that enable deep, digital immersive sessions.
The centre can also support large-scale collaborative problem-solving and hackathons/sprints.
KPMG鈥檚 Manchester office is home to 1,200 employees, including more than 260 people in technology roles. Ignition North will create jobs in the city as the firm recruits to support its new offering.
During the launch of Ignition North centre, KPMG showcased how they鈥檙e delivering powerful design methods via specialist facilitation and bespoke physical spaces, to support clients to tackle their most complex challenges at an accelerated pace.
Warren Middleton, senior partner at the KPMG鈥檚 Manchester office, said: 鈥淏ringing our Ignition proposition to our clients in the North is a statement of KPMG鈥檚 commitment to clients in the region and acknowledges the region鈥檚 growth and ambitions when it comes to technology.
鈥淲e鈥檝e already had more than 20 clients benefit from our Ignition North services and we are looking forward to welcoming many more over the coming months.
鈥淢anchester has a thriving tech community and I鈥檓 proud that Ignition can now be a part of that, connecting our clients with insights, technology and experts.鈥�
Speaking at the initial announcement of the 拢5.5m Ignition North initiative, Burnham said: 鈥淭his investment, which will create new jobs in our digital and tech sectors, is a real vote of confidence in Greater Manchester鈥檚 thriving innovation economy.
鈥淲e鈥檙e the fastest-growing digital and tech hub in Europe, and Ignition North will be part of an expanding network of businesses and working spaces across our city-region driving that growth.鈥�