IS YOUR OFFICE IN MANCHESTER OR SALFORD?

| Mandy

It is an interesting debate…the BBC moved up to Salford and journalists, newsreaders and DJ’s refer to it as such…but then there are some who don’t want to call it Salford, they want to call the boroughs of Manchester, simply, Manchester.  What are your thoughts?  Are you a born and bred Salfordian or Mancunian?  BBC presenter Evan Davis thinks that Salford and Trafford should call themselves Manchester…what do you think about that?

Here’s the full Manchester Evening News article…

Salford and Trafford should call themselves Manchester, says top BBC presenter Evan Davis.   The BBC presenter has called for the boroughs to allow Manchester into their names, ahead of the final instalment of Mind the Gap on BBC on Monday evening.  The BBC should say it is based in Manchester instead of Salford in a bid to boost the area’s international reputation, one of the corporation’s star presenters has said.  Evan Davis said it was a ‘serious problem’ for Manchester that areas such as Salford – home to the BBC at MediaCity UK since 2011 – and Trafford refused to be called Manchester.

Dragons’ Den and Today programme anchor Mr Davis was speaking to the M.E.N. ahead of the airing of the second and final part of is ‘Mind the Gap’ show – which looks at the dominance of London over the rest of Britain – on BBC2 tonight [Monday].

In the programme Mr Davis argues that the north should forge a ‘mega-city’ stretching from the ‘hubs’ of Liverpool to Manchester to Leeds – with other areas becoming spokes – to rival the capital.

But his comments have sparked criticism from Salford mayor Ian Stewart – who slammed them as ‘London-centric’.  Mr Davis’s comments echo a move by the University of Salford, who two years ago rebranded itself to include ‘Manchester’ in its name.

He told the M.E.N: “There is one issue with Salford and one or two of the other outer boroughs [in Greater Manchester].  “It’s a serious problem for Manchester that other people refuse to be called Manchester. It’s doing it no favours. It [Salford] should be called Manchester.  “I go to Manchester quite a lot for Dragons’ Den; when I go up on the train I go to Manchester. Salford has an 0161 telephone number, an M post code, the same tram network.”

He added the move would help Manchester and Salford to boost their ‘international image’ and help them to compete with cities like Lyon in France or Madrid, the Spanish capital.

But the Salford mayor slammed Mr Davis’s comments – saying it was ‘quite surprising that a journalist wants to rewrite the geography of the country’.  He added: “What really is confusing is when a media pundit tries to shift the boundaries of the city. The Quays are in Salford – they always have been and always will be and people know that.  “People clearly won’t know about Salford if we remove all mention of it from the map.  “This view is typical of a London-centric view of the world. Fortunately the British isles is more diverse than London and a handful of big cities. Our strength in the north lies is our diversity, not in all being the same.”

We’re Manchester office agents, based in Manchester city centre and have a range of offices to let Salford, Trafford and Manchester, so wherever you would like to be located, give us a call and we promise to keep it simple!