Sir Howard Bernstein joins Beech Holdings

Manchester council chief, Sir Howard Bernstein, attended the launch to mark Beech’s £1m move and gave a speech at the opening of Beech Holding’s new headquarters.

This comes after company founder, Stephen Beech invested £1m in the 9,000 sq ft office, after moving from their previous home on Portland Street.

Speaking at the opening of the £1m Oxford Street office, Sir Howard paid tribute to Beech Holdings’ ‘unique offering’ in the residential property market.

He said: “I wanted to be here to congratulate Stephen and his team and everyone who is associated with, what I think, is a unique offering,” said Sir Howard.

“It’s really good that the market in Manchester can actually embrace innovative approaches like this.”

Given the uncertainty that has surrounded the city after the Brexit Sir Howard used the opportunity to reassure members of the industry that Manchester will continue to grow.

“I spent the last couple of weeks saying that ‘we are open for business’, notwithstanding some of the outcomes around the Brexit vote which we are all still trying to understand,” he said.

“It’s clear also that we face political uncertainty over the next couple of months. But the one thing I’m actually clear about, is that that’s not going to deflect Manchester from its growth path and strategic direction.

“So I want to congratulate Stephen and his team again and everyone here, not only for what you’ve done tonight, in helping to make this business work, but more particularly for what you do to make our city grow even bigger and stronger in the future.”

Following the event, Manchester-born Stephen said: “It was fantastic to have Sir Howard at our launch along with so many people we have gotten to know over the years.

“The new headquarters 60 Oxford Street symbolises our ambitions. The face and the brand of the lettings is Manchester Apartments while the back of the office is Beech Holdings very much delivering at a corporate level.”

Stephen also announced that the company had taken out a 20-year lease on the property as a sign of commitment to the city.

He added: “As I said during my speech, we are staying in Manchester and will continue to be an investor in the city.”