No 10 North Eyes Manchester Site That Won’t Open Until 2028

Andy Burnham’s No 10 North pitch now has a likely address, but not a finished building: the proposed northern centre of government is reportedly heading for a brownfield Ancoats site that will not be ready before 2028.

A civil service base under construction on the edge of Manchester city centre has been earmarked for the project, according to Guardian World, citing reports from the Manchester Evening News. Burnham’s team is now understood to be hunting for an interim city centre base to bridge the gap.

Andy Burnham’s No 10 North plan points to Ancoats civil service hub

The expected home for No 10 North is the Manchester Digital Campus in Ancoats, a government office project already moving through construction.

The site sits on brownfield land near Manchester city centre. The Treasury formally signed off the business case in March, and the campus is planned to bring together about 8,800 people from multiple government departments, with a focus on digital work.

The scale is substantial. The campus is aiming to become fully operational by 2032 and is expected to provide approximately 900,000 sq ft of purpose-built workspace across two buildings.

That gives Burnham a physical platform for his pledge to shift part of the prime ministerial operation north. It also creates an immediate problem. The Ancoats site is not due to be completed before 2028, leaving a long gap between the political promise and the permanent base.

Burnham, widely expected to succeed Keir Starmer as prime minister in July, has said he would split his time living between London and Greater Manchester. He has also called the Westminster system of government “broken” and argued for a radical shift in how power is exercised across the UK.

No formal government announcement confirming the Ancoats site as No 10 North has been cited in the supplied reporting. For now, the story rests on reports that the under-construction civil service base has been earmarked, and on the understood search for a temporary Manchester office.

Manchester base turns Burnham’s anti-Whitehall pitch into a property test

Burnham’s proposal was framed as a break from Whitehall centralism. The reported Ancoats location makes that promise more concrete, and more exposed.

A Manchester base gives Burnham a visible anchor in his political home. He served as mayor of Greater Manchester and was based in the Tootal Buildings on Oxford Street. The city council, meanwhile, is based in Manchester town hall, a Grade I-listed building that closed in 2018 for repairs and is now scheduled to reopen by spring 2027 after a renovation project costing upwards of £500m.

The symbolism of Ancoats is hard to miss. A northern executive office placed on a brownfield site, inside a large civil service digital campus, fits Burnham’s message about regeneration, devolution and moving decision-making closer to regions outside London.

But symbolism is the easy part.

The immediate contrast is sharp:

• The promise: A northern centre of government that shifts part of the prime ministerial operation away from Westminster.
• The reality: A permanent site that is still under construction and not expected to be ready before 2028.
• The interim fix: A temporary city centre office that Burnham’s team is understood to be seeking.
• The harder test: Whether ministers and senior officials actually use the Manchester base to make decisions, not just stage announcements.

Supporters of devolution are already treating the plan as more than optics. Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said the move could help existing civil service relocation efforts deliver more.

“These new government offices are helping regenerate those places, but ministers themselves have not yet made effective use of them. A regular ministerial presence outside Whitehall would strengthen decision-making and bring government closer to the communities it serves.”

Tracy Brabin, the mayor of West Yorkshire, said Burnham’s proposals to transfer more power to regional mayors “will help us lower the cost of living, regenerate our high streets and enable good growth across our regions”.

Huw Merriman, chair of the Liverpool-Manchester Railway Board and a former Conservative rail minister, pointed to another test of Burnham’s northern agenda, saying the Makerfield MP’s plan to reinstate the HS2 rail link to London “is the real prize”.

For readers tracking the wider Burnham transition, XOOMAR has also covered Andy Burnham Vows to Sack Aides Briefing Against Women and Labour’s post-election governing pressures in Morgan McSweeney Admits Labour 2024 Won Before It Could Rule.

Interim Manchester office becomes the first practical test for No 10 North

The next operational question is not grand theory. It is office space.

Because the Ancoats hub will not be ready for several years, Burnham’s team needs a temporary city centre location if No 10 North is to exist early in his premiership. That interim site will matter because it will show whether the plan starts as a working arm of government or as a symbolic address waiting for a building.

Caroline Simpson, chief executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, has been appointed by Burnham to head up his operations in the north. That gives the project a senior local government figure with direct experience of Greater Manchester institutions.

The unanswered questions are practical and political:

• Location: Where will the interim office be, and how quickly will it open?
• Staffing: Which parts of the prime ministerial operation will move north first?
• Authority: What decisions will be taken in Manchester rather than London?
• Presence: Will ministers and senior officials spend regular time there?
• Budget: What will the temporary and permanent arrangements cost?

The 2028 completion timing creates the central tension. Burnham wants No 10 North to signal a rewiring of Britain’s governing model. The permanent site, however, belongs to a longer construction timetable, with the broader Manchester Digital Campus aiming to be fully operational by 2032.

That means the interim office will carry more weight than a stopgap usually would. If it attracts senior decision-makers, it can give Burnham’s devolution plan early substance. If it becomes a plaque on a rented door, critics will have an easy target.

The next signal to watch is confirmation of the temporary Manchester base. After that, the real measure will be whether power moves with the people. A northern address can strengthen Burnham’s message, but No 10 North will be judged by authority, access and decisions, not signage.

Impact Analysis

• The proposed No 10 North would give Manchester a symbolic and operational role in central government.
• The Ancoats campus will not be ready before 2028, creating a gap between the pledge and delivery.
• The plan ties devolution politics to a major civil service hub expected to host about 8,800 people by 2032.