Within half an hour of arriving in Stockport, someone sporting a totebag which reads “Stockport isn’t shit” walks past. Shortly after that, a T-shirt branding the town as “the new Berlin” appears.
In economic terms, Stockport is certainly a success story. Fifteen years ago, it was named as the town with the most empty shops in Britain, but things are very different today.
Its economy boomed by 24 per cent in the decade to 2018, and since then a £2bn regeneration project – one of the largest in the UK – has also attracted an additional £600m in private investment.
And now, this former industrial heartland is considered by Andy Burnham as the blueprint for his plans to rejuvenate towns across Britain.
An example of this in action is Stockport’s Weir Mill. The former 18th century cotton mill overlooking the River Mersey has been transformed into 253 new homes, an outdoor communal courtyard for gigs and events and what is believed to be the country’s first sports bar focused on women’s sports.
