Welcome to Rebuilding Manchester - thank you for visiting.

The website is not-for-profit and was setup in August 1996, seven weeks after the bomb was detonated in Manchester city centre.

The purpose of the website, certainly for the first three years, was to provide a clear, concise record of the rebuilding.  My concern was that the press would descend on the city for 48 hours in June 1996 and then disappear. In turn, people outside of Manchester would assume that the city would be rebuilt in a matter of months with the absence of any coverage and commentary,

It was three years before the core of the devastated area returned to normal.

The efforts of everyone involved in the rebuilding should be honoured and applauded. The city is, in my view, a case study - an example to others.

Following the completion of the initial reconstruction - marked by the opening of Marks and Spencer in November 1999 - the city has developed considerably with some fantastic projects: Spinningfields, the Urbis, 1 Deansgate and Beetham Tower.

As a result this website has changed its approach. The goal now is to celebrate the continued evolution of the built environment.