The Yard, a former Jewish school in Strangeways, has been brought back to life thanks to the investment from local entrepreneurs Mark and Jo Hamburger, Manchester City Council, and its partners.

Its state of the art facilities will provide aspiring fashion designers, artists, photographers, actors and more the space to grow their talent where in the past significant financial barriers would have stood in their way.

In a nod to Manchester’s industrial past, there will also be space for up and coming textile designers to start up businesses of their own, and continue a proud trade which shaped so much of Manchester’s history.

On hand to open the hub was former Newcastle United, Manchester City and England Manager Kevin Keegan. In his heyday he was most commonly seen slicing through defences, but at The Yard he opted to slice through a huge cake specially made by Rosie Dummer – aka Rosie Cake Diva.

Kevin Keegan with Cllr Nigel Murphy

Development of The Yard stretches back to 2014 when the first steps were made to transform the space. Seeing an opportunity to give talented young Mancunians somewhere to develop, Mark and Jo Hamburger invested heavily in the project, working with Manchester City Council to harness the potential of the area.

During the launch event there were performances from Mancunian artists, as well as a poetry reading by Terry Caffrey and an appearance by Tony Walsh (Longfella).
Other special guests included Manchester City great Dennis Tueart and former Stone Roses guitarist Aziz Ibrahim.