Professionals in Manchester’s booming digital sector have revealed their reasons for living and working in the city as part of a relocation campaign spearheaded by Manchester Digital, which aims to encourage more digital and tech professionals to move to the region.

In the research of 300 digital professionals residing in Manchester, over half of respondents said it is the cost of living keeping them in the city, 50% said it was the social scene (arts / nightlife / food and drink), while one in three cited the good transport links to other cities as being especially attractive.

Getting on the housing ladder was also a key driver for these professionals, with 33% stating that they live in Manchester as it’s cheaper to buy a property than it would be in London or the South. The cost of living in Manchester is on average 35% cheaper than it is in London, according to latest figures.

Manchester Digital’s findings are laid out in its #RelocateMCR report, which the trade association is using to attract top digital and tech talent to the region, in order to tackle a growing skills shortage. Positively, four in five research respondents said they intend to stay in the city in the mid-term (in the next three to five years).

Commenting on the findings, Katie Gallagher, managing director of Manchester Digital, said: “Manchester is increasingly becoming an extremely attractive location to live – voted the most livable city in the UK for the second year running last year. Those living in the city would struggle to ignore its buzz – especially those operating in the prosperous digital and tech sectors.

“Our aim is to use the findings of this research to encourage even more people to come and see what the region has to offer, and in turn help our businesses to thrive.”

#RelocateMCR is supported by Auto Trader, rentalcars.com, Co-op and iProspect.

To find out more, visit the new content hub relocatemcr.manchesterdigital.com.

Image credit to: http://www.tecmark.co.uk/