The Wrap: OBI’s Take January 2026

We’ve hit the ground running in 2026 at OBI, with a highlight being the first Trading Places episode. Here are a few other things that grabbed my attention in January.

Deal of the month
Summize is a company on the up, showing year-on-year growth of 100% and this month they secured a $50m investment, truly a Manchester international success story. Existing investors Maven and YFM Equity Partners were joined on the deal by Kennet Partners and Federated Hermes. Well done Tom Dunlop & Steve Klin.

Property deal of the month
Portland Street remains an important part of the Manchester office market and the £35m sale of 11 Portland Street, from Aviva Investors to RPG, represents a big move for the buyer. Aviva held the asset for 25 years so it’ll be interesting to see in which direction RPG take things, especially with Arm’s move to No. 1 St Michael’s.

One to watch
Plans are in for a 14-storey building, featuring 100,000 sq ft of offices, overlooking Parsonage Gardens. Replacing 1 North Parade and 5 Parsonage, this is one of several proposals in what OBI has tipped as a postcode to watch in 2026.

One for the future
We’ve all heard big promises before on transport. But the government’s allocation of £1.1bn to support detailed design work for what might be a £45bn Northern Powerhouse Rail programme feels significant, drilling down into crucial issues – addressing the Manchester bottleneck, speeding up journey times to Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham. Let’s move past the fancy CGIs now please!

Eyecatcher of the month
Mayoral Development Corporation status has played a big part in the re-emergence of Stockport and now Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge and Oldham are the latest MDCs announced. Middleton is also progressing under MDC status, with Steve Coogan and Co-operatives UK CEO Rose Marley spearheading things as co-chairs. Is this the latest winning model for GM’s civic leaders?

Business of the month
Manchester isn’t short of smart businesses and Fuzzy Labs is one. Based at Heron House’s digital hub, the firm works in MLOps, a new discipline in machine learning that allows customers to deploy AI models into production. We said in our 2026 predictions that AI will be a huge growth area for Manchester and companies like Fuzzy Labs are the people driving things forward.

What we’ve liked this month
A podcast worth checking out is the Sofa Stories x Clearwater special, with Nick Bianchi. Featuring Clearwater partners Michael Loudon and Joe Dyke, the second episode focuses on demystifying valuation, unpacking an area of selling a business that’s rife with misunderstanding. Some great insight.
January means the FA Cup and along with Stoke City advancing, the other big story came with a giantkilling at Macclesfield, as the Cheshire team dumped out holders Crystal Palace on a bright winter Saturday, perfect for sport. Great drama, underlining that there’s loads to be found away from the obvious destinations of City and United. Sorry to James Featherstone.