The Landing @MediaCityUK has begun a major refurbishment of its seventh floor space by appointing Carla Taylor to run its brand new food and drink operations, in line with its strategic plans to become a globally recognised tech hub for early growth business.
Carla, who created the Penelope’s range of food businesses, has won a five year contract with The Landing to deliver the services. Part of the revamp of Floor 7 at The Landing – to be rebranded Social 7 when it reopens in March 2018 – the space become both a new hub for existing tenants, but also a brand new meeting areas, 200 person events space and local, national and international conference facilities for the tech industry.
Paul Billington, commercial director at The Landing, said: “Carla runs a number of food businesses around MediaCityUK already and her reputation for quality food provision is second to none. We are hugely looking forward to seeing what her team delivers here.
“Social 7 is a really exciting development, both for our tenant communities and for the wider tech community. It will have connected spaces and this, along with the development of our brand new events and conference facilities, is all part of our strategic business plans. We have a particularly strong offering for those in the rapid growth healthcare, education, government, music and VR/AR tech industries.”
Carla Taylor said: “This is a very exciting opportunity for my team. I’ve been running the Penelope’s businesses for nearly five years and we have always had a base at MediaCityUK, it has become home to us. We started in the grill outside the Dockyard by working with The Prince’s Trust and grew from there, also providing on set food for production companies.
“We’re planning on bringing a different approach to food and leaning on my experience in the food sector in New York with things like grazing tables, local produce – high quality, but reasonably priced. We’re also planning a 30 variety gin bar and partnerships with local fresh food suppliers. My team takes pride on our personable service and we look forward to getting to know the tenants and catering for their needs.”
Steven Wild, managing director of MediaCityUK, added: “The launch of Social 7 will bring a fantastic and new dimension to the catering and hospitality offering at MediaCityUK and will give our community a great space, to meet, socialise and do business. Carla and her team will inject the ‘anything is possible’ vibe into Social 7 and I’m sure it will be a great success.”
The Landing creates a unique environment where tech-led SMEs can thrive and grow, offering interactive testing labs such as Barclays Eagle Lab, an exciting working community and state of the art events spaces. It contributes more than £25m a year and 1500 jobs to the Greater Manchester Economy, almost £83m to the UK economy and has strong community roots, with over 450 Salford residents taking part in digital skills programmes in the past year.
