For years, being a “northern creative” in London felt like turning up to a party where everyone assumes you got in by accident. I worked there for six years with a permanent chip on my shoulder, trying to prove I wasn’t some home bargains version of a designer. You know the stereotype. Friendly, hard-working, slightly rough round the edges, doesn't say lunch, therefore must be lower standard. Absolute bollocks, but it still sits in the background and you end up overcompensating like your life depends on it. So you overwork and overthink everything, pushing harder than everyone else just to prove you belong. And honestly, it gets exhausting pretending you’re grateful just to be in the room.

What’s funny now is how much that balance has shifted. Manchester has quietly becoming more and more of a serious creative powerhouse. Big agencies are setting up properly, not just sticking a token office on a map. Havas, one of my old stomping grounds, moving a major part of its UK operation to Manchester is a huge signal. Puma shifting its UK headquarters from London to Manchester is another, they feel like big, confident moves rather than polite experiments.

And it’s not just agencies and brands. Tech companies have been piling in for years. Google, Microsoft, Amazon. All setting up major offices, all tapping into the same talent pool that London once assumed it owned. Turns out creativity doesn’t magically improve just because rent costs more and your flat has mould.