Mansell Building Solutions has opened Greater Manchester’s first MMC Centre as part of its new headquarters in Oldham.
The new centre aims to set out a blueprint for faster, safer and more certain housing delivery across the city region.
The site is 50% larger than Mansell’s previous facility and significantly increases its capacity to manufacture panelised light gauge steel frames for residential, care, student and education projects across the North of England.
The new MMC Centre provides a full-scale, life-size prototype of a completed MMC build. Unlike traditional showrooms, the centre reveals how early engagement and factory-first construction works in practice, allowing designers, councils, contractors, end users, developers and architects to see real build details, understand interfaces and resolve issues before projects ever reach site. By enabling early, design-led collaboration, the centre is intended to reduce risk, improve quality and accelerate delivery.
Established in 1991, Mansell is the only MMC manufacturer based in Greater Manchester, positioning Oldham as a hub for industrialised housing delivery and strengthening the region’s capability to support major developments such as Atom Valley and wider regeneration programmes.
The launch was marked by a visit from Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, and Aisling McCourt, GMCA’s head of housing growth and net zero, who toured the production line and MMC Centre with managing director, Angela Mansell, and met local factory staff. During the visit, the Mayor discussed how factory-first construction can help Greater Manchester meet its housing ambitions while creating skilled local jobs and reducing carbon, waste and programme risk.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “We want everyone in Greater Manchester to have a good, warm, safe place they can call home – and we’re focused on delivering the thousands of new homes that our city region needs. It’s clear when you walk around a facility like this, and see the approach here, that doing more of the work off-site can help accelerate that process and make a real difference to our mission.”
“Building homes also means creating new opportunities for good, skilled jobs across our towns and cities, and clear pathways into construction for young people. When you can build homes and create those opportunities at the same time – that’s what good growth looks like for Greater Manchester.”
Angela Mansell, managing director of Mansell Building Solutions, said: “Our bigger factory and MMC Centre are about much more than bricks and steel – they are about building certainty for Greater Manchester at the scale and speed it needs.”
“The region is already making strong progress towards meeting its ambitious housebuilding targets. But to maintain this momentum, and ensure there is no compromise on quality, safety or sustainability, MMC is essential. Factory-first delivery creates certainty across the board on cost and quality, allowing for predictability at scale. We are filling our factory providing homes in the North East, Merseyside and across the North West, but feel there is more opportunity on our doorstep to build more.”
“By bringing people into the heart of how modern construction works, we can design risk out earlier, build faster, and create better jobs locally. This facility shows that MMC isn’t theoretical, it is happening here, right now, in Oldham.”
