Wi-Fi, affordable rates, flexibility... and walls made of rusty corrugated iron.

It might not sound like a likely or desirable space from which to run your business, but the rows of old shipping containers at Pollard Yard have become a hub for some of Greater Manchester's most creative and promising start-ups.

The New Islington hub, run by property management firm Meanwhile Creative, boasts nail bars and film studios, co-working spaces and fashion design houses.

A short walk from the Holt Town tram stop, it might feel a little out of the way.

But it's got some big neighbours - Pretty Little Thing and Boohoo Man have got warehouses and offices on either side, Hope Mill Theatre is just down the road, and the drumbeats coming from Brunswick Mill Rehearsal Studios are just audible - and it's doing a roaring trade.

Pollard Yard has become a hub for some of the city's most promising start-ups

There are 75 containers here now, with more phases on the way in the coming months - and they're all let.

Stepping through the entrance to Pollard Yard, you're greeted by a huge bee-covered mural by artist Ben Downs .

Tenants are given only the very bare bones of a container, though insulated and with electricity wired in, which they can decorate how they wish.

We see neon signs and flower walls, hanging plants and giant noticeboards as we work our way around the yard.

There are loose plans to add an outside seating area to help nourish the community that's formed here in this unlikely location, with hopes to open a cafe.

Prices at Pollard Yard are low, too - to get your own 160-square-foot office, it'll cost you £225 per month.

For 320 square feet, it's £425 per month.

With rents as low as £225 a month containers are quickly snapped up

Thanks to 24-hour access and low rates, container offices at Pollard Yard are snapped up almost as soon as they're listed.

Most of the tenants here are start-ups and small businesses, with several different creative industries establishing a base here.

Will Gomm, creative site manager at Meanwhile Creative, says: "The whole mantra of Meanwhile as a company is to act as a stepping stone from your bedroom to an office.

"Or it's a chance to get out of co-working spaces that are serviced and quite expensive, and you never really know where you're going to be or what you're going to get.

"Here you've got ownership of your place. People are so creative.

"They're given a box, a shell, and it's theirs to do what they want with."

One tenant who's really made their own stamp on their container is Ned Dobbs, a nail artist who runs the hugely popular Nails By Ya Gal .

Ned Dobbs of Nails By Ya Gal

Ned has kitted out her container with pink walls and botanical wallpaper, with fairy lights and plants and zebra print treatment tables.

It's an Instagrammer's dream, and feels a long way from the grey steel on the outside.

Ned was initially part of the Reign Make-Up studio over in Cheetham Hill, who have made the move over to Pollard Yard too.

Ned said: "We had to get out of the old place, but the girls found this.

"Obviously it's still up-and-coming, but there's so many cool people round here.

"There's Pretty Little Thing, Boohoo, next door in that mill there's a Manchester radio station and recording studios and stuff.

"Everyone's just setting up their own business and very much in the creative industry.

"The public transport links to here are great, there's the tram and buses here too.

"The feedback I've had from my clients is that it's a lot better here, I think because a lot of them work or live in Ancoats or New Islington."

Woolgather Films at Pollard Yard

Another group is Woolgather Films , a trio of film producers who met at MMU and have been working out of various bedrooms and cafés before snapping up a spot at Pollard Yard.

Their production company is just six months old but is already working with TikTok - currently the biggest social media platform in the world - as well as producing their own short films and working with Manchester City Council.

Pollard Yard has given them the chance to work more collaboratively, and the 24-hour access is essential with so many international clients.

Jenna Bainbridge

Jenna Bainbridge, owner of Jenna Nicole Designs, is an upholsterer who upgrades existing pieces of furniture and makes her own soft furnishings.

She's standing in her unit in socks, her boots lying by the door - she only moved in last month but already seems at home here, surrounded by reams of colourful fabric.

"It's so handy having 24 hour access and having other creatives nearby," she says.

"It's nice working alongside completely different people.

"Like, my nails are terrible from doing this but I've got a nail bar next door now so I can pop round there!"

Calder Taylor and Dale Gallagher of Ankh & Eye

Calder Taylor and his business partner Dale Gallagher are among the latest to join Pollard Yard, with their clothing brand Ankh & Eye.

It all started after Calder lost his mum, an archaeologist, and designed a logo from her two favourite symbols - an ankh and the eye of Horus.

Nine months later and he's sold out one collection of streetwear and is preparing to launch his second.

Until now, Calder has been working from his penthouse apartment near Deansgate, surrounded by boxes as well as trying to run his photography business from the same space.

"I'm going to use this space as a showroom, where people can come and see stuff. There's a lot of influencers in Manchester so we want to bring people down and show them what we're doing."

Graphic designer Gemma Thirsk is turning her container into a co-working space

Pollard Yard is a saving grace for freelancers who have gone it alone and left the working environment - and chats around the kettle - behind.

Freelance graphic designer Gemma Thirsk said: "When I was working from home I had a really hard time with loneliness.

"You go a bit crazy just sitting there not talking to anyone but the postman."

She's also making her container work for her financially - as the founder of the Ladies Who Trade group, where women can network and skill-swap, she's renting out a couple of desks to create a female-only co-working space.

Beth Pashby of Oh Beaut lash bar

In one of the largest units, pink neon signs welcome customers to a feminine beauty salon.

This is the Oh Beauty lash bar, owned by Beth Pashby who left her job in training for a cosmetics brand in May to go self-employed.

"Originally I was going to take a smaller unit here," she said.

"But then I got so busy so quickly lash extensions have just gone massive.

"I was just booked out solidly.

"Now I rent out the rest of the beds in this unit to other girls - they're all self-employed, they don't work for me, but it gives them a space.

"It's fab here.

"Now it's winter it's a bit freezing in the morning," she laughs.

"But now that more and more people are coming it's becoming a really cute community.

"We've got a WhatsApp group and everyone chats."

In a city with increasingly high rental rates, Pollard Yard is managing to provide affordable workspaces - and is nurturing Manchester's creative industries at the same time.

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