Manchester is leading centre for manufacturing, the city economy is now largely service-based and is the fastest growing in the UK, with inward investment second only to the capital. Manchester’s State of the City Report identifies financial and professional services, life science industries, creative, cultural and media, manufacturing and communications as major activities. The city was ranked in 2007 as the best place or the second best place to do business in the UK, and the eighteenth best in Europe.Manchester has the largest UK office market outside London. Manchester is a focus for businesses which serve local, regional and international markets. It is one of the largest financial centres in Europe with much people employed in banking and finance and more than 60 banking institutions. The Co-operative Group, the world's largest consumer-owned business, is based in Manchester and is one of the city's biggest employers. Legal, accounting, management consultancy and other professional and technical services exist in Manchester.Manchester's Central Business District is in the centre of the city, adjacent to Piccadilly, focused on Mosley Street, Deansgate, King Street and Piccadilly. Spinningfields is a £1.5 billion mixed-use development that is expanding the district west of Deansgate. The area is designed to hold office space, retail and catering facilities, and courts. Several high-profile tenants have moved in, and a Civil Justice Centre opened in October 2007.
Manchester is the commercial, educational and cultural focus for North West England, and is ranked as the fourth biggest retail area in the UK by sales. The city centre retail area contains shops from chain stores up to high-end boutiques such as Vivienne Westwood, Emporio Armani, and DKNY. The city has several shopping malls including the Manchester Arndale, the UK's largest inner city shopping mall.
