The scheme, which is being developed by former Premier League winning footballers Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs’ St Michael’s Partnership, has gone through several design changes and Neville said he was “excited” to have finally received the green light after 10 years working on the project.

After previous proposals were rebuffed by Manchester City Council, revised plans for the 700,000 sq ft Bootle Street scheme were created by architects Hodder+Partners and submitted earlier this year ahead of council approval pending a review by the secretary of state.