Plans by footballers Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs for the £200m St Michael’s redevelopment project in Manchester city centre were given the final go-ahead. 

The 700,000 sq ft scheme, comprising a 39-storey residential tower, a five-star hotel and office and leisure space, had to be revised after a fierce initial backlash.

Construction of the first, office-led, phase finally kicked-off in January.

Last week, former Manchester United captain Neville announced a joint venture between his firm Relentless and developer Salboy to build phase two of the scheme, starting with the hotel.

Topics