Film crew hire/Manchester/Logistics
Shoot logistics in Manchester.Trains, vans, parking, food and beds.
The part of a shoot nobody films: getting people and kit here, somewhere to put the van, lunch on time, and a hotel near the set. Here’s how each of those works in Manchester.
Euston to Piccadilly
from 2h 06m
Airport to Piccadilly
20 min, every 10
Parking bay suspension
£30 a bay
Clean Air Zone charge
None
On this page
01 Travel
Getting to Manchester
By train from London. Avanti West Coast runs Euston to Piccadilly in as little as 2 hours 6 minutes, with around 78 trains a day.
From the airport. Trains to Piccadilly take about 20 minutes and run every 10 minutes, from 04:12 until 01:34. A taxi takes 20–25 minutes and costs about £25.
By road. On empty roads, our office in Ancoats is about four hours from central London, under two from Birmingham, and under an hour from Leeds or Liverpool. Add time for the M6 and M62.
Across the city. MediaCityUK is on the Metrolink’s Eccles line (change at Cornbrook), with a tram every 12 minutes. Our office is a seven-minute walk from Piccadilly and four from New Islington tram stop.
02 Parking
Parking and unit bases
Vans are the hard part of a city-centre shoot. Three things make it work.
01
Bay suspensions
£30 a bay a day through the council, with at least five working days’ notice, for the vehicles the shoot needs: generators, lighting and props trucks.
02
Yellow-line dispensations
£30 a vehicle a day, with a certificate in the window. They don’t apply where there’s a loading ban, and payment is due three working days ahead.
03
A unit base
Catering trucks can’t park in parts of the city centre, so they sit at a unit base with the facilities. Screen Manchester asks for engines off on arrival and crew cars parked away from the location.
| Car park | Area | Height limit |
|---|---|---|
| RCP Hanover Street, M4 4BB | Northern Quarter and Victoria | None |
| Printworks, M4 4BB | Victoria | 2.2m |
| NCP New Quay Street | Spinningfields | 2.16m |
| Q-Park Piccadilly Place, M1 3BN | Piccadilly | 2.15m |
| Quayside, M50 3AH | MediaCityUK | 2.03m |
| Broadway, M50 2EQ | MediaCityUK | 1.9m |
| Ancoats Mobility Hub, M4 6NE | Ancoats | 1.8m |
Worth knowing
King Street takes vehicles before 8am and after 6pm; Market Street before 8am and after 7pm. And there’s no Clean Air Zone charge: Greater Manchester dropped charging, so vans and minibuses pay nothing to drive in.
03 Vehicles
Vans, trucks and drivers
Manchester and Manchester Airport
Arnold Clark Rental, Film & TV
Six-seat crew vans, people carriers, pick-ups and 7.5-tonne trucks on a film and TV account.
Space Studios, West Gorton
Translux
Facility trailers and technical trucks for costume, make-up and production.
Northern depot, Knowsley
Supply 2 Location
Honeywagons, generators, water bowsers, tower lights, marquees and cabins for a unit base.
Vaughan Street · M12
Location One
Power, lighting, welfare and climate control for unit bases.
City centre and Salford Quays
Practical and Enterprise
Vans up to a Luton with a tail lift, and nine-seat people carriers, from branches near Piccadilly and Salford Quays.
Here Now Films
Our own van
We run our own kit van on shoots.
Kit in vans
Many kit insurance policies don’t cover theft from an unattended vehicle unless the kit is out of sight and the van locked. We don’t leave kit in vans overnight.
04 Food
Catering
For a crew of four, lunch is an order delivered to set. For a unit of 30, it’s a location caterer with a kitchen truck at the unit base.
Two North West location caterers: Moving Image Location Catering (a kitchen truck and trailer, up to 400 people a day; Toxic Town and Sherwood) and GWF Location Catering in Knowsley (100–300 a day; This City Is Ours).
The rule that matters: on the APA terms, the 11-hour day includes an hour for lunch, and lunch should start within five and a half hours of the start of work. A missed lunch means a meal or a £7.50 allowance.
Dietary needs go on the call sheet, collected when the crew and visiting team confirm.
05 Hotels
Hotels near the set
Places we’d put a visiting team, by where the unit is. Parking prices from each hotel’s own site, October 2026.
| Hotel | Area | Parking |
|---|---|---|
| The Lowry Hotel, M3 5LH | Salford, by Spinningfields | Secure, on site; £32 a night for residents |
| INNSiDE Manchester, M15 4RP | First Street | Paid; 25% off at Q-Park First Street |
| Premier Inn Salford Quays | Salford Quays | On site, £9.60 a night |
| Premier Inn Salford Media City | MediaCityUK | Multi-storey next door, £11 for 24 hours |
| Premier Inn Manchester City (Piccadilly) | Northern Quarter | CitiPark Dale Street, £13 for 24 hours |
| Malmaison Manchester, M1 3AQ | Piccadilly | Discounted Q-Park or CitiPark |
| Leonardo Hotel Manchester Piccadilly, M4 7DB | Edge of Ancoats | Ask the hotel |
06 Travel time
Crew travel terms
Inside Greater Manchester we charge minimal crew travel.
Outside it, the APA terms most crews work to set the rules:
- mileage at 50p a mile beyond 20 miles of the production company’s base, for productions outside London
- travel time paid at the basic hourly rate when travel and work together run past 11 hours, less the first hour each way
- a travel-only day paid at the basic rate, with a five-hour minimum
- 11 hours’ rest between wrap and the next call, 10 at the very least
07 Weather
Weather and daylight
Manchester gets about 831 mm of rain a year, spread over around 143 days. October is the wettest month (95 mm over about 14 days) and March the driest (51 mm). From October to January, plan a cover set for exterior days.
Daylight runs from about 17 hours in late June, with sunrise before 5am, to seven and a half in late December, with sunset just before 4pm.
Want the logistics sorted?
Send the dates, the locations and who’s travelling. We’ll book the vans, parking, food and hotels with the crew, each on its own line. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Quick contact form
08 Questions
Shoot logistics in Manchester: questions
How do I get from Manchester Airport to the city centre?
By train: about 20 minutes to Piccadilly, every 10 minutes, from 04:12 to 01:34. A taxi takes 20–25 minutes and costs about £25.
Where can I park a kit van in Manchester city centre?
On the street, with a £30 bay suspension or yellow-line dispensation and five working days’ notice. Off it, RCP Hanover Street has no height limit; most multi-storeys stop between 1.8m and 2.2m.
Is there a Clean Air Zone charge in Manchester?
No. Greater Manchester dropped charging, so vans and minibuses pay nothing to drive in.
Can you organise catering for a Manchester shoot?
Yes: lunch delivered to set for a small crew, or a location caterer with a kitchen truck for a full unit, with dietary needs collected when everyone confirms.
How long is the train from London to Manchester?
From 2 hours 6 minutes, Euston to Piccadilly, with around 78 trains a day.
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