A few districts, one main operator, and a corner screen set up for 3D.
UK out-of-home revenue hit a record in 2025, and two thirds of it is now digital. In Manchester, the large formats sit in a few districts: Printworks, Spinningfields, the Arndale and the main roads into the centre. Below: the screens that suit a 3D billboard, who sells them, the rules and when to launch.
The Manchester out-of-home market
UK out-of-home revenue reached a record £1.44 billion in 2025, up 2.6% on the year, with digital at 67% of it (Alight Media, Outsmart and PwC figures). We found no published figure for Manchester alone.
In Manchester, the large formats sit mostly with one operator. Manchester City Council re-awarded its large-format contract to Ocean Outdoor for ten years from October 2025: 16 screens including Two Towers, the Digi-Bridge on Mancunian Way and Princess Road, with backlit sites to be converted to digital (Ocean Outdoor). Ocean already ran more than 100 city-centre screens and banners, and in 2026 it took over all advertising sales at the Manchester Arndale, a centre with more than 46 million visitors a year (Ocean Outdoor).
Screens that suit a 3D billboard in Manchester
The Screen @ Spinningfields
Ocean OutdoorCorner LED, 12.8 m wide x 3.6 m high (north face 9.6 m, east face 3.2 m)Two faces at an angle, set up for Ocean’s 3D DeepScreen format; about 5.5 million visitors a year in the district (Ocean Outdoor)
Printworks screen, Withy Grove
Ocean OutdoorLarge LED facade screenOne of the screens where Ocean launched DeepScreen 3D in 2021; eight million visitors a year (Prolific North)
Printworks SkyLights
Ocean OutdoorLED ceiling, 1,000 m², one brand a monthSeen from below while walking through; billed as Europe’s largest digital ceiling (Ocean Outdoor)
Arndale Media Wall
Ocean OutdoorFull-motion LED, 108 m²A large moving surface in a centre with more than 46 million visitors a year (Ocean Outdoor)
Terminal 2 Sky Screen, Manchester Airport
GlobalFull-motion 4K screen, 5 m widePassengers with time to look; more than 32 million through the airport (Outsmart)
Spinningfields is the closest to the classic anamorphic setup: a corner seen from the street, where the object can break out of one face into the other. Printworks has the track record. The SkyLights ceiling is a different brief: a 3D film designed to be watched from below.
3D campaigns Manchester has already seen
- Magnum (2024): MullenLowe’s anamorphic campaign ran on Printworks, alongside Piccadilly Lights in London, New Street in Birmingham and Liverpool’s Media Wall. It was described as the largest 3D out-of-home campaign in the UK (CXM Today).
It is the only anamorphic campaign in Manchester we could verify. The lesson still holds: one strong screen per city, and a national plan around it.
Who sells the space
- Ocean Outdoor: the council’s large formats (Two Towers, the Digi-Bridge), the Printworks screen and SkyLights, the Arndale Media Wall and 37 screens inside the centre, plus Spinningfields and St John’s (Ocean Outdoor).
- JCDecaux UK: a ten-year council contract, awarded in 2020, for 86 Community Information Panels carrying 172 digital screens in the city centre, including Piccadilly, Deansgate, Market Street and King Street (Media4Growth).
- Global: Manchester Airport, with 68 digital screens and 31 classic posters (Outsmart), and Network Rail’s roadside sites in the city (Global).
Rules to know before you brief
- Advertisement consent: most illuminated ads in England need consent from the local planning authority, here Manchester City Council. It judges only amenity and public safety, normally within eight weeks. Booking an existing screen means the operator already holds it (Planning Portal).
- Content: the CAP Code applies to all non-broadcast ads, and the Advertising Standards Authority can have an ad removed or amended (ASA).
When to launch in Manchester
- 01
Manchester Christmas Markets: from 6 November to 22 December in 2026, with Albert Square and Cathedral Gardens open until 3 January 2027. More than 200 stalls across nine city-centre sites (Visit Manchester).
- 02
Manchester Pride, over the late August bank holiday weekend (Manchester Pride).
- 03
Parklife, at Heaton Park, in June; the 2027 edition moves to July (Parklife).
- 04
Major football tournaments, in June and July: PwC credited World Cup activations for the growth of UK out-of-home in early 2026 (Outsmart).
A 2D video gets seen. A 3D one gets filmed.
Same screen, same media budget. A flat video plays like every other ad. Anamorphic 3D seems to leave the screen, so people stop, film it and share it.
From your media plan to a moment people film.
You bring the screens and the brand. We bring the idea, the 3D and the delivery, and we keep it simple for you from the first call to the day it goes live.
See your brand break the screen.
Tell us about your next campaign. We come back with a concept built for your screen and your brand: the idea, the twist, and how it plays out. Free, and yours to keep.
No commitment. If you would rather talk it through first, book a call and we look at your plan together.
The messages we get once the screen goes live.
“Thank you, the team loves it”
Brand marketing · EMEA
“Really great work, thanks a lot”
Social lead · UK
“Thanks again, it looks amazing”
Brand content · HQ
“Congratulations on a job exceptionally well done”
Nathalie Dubois · Head of Brand Marketing, Media & Comms Western Europe
“Great job, thank you”
Campaign lead · DACH
Everything you need to know.
The Screen at Spinningfields is a corner with two faces, set up by Ocean Outdoor for its 3D DeepScreen format. The Printworks screen has already carried 3D, including Magnum's campaign in 2024. The choice depends on the idea and the budget.
No Manchester operator publishes its large-format rates, so the media is quoted per screen and per date. The 3D film depends on how many screens and formats it has to fit. We quote both once the screens are chosen.
Yes. We can handle the media buying with the operators, so the screens are chosen for the creative and the budget stays under control. If you already have a media agency, we deliver the 3D film to their plan.
Mostly Ocean Outdoor: the city council's large formats, Printworks, Spinningfields and the Arndale. JCDecaux UK holds the council's digital information panels in the city centre, and Global sells Manchester Airport.
Yes. We create both flat and 3D versions and adapt them to every screen and media owner in your plan, whether that's one flagship billboard or dozens across markets. The technical back-and-forth is our job, not yours.
The creative is a separate line, but it never requires you to buy more media. You're making the impressions you've already paid for work harder: the same screens start generating organic reach on their own.
Ideas and early visuals can use AI. The final 3D is built by our own team, because a real screen with real people in front of it does not forgive approximation.