This former Industrial Revolution heartland now brims with media, academia and sport. The metropolis boasts five universities, 90 free museums and a world-beating music scene. Manchester has traded its old textile industry for new sectors like advanced manufacturing, biotechnology and ICT. New media businesses and broadcasters cluster at Salford MediaCity UK on the rejuvenated waterfront. You can meet nearby in the silvery Lowry arts centre or in architect Daniel Libeskind's space-age Imperial War Museum North. Manchester Central Convention Complex hosts conferences and concerts under restored Victorian railway station vaults. Take hospitality seriously in The Comedy Store auditoriums or entertain at the city's rival football grounds.