Liverpool and Manchester Growing from Strength to Strength

Sarah McCartney, Chair of the Liverpool Chapter, introduces her new board members

The last few months have been an interesting time for the BITA Community in Liverpool as we continue to run our weekly zoom meetings, which are now entering their 51st week. When they started a year ago, myself along with board members Pam Moore and Jim Forshaw, both of whom I am eternally grateful for their support, had not anticipated that we would still be meeting together virtually, nor would we have expected that we would have met so many new people from the wider UK business community and even as far away Tunisia and New Zealand.

The relationships that have been developed over the last few months will continue to grow and be strengthened further as we make plans for our monthly networking and infamous luncheons to return to Liverpool Football Club, the first of which is planned for Friday 30th July.

To support our expansion in Liverpool I am excited to welcome some new members to our Liverpool Board.

To this end I would like to introduce you to Shane Hanley, founder of Go Green Office Solutions and previous winner of our BITA Small Business of the Year awards, Lee Stanley who several you will no doubt know as previously being with the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, Chris Kennedy of Kennedy Consulting, and joining us from one of our BITA main sponsors, Mark Davis, Associate Director of EFM. With their related backgrounds in business growth, construction recruitment and finance they will further strengthen our already strong team. Should you want to find out more about their businesses or get in touch, you will see their details on the Liverpool page of the BITA website.

I was asked recently what three words I would use to describe BITA, and they were Business, Relationship and Community. I am in no doubt that these words will resonate with both my board and the self-titled ‘Liverpool Gang’ that join us each Thursday.

To join us each Thursday from 11am, just email me at sarah@slmc-consulting.com and if you would like to join us at our first luncheon back at Liverpool Football club on 30th July please go to the events page on our website!

INVESTING IN OUR TOWN

Tony Goodman, Chair of the Manchester Chapter, explains why Manchester is a great place for businesses

There was some excellent news for Greater Manchester businesses earlier this month, with the announcement that Bolton has been offered up to £22.9m of funding from the central governments Town Fund.

This money is earmarked to help regenerate the Bolton town centre and is one of the 45 town deals announced as part of the March budget. Bolton has exciting plans, with the council intending to improve Bolton Market and redevelop the Wellsprings building to create a tech-forward hub to foster growth for start-up businesses in the tech and creative sectors. The council will also invest in local services with a planned redevelopment of the Bolton Central Library, Museum and Archive. Keeping the needs of local businesses in mind, they will also be creating flexible workspaces for local businesses and community groups.

The final exciting elements of this grand plan are for a greener town centre – creating footpaths and connections between key areas, as well as pocket parks and public spaces. It is interesting to speculate on what investment and opportunities that these plans will generate.

In March, we also heard that a group of ‘high net worth’ individuals were investing more than £1m in Manchester gaming and tech publishing house, BGFG. This really highlights Manchester and the environs as a beacon of innovation, even in difficult times.

This exciting and expansive new project in Greater Manchester is an incredible opportunity for businesses, both in the creation and supply of developing these projects, but also for businesses and locals that will be utilising the new areas.

Manchester is lucky enough to have access to incredible talent, as there are four very strong universities with an exceptional graduate pipeline, connectivity from the airport, and reliable infrastructure. With these new investment opportunities in Greater Manchester, there are many reasons to do business with us.

Come along to our fortnightly networking events to meet local business owners and attend our faceto-face events (soon!) to develop great relationships.