Made in Manchester

Talking to Christiane Hutchinson and Mike Calvert about the strength of Manchester businesses

As we’re sure many businesses did, the teams at Reward Finance Group and Biramis Management Partners Limited team watched the Government’s Coronavirus press conference at 5pm in silence. When it finished, the teams all said that it hit them right there and then that this was serious – that things were going to change very dramatically, very quickly. Both businesses have grown and prospered in Manchester and very much feel they are ‘made in Manchester’ and they credit the city they work in as a reason for their success.

Mike, who is a Manchester Board member and the Business Development Director of Reward, a business that provides asset-backed short to medium term lending solutions to SME’s, said:

“We as a business quickly decided to support all of our existing customers and continued this throughout the pandemic - it’s been business as usual. We have provided new funding for businesses that have seen unprecedented demand for their products and services. It’s been exceptionally rewarding to support companies who have diversified their business to produce PPE, such as Zero Point 8. Care at Home Group who, as well as becoming our 100th North West customer, recruited 80 carers to cater for the increased number of patients being discharged from hospitals. These are just a few of the many businesses we have created bespoke financial solutions for, bringing our total lending in the region to £30m.”

Mike continued: “Manchester is the gateway to the Northwest. It has a diverse economy and world class leading businesses. Manchester attracts talent and new companies ahead of most cities in the UK and due to the vibrant financial services and professional marketplace it was a natural choice to make for Reward.”

Christiane is the CEO of Biramis Management Partners and a Chair of the BITA Manchester Board. Biramis Management Partners was set up in 2018 following a partnership between Christiane and Bernard Kelly.

The business, which is based on King Street in the heart of the city centre, has just been presented with the prestigious UK SME Business Award – Best Strategic Management Consultancy 2020.

Christiane said: “With such a heritage for ground-breaking technologies and engineering over the past centuries, it feels like there is a local holistic “consciousness” in Manchester, that is all about innovation, doing and making things happen.

“We have ideas, we have funding, we have networks all around Manchester. It makes me feel free to explore and innovate. Manchester is fertile terrain to make things happen and I feel this has continued throughout this very difficult time.”

“I have gained some great personal friends working in Manchester. Mancunian people are very hospitable, open, and friendly. Manchester is a city of innovation, ideas, and a feeling that the sky is the limit.”

Manchester is the latest chapter of BITA, and it continues to grow month on month as it has moved all of its networking online. To keep up to date with BITA Manchester events, please make sure to check our regular newsletters, and our events page on the BITA website!

EVEN A WORLD-CRISIS WOULDN’T STOP US

Hearing from Becki Rogerson of Pretzel Group from the board of BITA Manchester

2020 has so far been very unpredictable, however it has presented itself with an opportunity to bring forward a planned merger and start this “new world” under a new name. Hop PR and Immense Digital, both well-known and respected Cheshirebased PR and Digital organisations have now become Pretzel Group, a fully integrated marketing agency.

Here, co-founders Becki Rogerson and John Butcher share how a world-crisis wouldn’t stop their ambitious business plans and how it actually spurred them on.

As a duo John and Becki have nearly thirty years’ experience within the marketing sector and having worked with UK and international businesses from bread to banking, the pair realised that more and more clients were asking for both their specialities and it left no doubt that by combining experience, skills and personalities that success would prevail.

“I’ve known John for over six years with our paths crossing many times on various projects, however in the latter years we have gone from sharing one to five long standing clients,” said Becki. “On both sides it became increasingly clear that new business leads were requiring services that fell into both our areas of specialism and by combining our knowledge and skills we were achieving very impressive tangible results time and time again.”

Both marketeers agreed that it was time to launch an agency that would offer a fully integrated service.

John said: “I started off my career in the web industry before even the first iPhone was available, so when it comes to digital marketing, I have seen it all. The boom of digital PR and its value for businesses continues and many of my clients were wanting to bolster their online activity with this – and as it stood, I currently didn’t offer this service, but I knew someone that did.”

Becki continued: “As the country started to pull down shutters and close their doors for what was set to be a very difficult time for many, we decided to use the time to be proactive and launch Pretzel that bit earlier.

“We were also very lucky to find ourselves with clients that were able to diversify their operations to retain income and a handful became more profitable than ever. As a team we feel we have lived and breathed these last few weeks with our clients, and we all emerge stronger and more forceful than ever.”

Pretzel, who are based in Adlington, Cheshire now stands as a team of PR professionals, brand marketers, content creators, social media experts, designers and digital marketers. Headed up by John and Becki, the evergrowing team is united by its love of PR and digital.

Pretzel can be found at www.pretzelgroup.co.uk or @pretzel_group for all socials.