Further details of high profile charity lunch at Hotel Football on September 11. Full details on inside cover.
GM business leaders meet
Special policy event hosted by the FSB. Interviews inside.
Trafford Business Expo 2015
Four page feature from The Point, Emirates Old Trafford.
Lord Jim O’Neill, Tony Lloyd, Sir Richard Leese - architects and exponents of devolution and the Northern Powerhouse speak at the Greater Manchester Chamber annual dinner at The Point, Emirates Old Trafford - full review inside. pro-manchester new chairman
Tim Grogan steps up at the Midland Hotel.
Apprenticeships
Reviews from Trafford and Salford City Colleges.
GM Biz Expo 2015
Review of the City centre Expo from The Hilton, Deansgate.
Lord Jim O’Neill, newly appointed Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, talks about devolution and the Northern Powerhouse.
BUSINESS CHARITY LUNCH
Friday 11th September 2015
Kick off 12noon - 3.00pm
Hotel Football, 99 Sir Matt Busby Way, Old Trafford, Manchester M16 0SZ
WIN
Two return flights to either New York, Orlando or Barbados provided by Virgin Atlantic
Trafford Business Connect magazine are pleased to be able to invite Manchester’s business community together for a very special networking charity lunch supporting three fantastic Manchester charities: Forever Manchester • Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity • The Alex Hulme Foundation
The event will kick off at 12noon. This is a chance to network on the rooftop pitch with reception drinks at one of Manchester’s newest landmarks featuring stunning skyline views across Manchester. We will then go down to the Stadium Suite to enjoy a special set menu of a two course lunch with coffee, after which we’ll enjoy an after dinner speech from Phil Jones, Managing Director of Brother UK.
Our compare will be Manchester Economist John Ashcroft.
There will be prize draws and raffles, including a chance to bid on two flights to either New York, Barbados or Orlando provided by Virgin Atlantic, plus the chance to meet and network at the table with many of Manchester’s leading businesses. A full bar service is available throughout the afternoon.
Tickets are only £40+VAT per person. Dress code: Lounge Suit.
Tables of 8 are available @ £320+VAT (spaces are limited - book early to avoid disappointment).
4 news
From Manchester and beyond.
features Northern Powerhouse
GM Chamber’s annual dinner.
GM business leaders meet Special policy event hosted by the FSB.
GM Biz Expo 2015
Review of the Expo.
CSR in the clouds
Forever Manchester’s corporate partner’s lunch.
T-Shirts, suits, and change management
Latest K-Club event in Salford.
Trafford Business Expo 2015
Four-page feature review of the event. pro-manchester’s new Chairman Review of official handover at member’s lunch at the Midland. Apprenticeships
Salford City and Trafford College feature article.
Trafford Park Networking Full report on Trafford Park Connect and Trafford Park Business Network.
to Periscope.
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Syngenta expands UK presence with new global operations centre in Manchester
Syngenta today announced the establishment of a new Global Operations Centre in Didsbury, Manchester. The new centre, which will open on August 3, 2015, will focus on operational activities associated with procurement, supply, IT and program services in Syngenta. The new office will also create 200 new jobs with approximately 140 of those jobs recruited from the Manchester area which benefits from a well-qualified and experienced talent pool.
The establishment of the Global Operations Centre expands Syngenta’s activities in the UK, which is already home to the company’s largest global research and development facility in Berkshire and two major production facilities in Yorkshire and Scotland. Syngenta currently has close to 2,000 employees in the UK focused on research and development,
commercial sales, production and supply, and now, global operations.
Colin Hardy, Program Lead for the Global Operations Centre at Syngenta said, “We are delighted to be able to base Syngenta’s new Global Operations Centre in Manchester which was chosen following an extensive assessment of possible European locations and increases our investment in the UK economy. Importantly, the location provides access to a skilled workforce and enables us to take advantage of Manchester’s position in the UK’s emerging ‘northern powerhouse’.”
George Freeman, Minister for Life Sciences, said that: “The establishment of Syngenta’s Global Operations Centre in Didsbury is fantastic news for Manchester and for the UK’s Northern Powerhouse. We want Britain to be the location of choice for life sciences investment and Syngenta’s further commitment
to the UK through this major investment in the North West is strong evidence that we are achieving that goal.”
Tim Newns, Chief Executive of Manchester Investment Development Agency Service (MIDAS) said: “It’s great news that a company of the scale and prestige of Syngenta has chosen the region as a base for their new Global Operations Centre.
“Manchester is continuing to go from strength to strength as a city of innovation, ideas and delivery and should prove to be a very effective location for the company. The concept of having highly connected urban science parks linked with academia, the NHS and excellent connectivity is enabling the city to gain increasing recognition as a top location for companies and we look forward to supporting Syngenta as they build their presence here.”
GDP up in second quarter
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that GDP this year is estimated to have increased by 0.7% in Quarter 2 (April to June). This compares to actual growth in Quarter 1 (January to March) of 0.4%. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is considered the main indicator of economic growth.
Output increased in this period, with Services increasing by 0.7% and Production by 1%. However, Construction was flat and by contrast Agriculture decreased by 0.7%.
GDP was actually 2.6% higher in Quarter 2 this year compared to the same Quarter one year ago, and when compared to the last peak before the current economic downturn in Quarter 1 of 2008, the difference is a 5.2% increase in GDP over this period.
To show how this relates to the UK’s economic performance since 2008, the trough experienced in Quarter 2 of 2009 saw the economy shrink by 6% compared to the previous peak in Q1 of 2008.
Russells starts Manchester’s second Motel One
Preparatory works have begun at the site of Manchester’s newest hotel scheme. Russells Construction has erected scaffolding and started demolition works at the Commercial Buildings, 11-15 Cross Street, home of Manchester’s second Motel One development.
The 19th century Victorian façade will be retained with the 1980s office block behind demolished to make way for a new seven-storey, 298-bedroom hotel.
The scaffold forms part of the work to enable demolition at the rear, and in order to maintain pedestrian access along Cross Street and the existing retail units contained within the development.
Controlled demolition has recently commenced and construction of the new superstructure is due to begin in the autumn. The project is scheduled to complete autumn 2017 when it will be handed over to Motel One, the budget design hotel chain, for final furnishings and staff training ahead of operational completion.
Russells has also been working on Manchester’s first Motel One on London Road opposite Piccadilly train station. The 330-bed hotel is being developed by Livia Ltd, part of the Olympian group of companies.
Informed Solutions awarded major Scottish digital transformation contract
Registers of Scotland (RoS) has appointed Altrincham based global IT consultancy Informed Solutions as its new supplier to help deliver its digital transformation programme.
Informed will assist RoS over the next two years in providing all its services digitally as the first option. This move from paper to digital is possible following the introduction of the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012, which came into force at the end of last year.
Janet Egdell, operations director at RoS, said: “This is an exciting time for Registers of Scotland as we begin making use of the digital provisions set out in the 2012 Act. Not only is this better for the environment, but it will deliver real business benefits, both for our customers and for RoS. This will include digital access to all
our registers and the wealth of land and property information held within the registers.
“Informed Solutions will support RoS with improving our mapping and case management systems and help us transform our business, so that it is ‘digital by default’.”
John Alderson, Chair of Informed Solutions, said: “Informed Solutions are delighted to be continuing our work with Registers of Scotland. We already have joint successes behind us with projects like the Crofting Register and very much look forward to building on this excellent working relationship. The digital transformation planned will bring huge benefits both to the people of Scotland and to RoS. It will place RoS at the forefront of government bodies delivering their services online.”
Trafford Council’s new website for business
Trafford Council recently launched its new www.investintrafford.com website, providing a range of information targeted at local businesses and potential inward investors.
The new website is designed to promote Trafford as a location to do business, drawing on its position as the ‘economic powerhouse’ of Greater Manchester. Some of the key attributes highlighted include Trafford’s strong and established business base, access to a skilled
and talented workforce, excellent transport connectivity and a range of fantastic development opportunities. It also provides a ‘one-stop shop’ for existing Trafford businesses, with a full directory of business support and funding opportunities, a business events calendar, and regular news updates.
Other features of the site include an online property search facility for businesses looking for new premises in the borough, and a live twitter feed (@TraffordBiz).
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Key transport bodies join forces for Greater Manchester Webmarking proposal to register design rights
Two of the North West’s key transport organisations are joining forces to create a world-class road network for Greater Manchester.
Highways England and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) have signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ which will see the two bodies work in partnership to develop shared priorities and a longterm vision for motorways and key roads across the city-region.
The move follows the formation of Highways England earlier this year, a government-owned company with a
five-year budget of over £11 billion to invest in England’s motorways and major A roads. The new joint document aims to support economic growth in the region over the next 20 years.
Graham Dalton, Chief Executive of Highways England, and Jon Lamonte, Chief Executive of TfGM, put pen to paper at an official signing in London in May.
Graham Dalton said: “Greater
Manchester is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country so it’s vital that we work together to ensure it has a world-class road network to support the economy.
“Over £200 million is already being invested on creating a smart motorway on a section on the M60 and M62, and we need to make sure that the work taking place there complements other improvements on local roads.”
UK designers will no longer have to include a design number on products to be confident they can recover damages for infringement under new proposals announced in July.
Providing notice of registered intellectual property (IP) rights by marking a product is optional but allows the rights holder to highlight that the design is registered. This means that infringers cannot claim that they could not have known that the design was protected.
The government is seeking views on proposals to help designers enforce these rights. The proposed measures will enable designers to mark their products with a web link, instead of having to stamp the product or attach a label with the registered design numbers. The web link would notify third parties of the relevant registered design rights and keep information up-to-date as IP rights change.
Making a false claim that a design is registered can result in a fine, so this proposed change would simplify the system for design owners and users.
The proposal was announced by Intellectual Property Minister, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, on a trip to the headquarters of British technology company, Dyson. Baroness Neville-Rolfe, said: ”We are confident that virtual marking for registered designs will be very warmly welcomed by UK companies for whom design is key to their success. Dyson is rightly famous for its innovative designs. The company recognises that it would be a simpler way of providing notice for those rights owners who wish to make use of this option.”
Sir James Dyson commented: ”Virtual marking will propel intellectual property into the digital age. Next, we need to uphold a culture where inventors resolutely protect their ideas and where the ideas of others are firmly respected.”
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L-R Jon Lamonte, Chief Executive of TfGM, Graham Dalton, Chief Executive of Highways England
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Charity says cheers to new partnership with Hydes
Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity have recently announced their new charity partnership with local brewer, Hydes. Funds raised by their 30 pubs and head office in Manchester will go towards supporting excellence in treatment, research and care at the largest single-site children’s hospital in the country.
The partnership is to span a number of years as Hydes and pubs from Chester to Bury will all have the charity’s vibrant green collection tins on the bar for patrons to donate any spare change. As well as this the company have
plenty of exciting fundraising ventures lined up which will be revealed in the coming months as each pub is encouraged to organise their own events, one of which is the launch of their new children’s menu where 50p off each meal will go to the charity in the month of September.
Hydes recently visited Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital to see for themselves how the hospital, and its poorly patients, will benefit from their fundraising. On their tour the group of 5 representatives from the company, which employs 530 staff, visited the recently redeveloped radiology department, an example of a space enhanced thanks to charitable funds. Once clinical and stark looking, the department now boasts an impressive space theme, with each of the rooms decorated to look like a different planet.
The group also caught the sun on the hospital’s purpose-built roof garden
which benefits the young patients by letting them play outdoors, whilst still keeping them safe in a hospital setting.
Hydes managing director Chris Hopkins, said: “We are very excited about our new partnership with Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity. We have been extremely impressed with the work the charity undertakes and know our managers will unite behind this very worthy cause. We have a great tradition in Hydes of raising money for local charities and the reach of the hospital means that many of our customers too, will have benefited from the charity’s work.”
Joel Oxberry, Corporate Fundraising Manager for the Charity added: “Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity is proud to have secured the longterm support of Hydes Brewery; with a deep-rooted history in Manchester, we serve the same community and share the same values of ‘striving for excellence’. We are excited to share in
their success and wish the Hydes team all the best in their fundraising efforts.” Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity raises funds to ensure continued excellence in treatment, care and research at the hospital –improving the lives of thousands of children each year across the North West and beyond.
The support of the Charity means that the hospital can provide additional resources that make life easier for patients and their families who use the hospital.
The Charity has three main areas of work:
• To support research projects to improve their understanding of children’s illnesses.
• To help to create an environment that’s more child-friendly.
• To provide state-of-the-art equipment for diagnosis and treatment.
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Creating young entrepreneurs
Altrincham-based social enterprise, Stepping into Business, is looking for businesses in the north west to help inspire future generations of young entrepreneurs through an innovative education programme in schools.
Stepping into Business has already worked with schools across the UK and is seeing future entrepreneurs and business leaders develop in front of their eyes. The programme ticks all the right boxes for CSR schemes, and sees interested organisations working as business angels and mentors advising school children on different areas of running a business, including: innovation, marketing, finance and production.
Director of Stepping into Business, Dinah Turner, explains: “Enterprise, business and life skills are vital, but aren’t covered on the national curriculum. The programme we have developed really put the child in control of their own experience and they are free to try, fail and learn from mistakes. We’re already working with organisations from the financial industry and we’re eager to involve other sectors. For a small sponsorship investment of around £1,000, businesses can support and nurture future generations of entrepreneurs in schools.”
Two schools in the region that have already benefitted from the scheme are Bowdon Church Primary School, Cheshire and Wilmslow Grange, Wilmslow. The programme sees the children working in groups to produce a business plan to promote and sell the product they have created. They then pitch their ideas to the business angels asking for financial backing.
The teams are judged on their presentation skills, teamwork, pricing and marketing. After getting positive feedback and the requested investment, the children set about producing, promoting and selling their products ready for market day.
“The work we do goes beyond inspiring more “little Sir Alan Sugars,” concludes Dinah, “It’s about having fun whilst developing resilience and self-reliance, and helping children find something that they really enjoy and can excel at. We’ve seen several occasions where pupils who were thought to be disengaged make massive leaps and bounds. We’re eager to speak to interested businesses.” For further info visit: www.steppingintobusiness.org
Trafford Business Connect become media sponsors of
North West Business Expo 2015
Following on from the successful involvement with both the Trafford Business Expo and the GM Biz Expo Trafford Business Connect have announced their media sponsorship of the North West Business Expo 2015 taking place at The Point, Emirates Old Trafford on 26 November this year.
The North West Business Expo covers the entire Greater Manchester region and beyond, offering opportunities for businesses across the entire Northwest region. It is one of a selection of regional SME business
expos organised by Great British Expos Ltd who have enjoyed great success in many regions so far.
The unique selling point for this expo are the valuable supporting features of the event. Like the Trafford Business Expo and the GM Biz Expo, entry is free for all visitors.
Also, on arrival they will receive a valuable goody bag containing not just a free copy of Trafford Business Connect, but many other promotional offers worth over £100. Car parking will also be free at the event, as will access to free wi-fi.
Exhibitors are expected to run to 80 businesses, with an estimated 900 visitors.
The added features on this expo are
the amount of free supporting events taking place on the day.
Speakers confirmed so far are: Brad Burton, Jackie Chapelle, Neil Clough, Debbie Huxton, Warren Cass, Michelle Mills-Porter and Steve Clarke.
There are also a series of regular speed networking and general networking events taking place throughout the day, plus up to 7 workshops. Confirmed workshops so far are: LinkedIn 101, IPO, Email Marketing 101, How to sell without selling.
Alec Jones-Hall, Organiser and Director of Great British Expos Ltd commented: “Following the successes of our 2014 events we
feel confident that our Expos have the winning format for a hugely successful event within their regions. Now that we have the reputation within the industry as providers of highly successful regional SME business expo’s across the UK, our main focus is the launch of this year’s North West Business Expo.
“We aim to develop an event that genuinely benefits the business community across the region and we’re overwhelmed at how that community have welcomed us. We are looking forward to celebrating the triumph with yourselves on the 26th November.”
• Over 80 exhibitors
• Network with over 900 regional businesses
• 7 Keynote Speakers
• 7 unique industry leading Workshops
• 3 speed networking sessions
• Dedicated WORKZONE with free Wi-Fi
• Wonder Women Business PanelSmashing the glass ceiling
• 2 FREE Tickets to Newbury Racecourse
• A Delegate Goody Bag upon arrival with over £100 of promotional offers
• Free online subscription to Trafford Business Connect magazine
Strictly come Kelloggs!
Tess Daly delighted hundreds of staff at Kellogg’s Manchester HQ by signing boxes of her very own new cereal.
The Strictly Come Dancing presenter has been announced as the first celebrity ambassador for Special K. In Trafford for the cereal’s launch, Tess posed on stage next to a spectacular edible ingredients dress made by Lady GaGa designer Petra Storrs before gamely letting everyone take a selfie. The choice of Stockport-born Tess Daly as an ambassador comes as Special K moves away from the iconic image of a brunette in a red swimsuit.
1 in 5 start ups begin as second jobs
Wannabe entrepreneurs mitigate the risk of going it alone by launching their new venture while still in employment according to alldayPA.
A survey of 500 small businesses found 21% of start-ups launched in the last 12 months began this way.
This mirrors a growing trend for UK workers having second jobs to boost income. HMRC reports 1.2 million have official second jobs, up from 1.05 million in 2007.
Of these, 450,000 are self-employed second jobbers running their own business on the side - an increase of 40% from 2006.
Ambitious entrepreneurs use technologies like smart phones with multiple email accounts or cloud hosting to enable them to subtly send emails and carry out basic tasks while at their main job.
alldayPA reports increasing demand for call answering services from double-jobbers, with new accounts
up 32% in the last year.
Reuben Singh, chief executive officer, said, “Many double job start-ups want to ensure customers are dealt with immediately, and are provided with answers to common questions, or emailed basic information.
“Our PAs handle such tasks and pass on enquiries to clients via email or text, flagging urgent requests, so clients working a day job can call back when available.
“It means, despite being a part-time business, you can offer a full-time service to customers.”
The study revealed the most common double job entrepreneurs are men between 25 and 34 years old.
The typical sectors where people launch businesses are Digital Services, e.g. website design, search engine marketing (18% of double job start-ups), PR and Marketing (12%), Design (11%) and HR (5%).
Profile Club lunch at the commons
Members of theProfileClub and guests recently enjoyed a VIP Summer Lunch at the House of Commons.
The summer lunch was hosted by Graham Brady MP. The Leader of Trafford Council, Sean Anstee, was also in attendance.
Commenting on the day, Barbara Hallwood said, “We aim to offer our members bespoke VIP events creating top business introductions. The House of Commons undoubtedly exceeded all expectations. The Summer lunch proved to be a huge success.”
theProfileClub was set up in 2011 by Barbara Hallwood, Director of Marketing Profile, a PR, Marketing and Events company based in Hale.
The business club attracts senior executives and captains of industry from across the Northwest. Members range from representatives of professional services to high profile brands.
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SAS Daniels builds property team
SAS Daniels, who are headquartered in Stockport but has branches across the Northwest, has appointed Roger Allsup to establish its new Construction and Engineering practice, an extension of the firm’s growing property team. Roger joins from Manchesterheadquartered DWF. With 27 years’ experience in the North West construction industry, he brings with him an in-depth understanding of the sector.
Roger comments, “Clients in the construction and engineering sector need a lawyer who understands the issues they face on the ground, giving forthright, practical guidance, on each element of a construction project from tender to practical completion. We see ourselves as an extension of a client’s in-house and professional teams, not ivory tower academics.” He adds “SAS Daniels already has an impressive client list. I see great synergy between my specialism and the firm’s existing practice groups, which we intend to build on over the coming years.”
In other news Alan Newall has been appointed to the role of Commercial Property Solicitor. Alan’s appointment will see the Chester office Property team expand to four and the firm’s overall property team bolstered to 28.
QUALITY DRIVEN DIRECT MAIL
review
The Northern Powerhouse
The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce host their annual dinner
It’s certainly looking like business is growing in Greater Manchester. Indeed, the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner that took place on 25 June in Old Trafford seemed not just an occasion to air off the gladrags, but seemed much more a celebration of the progress of ‘Devo Manc’ - from the initial rumblings not so long ago, to the seminal appointment of our very own Greater Manchester Mayor (albeit designate).
This year’s annual dinner was presented and hosted by Alexander Armstrong – co-presenter of BBC’s ‘Pointless’ quiz show, one half of celebrity comedy duo Armstrong and Miller, plus most frequent guest presenter on ‘Have I Got News For You’. Alexander ensured the evening progressed at a brisk pace, and was keen to share his own thoughts on the progression that Manchester had taken over the recent years.
Sponsors for the evening were JMC,
Manchester College, Slater+Gordon, United Airlines, Centrica, Capita and Bird Consultancy. Once the 700 guests had taken their places, the evening started with an address by Clive Memmott, Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Chamber. He welcomed the guests and said:
“The theme of tonight’s event will be devolution, and the guest speakers will reflect this. It is now nearly a year since Chancellor George Osborne gave his speech at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry during which the phrase ‘Northern Powerhouse’ was first aired. Since then, and following the general election, many opinions on devolution and what needs doing to deliver the Northern Powerhouse have been presented. Tonight our speakers will offer their own uniquely qualified perspectives.
“Devolution for Greater Manchester allows us to grow by making better decisions for ourselves. The Northern Powerhouse is about working very closely and smartly with other northern cities to create a single labour market which will give us the combined power to better balance our economy and have more clout Globally.
“Greater Manchester has been working at devolution for years – it’s natural in Manchester to have the confidence to think we can do things better locally.”
Next to take to the rostrum was keynote speaker Jim O’Neill (Lord O’Neill of Gatley), making his first speech since being appointed as Commercial Secretary to the Treasury. Jim quickly tackled the newly developing role of
Manchester as central key to the Northern Powerhouse: “I can’t think of a better place to make my first speech in my new role. Looking back into Manchester’s history it’s estimated that between 1972 and 1982 the city lost over 200,000 jobs in manufacturing. This was symptomatic with all the great Northern cities at the time.
“I guess that was in the heart of one of my colleagues in the House of Lords – Lord Heseltine. Along with local leaders, Michael Heseltine was a pioneer in doing something about the North. He famously stated “We should not accept managed decline”, and to this day is a very important advisor to the ongoing process of turning the concept of the Northern Powerhouse into something real.
“14 years ago, I came up with the phrase BRIC, referring to the potential power in the future of Brazil, Russia, India and China. What became more and more clear to me as I became more experienced about the rapidly changing nature of the world, was the importance of urban cities and big metro areas in driving those countries’ economic growth. This was absolutely front and centre.
“Fast forward to just less than two years ago, when I was invited to chair the independent commission looking at the growth of cities outside of London. Right from the start my approach was that we were dealing with issues going back decades. We needed to recognise and tackle those problems about powerful forces relating to relative and absolute decline over the decades in some parts of urban Britain. However, we needed to turn that into an encouragement for ourselves to consider bold ideas that were possibly crazy, but given enough momentum might actually achieve something positive.
“At the core of this is the view that in the UK we have only one city and metro area that is important in a Global context which is London. That is a reality that we needed to reflect on. So – back to the Northern
Powerhouse. It’s interesting to see the way we viewed this. We needed to take ourselves out of our comfort zone, and one of the greatest experiences about the Cities Growth Commission was trying to encourage everybody to do just that, to lead to something that would make a real difference.
“If you think about the three cities within 40 miles of Manchester - Sheffield, Leeds and Liverpool, if you think of all the people in those four cities as economically one agent, then you’re not far off the size of Greater London. Add in the other great northern cities spreading across the northeast and northwest and The Northern Powerhouse becomes a reality. If we not so much administer those places together as one unit, but instead undertake policies that enable, allow and encourage people from those places to think about moving around a lot more freely and easily as they currently do, then that is the core of how I think about the Northern Powerhouse.
“Let me also add, this is not at the expense of London. Indeed, the agglomeration of so many people doing ‘stuff’ in London is something that needs to be brought to life between all these rich, different cultural areas of the North in order to make it real.
“If someone asked me what the Northern Powerhouse means I would sum it up in two parts – investment and devolution. Importantly, a lot of people just associate it with devolution, which is indeed a huge part of it. However, investment is only possible by private investors if they have sufficient excitement and confidence in the concept.”
Jim then went into detail about the current plans for travel infrastructure in the North, and also painted a positive picture on the
changes up a gear
at The Point, Emirates Old Trafford
strong investments already made in skills and centres of excellence across the region.
He then went on to describe devolution in more detail and specifically a Mayoral role for Greater Manchester: “Firstly, I’d like to say that devolution is on the table for those people who want to take proper responsibility, and with it the accountability that should go with it. Importantly, for so many people here from Greater Manchester, and other combined authorities in the North who are thinking about it today, it’s important to excite people and let them know this is a game-changer. These are the people that will be voting in a couple of years. This is important – unless there will be an elected Mayor, or something comparable, Greater Manchester will not be able to persuade central policymakers that giving powers to a local leadership can do better for that region than Whitehall. You’ve got to give the accountability that goes with the desire for that responsibility.”
Greater Manchester Chamber President Neil Smith MBE then addressed the room with a resumé of Chamber events both past and future, followed by Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council. Richard gave a structured address looking at the recent history leading to devolution in Greater Manchester. He then observed: “In order to ensure that everybody in Greater Manchester benefits from the stronger economy that devolution will bring, and ultimately contribute to that strong economy, we need to strengthen the governance of Greater Manchester. We’re talking about an elected Mayor that is part of the combined authority. The 11th member of that authority that
along with the existing ten borough leaders will bring real powers covering planning, housing and transport.
“What is the prize at the end of that? A better performing economy, both here and nationally, plus our fiscal deficit being eliminated, so that we’re no longer dependent on subsidies - more people benefiting and less dependency making Greater Manchester healthier and wealthier, and a wonderful place to live.”
Also giving a short speech was Wayne Jones, Head of Global Aftersales, MAN Diesel, and Chamber Vice President. Wayne talked about the importance of youth opportunities within the workplace.
Finally to speak in his inaugural role as Greater Manchester Interim Mayor Designate was Tony Lloyd. Tony is also the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, but has accepted his interim Mayoral role after an extremely close-run vote by the 10 borough leaders.
Tony started by reflecting on the history of the region: “I remember the decline of the industrial base in Greater Manchester in the 70’s and 80’s. That was tragic to see in human terms, and the cost is still enormous. We have a workforce that is still underskilled, and the skills gap is one of the challenges we face. As a city region we know there are genuine issues around poverty.
It’s a fact that a significant number of the working population are still reliant on government support of
one form or another.
“These are things that have to change. Not just for the regional and national economy, but for the people for whom we can change attitudes and opportunities, and indeed the capacity to dream. This is after all a city that at the end of the 19th Century saw a challenge from Liverpool merchants, and as a result of that built the Manchester Ship Canal. This was an astonishing feat of engineering that made Manchester into one of the great ports that lasted throughout the 20th Century. The ability to dream and change means we are not the same city as we were 20 years ago. Greater Manchester is now a conurbation in vivid colour, somewhere that does not simply have amazing potential but enjoys an amazing reality.
“This is down to partnership, and that means partnership with central government as well as between the 10 boroughs. In the end, this is a system that will deliver. However, it is essential we work in a partnership with central government as well as industry, especially in skills training. This form of partnership can make a real and tangible difference.
“I go back if I may to our Victorian forebears. In Manchester, they had a belief that they were building a future that was radically different from before. That sense of ambition, that sense that the world was there to be shaped, was real, was tangible, and was delivered. The challenge for our generation is to have the same sort of ambition, the same kind of belief that the future belongs to us here in Greater Manchester.”
Lord Jim O’Neill, Commercial Secretary to the treasury
Sir Richard Leese Leader of Manchester City Council
Tony Lloyd, Interim Mayor of Greater Manchester
Clive Memmott Chief Executive, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
Neil Smith MBE President, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
Wayne Jones Vice President, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Compère Alexander Armstrong
interview
Leading figures from across Greater Manchester
Small businesses represented at special
met with key figures from the Federation of Small Businesses on Tuesday 14 June to discuss the Northern Powerhouse and how the region’s small businesses can fulfil their potential.
The meeting was attended by various stakeholders, including representatives from Manchester’s Growth Hub, the LEP, HS2, the finance sector, local government, and the Skills Funding Agency.
The evening – held at Manchester’s Great John Street Hotel - was chaired by the FSB’s National Policy Director, Mike Cherry, who chaired discussions on access to finance, business support, transport infrastructure, apprenticeships, procurement, as well as skills and training.
FSB regional Chairman for Manchester & North Cheshire, Simon
Edmondson, also attended the dinner. He commented afterwards:
“This event was a fantastic opportunity for the FSB to hear the views of so many key stakeholders in Greater Manchester – the true hub of the Northern Powerhouse – and how small businesses should fit in to the project.
“It was fascinating to hear from such a broad mix of people from the various sectors, who will all play crucial roles in delivering the Government’s vision for the North. While there were disagreements on certain issues there was, however, total agreement that all the various stakeholders need to be working more closely and communicating better with business to deliver the best possible outcome for the region.”
He added: “There was also recognition that government investment in transport – and not just the major transport initiatives but ‘capillary’ routes as well – was the
bedrock of a successful ‘Northern Powerhouse’. To this end, we now need firm commitment from government that this remains a priority.”
Trafford Business Connect caught up with Mike Cherry, FSB National Policy Director at the event, and asked him: What do you hope to get out of this round table tonight?
“Clearly we now have a better understanding after all the announcements about the Northern Powerhouse. We had the budget last week, the productivity paper
published last Friday, and really this all ties in with the annual regional chairman’s policy conference that I arrange.
“So we’re doing a whistle-stop tour of the North, pulling all of this together, including events in York, Humberside and Newcastle and the Northeast. This is so we get a full picture of what we can say to central Government to ensure they deliver on what is needed for small business to make this work.”
What’s your view of the re-think announced in Network Rail’s plans for the region?
“I think the timing of this wasn’t so good, but I think we need to have delivery, and its up to the Government to decide how they get the message out. Its essential we get HS3 across from Leeds to Manchester, and also electrification of the line from London to Leeds.
“However, of major importance to our members is the investment
particularly using the tried and trusted model of apprenticeships.
“The important thing about apprenticeships is not just in the number of them but the quality. It’s heartening to see the higher level apprenticeships contain a degree of leadership and management skills training, all of which will help close that productivity gap.”
What do you think of the living wage announcement, and how will this affect small businesses?
“Let’s first put this in context. Over half of our members currently pay their staff at or above current living wage. So, for the majority of members that won’t be an issue. “Where it does impact, equally between large and small businesses, is in those low paid, historical sectors such as retail, hospitality, care homes, etc. In fact care homes, as an example, will have to dig particularly deep anyway looking at diminishing funding and all the budgetary constraints they will have to accept.
into roads.”
As well as connectivity, what are the other main topics of importance for small businesses?
“Alongside infrastructure you will have to have broadband. So, following on from our report last year it is essential the Government regards it as the fourth utility. Next to this, skills has to be at the top of everyone’s agenda. For too many years we have skirted at the peripheral of this, but we now seem to be addressing the issue,
“I don’t think everybody have really considered everything on this in relation to the public as well as private sector. The biggest challenge will be in the first and second year. At the moment minimum wage is £6.50 an hour, going up to £6.70, which is something the FSB fully supported. However, the rapid jump from £6.50, to £6.70,to £7.20, all within a 12 month period, will impact on those businesses tied into contracts. This can only lead to increased prices. This will have much more of an impact outside of London and the Southeast, where wages are generally much higher than the North.”
How do you see devolution in the
Mike Cherry, FSB National Policy Director
Richard Jeffery, Director of Business Growth, Business Growth Hub
policy event
North impacting over the rest of the country?
“You’ve got the combined authority up here in Manchester. They are setting the model for other regions now. With the combined authority announced for the West Midlands, plus combined authorities already in the Northeast and West Yorkshire, this will follow the devolution route already seen in Scotland, Wales, and even the semidevolved London with it’s assembly and Mayor.”
You have mentioned the skills gap previously. How important is fixing this to the growth of small businesses?
“Small businesses need long term, consistent support, and coming back to that skills debate, skills must be based on business needs. It’s crucial that young people in particular are equipped with the right skillsets. Further education is crucial but good apprenticeships are worth their weight in gold, and we do have to offer those school leavers who prefer the apprenticeship route good quality apprenticeships. It’s also important that education opportunities are kept open within those apprenticeship schemes.”
Mike then described the role of the FSB as regards having an influence both currently and in the future: “There’s some really good developments coming
through,there’s also some challenges. As ever, we will be working with local and combined authorities, not just here and across the North but we will equally be pushing politicians in Westminster so we can ensure small businesses get delivered the support that will continue their growth. We need to invest, we need to create jobs – that is what our members are consistently saying in our quarterly economic surveys.”
Summing up the evening, Mike added: “Greater Manchester is currently a test bed for devolution, and for small businesses to benefit from this there needs to be joined up thinking. We look forward to working further with stakeholders in the North to put small business needs at the top of the business agenda and their voices at the forefront of the debate.
“This event is one of many we are planning in the North of England to ensure that small businesses gain the support they need to grow and help guarantee the success of the Northern Powerhouse.”
We also had chance to catch up with Richard Jeffery, Director of Business Growth from the Business Growth Hub located in Manchester.
What would you like to achieve from tonight’s event as regards the Business Growth Hub?
“The FSB is an important partner for us. We work with a range of membership organisations so we see them as a route to market. They have also brought policymakers up from London, and so we see that as a very good opportunity to promote what Greater Manchester’s about, what we are trying to achieve here and also highlight some key sectors like Life Sciences, Digital and Creative, and the broader business community we have.
“The fact is, Greater Manchester has a key role to play in the Northern Powerhouse as a gateway to driving that concept forward – this is important.”
Can you tell us more about the general role of the Business Growth Hub?
“Since we started we’ve dealt with 24,000 individuals, of those 6,000 in a very in-depth way. We still need to raise our profile further and a key aspect of that is partnerships – the FSB, the Chambers, and now our broader network of 160 partners are critical in helping grow the Growth Hub. It’s something very much of, in, and created by Greater Manchester, so I think there’s an onus on everybody to help promote us for the positive influence we have over the local economy. As far as the service goes it is free up to a point, but up
to that point we can offer valuable support to businesses that make a real and measurable difference to their success as a business.”
What should Greater Manchester be saying and doing about its role in the Northern Powerhouse?
“I think its getting the message out there that we are doing really well and enjoy key assets and a great infrastructure. We need to be attracting investors from the broader North as well as from London and the Southeast. It can be quite challenging getting the angels to come up from London, however, it can be done. I think getting people excited and talking about the Northern Powerhouse will bring us closer together and means that we can leverage more of that positive attitude.”
focus
The GMBiz Expo 2015
If you regularly read Trafford Business Connect then you’ll realise we are big fans of business expos. So much so we are supporting three this year – the GMBiz Expo, The Trafford Business Expo and the Northwest Business & Community Expo later this year.
Expos are to us supercharged networking opportunities. Every one is run differently – depending where they are, what demographic they are targeting and who the organisers are.
For the GMBiz Expo we found ourselves pretty near the city centre at the Hilton, Deansgate on 9 June. It’s always nice to be at one of Manchester’s iconic landmarks and
the hospitality extended by the Hotel was it’s usual high standard.
120 exhibitors, upwards of 1,250 visitors - and the day was going to go very quickly indeed.
As exhibitors (as well as media supporters) we went through the tricky job of setting up a five foot duck pond with 100 rubber ducks in time for the 10am start. Thanks to the very helpful and attentive Hilton staff this was achieved in excellent time, and as soon as the visitors started coming in it was all hands to the deck. Similar to many other exhibitors we offered a prize draw for a free quarter page advert in this edition of Trafford Business Connect. The winners were Arnold Clark who appear on this page. As well as offering visitors (and fellow exhibitors) the chance to chat and network with 120 exhibiting businesses, there were three seminars laid on during the day, plus a spot of speed networking.
First seminar was from Jodie Salt from Salt Executive Coaching and Leadership Development. Jodie’s seminar was entitled “Time Trust is money – 7 behaviours to business success”, and dealt with developing a high trust culture within teams and organisations in order to discover a competitive advantage.
Next on the agenda – the first of two very popular speed networking events. Then we had the second
specialist LinkedIn trainer, entitled “LinkedIn as a key part of your sales and marketing activity”.
After a second (equally popular) session of speed networking, Grant Erskine – GMBiz Expo organiser and director of Grant Erskine Architects took to the conference room and delivered a seminar entitled “7 things you need to know in business from an Entrepreneur who has nothing to sell.”
From an exhibitor’s perspective the
event was a great opportunity with little expense to reach a large, busy fluid audience. The added bonus of a limitation of two of the same business styles only helped to keep a certain level of exclusivity, and this also made it much more interesting for the visitors.
Next year the GMBiz Expo will take place on 15 March 2016 again at the Hilton, Deansgate. More information is available on www.gmbizexhibition.co.uk
seminar from Mark White –
Grant Erskine
Jodie Salt
Mark White
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CSR in the clouds
Corporate Social Responsibility is one of the cornerstones of Trafford Business Connect. So when one of our chosen charities, Forever Manchester, announced a corporate partners lunch, it seemed the perfect opportunity to showcase how supporting a culture of CSR within a business can have a real impact not just on the community around that business but within.
Forever Manchester host a regular business networking event called first Friday every month which is always a laid back affair. However, this event had a different angle altogether.
Hosted by Barclays Wealth and Investment Management at the iconic Cloud 23 in the Hilton, Deansgate, this was a chance to hear from the charity about the real and tangible difference local business was making across the boroughs.
The event started with an address by Steve Renfrew, Director of Wealth and Investment Management at
Barclays. Steve went into detail about the importance of getting young people into work. He said “80% of school leavers say the major block on employability is lack of work experience. If every business in this room can offer one young person the opportunity for work experience then a massive and real difference can be made.”
Next to speak was Nick Massey, Chief Executive of Forever Manchester: “The reason you’re all here today is that we made a pledge. That was to bring our corporate supporters together to tell you what a difference you are making.” Nick then went on to describe some of the history of Forever Manchester, in particular, the nature of funding and how that was applied: “Before the financial crash 80% of investment was in the form of grants. We were a very different organisation then. We were very successful in attracting about £30million of investment to the Greater Manchester region, but it predominantly came through our success in winning contracts with government offices and local authorities. We were quite simply better at getting money into communities that they were
themselves. We won national awards for our efficiency and excellence in grant-making. But it was restrictive –most investments were subject to a find it, fund it, fix it model.
“The difference today is that most of that funding has gone, and we have replaced that with at least 80% of support coming from individuals and businesses like yourselves.
“So, have you made a difference?
Now we can work directly on the strengths of a community without the restrictions of investment limitations, we can work on what people actually
want, not what we think want done to them. That’s the big change, that’s what Forever Manchester is all about.
“How has the numbers changed? Well, the old model was about throwing lots of money at projects. Now the new approach is all about people ‘doing stuff’ before you get to the spending.
“In 2010, we had £5.9million of funding to give out, helping 949 community projects around Greater Manchester – that was about 170,000 people. This year up to April 2015 we gave £1.5million out, almost £4.5million less than 2010. But we helped 378,000 people. A completely different approach. We are now investing in people, in communities – communities that our businesses belong in and are part of. It’s possible
to say that Forever Manchester has supported a community based project in Greater Manchester within one mile of everyone’s front door!”
Nick then went on to introduce Phil Jones, Managing Director of Brother UK and President of Forever Manchester: “Looking out at the iconic views of the city from this wonderful vantage point its not easy to see change, however, in amongst this vibrant city change is happening all around us. Old buildings are coming down, new ones are going up, there’s an awful lot of change. I think this is an amazing metaphor for the workplace that we all live in.
“Our landscape in business kind of looks and feels the same as this structurally. We stand here today on a decade of disruption. The biggest change we feel is that work is no longer about remuneration, its about passion, its about purpose –someone feeling inspired to want to work for you.
“It’s about the community you create inside your walls, and the community you belong to just outside those walls. That community is where you and your employees belong to, it’s also where your future workforce will come from.
“If you are a business in the talent business, that is, you see talent as one of the key factors for corporate success, then talent want to work for purposeful businesses and purposeful leaders. They want passion, heart, and want to believe in something bigger than just simply what you do. They recognise a smarter culture that backs positive involvement within their locality. This, in my opinion, shows how citizenship has been re-set within smart organisations and business. This is why, in my view, enlightened organisations and businesses invest, not donate, their time and resources in their local community – the same community that nurtures current and future talent within that organisation’s workforce.
“This is what I think is the flip in thinking in what citizenship is all about. It’s about investing in your communities, for your talent, for wellness and wellbeing, and for your corporate reputation.”
L-R Phil Jones, President, Al Mackin, Trustee and Nick Massey, Chief Executive
Steve Renfrew Nick Massey Phil Jones
T-Shirts and Suits and the Practicalities of Change
In our regular visit to K-Club’s regular networking event we are constantly surprised at how excellent and engaging the speakers are. Thursday 9 July saw another great crowd of business leaders meeting at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford. Speaking duties were split between chartered marketer David Parrish and Claire-Marie Boggiano, Director of Lurig Ltd.
Kicking off proceedings was David Parrish, who shared with us his views about creativity: “I’d like to start with the metaphor I use called T-Shirts and Suits. This relates to creativity, both in the studio and in the office. The difference between what I call iCreativity and aCreativity. The t-shirt represents traditional creatives, and the suits represent smart business thinking.
“A lot of my work is in the creative and digital industries, dealing with designers, musicians, photographers, architects, for example. The problem is that many seem to have an idea of creativity that applies when they’re in the studio, however, when they move into the business office they see the business side of their work as boring. They seem to switch off their creative thoughts when
it comes to marketing or raising finances for example, and go about these processes in the most dull and unimaginative way possible.
“Something was bugging me about the word ‘creativity’ at this stage. In English language the word creativity seems to have been hijacked by the artists. In answer to this I have coined two definitions of creativity; aCreativity, meaning artistic creativity – the definition that most people seem to use, and iCreativity, meaning a broader kind of creativity, or ingenuity – thinking laterally and problem solving. This kind of creativity is open to us all, and not just in business but across education, healthcare for example.
“So let’s be aware that we are creative in many different ways, and not just as artists.”
David then went on to discuss various creative business models, and essentially made the observation that creative thinking can be applied to all areas of a business. Getting this right can grow your business exponentially.
T-Shirts and Suits is actually the title of one of David’s published books, and to find out more about this excellent business guide (he very kindly gave me a copy
which makes for a fascinating and informative read) go to www.davidparrish.com
Next to speak was Claire-Marie Boggiano, Director of Lurig Ltd which specialises in business change and people development. “What I’ve got for you today is a mini masterclass on looking at change. The leaflet you have in front of you contains information about practical change.”
Claire-Marie had presented everyone with a 4-page leaflet –containing questions for us all to complete. Claire-Marie went on to ask: “The first question is to think of a change challenge. Once this is done the second question is what are you seeking? – what you’d like to take away from this session. Then finally the last question in this section is connections – Who’s a good connection for you? They might be someone here – or elsewhere. They might be have a certain skill or ability you need to help make your change. As you think of an answer write it down straightaway. This will free your mind to think of the next connection that could help you.”
We then reviewed a set of visual processes presented inside the
leaflet relating to the detailed processes regarding corporate change. The emotional responses, the effect on staff and colleagues. These offered a practical skillset to identify and deal with every ramification of applying change to your business. The session then completed with three more questions to be answered: Key learning points, next steps and other ideas.
In terms of a speaker it was really refreshing as an audience member to be part of a practical process of learning, and some of the most interesting things to note were when we as an audience discussed table by table some of the individual responses to a selection of the questions. The need to manage change within the corporate environment became increasingly clear as we all did a bit of self discovery!
The next K-Club event in Manchester is on 14 September, again at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford. Tickets are available through EventBrite (K-Club Manchester).
Claire-Marie Boggiano
David Parrish
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The Trafford Business
It’s always a bit of a concern that an event which was such a success when it first took place in 2014 can be replicated for the second time. There was nothing to worry about in reality as the Trafford Business Expo 2015 was a great success and was a fantastic day for business.
On a beautiful sunny Tuesday on 30 June, hundreds of businesses across Trafford and further afield descended on the Point at the Emirates Old Trafford for a full day of business networking.
There were a few details from last year that were very different. Notably the inclusion of Trafford Council’s Meet the Buyer event on the same day co-locating on the floor above. Visitors registered to Meet the Buyer were also registered to attend the Expo, creating a healthy opportunity for even more business exposure for both visitors and exhibitors.
Another interesting aspect was the whole floor being opened up to the Expo. Last year three quarters was
sectioned off for the event itself, with the last quarter utilised as seminar room. This time the seminars took place in a separate area. This gave an incredible amount of space over to the exhibitors, and coupled with the fantastic amount of natural light gave a very airy and relaxed feel to the event. The sheer size and roominess of The Point was giving the whole event an easy laid-back feeling which is something unusual with many business expos.
Compared to last year, visitors were up by about 20% resulting in towards 500 attendees, and the whole event moved very smoothly and professionally due to the hard work of organisers innov8. James Caldwell, director of innov8 commented:
“We were delighted with the success of the Trafford Business Expo this year. The event is designed with the visitors in mind to create a dynamic event to discuss business opportunities. It is really important to us for the Expo to grow each year and were pleased that we were able to introduce additional
stands to the exhibition floor to add further variety for the visitors. This had a knock on effect to the number of visitors attending, with an increase of numbers this year, seeing hundreds of attendees through the exhibition hall.
The registration area looked fantastic with RRG Toyota’s cars inside the entrance and provided a wow factor for the attendees on arrival.
“We were pleased to receive some excellent feedback from the visitors:
“Beautiful day, fab conversations, contacts made, opportunities opened.”
“Trafford Business Expo was excellent! Great people and workshops!”
“Well done, great event and well attended.”
“The exhibitors had made a fantastic effort with their stands and the exhibition hall looked great. It
makes such a difference to the visitors’ experience when the stands are engaging with competitions and displays. We firmly believe the best way to promote your product or service is to put it in front of the visitors and demonstrate exactly what you have to offer, and the exhibitors did exactly that. There were CCTV systems set up displaying on tv screens, products on the stand and video footage of products in action.”
James then went on to add: “This year, we were thrilled to provide a best stand award to acknowledge the effort that goes into preparing a stand. We were delighted to present The Best Stand Award to Ease the Spine, who were showcasing and demonstrating their ergonomic furniture. Thank you to Trafford’s Councillor Michael Young, Deputy Leader, Executive Member for Economic Growth and Planning, for presenting the award.
“There were some very positive comments from the exhibitors who also had a great
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Expo 2015
day of business and we received some great feedback, with a number re-booking for stands in 2016: “We had a great day at the 2015 Trafford Business Expo. It is the first event of this kind that we have done and we found everyone very engaging. It was great to network with both people that we may be able to offer services to and there were quite a number of other exhibitors who’s services may be of
Interest to us too, who we would have otherwise not come across or been aware of how they could help us.”
“The Trafford Expo 2015 was the best event we attended this year as an exhibitor, the event was organised brilliantly and the team we always on hand to answer any questions we may have. We managed to speak to a huge variety of different visitors from all different
industry sectors and we believe the event was a big success. We look forward to exhibiting again in 2016!”
Seminars
“We were thrilled to offer such a high standard of seminars for the delegates, and the quality speakers were a great addition to the exhibition hall. It seemed that those who attended the seminars found them incredibly beneficial and took a lot away with them from the sessions.”
As part of the programme for the Trafford Business Expo, an exciting line up of industry experts were confirmed to host free seminars throughout the day for the delegates to attend.
The sessions were tailored to share knowledge and inspire attendees with tips to relate and implement in to their business. The seminars were extremely popular with the attendees and were full to capacity for the three sessions.
According to Sharon Robson, STaR’s Director of Procurement: “The Trafford Business Expo was a great opportunity for STaR Procurement to meet with a wide range of potential suppliers.”
Sharon’s workshop was designed to highlight to local businesses
Article continues on next page
Andy Preston Daniel Nolan Sharon Robson
Trafford Business Connect Magazine’s infamous 5’ croc-infested duckpond!
The Trafford Business Expo 2015
how they can access potential public sector opportunities via ‘The Chest’, not only for Trafford but across a range public agencies in the Northwest. Sharon provided top tips and provided a number of useful links for those interested in further information. Attendees to the seminar described the session as informative, interactive and very well presented. Sharon was complimented on her succinct and
professional delivery and effectively answered everyone’s questions.
Daniel Nolan, managing director at the award winning digital marketing agency, theEword, presented their new findings on ‘saying the right things at the right time’. They were excited to share some of the data they had been collecting on the impact of using different types of content across a variety of genres,
at different stages in the buying process.
This session was extremely well received and provided useful ideas for attendees to relate to their marketing strategy. Daniel was praised for his informative, yet relaxed and amusing delivery which kept the audience engaged.
Andy Preston, a top-selling salesperson in his industry and international expert on selling techniques, has a reputation of delivering quality seminars and did not disappoint. Andy presented
his signature sales seminar on ‘How to have your best sales year ever’, sharing with the audience the importance of differentiating yourself from your competitors with tips on how to convert your leads to sales. This engaging presentation had some incredibly useful content which was informative and extremely beneficial.
Meet the Buyer
“We also found the co-location with Trafford Council’s Meet the Buyer complimented the overall event and offered further business opportunities
Saying the right thing at the right time: content and the customer journey
Daniel Nolan from theEword was one of the keynote speakers at the Trafford Business Expo. Here is a portion of his presentation:
“I chose to speak at the Trafford Business Expo because not only was it a great opportunity to meet other businesses from the local community, but also to raise awareness of an important trend in digital marketing which has implications for lots of firms.
“Content marketing isn’t a new concept, if anything it’s often argued now that we’re bombarded by too much content on a daily basis. So the key today is to stand out from the crowd and ultimately provide the right content at the right time that fits in with your customer’s online journey.
“So how do you begin? First and foremost, you need to create engaging and shareable content such as quizzes, lists, infographics and blogs that appear on sites your target audience are likely to visit. We call this ‘Discovery’ content. At this stage of the journey, your prospective clients may not even be aware they want your service or product - the importance of this stage is creating brand awareness.
“Secondly, you need to consider ‘Deliberation’ content. At this stage of the journey, your prospective customers know they need a product or service similar to that which you offer. Here you should look to affirm your position as a thought-leader and seek to build trust, so content such as whitepapers are great. You want to continue to build trust and drive prospects to your website for this content.
“Finally, you reach ‘Decision’ content. You’ve caught the attention of your prospect, they’re on your website but what next? Ensure you have persuasive product or service pages that continue to tell a story. This is where testimonials and case studies can be most powerful in converting visitors to your website.
“Being successful means testing and analysing what you’re doing along the way and therefore improving with every piece of content you produce.”
for the attendees.” James said.
Trafford Council’s Meet the Buyer event was co-located with the Trafford Business Expo in the floor above. The event provided an opportunity for local businesses to meet with purchasing teams from a selection of large local organisations, who were keen to ensure local SMEs are able to access opportunities in their supply chains.
48 suppliers from across Trafford and the local area attended the Meet The Buyer event, attending pre-arranged
appointments with buyers from STaR (Stockport, Trafford and Rochdale Councils) Procurement, Amey, Regatta Group, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Procure-Plus. Feedback from suppliers on the day was excellent, with comments including:
“Thanks a lot for this great opportunity! I found the event really useful and got lots of new ideas for my business.”
“Thank you! It enabled me to gain direct access to three high potential buyers really quickly and really easily, which would have taken me years to get hold of on my own”
Trafford Meet The Buyer is expected to become an annual event, with further information about next year’s event to be released in early 2016.
For further information about similar events or other support available to businesses in Trafford, contact Trafford Council’s Economic Growth Team at business@trafford.gov.uk or visit www.investintrafford.com
Trafford Council’s Meet the Buyer
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pro-manchester welcome their new
It doesn’t seem like any time has passed since Trafford Business Connect reported on the appointment of John Jones from Beever & Struthers as new Chairman for pro-manchester, one of Greater Manchester’s flagship business organisations representing over 240,000 working in the financial and professional sectors across the region. A lot of that has been down to the breakneck pace of business growth we are currently enjoying in the private sector, and the fact that pro-manchester seem to be one of the architects of that growth.
On Friday 17 July over a member’s lunch that took place at the Midland Hotel, John formally stepped down as Chairman and warmly welcomed Tim Grogan, Director in the Audit and Equity Capital Markets team at Deloitte, as the new pro-manchester Chairman for the coming year.
Tim then gave his inaugural speech: “I’d like to start with a warm welcome
to everyone. Pro Manchester is a fantastic organisation. I have been involved since 2010, and the last few years have meant that I’ve been able to form some great relationships with Manchester’s financial and professional community. I’ve also been part of some engaging, exciting events that have helped shine the spotlight on a city that continues to build its wider reputation day by day. Manchester is a fantastic place to live as well as work, and we have a unique sense of pride in where we’re from. What excites me at the minute is that we’re now living and working at a time when the rest of the world is starting to catch on to everything we have to offer.”
Tim then went on to thank CEO John Ashcroft and John Jones in making the organisation the thriving business community it is today, and then went on to look at some objectives for the organisation over the coming year:
“There is an influx of new young professionals starting their career in Manchester that presents some new and interesting challenges for pro-manchester, and for the wider business community.
“We’re now witnessing the modern sectors that previously called London home, setting up camp in our city, bringing innovative new services to Manchester, Salford and the wider boroughs. This means the melting pot that makes Manchester such an important place to be is about to receive a major boost, with more people of different age groups, from different parts of the world, flooding this city and bringing their own unique contribution to our fledgling industries.
“I have had direct experience of this.
Only last year I was in India with Deloitte Colleagues, MIDAS and UKTI presenting a series of events in Mumbai and Bangalore with Manchester being marketed as a destination. I have seen first hand the interest in the compelling proposition that Manchester has to offer and my main objectives as chair are how we’re going to drive Manchester forward as a destination and also tap these key industry sectors and make them our own, driving our own membership and engagement along with them.
“So while we’re talking about our plans for Manchester’s future, now might be a good time to slip in the soundbite of the moment and give the Northern Powerhouse a mention. You’ll be well aware that we’re now stood at the edge of what is set to be a massive year for Manchester. I say Manchester, though the masterplan is for the Northwest, because we have been appointed the Northern Powerhouse’s champion, with the funding and devolved powers to equip us for the role of regional leader.
“This means we have some important decisions to make as to how we address everything from housing to transport to planning, and we get to work fundamentally changing the
landscape of our city, as we know it.
“My work at Deloitte has seen me working particularly closely on matters pertaining to the Northern Powerhouse, with our business acting as a champion of the ‘Super North’. I’m looking forward to continuing this commitment at pro-manchester, with each member and event making a contribution to the sustained efforts of a more ‘super’ and ‘powerful’ business community. The surge in funding we’re about to receive is a huge affirmation of confidence not just in the Northwest as a well-established centre for industry (though that doesn’t hurt), but as a marker of the name we’re making for ourselves as a daring, ambitious city ready to harness the growing sectors that have succeeded overseas.
“Whether it’s the runaway success of the advanced materials sector with its Graphene research and development, or the big banglike growth of the technology and media sectors, we’re thinking big when it comes to modern industries, and we’re receiving the investment and responsibility to match the scale of these ambitions. Much of this has been spurred by the incredible ripple effect that MediaCityUK has caused, with the media and creative industries flocking to the region and bringing a host of opportunities, both professional and social, with them.
“We’re now seeing global businesses establishing a foothold here, and numerous start-ups making Manchester their base.
‘‘We are creating the biggest business development organisation in the Northwest. We’re throwing away the old models and bringing in lots of aggressive business plans to push your business into the region and beyond.
John Ashcroft, Chief Executive, pro-manchester
Chairman Tim Grogan with CEO John Ashcroft
Chairman
The position of Chair at pro-manchester is traditionally rotated every year. After the speeches had finished Trafford Business Connect caught up with John Jones and asked him for his thoughts as he stepped down: “Clearly sad in some ways. Tim will bring energy and enthusiasm to drive the organisation forward, and I look forward to remaining closely involved.”
Are you happy you have achieved everything you set out to do since you started a year ago? “I think we’ve achieved a lot, however, there are always goals to reach – that’s the nature of the organisation.”
What are your thoughts on pro-manchester’s role in devolution? “These are such exciting times. I think its great for pro-manchester to be right at the heart of the discussion and the debate about what’s going to happen. These are fantastic times for Manchester and Greater Manchester as a region.”
With city centre space still hot property, this means we’re seeing more exciting new destinations crop up all around Manchester, opening up the potential to build new communities and create new hubs for each respective sector.
“The key growth sectors extend beyond those considered relatively new as well, with our historic manufacturing sector receiving a reinvigorating lift of late, and the proposed plans for high speed rail and improved road links presenting a great deal of scope for further development over the next decade. Each of these key growth sectors brings with it a distinctive opportunity to diversify our offering and elevate Manchester’s status on the international market. We’re trying new things and excelling in them, inviting some of the UK’s brightest talents to join us up North.”
Tim then went on to describe the work done by pro-manchester in their sector group programme: “The Sector Group programme continues to be a valuable addition to the professional community, and its events continue to be highlights
in the corporate calendar. We have delivered a wide range of events across the programme, and also engaged with key sector events regionally, nationally and internationally, including MIPM, Soccerex, The Manchester Food and Drink Festival, IP Expo 2015.
“For me, the Sector Groups are gold stars for our work at pro-manchester, and I really can’t recommend the programme highly enough to those who aren’t already involved. By meeting others in your selected industry, or getting to know those working in the sectors you find interesting, then you build a network that locks into everything that keeps this community as stimulating and motivating as it is.”
Tim then went on to describe the many other things happening in the pro-manchester programme: “2015 has seen pro-manchester membership extended for the first time beyond professional services to include key corporates from the city region and beyond. With an increased desire from
our membership firms to engage with other sectors and areas of business, our key corporate programme is designed to compliment our existing sector group activity, bringing some of the biggest names in business into pro-manchester membership.
“2015 has seen the inclusion of Virgin Rail, Etihad, Manchester Central and Living Ventures as corporate members, and we look forward to welcoming more as the year progresses.
“There was lots of activity from the Future pro-manchester team led by Chairman Paul McGlone, including charity events and the Made in Manchester Awards. Plus the launch of our new event management service entitled ‘Events For You’ in July.
“Our Hot Topics programme remains consistently popular, providing over 60 free business focused events every year, across a wide range of topics.
“Our Key events programme will also continue with the return of The Great Manchester Business Conference, The Annual Dinner and our programme of monthly lunches.
“Business Development Products, The SME Club, Social Media Experts, Financial Director’s Forum and Newsroom are also featured as part of our united approach to promanchester activities, and, having seen tremendous growth and development in 2015, will continue their journeys as part of John Ashcroft & Company.
“pro-manchester has continued
to develop as a premier business development organisation in what has been another challenging year. We have worked hard over the past three years to develop additional revenue streams following the loss of regional development agency funding. 2014/2015 was a further year of investment into the organisation. In 2015/16 our activities will be delivered together as a single offering, helping us to focus on membership, key events, sector groups and the development of key corporate memberships. Projects that require longer-term investment will be scaled back to allow pro-manchester to work towards a return to profit in 2015/16.”
Tim then finished his speech by thanking all those within ro-manchester for their support and the lunch drew to a close with a few closing words from CEO John Ashcroft.
pro-manchester is a corporate membership organisation representing the 240,000 employed in the financial and professional service community in and around Greater Manchester. Boasting more than 300 corporate member firms, pro-manchester engages with over 5,000 individuals. For more details call 0161 833 0964 or email: admin@pro-manchester.co.uk
Chairman Tim Grogan with former Chairman John Jones
apprenticeships
In George Osborne’s summer budget on 8 July a ‘radical, and frankly long overdue approach’ to the issue of apprenticeships in this country was announced.
The Chancellor stated “We are almost the only advanced country in the world where the skills of our 16–24 year olds are no better than our 55-64 year olds.”
Already committed to doubling the existing number of schemes to 2 million, the Government have pledged to add an additional 3 million schemes. The problem as seen by the Chancellor is that too many large companies “leave
the training to others and take a free ride on the system”, so in order to fund the additional 3 million apprenticeships the Government will bring in an apprenticeship levy on all large businesses. This will effectively offer those firms who support apprenticeship schemes the opportunity to get more back than they put in.
Government grants for apprentices are available, and smaller companies with 50 employees or less may be eligible for grants for each apprentice they recruit. See www.apprenticeships.org.uk for further details. Also contact Salford City College or Trafford College for more information - details below.
Salford City College holds its first ‘Annual Review Event’
Last month Salford City College held its first ever Annual Review event to celebrate its successes since the start of the 2013/14 academic year with its key stakeholders and supporters. The celebration, which was held at FutureSkills at MediaCityUK and hosted by CEO and Principal John Spindler, was also a chance to share news with guests of the College’s exciting plans for development over the next few years.
The students themselves played a huge role in the success of the event, with Musical Theatre
students performing some of their favourite songs from the shows, and Photography students taking photos throughout the afternoon. Guests were also treated to a mouth-watering buffet lunch, which was cooked and served by Hospitality and Culinary Arts
students from the College’s Walkden Sixth Form Centre.
John Spindler, who joined the College as its new CEO and Principal at the start of the summer term, spoke to guests about the plans he has to bring the College forward over the next five years.
Accounting student Peter Collier also took to the stage to speak about their experiences and highlights whilst studying at Salford City College.
“The Annual Review Event was a huge success, and one that will now sit firmly in the College’s events calendar for years to come. It was great to see so many of our stakeholders turning out to
support us to celebrate our recent successes and to hear about our future plans for development,” commented John Spindler, CEO and Principal. “One of the highlights for me was the level of student involvement in the event; from meeting and greeting, to feeding our guests, the students really were at the heart of the whole celebration.”
· Gain cost-effective, skilled and qualified staff
· Offer a young person a great opportunity
· We manage the recruitment for you
Deputy Principal Jackie Moores then shared some of the fantastic student success stories that have come out of the college in the past 12 months.
The inspirational stories shared included an A-Level student who has been offered a place to study English at Cambridge University, a Creative Music student who reached the semi-finals of this year’s Britain’s Got Talent, and Sports student who was signed to Hyde FC after moving to Salford from Portugal to pursue his dream of becoming a professional footballer.
Foundation Degree Graphic Design student Lee Thackray and AAT
· Grants available
We specialise in the following sectors:
· Professional Management & Financial Services
· Digital and Creative
· Construction
· Hospitality, Retail and Leisure
· Education
· Childcare and Health & Social Care
Employers that we work with include: Salford City Council, Seddons, ITV, The Lowry, Salford Royal and City West. IS YOUR BUSINESS INTERESTED IN HAVING AN APPRENTICE?
Contact the Apprenticeship Team today on 0161 631 555 5 or apprenticeships@salfordcc.ac.uk
Salford City College CEO and Principal John Spindler hosting the Annual Review Event
AAT Accounting student Peter Collier speaks about his experiences of studying at Salford City College
Sam takes the lead in race towards career in Formula 1
Trafford College Engineering Student, Sam Clark is hot on the heels of former student Oliver Skelland in his race towards a career with the Mercedes Formula 1 Team.
Sam, 18, from Stretford was crowned ‘Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) Student of the Year’ at the College’s Centre for Science and Technology recently for the second year of the competition, as part of the College’s ongoing partnership with HPP in Northamptonshire. The initiative gives top performing students the opportunity to apply for an Advanced Apprenticeship with HPP, the organisation which designs, develops and manufactures the Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 racing engines and hybrid systems.
Oliver Skelland (19), a former BTEC L3 Engineering student, was the first student to be chosen as outright winner by his tutors in 2014 in the first year of the competition, and has since gone on to secure a highly sought after apprenticeship programme with ‘Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP).
Following in his footsteps, Sam has now scooped the incredible prize of a guaranteed work placement at an HPP assessment centre, £500 and a signed certificate from Andy Cowell, Managing Director. His hard work and dedication throughout the year, which saw him praised for his attendance, punctuality and performance throughout the programme, has also earned him a guaranteed interview with HPP for a place on their highly sought after Apprenticeship scheme.
Stuart Boyer, Employee Development Manager for HPP, commented, “Our apprentice programme continues to be a key element of our people strategy and I’m pleased we’ve been able to build on our already successful relationship with Trafford College. Last year’s winner, Oliver Skelland, will be joining us in September, so it’s clear that the college is enhancing the employability of their students. Based on the feedback I’ve had about this year’s winner, Sam Clark, he has every chance to follow in Oliver’s footsteps and begin
an exciting engineering career in
Sir Bill Moorcroft, Principal of Trafford College commented, “Engineering and technology is at the heart of everything we do. As a College it’s important for us to develop relationships with world-
class companies like HPP to give our students the best opportunities to progress into high profile careers.”
Steve Jones, Assistant Principal for STEM added, “This has been a great opportunity for the students involved and we are very grateful to HPP for involving us. The prize of £500 plus work experience, and a guaranteed interview, is such a fantastic opportunity for our winning student. It’s not just about the prize though, it’s about the seal of approval that HPP lends to this curriculum area.”
We chose Trafford College because they were the best option for us and the development of their new Centre for Science & Technology has been a major benefit.
Sam said of his victory, “I’m really happy to have won this award today and I’m really grateful for the support I’ve received. This is such a great opportunity; I’ve always been interested in Motorsport and F1 especially, so I’m really excited about the possibilities.”
For more information, please contact: Liz Byrne on 0161 952 4861 or by email on elizabeth. byrne@trafford.ac.uk
Formula 1’.”
COLIN BAINES, THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
L-R Sam Clark and Stuart Boyer
focus
Trafford Park Connect
For the past few months Trafford Park Connect has been gaining momentum as a friendly, laid back networking event in the heart of Trafford Park. Excellent hosts Exclusec Security Solutions Ltd have made the extra effort to always ensure everyone gets the very best out of the monthly networking event, including plenty of time to chat and always featuring a great speaker.
July 14 though was to be the last time at the Guardian Buildings, as Trafford Business Connect are swapping roles with Exclusec and will be hosting the event going forward at St Antony’s Centre on
Bringing businesses
Eleventh Street, still in the heart of Trafford Park. Exclusec will now be sponsors of the monthly event, handing over the host’s reins to our very good selves. The next event will be on Wednesday 12 August, and going forward we will be introducing a small fee to cover costs.
Looking back to the last event at the Guardian Buildings, we were fortunate to welcome Julia Bentley
from Trafford’s Trading Standards who introduced us to iBan (Informed Business Alert Network) This follows in the wake of iCan (the consumer version) and is a free to join messaging system to keep rogues at bay and make our business community safer.
Businesses can now stay one step ahead of rogue traders, scams and cons with this free service which
sends out timely warnings. Trafford iBAN is a service now available to all business in the borough. Members of the scheme can either opt for a pre-recorded phone message or email to inform them about potential rogue traders.
For further details call 0161 912 1377 or review a full description of the scheme plus an online application form at www.trafford.gov.uk
MONTHLY NETWORKING IN TRAFFORD PARK
Trafford Park Connect is a monthly business networking lunchtime event recently moved to St Antony’s Centre on Eleventh Street, in the heart of Trafford Park.
Each event, taking place at the beginning of each month, will provide a relaxed networking opportunity between 12noon and 2pm to meet businesses not just from Trafford Park but beyond, and is open to all businesses to attend.
There will be a keynote speaker at each event, featuring a great range of respected names from many different businesses.
For more info please email Paul Mirage on paul@businessconnectpublishing.co.uk
If you would like to attend please register at Eventbrite through: www.traffordparkconnect.co.uk
Park Connect is a
Limited.
together in Trafford Park
Trafford Park Business Network
There are very few buildings within Trafford Park as iconic as the Imperial War Museum North so it was very apt that the museum hosted the second Trafford Park Business Network event on 9 July. Starting in the main exhibition space, which features a timeline of the conflicts that Britain and the Commonwealth have been involved in since the First World War, the event kicked off with business networking, and the opportunity to listen to Liam Potts from the venue describing
the activities of the museum.
From there everyone moved into an adjacent meeting area where Chris Fletcher, Chair of Trafford Economic Growth Board and Policy and Marketing Director at GM Chamber welcomed everyone. He commented:
“The quality of businesses we have here right on our doorsteps are superb. The more events we can do like this where we get businesses talking to each other, and beginning to trade with each other across Trafford Park are absolutely amazing.”
Chris then introduced Andrew
video platform, and the subsequent development of ‘Trafford Park TV’ – an interesting new marketing opportunity for Trafford Park based businesses to promote themselves and their services via video to new audiences and customers. The technology in the development of this facility means that it is available cross-platform, across any device or system.
After Nigel finished his presentation Chris Fletcher then selected 5 businesses in attendance to deliver a one minute elevator pitch to the audience, but before they took to the rostrum Katrina Hann and John Steward from New Economy gave an oversight into the work and observations done by the organisation. New Economy delivers policy, strategy and research for Greater Manchester’s economic growth and prosperity. They work
Turner from Amey LG who was there to describe the work of Trafford Council’s newly appointed Joint Venture Partner. Andrew went on to describe Amey LG’s social value commitments and the work of the organisation. He then introduced Clare Hardeman who went into detail about the procurement process, particularly as this was the buyer’s slot section of the event.
Next to speak in the capacity of the supplier slot was Nigel Collier from Skylab. Nigel went on to describe Skylab’s award winning Medua Tank
on behalf of the GM Combined Authority and the GM Local Enterprise Partnership, and their principal purpose is to help Greater Manchester grow by strengthening policy developments across the boroughs.
As part of the morning’s presentation there was the chance for the audience to vote on several issues and economic options, all of which contribute to the development of new strategy being produced on behalf of the Trafford Economic Growth Board.
Trafford Park is the world’s first planned industrial estate and remains one of the largest business parks in Europe.
It is home to over 1,300 businesses and 35,000 employees, from a wide range of business sectors including manufacturing, logistics, retail, leisure, digital and creative, office and professional.
Liam Potts, IWM North
Chris Fletcher, GM Chamber of Commerce
Andrew Turner, Amey LG
Clare Hardeman, Amey LG
Nigel Collier, Skylab
John Steward, New Economy
Katrina Hann, New Economy
social media
Periscope - an introduction to the live streaming app
If you’ve logged into Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook over the past few months, you can’t help but have noticed the words Periscope and Meerkat popping up from marketeers like myself.
Periscope’s tagline is ‘Explore the world through someone else’s eyes’ and Meerkat describes itself as ‘the easiest and most powerful way for spontaneous shared experiences’.
In a nutshell what they offer is a live streaming app from your smart phone with a more user-friendly and engaging interface than UStream or Livestream.
Since they came to public prominence in March this year, they’ve been involved in a VHS vs Betamax style war for mass adoption with Periscope owned by Twitter and Meerkat buddying up to Facebook.
Whilst it’s still super early days to declare an outright winner or a dominator in the market, all signs are pointing towards mass adoption of Periscope as the platform of choice.
The most recently released figures show there are 70 million users of Periscope ....and that’s in just 4 months!
Periscope in a nutshell
Periscope has been described as ‘Twitter on speed’ and ‘Snapchat for Video’, so here’s the skinny on Periscope for the newbies...
• Live Streaming app directly from your Smart Phone
• Integrated into Twitter - so building a strong twitter audience is beneficial
• Heavily data intensive - so it’s best to stream or view from a good wifi connection rather than your data plan
• Highly interactive - anyone viewing live from their phone can type comments in whilst you are streaming
• Replays for 24 hours - which you can choose to keep or delete
• Global Audience - but can gain local reach via followers, hashtags and content
How to use periscope for business
1. Education
On Periscope you have some of the great minds in business offering up advice and nuggets for free at the touch of a button, so even if you’re not ready to broadcast - download the app and watch business leaders streams!
Sure, you could access some of it via a LinkedIn pulse article or their own website, but the beauty about Periscope is the nuggets that come the human interactions in the comments section of the app
Like all Social Media platforms Periscope is built for interaction and rarely is a stream a one way monologue to the audienceit’s an open channel of 2 way communication where you can access some real strong business advice
So think about what you can give out in the way of education to your audience.
Could you repurpose ideas from old
blogs for Periscope? Could you give tips on how to deal with changes in your industry? Could you educate people on a breaking news story?
2. Live streaming events
Back in April, a few days after Periscope launched, at Sale Business Group I streamed the networking event live to introduce the businesses in the room to the wider public.
It was the first networking group in Greater Manchester to do so and hardly anyone had heard of Periscope - but we had four times more people watching live on Periscope than we did in the room.
We live in a world where there are so many networking events in one day that you simply can’t make them all, but those core members of your community can still be part of the action live on Periscope for those meetings they can’t attend in person. People will always want to attend events in person - but we are now entering the age where there are multiple ways to connect and Periscope is becoming part of the live event experience both to preview the event (yes and to generate sales), to live stream the event and to offer the service of a 24 hour replay for attendees after the event.
3. Q&As
Think about the most insightful parts of business talks at networking meetings or conferences - It’s usually the Q&A section where you really get to delve deep into a subject matter. Periscope is great for hosting Q&As in the same manner with real time interaction from 100’s of viewers around the world.
Because Periscope is so fast and it disappears within 24 hours people are open to asking questions they perhaps wouldn’t on twitter or in a face-to-face environment.
4. Behind the scenes
Some of the best Scope’s so far are the voyeuristic behind the scene glimpses into businesses around the world.
It’s human and gives real insight to what happens in a business meeting
or what happens on a day to day basis in the business
Ultimately the reason for behind the scenes glimpses into a business is to humanise a business and because of the real time nature of periscope this is undiluted, real time and not staged
The Behind The Scenes streams is the one area Meerkat is winning on over Periscope - with some real Meerkat stars such as The Funky Fairy and Herbie Merrin the Taxi Driver being heavy Meerkat users.
On Periscope it’s the established marketing names such as Gary Vaynerchuk and Grant Cardone who are the big hitters.
5. Community
I’m a firm believer that a business should be an integral part of the community, and some of my most viewed scopes have been community events. The likes of the Manchester Marathon, Altrincham French Festival and Altrincham Festival being just a few that I’ve been able to stream live to the world.
What community events is your business taking part in that can you can stream live from? What is happening in your community that you are part of? What are you doing that isn’t just straight down to business?
What next?
Download Periscope from www.periscope.tv - follow local Trafford Businesses such as @traffbizconnect and @altrinchamhq
Watch and learn, then plan your Periscope broadcasts to build up your audience.
lead generation Running Successful Events
We have all been there - turned up to a packed event and you feel inspired. You then feel so glad you made the effort and you end up making new contacts.
Equally we have all arrived at an event and from the minute it has started we are clock watching thinking ‘I have so much more I could be doing right now than listening to this person drone on!’
If you have ever been on the other side and organised an event then you will also know how difficult it is to get people there in the first place, let alone dazzle people with the content.
However, when events are ran well they can do a lot to raise the profile of your business, position you as an authority in a particular area, as well as help build a reputable network of people with similar interests that want to share business knowledge.
So how do you go about achieving this successfully and it not being a flop?
I am going to share with you some lessons learnt and observations that are perhaps not immediately obvious.
The best way, I have found, to describe running an event is a bit like baking a cake. (The problem is I am not great at baking so bear with me…)
A good cake is made up of a number of ingredients that need
- an Art or a
to be in balance, this is the science and the flavour is the art.
Let’s talk about flavour first, this is how attractive the content is to the audience.
Would you offer a coffee and cream cake to kids or a chocolate cake?
Content should not be sales focused, this is a by-product of a good event. The content should be engaging, interactive and you should think first and foremost about the takeaways for your attendees - what will they learn? What should they be thinking about when they drive home? It goes without saying that you should have an engaging presenter that puts the material across well. They should use stories or anecdotes to bring the content alive and they should engage with the room. Great content can fall flat with a bad presenter. So before you put yourself forward test your material or give somebody else an opportunity in your business that may have a hidden talent.
Now, let’s talk about the science of populating a well-crafted event. Things to consider with your audience (ignore them at your peril!)
Timings - don’t run an 8am breakfast seminar if you are doing
Science?
a women in business event and the school run is in mid flow.
Location - Is it easy to get to? Can people park, walk or use local transport?
Venue - Make it different. I have been to an event in a car showroom with a test drive afterwards - be creative!
Marketing - Start 8 weeks before. Agree the hook and messaging have a defined target list of clients that you want to invite and set-up a registration process to handle these automatically. Craft a few EShots with different messages and start sending them out 4-5 weeks before to a decent size population. Follow up your opens and encourage people to join you on the day. Use social media, put it in on your email footer, website, LinkedIn profile and invite your prospects personally.
Do a pre-event call to check they will be joining you - this will prevent drop outs. If they are unavailable offer them a 121 at a later date.
On the day – have sign-in forms, name badges (sigh…. it does help), introduce people, round tables (cabaret is the best format). Feedback forms will ensure you gauge reaction and agree follow up actions. You will be amazed how many people just follow up
one or two people they spoke with and the people that left early never got a call.
There is a lot to plan so it is of no surprise that clients will often engage with a third party specialist to manage the process so they can focus on the ‘Art of knocking the audience dead’ on the day.
Reach Communications helps companies to populate and run successful targeted event. If you want a FREE event consultation to understand how you can maximise results get in touch.
branding
When is a logo not a logo? When it’s a brand.
I’m passionate about branding.
A strong and memorable brand is without doubt a basis for business success; brand is the embodiment of the company ethos, its culture, its people, its service levels and of course its products.
It is certainly not the company logo!
When I talk to people about this there is a realisation that the word brand has been hijacked in recent years and that people mistakenly think that brand and logo are one and the same thing - they could not be further from one another.
Successful businesses understand that their brand is not just what people actually buy - it is the entirety of their offering.
We believe that an intelligent,
coherent branding programme provides the best foundation on which to build a strong and memorable brand.
‘Start up’ businesses need to start off on the right footing albeit they are still developing their culture, but more importantly existing businesses should take time to step back and look at what they have and what they do – and ask themselves if they could achieve more with a clear company-wide understanding of the brand values of their business. There are many examples of businesses that have really improved their bottom line after going through this process - and many examples of companies that have failed simply because they didn’t.
Whatever your business size, whether you’re a one-man-band, SME or corporate organisation, the core principles that help to build and sustain a strong brand - how you consistently perform and interact with your customers - remain firm and are fundamental to the success of your business.
Bias Manchester Ltd
finance
The Summer Budget
The summer 2015 budget has been announced, outlining the tax plans of the new Conservative government, which are to be introduced over the next 5 years.
With so many changes on the horizon, from the national living wage to tax credit changes to the annual investment allowance being permanently set at £200,000, multiple questions, especially from business owners, are likely to arise.
By gaining a strong understanding of the changes being made and set to be made under the new government, it can help to avoid mistakes or confusion in the long run when it comes to tax.
New ‘national living wage’ and tax credit changes
Some may say the most radical announcement made by the Chancellor was a significant reduction in the amount the government plans to spend on tax credits and other state benefits.
At the same time, it was announced that the national living wage to be paid by employers will rise to £9 an hour by 2020, in addition to the increase in the personal allowance to £11,000 for 2016/17, ultimately resulting in employees keeping more of what they earn.
This significant change means that employers will need to assess its impact on the profitability of their business, whilst also taking into consideration other factors such
as the increase in employment allowance to £3,000 next year and the planned reductions in the corporation tax rate – something that may also be relevant to some businesses.
Impact of changes to dividend taxation on family companies
Due to there being no national insurance contributions on dividend payments, it is often advised that family company directors/ shareholders extract profits from their company by way of dividends instead of paying themselves a salary.
A husband and wife being directors of a company would be able to pay themselves a salary of £11,000 each, in addition to dividends of £5,000 each tax free. However, the next £27,000 of dividends up to the new £43,000 higher rate threshold would then be taxed at 7.5%, resulting in income tax of £2,025 each being payable for 2016/17. Under the current rules, there would be no tax on such dividends up to £42,385.
This measure has been introduced to counter tax-motivated incorporation, in order to level the playing field between trading via a company versus an unincorporated business.
Annual investment allowance set permanently at £200,000
Although the annual investment allowance was due to be reduced from the current temporary level
of £500,000 to just £25,000 from 2016, the Chancellor has bowed to pressure from industry to stop tinkering with this allowance for expenditure on plant and machinery.
He has decided on £200,000 for the new limit, which should result in businesses being able to plan their capital expenditure. In order for businesses to benefit from the current higher allowance, it is recommended that they should consider bringing forward expenditure before January 1st 2016.
Buy to let landlords – interest relief to be restricted to basic rate
The amount of income tax relief landlords can get on residential property finance costs will be restricted to the basic rate of tax, a change which will be phased in gradually over four years in order to give landlords time to adjust.
In 2017/18, the deduction will be restricted to 75% of finance costs with 25% being available as a basic rate tax reduction, with the following year changing to 50% finance costs deduction and 50% being given as a basic rate tax reduction. Progressing into 2019/20, it will become 25% finance costs deduction and 75% given as a basic rate tax reduction, and finally resulting in all financing costs incurred by a landlord being given as a basic rate tax reduction in 2020/21.
Further notable changes
The “rent a room” limit will be increased in April 2016, from the current £4,250 up to £7,500, however the relief is only available where individuals rent out a room in their main residence and the allowance includes heating and other services provided to the lodger.
Although the current UK corporation tax rate of 20% is the lowest rate in the G20, it has been announced that the rate will be reduced to 19% and then further to 18% in 2020. This appears to make trading via a limited company more attractive, but note that there are significant changes to the taxation of dividends mentioned earlier that could affect this.
absenteeism
Are Brits are a bunch of
Almost 60% of Brits have pulled a sickie from work in the past three years despite not being ill, new research has revealed.
The survey of 1,000 British employees, carried out by leading workforce management solutions developer, timeware (UK), found that despite the number of employees falsely claiming to be sick in the past three years, almost 90% of those surveyed did not consider absenteeism to be a problem in their workplace.
As part of the research which set out to investigate absenteeism and productivity in the UK workplace, employees were asked what the reasons were for their unplanned absences in 2014. While the survey found that sickness is still the number one reason for absenteeism (45%), other reasons why people were off in 2014 included childcare issues (20%) and relationship issues (17%). 11% of people claimed that they didn’t go into
work because they had an interview, 8% stated they had personal problems to deal with and another 8% of respondents wanted to avoid a difficult situation at work.
The survey also found that employees are more likely to be absent from work with a hangover (7%) than because they are dissatisfied with their job (3%) or because they had to sort out a family issue (5%).
As well as looking into unplanned absence, the research also asked employees the main reasons why they were late for work in 2014. It found that the most common reason was down to transport issues with 43% of respondents having used this excuse in 2014.
A further 22% of people said they had overslept and 13% said they were late to work because of a lack of motivation for the job. Whilst 18% said family issues had caused a delay in getting to work, 13% suggested childcare issues
skivers?
had made them late and 4% said they didn’t like their boss.
The results also showed that at present employees massively underestimate the problem that absenteeism poses. Despite statistics by ACAS highlighting that absenteeism is costing the economy an average of £17million a year, the timeware report found that only 28% of people surveyed considered absenteeism to be a problem in their workplace.
Simon Birchall, managing director of timeware, said: “When implementing workforce management solutions for our customers, absence management is a key issue that crops up time and time again. As such, we decided to commission our own research to get a better insight into the state of absenteeism in the UK – and the results have provided some insightful data! The results from our report
have highlighted that in the UK there appears to be a serious problem with people falsely claiming to be sick when in reality there is another reason for their absence.
“These figures really illustrate that more work needs to be done to understand why some people do not feel they are able to disclose the real reasons for their absences - so that employers can better support their employees and to try to reduce avoidable absenteeism in the future.”
digital marketing
How a ‘tummy tuck in Mexico’ and a ‘nose job in Albania’ will help you find your ideal customers across the internet!
Results from a global campaign for the most searched keywords brought about a vital clue as to how to increase your keyword research, click-through rate and ROI from a free Google tool.
Keyword research is a pain
As the internet becomes more crowded with competition, and PPC costs skyrocket, anything which can give a real marketing edge is invaluable.
Thorough keyword research is the best starting point to formulate an effective campaign but can be tedious, and let’s face it “hit and miss” based on what we think our customers want and what they actually are searching for.
Real search terms can be an eye opener
A recent study by the internet research company FIXR looked to isolate the most popular search terms for each country across the globe. The search string used was “How much does a * cost in [country name]”? The asterisk was left to allow Google to compile the most popular terms country by country. This is where the ‘tummy tuck in Mexico’ and ‘nose job in Albania’ came from!
Country trends throw up some hilarious results as a result of this search. Here are some of the more surprising results from different countries:
Here are some more surprising and amusing results for
‘how much does a * cost’…
‘flying a MiG’ Russia
‘in vitro fertilisation’ Australia
‘mooring a yacht’ Monaco
‘a PS3’ Lebanon
‘a camel’ Egypt
The FREE tool which showed them all
All these terms came from the ‘Google Autocomplete’ tool. A tool which has been questioned by many for the sheer number of wacky selections it returns. But Google assures us the
predictive program ‘shows what other people are searching for and the content of web pages.’
The program actually shows what people are actively searching for. No guesswork or smoke and mirrors but actual real time intelligence on what users really do want.
Whenever you see an insane suggestion in the Autocomplete search bar it is because real people have really typed it in!
Replace the global example with specific results
Take this intelligence and apply it to your own keyword research and PPC marketing. Use the asterisk in your own campaigns and let Google show you what people actually are searching for.
Let’s say you are a small business advisor looking to reach new clients. Try this search string:
‘* a small business advisor’
Some of the results from autocomplete:
Or what are the long tail search terms for upsells on a product. Try “how to * my trainers”:
It is easy to see how allocating your budget around these key phrases will bring results? No guesswork but the actual real, most recent and most popular search terms.
This benefits any industry
This tool will help identify hidden niche keywords in any market. It can be devastatingly popular for local searches also. The possibilities are endless and so are the results.
Answer the questions for maximum returns
This strategy is not restricted just to PPC. When you discover what people commonly search for you can generate content and specific pages
on your website to answer their questions directly and gain organic Google ranking for even better reach and returns.
So, from the example ‘How to stop my trainers squeaking’ can you produce an article, an update, a blog post or video which addresses that very question?
Can you provide quality content which will establish your credibility, answer concerns, fulfil needs and be quickly indexed by Google as your piece is entirely relevant and has been missed by your competition?
Of course you can, and that will establish your authority in your market and generate new business organically.
Keep on searching
Start today, use the asterisk in a search string and let Google do the work for a change. See exactly what
your market is typing in to the search engines and then capitalise on this.
Run your PPC campaigns far more cost effectively on pages your competitors are not even aware of and draw new business to you by answering popular search terms with organic, original content.
Let our expert team run a deep analysis of your website to identify quick fixes you can make now to boost your Google ranking. We will also reveal your competitor Google strategies.
We can then help you turn your website into a Powerful Lead Generation Machine!
Call today for a friendly no obligation chat.
wellbeing
Did you know that 19 million days of annual leave remain untaken in the UK every year?
Too busy to take a Holiday?
And that figure doesn’t include the sole traders, small businesses and self-employed who regularly forgo holidays, feeling they’re too busy to take a holiday for fear of missing out on sales, business opportunities or are concerned about being unavailable and disappointing their clients.
Do you miss out on your annual leave, feel nervous at leaving the office, work increasingly longer hours, perhaps even calling in at work over the weekend?
You may not regard yourself as a workaholic yet find yourself regularly working late to finish essential paperwork or feel that you’re not ready to leave work ‘just yet’?
Some people define themselves through their job; it’s how they think of themselves. A job title provides status, a sense of what’s expected, and outlines their responsibilities.
Life can become more complicated once family, friends and relationships become involved. There isn’t a job description or a set of rules provided for home life. Sometimes it can seem less messy, be the easier option to become immersed in work; after all, there’s always something to be busy with.
Also leaving the office for an extended period can require someone else to take charge, become acquainted with what’s going on. This can feel a vulnerable position to be in, as letting go of
the reigns may mean someone discovering errors and omissions, coming up with new, innovative ideas - doing a better job.
But working unremittingly and being too busy to take a holiday can bring problems and issues that eventually require attention, not least of which can be stress and burnout.
Let’s look at ways to improve your attitude towards work and find a better balance which is positive for all concerned, helping to improve your health and happiness and benefit the life of those around you - to introduce a better perspective and deal with being too busy to take a holiday:
Check if family and friends are becoming upset and exasperated because you spend weekends regularly checking your phone and emails ‘just in case’? When you do agree to take a holiday do you spend the first three days stressed and worrying about what’s happening whilst you’re away, and the last three days revving up again?
Remember, these are the really important people in your life, the ones who really care about you.
Share your work-related concerns with them, let them be supportive, plan to start spending quality time together and learn to relax and have fun.
Some people thrive on the adrenalin rush they get from being busy. The sense of urgency from taking on vast quantities of work, having pressurised deadlines, demanding clients who expect immediate results can be exciting and elevate thinking and responses
to heightened levels of awareness. Also small businesses are often apprehensive at turning down work for fear of losing clients.
But living continually in a state of stress can result in an inability to switch off, cause the mind to constantly race. This can start to impact on health and well-being, causing burnout to occur.
Inject some realism into your way of working. Accept that you can only do so much, that you can’t be all things to all men, agree to every demand from your customers or accept every order for work.
Saying ‘yes’ can sometimes mean that you commit too much time and energy to something that is not viable. Get to know other businesses with whom you could share the load and effectively out-source work they’d be better suited to.
Who knows, you may all end up building better, more valuable customer bases through mutual co-operation with those in similar, complementary fields.
Work on your confidence, your self-belief and remind yourself that you’re doing the best you can. Keep on top of your CPD so that you feel confident in your skills.
It’s important to earn a living and be professional, but accept that you’re human and need to take a holiday sometimes.
Ensure there’s work that you enjoy, that gives you satisfaction so that you can enjoy going to the office each day.
Build good relationships with clients and customers so that you can help each other in times of crisis. Then if you’re overloaded, experience problems, delays or an occasional error you can discuss it and find the best solution.
Communicate with mutual respect and understanding so that you can negotiate and establish honest and meaningful relationships.
Be aware of your personal signs of being stressed. There are 360
physical symptoms of stress so start to learn your own warning signs. You may lose your sense of humour, become irritable, stop sleeping well. Some people over-eat for comfort or lose their appetite. Notice if your memory or ability to concentrate starts slipping or you start to experience headaches.
These symptoms can alert you to the importance of taking a break or holiday in order to refresh and recover from the pressures you’re experiencing.
Being too busy to take a holiday may seem like proof of your success, a sign that you’re doing well, are important, but taking a break gives you time to relax and recharge, spend time with the special people in your life and then return to work energised to do a better job.
Susan runs Altrincham based Lifestyle Therapy offering a tailor made combination of counselling and hypnotherapy on a one-to-one or group basis. She works with stressed individuals to promote confidence and self belief, with couples experiencing relationship difficulties to improve communications and understanding and with business clients to support the health and motivation levels of individuals and teams.
For more articles, information or to make contact please call 0161 928 7880 or visit www.lifestyletherapy.net
Susan Leigh MNCH (ACC)
debt mediation
What could we achieve by thinking and acting differently?
What do Florence Nightingale, Einstein, Mother Theresa, Dick Fosbury and Steve Jobs have in common? Amongst other attributes, they thought and acted differently – or outside the box. They listened to people.
When talking about trees, Hermann Hesse, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1946 said “Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.” Apply that sentiment to people and who knows what we could achieve?
Seemingly few people today really care to hear about other people’s problems. David Suchet recently revealed that playing Hercule Poirot has made him a far better listener “I listen to what you say but I hear what you mean”. In the field of debt collection would it not be advantageous if all the relevant parties started to do this in respect of paying for goods and services? Would not all businesses benefit from such a culture of mediation, working together to develop interests, rather than taking positions? Partnership and open co-operation between both parties to replace the traditional adversarial culture? Now that would be progressive thinking!
How might the culture of mediation apply in debt collection situations? How well do you handle those awkward conversations and situations? You can save considerable time and money by embracing the concepts of mediation. Mediation is where the participants in a dispute, whatever it may be, are actively encouraged to listen to each other to achieve an acceptable solution through aided negotiation and facilitation. What if they tried to listen to and respect each others’ interests – it is surprising what can be discovered. Surely mediation techniques should be part of what Debt Collection Agencies offer to help the participants in a dispute
reach an early amicable resolution themselves that both parties can live with. A solution found this way is longer lasting and much less damaging than conventional methods.
When it comes to finding solutions, one size rarely fits all, rather it is about finding the appropriate approach and treating customers fairly. Creating relationships, knowing your customers, engaging with and actively listening to them, is of paramount importance. Understanding the specific circumstances of the customer, with a reasoned approach and having no preconceptions, will more often than not produce favourable results. An innovative and flexible approach should usually find the right solution for each participant.
Prompt payment codes may be redundant if this different way of working is developed. More small to medium sized companies could survive and even prosper if they didn’t have to spend considerable time and money dealing with disputes.
Mediation, however, is not always the right answer, and litigation may be the only avenue left but ignoring mediation overlooks a potential quick and less costly solution. Reluctance to pay comes in many guises, as we are all aware but amicably resolving issues must surely be a ‘win win situation’ for all concerned.
Will the application of mediation adversely affect Debt Collection Agencies? Quite the reverse, as payment disputes would be resolved earlier and hopefully any clouds of ill feeling will disappear. How will it affect the legal profession? Contracts will still need to be drawn up and specialist advice is always prudent for complex arrangements. Terms and Conditions will still need to be clearly set out including a mediation clause. Court time, however, will undoubtedly be reduced, which should be welcome
news to the judiciary. Getting the basics right and establishing a genuine connection with your customers is nothing new but it needs to be reviewed regularly. Mediation can certainly provide an additional and important tool for Debt Collection Agencies and it will be interesting to see how many forward thinkers there are in the industry.
On a much broader note, what if mediation were part of the school curriculum? By introducing this way of thinking at an early stage, future generations could be encouraged to act differently. Who knows how many conflicts might be prevented? Who knows how many millions of people’s lives might be
saved? And how much personal grief could be avoided?
Rather than thinking the concept of mediation is food for thought, why not just apply it?!
Robert Smyth Premium Collections Ltd
www.premiumcollections.co.uk
diary dates
4 Networking
City Centre - Fridays Fortnightly
- 21 Aug, 4 Sept, 18 Sept... 12noon - 2.00pm
Venue Westminster House, 11 Portland St, Manchester M1 3HU
Cost £15
Contact Alison Tilzey 07565 948 943
Cheadle - Fridays Fortnightly
- 21 Aug, 4 Sept, 18 Sept... 8.00am - 10.00am
Venue De Vere Cheadle, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle SK8 3FS
Cost £12
Contact Ian Lavin 07731 837936
Didsbury - Thursdays Fortnightly
- 13 Aug, 27 Aug, 10 Sept... 8.00am - 10.00am
Venue The Didsbury, 852 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester M20 2SG
Please note If you plan to visit any of the above events please ensure all details are correct in advance. Whilst every effort has been made to confirm accuracy some details may be subject to change.
places to meet
Albert Square Chop House
Address Memorial Hall, 14 Albert Square, Manchester M2 5PF
Contact 0161 834 1866
Facilities Function Room, Restaurant, Pub
Bean and Brush Art Café
Address 12 Hayfield Walk, Sale M33 7XW
Contact 0161 973 2140
Facilities Café, Food, Drink
Bizspace Atlantic Business Centre
Address Atlantic Street, Altrincham WA14 5NQ
Contact 0161 926 3600
Facilities Conference Rooms, Café
Bizspace Empress Business Centre
Address 380 Chester Road, Manchester M16 9EA
Contact 0161 877 5579
Facilities Meeting Rooms, Offices
Bossco Business Design Store
Address 13 Stonepail Road, Gatley SK8 4EZ
Contact 0161 282 0011
Facilities Tea/Coffee, Web Design, Print, Business Support
Bowdon Rooms The Cinnamon Club
Address The Firs, Bowdon, Altrincham WA14 2TQ
Contact 0161 282 0011
Facilities Conferences, Boardroom, Live Music
Café Gourmand
Address 221 Ashley Road, Hale WA15 9SZ
Contact 0161 929 6050
Facilities Coffee and Patisserie Shop
Carrington Business Park
Address Carrington Lane, Carrington, Manchester M31 4DD
Contact 0161 776 4000
Facilities Café, Conference Rooms
Costa Coffee
Address 75 School Road, Sale M33 7YF
Contact 0161 973 2259
Address 33-35 George Street, Altrincham WA14 1RN
Contact 0161 929 0382
Address Century House, Ashley Road, Hale WA15 9SF
Contact 0161 926 9913
Address Golden Way, Urmston, Manchester M41 0NA
Contact 0161 926 7707
Facilities Coffee, Snacks
Cresta Court Hotel
Address Church Street, Altrincham WA14 4DP
Contact 0161 927 7272
Facilities Snack, Rest, Hotel, Free Parking
DeVere Venues
Address Cheadle House, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle SK8 3FS
Contact 0161 492 100
Facilities Conference, Leisure, Restaurant
Eaton Place Business Park
Address 114 Washway Road, Sale M33 7RF
Contact 0161 905 1424
Facilities Meeting Rooms, Offices
Friends’ Meeting House
Address 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS
Contact 0161 834 5797
Facilities Meeting Rooms, Conference Venue
Gastronomy
Address 191 Ashley Road, Hale WA15 9SQ
Contact 0161 928 7870
Facilities Deli, Coffee Shop
McGregors
Address 29 Stamford New Road, Altrincham WA14 1EB
Contact 0161 928 1487
Facilities Natural Organic Food Served
Manchester Airport
Marriott Hotel
Address Hale Road, Hale Barns, Cheshire WA15 8XW
Contact 0161 904 0301
Facilities Leisure Club, Spa, Conference Centre, Restaurant
Manchester Escalator
Address 233 Deansgate, Manchester M3 4EN
Contact 07711 556913
Facilities Coffee, Food, Meeting Room
Mercure Bowdon Hotel
Address Langham Road, Bowdon WA14 2HT
Contact 0161 928 7121
Facilities Hotel and Leisure, Free Parking
Mersey Farm
Address Carrington Lane, Ashton On Mersey, Sale M33 5BL
Contact 0161 962 8113
Facilities Restaurant, Hotel, Free Parking
Midland Hotel
Address 16 Peter St, Manchester M60 2DS
Contact 0161 236 3333
Facilities Function Rooms, Hotel
Mr Thomas’s Chop House
Address 52 Cross Street, Manchester M2 7AR
Contact 0161 832 2245
Facilities Restaurant, Pub
On The 7th The Landing
Address The Blue Tower, MediaCityUK, Salford Quays M50 2ST
Contact 0161 686 5500
Facilities Bar, Restaurant, Conference Room
Red Rooms
Meeting rooms for hire across a range of Bruntwood properties
Address Station House, Stamford New Road, Altrincham WA14 1EP
Booths Hall, Chelford Road, Knutsford WA16 8QZ
Landmark House, Station Road, Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire SK8 7BS
111 Piccadilly, Manchester M1 2HY
Centurion House, 129 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WR
City Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester M1 4BT
Lowry House, 17 Marble Street, Manchester, M2 3AW
Manchester One, 53 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 3LD
St James, 61-95 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 6FQ
Contact 0843 504 4753
Facilities Offices, Meeting Rooms
Regus
Meeting rooms for hire across a range of Regus properties
Address 82 King St, Manchester M2 4WQ
Pall Mall Court, 61-67 King St, Manchester M2 4PD
Peter House, Oxford Street, Manchester M1 5AN
10th Floor, 3 Hardman St, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3HF
Digital World Centre, 1 Lowry Plaza, Salford Quays M50 3UB
Adamson House, Towers Business Park, W ilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester M20 2YY
Holdsworth Mill, Reddish, Stockport SK5 6DA
5300 Lakeside, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle SK8 3GP
Manchester Business Park, 3000 Aviator Way, Manchester M22 5TG
Hilton Hotel, Manchester Airport, Outwood Lane, Manchester M90 4WP
Contact 0845 300 3585
Facilities Offices, Meeting Rooms
Runway Visitor Park
Address Sunbank Lane, Altrincham WA15 8XQ
Contact 0161 489 3932
Facilities Conference Room, Conference area underneath Concorde, Restaurant, Concorde Experience and Tours, Meeting Rooms
Sam’s Chop House
Address Back Pool Fold (off Cross Street), Manchester M2 1HN
Contact 0161 834 3210
Facilities Restaurant, Pub
St Anthony’s Centre
Address Eleventh Street, Trafford Park, Manchester M17 1JF
Contact 0161 848 9173
Facilities Conference Rooms
San Carlo Fiorentina
Address Manchester Airport, Marriott Hotel, Hale Road, Hale Barns, Cheshire WA15 8XW
Contact 0161 904 5043
Facilities Bar & Restaurant
The Coffee House
Address Warburton House, 14 Eagle Brow, Lymm WA13 0LJ also at 102 School Road, Sale M33 7XB
