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DevoManc ... Tony Lloyd

Greater Manchester’s Interim Mayor gives an insight into devolution in progress in an exclusive interview.

Sir Richard Leese presents his view of devolution in a pro-manchester speech.

George Osborne takes time out at a conference fringe event to bring us up to date with the GM devolution deal.

Small business policy under scrutiny Minister for Small Business Anna Soubry takes a question and answer session at an FSB hosted fringe event - full report inside.

The Italian Job strikes back

Lamborghini Manchester opens new showroom with the help of an original Italian Job superstar.

Greater Manchester Interim Mayor Tony Lloyd at Churchgate House

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December/January 2016

contents 4 news

GM BUSINESS

connect

From Greater Manchester and beyond.

16 features Tony Lloyd Interview Greater Manchester’s Interim Mayor explains his role in the new devolution scheme. Sir Richard Leese pro-manchester lunch provides the backdrop for Sir Richard’s speech on his view of DevoManc.

Subscription is easy. Simply visit www.gmbusinessconnect.co.uk and click through to subscribe, where you can register your details to receive an electronic link to the magazine as soon as it is published.

4 10

editorial

Small Business Minister Anna Soubry Q & A session with the FSB membership quizzing the Minister.

Here at GM Business Connect we are on the lookout for both news articles relating to business activity within Greater Manchester, or educational articles that can help businesses at any level. If you regularly send out press releases, or if you are looking for press coverage of a newsworthy event, please get in touch either by phone or send an email to editorial@ gmbusinessconnect.co.uk

K-Club in Salford Review of the latest networking breakfast at the AJ Bell Stadium. George Osborne The Chancellor updates us on the Northern Powerhouse at a private fringe speech.

The Italian Job roars into Greater Manchester Lamborghini Manchester re-launches their new Stockport site.

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33 wellbeing Tips for dealing with rough patches.

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For more information please download a copy of our media pack found on our website: www.gmbusinessconnect.co.uk or alternatively please email: advertising@gmbusiness connect.co.uk or phone:

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BUSINESS the fastest growing business to business forum in Greater Manchester. P U B L I S H I N G GM Business Connect is a dynamic business to business bi-monthly magazine that is crammed full of local and regional news, articles, interviews and regular columnists.

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DESIGNED, EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY Jon Cheetham, Paul Mirage.

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DISCLAIMER Whilst we have taken all reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information contained within this magazine, we give no warranty and make no representation regarding the accuracy or the completeness of the content of this information. Consequently we accept no liability for any losses or damage (whether direct, indirect, special, consequential or otherwise) arising out of errors or omissions contained in this magazine. Views expressed in GM Business Connect in editorial or advertising content are not necessarily those of it’s publisher Business Connect Publishing Limited. The publisher cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies supplied to us in editorial or advertising material.

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December/January 2016

news

Altrincham businesses vote yes to BID

Members of the BID steering group pictured with Chair Martin Duff and Councillor Sean Antsee, Leader of Trafford Council

On 9 November, following a fourweek postal ballot, businesses in Altrincham have voted yes to establish a Business Improvement District (BID) in the town centre. This will create a fund of over £1.4 million over the next 5 years raised by the 540 businesses situated within the BID zone. This will be invested on a range of exciting projects designed to improve the town centre, increase footfall and enhance business performance over that period. Businesses voted with a 68% majority and 74% by rateable value. The turnout of 44% was above the national average for a BID ballot. Councillor Sean Anstee, Chair of Altrincham Forward and Leader of Trafford Council said: “This is a brilliant result that will help to continue the momentum in Altrincham town centre, building on the work and investment that has gone into the town over the past few years.” Martin Duff, Chair of the BID

Steering Group and Owner of Randalls Jewellers said: “Altrincham is on the way up. Visitor numbers are increasing and businesses are coming back and filling empty units and offices. “The next step is to keep this momentum going without destroying the spark. I believe the BID will take us even further towards a brighter, more inclusive, thriving Town. “The BID will be run by a not for profit company, with board members from all the business sectors in the town. Although many of the businesses voted yes, I feel its my job as chair of the steering group to make sure that those businesses that voted against the BID, but will still have to pay into the fund, are visited to see how the BID can work for them. “We have seen the start of companies and community groups working together, with the Healthy High Street programme, and Business in the Community. All these forums have started to bring a pride back to Altrincham, and by all the businesses working together over the next five years we can

once again make Altrincham the place to work, shop and live.” Global IT consultancy Informed Solutions, which is headquartered in the iconic Grade II listed Old Bank Building within the BID zone, saw the success of the BID as being in everyone’s interests. Global CEO Elizabeth Vega commented; “I feel quite passionately that all businesses, regardless of whether they are retail, leisure or B2B, will benefit from the BID. It is very much in everyone’s interests that Altrincham gets the recognition that it deserves as an exciting, vibrant, modern market town.” The new BID company will be formally launched on 1 April 2016 at which point activities will commence. Projects include marketing campaigns, safety and security initiatives, events and negotiating joint procurement deals designed to save businesses money. For more information and to view the 5-year BID business plan visit www.altrinchambid.co.uk or call the BID Team on 0161 912 1599.

Dr Now opens new development and technology department in Manchester Liverpool-born telehealth company Now Healthcare Group will be relocating its Development & Technology division for mobile app ‘Dr Now’ to new office space at MediaCityUK’s Digital World Centre. As part of the company’s continued expansion, the team will be occupying prime office space in The Digital World Centre at the heart of MediaCityUK, making the move from Liverpool’s Albert Dock. The business has enjoyed phenomenal success since the launch of its innovative mobile app in June earlier this year. Founder of Now Healthcare Group and Dr Now, Lee Dentith, made the following statement: “We’re delighted to be in a position to expand the business at Dr Now and we’re thrilled to announce a new office for our development and tech teams in one of the most vibrant, progressive and exciting areas of the North West. “Although we’re extremely proud of our Liverpool roots, we feel that this move will allow us to make the most of the growing digital opportunities in Manchester.”

Record tram numbers getting on board 31 million for the first time, following on from the opening of the 15 stop Manchester Airport line on 3 November 2014.

More people than ever are getting on board with Metrolink. October saw record passenger numbers use Greater Manchester’s iconic tram network, with 3.1 million passenger journeys made across the 31 days. The previous record was 2.9 million passenger journeys made in November 2014. October saw a number of major sporting spectacles come to the region, and as with all other major events held throughout the year, Metrolink was on hand to help people get around. On 10 October 2015, the Rugby World Cup came to the Etihad Stadium while Old Trafford played host to Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford and helped move more than 20,000 people to and from both venues alone.

More than 33 million passenger journeys are expected to be made in 2015. Transport for Greater Manchester’s (TfGM) Metrolink Director, Peter Cushing, said: “I am delighted that record numbers are continuing to get on board with Metrolink. “October was quite unusual in that we saw capacity crowds attend both Old Trafford and the Etihad simultaneously on two occasions for some major sporting spectacles. “Our record passenger journeys will, in part, have been influenced by this, but more importantly it demonstrated how Metrolink is set up to support Manchester as a city capable of hosting major international events.

And on 28 October 2015, both Manchester City and United clubs played home matches simultaneously for the first time since 2009 with similar numbers once again using the tram network to get around.

“With the Christmas Markets – a major visitor attraction for the city – now open, the opening of the new Exchange Square stop just around the corner and the Second City Crossing on the horizon, I look forward to welcoming even more people to our growing network and beating this record sooner rather than later.”

Metrolink continues to go from strength to strength: earlier this year it was announced that the number of annual passenger journeys exceeded

Metrolink now runs to 92 stops across Greater Manchester, with more than 3,000 free parking spaces for customers.

December/January 2016

GM BUSINESS connect

Lonely Planet selects city as top travel destination for 2016 City tourism bosses have reacted with delight to the news that Manchester has been named as one of the top ten cities in the world for travellers to visit according to Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016.

the Whitworth, HOME, Manchester International Festival and upcoming arts centre The Factory – is given as one of the key reasons for Manchester’s inclusion in the list. The guide states that “the one-time engine room of the Industrial Revolution Alongside Rome in Italy, Nashville in the United States and Mumbai in India, has found a new groove for the 21st century as a dynamo of culture and the cities’ arts and culture have been the arts”. identified as a key draw for visitors. The entry goes on to namecheck a The much anticipated and highly number of key places – both old and influential guide to the top travel new – that visitors should make sure trends, destinations and experiences they incorporate into their itinerary to for the upcoming year has placed experience the best of the city. Manchester in the Top 10 Cities category alongside destinations such These include the reopened as Rome in Italy, Nashville in the United Manchester Central Library; real life States and Mumbai in India. escape room game Breakout; Old Trafford and Etihad stadium tours; The city’s significant investment in Levenshulme Market; Islington Mill; the arts – through projects such as

Manchester House restaurant; and Manchester Craft and Design Centre. South King Street, Spinningfields, the Arndale and the Northern Quarter all get a mention for shopping; Great John Street Hotel is suggested as the place to stay; whilst unmissable events include Manchester’s upcoming European City of Science celebrations, Manchester Pride and Manchester Food and Drink Festival. Commenting on the inclusion, Nick Brooks-Sykes, director of tourism at Marketing Manchester, part of the Manchester Growth Company, said: “We are delighted that Lonely Planet has recognised Manchester as one of the top cities in the world to visit in 2016. This year has been filled with milestone moments for Manchester

– from world-class cultural openings at the Whitworth and HOME to outstanding events in the form of Manchester International Festival and Manchester Pride’s 25th year” James Smart, Lonely Planet’s Destination Editor for the UK and Ireland, said: “We included Manchester in this year’s top ten cities list because it deserves to be recognised as one of the UK’s most important destinations for travellers. Manchester has been transformed in recent years, with inspirational new openings, the reinvention of existing spaces and vast investment. Whatever experience travellers are after – culture, sport, shopping, nightlife – they won’t come away from Manchester disappointed. The city has something to offer everyone.”

Morson in Partnership with NuGen on Moorside Project Morson International, headquartered adjacent to Salford Quays, has announced operations base for the development phase of the Project. its new partnership with Northwest based nuclear new build developer, NuGen. Morson’s partnership is a part of NuGen’s approach to localisation, helping The partnership will see Morson, the UK’s foremost Technical Recruiter as the to develop strong industrial relationships with local companies, both in prime supplier of labour to NuGen’s Moorside Project in West Cumbria. Manchester and in Cumbria. David Lynchehaun, Head of Client Development at Morson, commented: “This is an exciting partnership for Morson and NuGen, which is a joint venture company between Toshiba and ENGIE NuGen. The impact and benefit of the Moorside Project to the local (formerly GDF Suez), is taking forward plans to build the UK’s largest new communities, supply chains and labour markets in Cumbria and Lancashire nuclear power station at Moorside on the West Cumbrian Coast near the will positively affect the economy, whilst also helping to meet the UK’s Sellafield site. The project aims to build a nuclear power station of up to considerable energy needs for generations to come.” 3.6GW capacity. Once completed, the Moorside project will be the biggest nuclear development in Europe and could supply up to 7 percent of the UK’s NuGen’s Head of Human Resources, Karen Campbell, said: “The agreement future electricity for decades to come. with Morson is a positive step forward for NuGen and this framework will be NuGen will not only create jobs in Cumbria, but also in Manchester, as the organisation has chosen Piccadilly Place in Manchester city centre as an

extremely valuable in supporting the Moorside Project as we power forward over the coming months and years.” Award-winning cartoonist Tony Husband and his interesting friends are available for live presentations at your open days, training events, product launches, etc. Tony can offer a totally unique and humorous touch to your marketing literature, calendars, reception art, portraits, and christmas cards.

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December/January 2016

news

Retailer’s pledge on Clothes2order invests plastic bag charges boosts £250,000 as online stores venture takes off Challenge 4 Change A Trafford Park charity is set for a windfall after being chosen by retailer That’s Entertainment to receive half of its proceeds from the new 5p charge for plastic bags. The Stockport-based chain will divide the proceeds between Challenge 4 Change and the Teenage Cancer Trust for the year to May 31. Challenge 4 Change runs a 19,000 sq ft indoor activity centre which includes an arena with aerial and ground-level assault courses, a climbing wall and a mock jail. Soul/Funk group Shalamar sporting their personal range of designer gear

Clothing supplier Clothes2order has invested £250,000 in a venture which enables clubs, online communities, charities, trade associations and designers to sell their own branded merchandise via the Trafford Park firm’s own website. The initiative has got off to a flying start with more than 1,500 online merchandise stores created so far, selling t-shirts, hoodies, caps, bags, vests and sweatshirts. They include soul/funk group Shalamar, bloggers, sports teams and Facebook communities of witches and gaming ‘clans’. Orders have come from across the globe. Michael Conway, managing director of Clothes2order, said: “The stores are proving very popular, as organisations with limited funds and little storage space no longer have to estimate demand and lay out large sums on stock. “All items are produced on demand, and it’s a way for groups and individuals to monetise their brands as they can set their own prices. “For example, if a sports team gets to a cup final and wants to sell t-shirts, all they have to do is set up a store and share the link with their supporters. “Similarly, the same is true for organisers of pop festivals and campaigns.”

One of the most successful merchandise stores to date was for the second annual National Women in Engineering Day in June. The event was established in 2014 by the Women’s Engineering Society to encourage more females to consider the profession as a career. Supporters bought nearly 200 t-shirts through Clothes2order to promote the campaign, including companies and organisations in sectors such as Science, Engineering and Manufacturing, plus Technologies Alliance and the Royal Academy of Engineering. Michael added: “We are delighted with the response so far to our initiative, which helps us to improve our service to a growing customer base.

It also operates a mobile training centre in the form of a converted double-decker bus equipped with a zip wire and a climbing wall. Challenge 4 Change is used by schools and colleges, housing associations, businesses, sports clubs, charities and community organisations. The charity aims to help people build their confidence, improve their problem-solving and communication skills and encourage team working. Shoppers are being charged 5p for every plastic bag they buy from retailers in England with 250 or more full-time employees. Retailers can choose what to do with the proceeds, but they are expected to donate it to charity. That’s Entertainment has 24 stores selling new and used CDs, DVDs and computer games. It is part of the Entertainment Magpie group, which

is based in Hazel Grove and is best-known for operating the UK’s largest Recommerce website musicMagpie.co.uk. Group chief executive Steve Oliver said: “We hope to raise valuable funds from the sale of hundreds of thousands of bags across our chain of stores. “Challenge 4 Change is a fantastic local charity that forges links between diverse groups in our communities and, in particular, works with those less privileged to demonstrate the benefits of teamwork and community spirit using its indoor urban experiential learning facility. “We have worked with Challenge 4 Change for three years and we are happy to continue our support of its outstanding activities. “Our other chosen charity, the Teenage Cancer Trust, is a national one and needs little explanation. Its work in providing physical and emotional support to people affected by cancer is simply invaluable.” Dave Djordjevic, chief executive of Challenge 4 Change, said: “This is a fantastic gesture from That’s Entertainment. We really value their support, which will mean that more people will benefit from our programmes and be better equipped to contribute to the local economy and community as a result.”

“We have done it to solve the problems of someone in a group or organisation having to gather sizes and payments from individuals, wait for there to be sufficient demand, and then place a bulk order. “The merchandise stores are free to set up and easy to use. They are mobile and tablet-friendly, and orders can be placed at any time and for just a single item if people wish. “The stores can offer designs on up to 400 different items of clothing. It’s quick and easy and provides a 24-hour service.”

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December/January 2016

news

Skills Shop Celebrates Second Birthday Trafford College’s Skills Shop has celebrated its second birthday at the Intu Trafford Centre. The Skills Shop, which opened its doors in October 2013, has seen a number of businesses at the region’s famous shopping centre benefit from access to world class skills solutions for their industry, and has rapidly become a one-stop shop for independent retailers and larger chains looking to enhance the skills of their employees. Programmes include pre-employment training, apprenticeships and masterclasses. Since its opening, the centre has welcomed thousands of visitors through its doors for advice and guidance, and has seen hundreds of students complete qualifications and progress onto full-time employment, as well as further qualifications. The College has enjoyed a strong working relationship with Intu Trafford Centre since its launch in 1998 when the College helped deliver training to staff recruited for the opening,

and has continued to deliver a huge range of qualifications to the centre’s workforce. The Skills Shop works with a large number of employers from the centre including Debenhams, Sketchers, Hotel Chocolat and EAT, to name but a few, helping in the recruitment and training of staff.

Christmas and it had really knocked my confidence in many ways. “Since coming here my confidence has really grown and my people and communication skills have

really improved. The Skills Shop provides a calming and comfortable environment to train in, and I would highly recommend it to anybody looking for a job.”

Retail Coordinator & Skills Shop Manager, Jemma Lees, commented, “It has been a wonderful two years for the Skills Shop and we are proud to be supporting so many businesses at Intu Trafford Centre with their recruitment needs. We look forward to continuing to deliver a high quality range of programmes alongside our partners here at the centre, that will help train local individuals to develop the skills needed to progress into employment.” Joining in with the birthday celebrations was one of the Skills Shop’s current students, Kenneth Miller from Eccles. He commented, “Before I came to the Skills Shop, I had been unemployed since

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December/January 2016

Devolution supported by Manchester businesses in new Centre for Cities report take on more powers over taxes, transport and housing, most local business leaders also support the introduction of an elected mayor and combined authority in Greater Manchester, which will take place in 2017 – with 52% saying it would be a In a survey of nearly 400 local business positive development, compared to just 6% who were not in favour. The leaders conducted by Greater majority of businesses also welcomed Manchester Chamber of Commerce the prospect of local government on behalf of Centre for Cities, more than half said that their business would taking control over local public services budgets (52%), with the city-region’s benefit from local government in the health and social care budgets due to city-region having the power to vary be devolved in April 2016. and retain local taxes, which would However, the research also suggests enable them to unlock investment that local business leaders would in the local economy. The findings like more opportunity to shape the are published in a new Centre for devolution agenda locally – with 52% Cities report, ‘The Business Case for Devolution’, offering the first in-depth of respondents saying that they have not had the chance to voice their views insight into the views of business leaders in Greater Manchester towards on the city-region’s devolution deal. the city-region’s devolution deal. The report argues that, as local Business leaders in Greater Manchester have backed the city’s devolution deal to boost local firms across the region, according to new research published today by the think tank Centre for Cities in association with TLT Solicitors.

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prepare to take on more powers over the next few years, it is vital that they channel the enthusiasm of the city’s business community by ensuring that local firms are at the heart of discussions about key economic priorities such as transport, infrastructure and local tax rates. Commenting on the findings, Alexandra Jones, Chief Executive of the think tank Centre for Cities, said: “We often hear that the private sector is sceptical about the benefits of devolution but this report shows that businesses leaders in Greater Manchester back the devolution agenda and believe it could offer them real opportunities in the years to come. “For local leaders to make the most of the opportunities that devolution will bring, it’s vital that they continue to work with Manchester’s business community to ensure that they have a shared understanding of local

economic priorities and that local government can use their new powers to meet the needs of local firms. This will be crucial in making sure that places and businesses across Greater Manchester are in the best possible position to capitalise on the benefits that devolution will offer.” Chris Fletcher, Policy and Marketing Director at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “For many businesses devolution plans offer a great way of not just getting more control and influence in the decision making process, but also put a level of accountability that has been missing for too long back into local politics. “In Greater Manchester the history and legacy of close working between the public and private sector is there for all to see and it is important that future plans are developed and delivered to continue this.”

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December/January 2016

news Together scoops six industry award nominations Cheadle-based specialist lender Together has scooped six nominations for the industry’s acclaimed Loan Talk awards including: Best Industry Portal, Best Secured Loans Product Range and Secured Loans Lender of the Year.

mutually supportive partnerships with our brokers.

Board director Marc Goldberg commented: “It’s been a fantastic year for Together, with new lending more than doubling to nearly £725 million and both loan book and profits up by a third, so it’s great to receive this recognition from our peers.

community art competition run by Together. The winning artists came from Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester High School for Girls, South Trafford College, Bridgewater High School, Lady Barn House School and Cale Green Primary School. All the winning artwork will be displayed in a professional exhibition next year.

“It’s also great to see our broker portal nominated, as this is an area we have invested in heavily. The platform was designed for brokers, using their input, In addition, sales director Gary Bailey following research we conducted and national sales manager Nick Jones and we’ve been very pleased with were both nominated for Secured the feedback, with 91% of brokers Loans Lender Personality of the Year, surveyed rating it good or excellent.” whilst Nick was also nominated for In other news from the group, students Secured Loans Relationship Manager from across Greater Manchester of the Year. have won a total of £7,500 in a local

“Our common sense approach to each lending decision means we can provide fast and flexible finance solutions to customers, via our extensive broker network, and I’m proud to see two of our dedicated sales team acknowledged for the energy and enthusiasm they bring to developing and maintaining

artwork that represented Together’s core values of being passionate, accountable, customer-focused and exceptional.

Quartey, who all attended university here in the North West before joining Together in 2014 on a two-year training programme.

As well as receiving prize money, the winners’ artwork will be exhibited at Stockport Art Gallery for four weeks from 18 February 2016, before moving to Together’s head office at Cheadle Royal Business Park for permanent display.

The judges included acclaimed local artist Pietra Castellani, Katherine Rosati from Stockport Art Gallery and Together’s HR director Kevin Fisher, who said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response and the quality of entries from a wide variety of schools, colleges and universities. It’s great to see our ArtTastic was set up by four graduate company values represented in so many trainees at Together: Clarissa Slinger, Cristina Dominte, Greg Scott and Gyan different ways.”

The competition was open to children, teenagers and students across the region, with five entry categories covering all the school key stages, plus college and university level. Entrants had to create an original piece of

Manchester business uses coffee cups designed by patients from the Royal Manchester Children’s hospital The Charity received a wide range of designs from snowy scenes to Humphrey on the wards at Christmas. After careful consideration the charity sent the shortlisted designs to John Broderick, Managing Director of Brodericks Love Coffee, and Mike Gardiner, Director at cup manufacturers F Benders.

Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity (RMCH Charity) recently ran a competition in conjunction with Brodericks Love Coffee which asked patients to design a festive Christmas cup. The winning design will be used in all Brodericks vending machines for the duration of December. Patients from across all wards in the children’s hospital enthusiastically got designing the ultimate Christmas scene to feature on the cups. The only criteria was that the design was as colourful as possible and featured charity mascot, Humphrey bear.

The lucky winner who depicted Humphrey visiting patients on Ward 84, the children’s cancer ward was patient Charming Seyi-Abiodun from Gorton in Manchester. The 10 year old chose to draw the mascot spreading festive cheer and delivering presents to patients. Charming’s design will be featured on all cups in Broderick Love Coffee’s 900 vending machines across the region, reaching as far south as Stanstead. The coffee company are encouraging each person who buys one of their coffees over the festive period to donate £1 to the charity. The cups feature a bespoke text to donate code making it quick and easy to

support the hospital this Christmas. Brodericks Love Coffee is a family firm established 45 years ago by founder John Broderick and is now run by sons Johnny and Peter. With a turnover in excess of £14m and employing around 130 people, the company was known as Manchester Vending Services Ltd., but was officially rebranded as The Broderick’s Group in November 2014. Joel Oxberry, Corporate Fundraising Manager at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “We are delighted that Brodericks have given our patients the chance to be involved in such an exciting competition. Drawing and arts and crafts are encouraged within the hospital as they act as distractions for patients who are often in hospital for a long time. We are really looking forward to seeing our Charity’s logo on the cups in every one of Broderick’s coffee machines; it really does help to spread awareness of the hospital across the region and beyond.” Johnny Broderick, Managing Director of Broderick’s Love Coffee, added:

“They say that ‘charity begins at home’ and this Christmas, for the first time, we’re going to use, in all our machines, a specially commissioned festive cup that focuses on a charity that’s touched a lot of lives locally. The design will be featured on 300,000 cups in Broderick Love Coffee’s 1,000 hot beverage machines across the country.”

Danielle Carney from the RMCH, Humphrey Bear, Winner Charming Seyi-Abiodun from Gorton and Johnny Broderick, Managing Director of Broderick’s Love Coffee

GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

VST Enterprises look to create ‘the future of retail’ at Web Summit At the beginning of November Manchester-based VST Enterprises unveiled a revolutionary unique identifier VCode at Web Summit. Web Summit is an annual technology conference which has been held in Dublin, Ireland since 2010. The topic of the conference is centred on internet technology and attendees range from Fortune 500 companies to the world’s most exciting tech businesses. The summit contains a mix of CEOs and founders of tech start-ups together with a range of people from across the global technology industry, as well as related industries. VST’s code has been dubbed ‘the future of retail’ by Microsoft. The ground-breaking innovation is set to replace bar codes across the UK in line with EU commission legislation which will come in

to effect from 2017. The completely secure identifier has gone live from 26 November and has broad applications for ticketing, instant purchasing, banking, rewards and loyalty schemes and fraud prevention. Louis-James Davis, CEO of VST Enterprises commented: “VCode has been years in development and has already had incredibly positive feedback from the select blue chip organisations we have presented it to, including KPMG, Santander and Microsoft. “The VCode app will not only allow users to pay for goods securely, but will deliver a personalised experience from the same code, based on the user’s demographics and location.” Unlike traditional bar codes and QR codes, VCode can be scanned from any screened media, from a

distance of over 100m. The code is recognised instantaneously and as every code is truly unique, the new technology eliminates the problem of mainstream counterfeiting. The app is compatible with all smart devices with a camera and refers users to a bespoke branded experience, resulting in further opportunities for companies to interact with consumers. From 2016 VCodes will also be scannable from all electronic point of sale machines. Louis-James concluded: “This technology is going to have huge applications across a wide range of industries. We are already in partnership with the three main sponsors of Web Summit and therefore this is the ideal forum for us to unveil VCode.” The innovative work of VST

Enterprises, based in MediaCityUK, is yet another success story for Greater Manchester’s thriving financial technology sector. The region is home to a strong collection of FinTech companies from well-established businesses supporting the financial services sector to smaller firms developing novel solutions disrupting current business models. VCode has applications in almost all industries including, retail, rail, banking, and hospitality, as well as public sector organisations such as the NHS, the police, and government bodies With 32x72 quadrillion secure variations, VCode is set to revolutionise online sales, offer unrivalled fraud protection and increase traceability of products to eliminate counterfeit sales worldwide.

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GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

news

Entrepreneurial Manchester students win grand final of Aldermore business challenge A team of students from Manchester have won the national final of the SKILL! programme, an enterprise initiative created by Patrick Philpott from Visionpath Education and run in conjunction with SME-focused Aldermore Bank. On Friday 20 November, a team from Harrop Fold School in Little Hulton battled students from elsewhere in the UK at the London Stock Exchange to be crowned 2015 SKILL! champions. SKILL! is designed to help students aged between 14 and 16 to develop work-related skills such as collaboration, communication, clear thinking and creativity. The SKILL! national final coincided with Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) – the world’s largest campaign to promote entrepreneurship. Each year, it plays a role in encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs

to consider starting up their own business. Teams from Harrop Fold School and Loreto High School in Manchester, Nene Park Academy in Peterborough and Reading Girls’ School, travelled to London to pitch their ideas to a panel of business experts in the ‘Tiger’s Cage’. The winning team from Harrop Fold School came up with the inventive Ecoheart fashion range idea which sees used plastic bags being combined with other materials to create a fabric to produce comfortable and ecofriendly clothing. The team won a £1,000 enterprise fund to promote business skills in their school. Kerry Winter, Whole School Lead for Student Progress at Harrop Fold School, said: “We are extremely proud of our students for winning here today. All of our pupils who have been involved in SKILL!, both in the original workshop and today’s

national final, have gained a great deal from the experience and really enjoyed the opportunity to test their entrepreneurial flair.” Judge Aden Levin, Director at Mainstage Travel, said: “We have seen some fantastic ideas here today. I was really inspired by the pupils who participated in the final and hope that they have picked up some essential skills that will prove valuable after they have completed their education. “The SKILL! programme is an excellent way to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and I feel very proud to have been a part of it.” Phillip Monks, Chief Executive Officer at Aldermore, said: “I would like to thank all of the students who took part in today’s final and congratulate them on their efforts. We were very impressed with the calibre of the ideas pitched to us and it was difficult to choose just one winner.

Many of Aldermore’s customers are entrepreneurs and by supporting the SKILL! programme, we hope to encourage the entrepreneurs of the future.” Aldermore has partnered with SKILL! for the past three years. The programme offers an opportunity for young people to learn first-hand from experienced business mentors, gaining confidence and practical skills such as presentation techniques and teamwork.

December/January 2016

GM BUSINESS connect

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Company Shop create 50 New Jobs with new Middleton store Company Shop, the UK’s largest redistributor of surplus food, has opened a brand new store in Middleton, Greater Manchester, creating 50 jobs. The 8,000 square foot store is located on the Stakehill Industrial Estate and was opened by special guest the Deputy Mayor of Rochdale Councillor Ray Dutton, together with the Founder of Company Shop, John Marren, new store manager Vijay Patel and the first shopper through the door, Bill Andrews. Company Shop works with the biggest retailers, manufacturers and brands across the country, taking their surplus products and selling them on to the members of their stores at discount prices. Products may have reached Company Shop due to such things as forecasting errors, promotions on packaging that might have ended, or short shelf-life remaining. Whatever the products’

journey, everything the company sells is always wholesome and in date. To become a member of Company Shop you need to work in the food manufacturing sector, for example at local businesses like Park Cakes, Robert McBride, Heinz, Princes or 2 Sisters Food Group. The new site represents a seven figure investment by the business, supported by Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, and is Company Shop’s fourth full scale store in the UK, alongside nearly twenty staff shops it runs within manufacturing sites. The opening has also been championed by MIDAS, Manchester’s inward investment agency and Rochdale Development Agency, and the team have been supported to recruit new staff by The Skills Company, who also support local people that are unemployed and in receipt of a work related benefit, to get back into work.

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GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

Keep your eye on cashflow, especially as your business grows Cashflow remains a serious problem for small businesses, Michael Jayson, managing partner in the Manchester office of the national audit, tax and advisory firm Crowe Clark Whitehill, has emphasised. His comments follow recent figures suggesting that the issue of late payment is worsening: “Given steady economic growth and improved order books it is easy for SMEs to take their eye off the cashflow ball, but they need to remember that a successful stream of contracts is no good if the money isn’t coming in on time. Overextending themselves is a sure way of getting into financial difficulty.” The value of unpaid invoices owed to small businesses is £67.4 billion, ahead eight per cent on last year, according to recent figures from the Asset Based Finance Association. The average number of days that an SME has to wait for an invoice to be paid has also grown to 72 days, up from 61 days in 2009. Manufacturing and construction are some of the worst affected. The deterioration comes despite Small Business Minister Anna Soubry declaring that late payment was “unacceptable” and the Government introducing the new Enterprise Bill

which contains a number of measures aimed at helping firms, including the introduction of a small business commissioner to assist SMEs in Michael Jayson, Crowe Clark disputes over Whitehill late payments with larger companies, estimated to be currently costing them £26.8 billion. Mr Jayson said: “Hopefully these measures will help towards combating what sometimes seems to be an intractable problem. “Of course every business already has the statutory right to charge interest at the Bank of England base rate plus eight per cent once a payment has not been made within the agreed credit period. But SMEs are most reluctant to go down that route for fear it would lose them important customers. “Businesses need to be highly proactive in chasing up invoices – their survival depends on it – and we can advise them on how best to manage cashflow and working capital.”

Hale accountants look to the future through apprenticeships Hale accountants Alexander Knight & Co have added two new colleagues to its growing team. Alexander Patt and Nick Bennett join as assistant accountants and will provide bookkeeping, management accounting and back office support. Nick has already achieved Level 2 of the AAT qualification and has joined the practice through the Government backed Apprenticeship scheme. Alexander has joined part-time as he continues to study A-levels at Manchester Grammar School.

got a three year plan to recruit more apprentices into our team as well as continuing to attract experienced accountants from other practices. “The development and progression of talented apprentices is the lifeblood of many entrepreneurial businesses within our client base. We’re excited about developing our apprentices into skilled and fully qualified professionals.”

The firm aims to create more jobs for youngsters over the next three years. Alison Spier, head of marketing, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Nick and Alexander to the team and we’re committed to investing in the next generation of accountants. We’ve

L-R Alexander Patt and Nick Bennett

GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

interview

The role of Mayor in a Interview with Tony Lloyd – interim Mayor of Greater Manchester One of the crucial requirements for devolution is the position of Mayor, something that the Government sees as an essential part of moving forward with devolving powers to any conurbation as a city region. After the signing of the agreement last year, the 10 borough leaders of Greater Manchester chose Tony Lloyd as interim Mayor after a vote in May of 2015. Essentially Tony’s appointed position is a precursor to the elected role, which will be voted on by Manchester’s 2.7million residents in May of 2017. GM Business Connect caught up with Tony to find out more. What are your goals as interim Mayor, and how does that appointed position differ from that of the elected position in 2017? “The 2017 date is of huge importance. A large number of decisions will be made that affect the people of Greater Manchester and we need to show that the people own those decisions. The best way to achieve this is to have democratically elected politicians who go before the electorate stating their ambitions and what they want to achieve. “As for the interim position it’s important in that context that there is a finite end to that role, however, in terms of work, there needs to be continuity from my position as interim Mayor through and into the elected position. So, my intention is to lay the foundations for the elected Mayor, both institutionally – when they take up the role in May of 2017 there is a structure up and running and fit for purpose – and also in terms of the ongoing substantive work of transforming Greater Manchester. This work is continuous, and includes important issues like improving the skill base of the conurbation and integrating health and social care. These issues can’t wait for the elected Mayor, so, in that sense, many of the ambitions of both the interim and elected Mayor are aligned.”

How important is it to convince the people of Greater Manchester that devolution will benefit the region?

would you say about the concern that Manchester Town Hall could be seen as a Whitehall of the North?

“It’s absolutely fundamental. You could make certain technical decisions behind closed doors, however, when you’re talking about decisions on delivering healthcare, managing and upgrading skills, for example, these decisions have got to belong to the people of Greater Manchester. They have to give their assent, and this is part of the electoral process. It’s important that we give the public the sense that what is being done in their name reflect their wishes, and also that they agree with and trust the people doing this on their behalf.

“I’d like to make a specific point here. This process isn’t about Manchester Town Hall firstly. It’s important that every part of the conurbation feel they are part of the devolution process and benefit from it. The Whitehall of the North thing is about faceless people making decisions that the public don’t hear about until they suddenly hit them out of nowhere. Now, we’ve got to transform that. We’ve got to open up the decision making process. Looking at other conurbations – Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle – it’s about working in partnership with those regions. Finding what we can do better by working together?

“The reality is that when we talk about the advantages of devolution very few people believe that faceless Whitehall bureaucrats can do it better than identifiable people in Greater Manchester - as long as we’re putting accountability and competence into the decision making. Trust and confidence are fundamental. We’re adding dynamism to Greater Manchester, and we’re upgrading what Greater Manchester is all about.” There are issues to address with Greater Manchester as a city region being the driving force of the Northern Powerhouse. What

“Another aspect of the Northern Powerhouse idea is about having a voice for the North. Very few people are aware of who we’ve got speaking for the North, and by working in partnership we can focus that voice. We need to shout as loudly as London for example on a National and International basis. The other side of this is a question of what is the brand of Greater Manchester, or more specifically the North of England? By working in partnership with other conurbations we can offer that message asking investors to

look at ‘The North’ as a complete brand. Of course we run the risk that people may end up on the other side of the Pennines, however, if we get many more people looking to the North in the first place all our city regions will grow and we’ll be stronger together.” Would an elected Mayor be able to lobby or help in accessing finance for small businesses across Greater Manchester? “One thing we need is a Greater Manchester based bank. In the past there were many instances of banks that were located in places like Manchester or Liverpool. However, it was to the disadvantage of Northern cities that they were swallowed up by London or Scotland. So, given that the Government were looking at licences for new banks, one of the strong asks of the Chancellor was to review some sort of regionalisation of the banking system. It wouldn’t plug all the gaps but we know one of the big issues for small firms is the access to that capital investment that allows them to move to the next phase. “Currently the ability to raise that finance is easier in London than Greater Manchester, and we’ve got to change that. This is simply down to risk. Banks with head offices in London sees Northern businesses as a higher risk. This is hard to address but I do think the localisation of lenders would help to reduce the perception of risk and punitive interest rates – what is essentially a locality tax.” How important is it to engage consultation from local business in applying devolution to the regional economy over the next few years - have you got a mechanism in place to facilitate this? Also, what do you view as important issues to note for local businesses? “One of the things I would like to

December/January 2016

GM BUSINESS connect

devolved Greater Manchester develop, with the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Authority, and also with membership organisations like the greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, is the ability to talk to the 100,000 or so businesses across the conurbation. You can’t talk to them all individually, but by working with these organisations as I have started to do recently, for instance, with a series of round table events organised by the GM Chamber of Commerce, we can have conversations that will help benefit our local commerce.

“We need to encourage new start-up businesses, also gain inward investment which is so important in developing local supply chain offerings to those newly located businesses. “Another important area for business, and this is something I agree with the Government on, is the concept of the training levy. I have been arguing for a training levy for many years now, and I am glad to see this finally happening. The levy is an opportunity to say to businesses within a certain size threshold that we need to be investing in the future. This isn’t just in apprenticeships, but is generally in up-skilling the workforce – investment in training. In the past, central Government have done something through the further education structure, leaving the business community out of the process. In Greater Manchester we now have the opportunity to have that big conversation that includes public and private sector training providers, and offer training that does provide up-skilling in a way that makes sense for the businesses of Greater Manchester. We need to match the training available to our local business needs. Can central Government do this? I don’t believe so. Can we do this at GM level? I think we can. But only if there’s strategic design there and also a sense of localism. Big challenges – but we can do this.” Part of your role as interim Mayor is to currently chair the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. What happens to that role in 2017?

“The devolution deal gives the Mayor direct control over some services. For instance, transport becomes a Mayoral function. However, in these areas the Mayoral role will still be chairing decision making on these issues within the Combined Authority structure. In cases where things have devolved to the Combined Authority, the elected Mayor will chair that authority. There’s a difference in the voting system. In the first case, transport for example, the Mayor has strong powers. However, if the Mayor when presenting a proposal faces a challenge from say 7 out of the 10 leaders, they can prevent that proposal going through.” Do you think that 2 years will be enough time to fully develop the position of Greater Manchester Mayor?

organisational platform for the Mayor to move in and to exercise new powers within that timeframe. A lot of the work is being done as we speak – on health, transport, skills training, for example. People are working hard on these now. We’re not waiting for the newly elected Mayor to progress everything, we’re a dynamic conurbation and one of the things we’ve become good at is creating a way to deliver fast moving change that makes a real difference.”

“In the end I believe the public should own the Mayoral office. The best way at the moment to do that will be an election in 2017, which is the soonest that legislation can travel through Parliament to create the basis for that vote. I’ve got confidence that we can create the

Photography by Martin Hambleton

GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

review

Sir Richard Leese The Place Aparthotel situated in the shadow of Piccadilly Station was the setting on 15 October for a pro-manchester lunch featuring a speech on devolution from Leader of Manchester City Council Sir Richard Leese.

In front of an audience of over 100 business leaders, mainly from the finance sector, Sir Richard stood in at the last minute for his Chief Executive Sir Howard Bernstein. Promising to cover many of the same angles on the progress of devolution, Sir Richard promised a slightly more political rather than bureaucratic perspective than Sir Howard might have presented. “In Manchester we face a number of challenges, not least austerity and it’s disproportionate effect on all Northern cities. I have raised this with the Chancellor and other Ministers pointing out that nothwithstanding

the overall impact of austerity, the disproportionate nature of it does have a risk of undermining the economic objectives of devolution.

“However, it’s also a very exciting time as well for ‘DevoManc’ – the devolution agenda. The bill itself received it’s second reading in the commons yesterday. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government also announced that it will be amended to allow for the existence of statutory sub-national transport bodies, the very first of which will be Transport for the North, which is a key part of the Northern Powerhouse. “As a starting point, this city is probably in the best shape it has ever enjoyed in it’s history. I think the reason for that is after the industrial collapse of the early ‘80’s, we have built a stronger, more diverse and resilient economy. Clearly, professional services have played a major role in this, particularly in job growth of the last decade or so. Approximately 30% of that has been in the financial and professional services, and that growth from an industrial economy to a service-based

December/January 2016

GM BUSINESS connect

talks DevoManc John Ashcroft, Chief Executive of pro-manchester

economy looks set to continue over the next decade. “That growing diversity has allowed us to weather the recession and has given us a platform in order to come out of recession relatively quickly and relatively strongly. “There is an enormous body of evidence that has been collected over the last 15 years that shows those better performing cities in Europe are the ones that have most local control over public spending. These are the cities that have more local control over their own economic destiny, they have control over investment in infrastructure, they have the ability to create the circumstances where their economy can grow. If that’s what the evidence suggests then why haven’t we been doing that for a long time now? The fact is over the past few years we have eventually been able to convince some parts of Government that a devolved system will not only be good for the economies of our cities but will benefit the economy of the UK as a whole. “At the same time, I think there is an increased recognition that the way we deliver public services in this country which are traditionally national programmes, where one size fits all, is a system that is broke. What devolution will allow us to start to do is first of all have that greater control over how we create circumstances for economic growth. We’ll have more control over business support, the skills agenda, trade and investment. We’ll have more control over infrastructure, in particular we’ll be able to regulate our public transport services in the way that London

has always been able to do. “Health and Social Care really fits into that category. We are accused from some quarters of attempting to dismantle and fragment the NHS. In my view to fragment the NHS any more than it is currently fragmented would be an achievement in itself. There are currently 38 NHS bodies or commissioning services across Greater Manchester, including the 10 Authorities themselves. Our intention is to reduce these 38 to 11. One body for each Authority plus one for Greater Manchester as a whole. But the real win for us will not be about condensing Health and Social Care but in integrating it within our public services. It can help get people back into and stay in work, and it helps tie together economic growth with social policy in a way that means a win for business, a win for our economy and a win for people. This will help greatly in terms of skills shortages with the intention to get local people to fill those shortages, and the devolution bill is a start to that process. “I’m going to move away from devolution to something that’s often confused with it – the Northern Powerhouse. Devolution is required to make Northern Powerhouse work. If we look at the population of Greater Manchester as 2.7million, which is about a third of the size of London, then it can be seen that in order to re-balance the UK economy, Greater Manchester on it’s own is too small. The theory is

that if you want to get benefits from agglomeration and specialisation – size matters. And Greater Manchester, notwithstanding the very real success we’ve had so far, is too small to be optimal in economic terms. But, if we’re too small, the great Northern cities are remarkably close together. From here to Sheffield city centre is 31 miles, 34 miles to Leeds and 32 miles to Liverpool. Bringing these cities together along with the other great Northern cities creates a virtual city region, with a single labour market, and we do that by improving very significantly the quality of the connections between our major urban centres. “So we are talking about Liverpool to Manchester Airport in a 30 minute journey time. At the moment it takes longer to get from Liverpool to Leeds by train than it does from London to Paris. There is something wrong there. The average speed is only 40 miles per hour which is slower than a hundred years ago! “We are addressing this by having articulated and developed a onevoice transport structure plan for the entire North. This identifies the investment we need to deliver that level of connectivity. Excluding local transport improvements this comes to £20 - £25 billion, which sounds a lot, however, when you look at investment in London on just one line – Crossrail – which comes to £16 billion on it’s own, then the figures don’t seem as much. However, all this does rely on the

completion of HS2. “If we achieve this, that means if you currently live and work in Leeds you can develop your career by working in Sheffield, or Manchester, or Liverpool, without having to move to those places to avoid the lengthy commute. It gives us the benefits of agglomeration and specialisation that allows us to match London and also be visible as a region internationally. “So, I think conceptually Northern Powerhouse works. The real test will be over the next few months to see if the Government can make the budgets available in order to develop the sorts of schemes we need to deliver that improved transport connectivity. “There is one other thing we are going to do, and this will be solely the responsibility of the North, and that is to develop an economic narrative for the Northern Powerhouse. That will be based around industrial sectors that are genuinely pan-Northern. These are sectors that have the scale and depth of being Internationally significant. Our expectation is to have that work done by December of this year. This will give us the ability to start telling the Northern story.”

GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

review

Small Business Policy

scru

The FSB held a small business question time alongside the Conservative party conference in Manchester recently. At this fringe event which took part at Manchester Town Hall, Small Business Minister Anna Soubry took questions from FSB members alongside FSB Policy Director Mike Cherry. The proceedings were chaired by Isabel Oakeshott, Senior Political Commentator and former Political Editor of the Sunday Times. After initial opening observations from Mike Cherry the subject of business rates were raised. Previously George Osborne had confirmed in his conference speech that administration of business rates were to be moved

to local control, and it was on this subject that Anna Soubry responded: “We now have a Government that has been elected with a clear mandate. George Osborne has made it clear that business is at the heart of all that we do. We only get a strong economy when all business sectors are able to flourish and grow, and a critical part of that is small business. “I’d like to pick up on two points about business rates. Firstly, my own personal view, in agreement with Mike, is that this system is far from satisfactory. It seems profoundly unfair that business rates are applied if you make a profit or a loss. For some people this is extremely difficult.

Although certain small businesses are affected badly by this, the steel industry comes to mind as particularly hard hit, where millions of pounds are levied to areas of this industry that aren’t even in profit. In fact, when a business invests in growth through plant and machinery, the business rates actually go up. This is a system that is antiquated, but, as the Chancellor has said, the system has to be fiscally neutral, and I look forward to the Autumn review (due end of November). Secondly, I very much like the idea of local authorities being much more in control of business rates in their areas.” Anna was then asked about the impact of the new living wage.

“I have to say I think it’s absolutely the right thing to do as a society. I think we need to move away from a low-skilled workforce reliant on tax credits to a better-skilled and better paid workforce. The reality was that many employers knew they didn’t have to give their workers a rise as it would affect their tax credits, and they knew that effectively tax credits, tax-payer’s money, would effectively prop up their workers’ income. The new living wage will get people on those levels of income that they should be on, and free from relying on tax credits and other handouts.” The next question was on late payments, particularly to small businesses: “That is why we set up the Small Business Commission – specifically to address the problem of late payments. The way that I see it is that if you’ve agreed to terms and conditions increasingly of payments after 120 days, which personally I struggle to see why that is fair, small businesses will agree to those terms as they don’t want to fall out with an important client. So the first point of the Small Business Commission is to provide a signpost to alternatives to court action in terms of mediation when a contract has been breached. However, when late payments have been agreed as a contract – that’s where we can help. I’m keen to change the culture of this. I recently spoke to the Small Business Commission of Australia, where a good proportion of time is spent speaking to Chief Executives of large businesses who tend not to be even aware that their finance divisions are using a culture of late payments.” Mike then pointed out that the problem was in many cases trading terms were simply forced onto small businesses without any consultation, and simply speaking to the larger businesses would not be effective enough. Anna’s response was: “There is actually legislation that if you want to take action if you feel that terms that have been imposed on your business

December/January 2016

GM BUSINESS connect

under utiny with the FSB are unfair, you can do. However, in practice this is never used as the business needs to retain that important client. This is why I think a Small Business Commission is a genuine alternative, as they will have the ability to do an annual report where the Commissioner may feel, if it’s appropriate, to name those businesses not addressing problems like late payment terms. The important aim is to change this culture.”

are a lot of especially younger Entrepreneurs looking at these alternatives compared to the old style of financing which involved going to a ‘traditional’ bank.”

The next issue was the question of what exactly is the Government doing to help small businesses gain access to finance?

Mike Cherry then added: “The FSB are very supportive of the Government’s target of 3 million Apprenticeships. At the same time we are worried about the quality of positions that will be available. We have been working very closely on various Apprenticeship Commissions to make sure that genuine vocational training is available. We need to be pushing this very much harder than we are at the moment within the educational system and at a much earlier stage so our young people can make a proper decision about taking a vocational route in preference to just being pushed into 6th forms with no definite direction.”

“I am currently speaking to the banks and they are assuring me they are making finance more accessible to smaller businesses. I am also speaking to small businesses to see if this is their experience, and I’m not sure this is the case. One of the things I find is more interesting is that small businesses are increasingly looking at alternative sources of finance, and I know that we provide that facility through the British Business Bank, which isn’t actually a bank but a platform providing guidance on alternative sources of funding. Crowdfunding, Angels, Peer-to-peer, there

Always a topical issue, the next subject was Internships. “I don’t have a problem with businesses taking on Interns. However, quite frankly I’d prefer to see businesses taking on Apprentices.”

Anna replied: “That is absolutely right. One of the fundamental aspects of the Enterprise Bill is the protection in law to support this. One of the things that I am hearing about is the number of small businesses that form part of the supply chain to large businesses, helped by those large businesses in taking on Apprentices. This help comes in many ways – in HR terms for example. The impression I get from the Apprentices I am meeting is that there are still not

FSB Policy Director Mike Cherry with Minister for Small Business Anna Soubry

enough colleges or schools that are saying it’s not just all about Universities. Apprenticeships are just as important as degrees in some cases, and sometimes are actually far more useful in the right situation. It’s important to have that choice.”

GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

review

Raising the

networking bar

Regular networking events like K-Club, who meet both in Liverpool and Salford, tend to rely on a particular way of building business. For the Salford event which takes place approximately every 2 months at Salford’s AJ Bell Stadium, the theme is ‘Like, Know and Trust’. For the 60 or 70 business leaders that meet each time there are a high number of regular attendees, and this is due very much to the easy going and relaxed mix of free networking, plus a regular feature of two very engaging presentations at each event.

experiences performing at the highest level in sport, along with the works of some of the most influential people in sport today, he provided a different perspective on performance in a corporate culture; specifically: accountability, change, winning behaviours and mindset.

On 12 November we weren’t disappointed. The first speaker was Steve Smith, Director of ‘Raise the Bar’. Steve is one of the country’s best and most sought after motivational speakers and is still Britain’s most successful ever high jumper, having won a medal in every major championship including the Olympic Games - and his British record has now stood for over 20 years.

Steve introduced his presentation by explaining: “My business is centred around providing upwards of 300 motivational speakers from the worlds of academia and sport, plus a host of other professions such as authors and entertainers. They are all motivators and innovators, which are essentially the catalyst for thinking differently. Today I want to talk about sport, and the lessons sport bring into business, and how that can influence our businesses. It’s ultimately a metaphor about the positive characteristics of attitude and behaviour common to all successful sports teams and individuals, and how those characteristics can be applied to a business culture”.

He has spent over 25 years working in high performance environments and was uniquely placed to give an insight into creating a winning mindset. Drawing on his own

Steve then went into detail drawing from his personal experience about applying those lessons, and also how to identify how and why a business person reacts to a particular

Steve Smith, Director, Raise the Bar

influence or event - ultimately using that to their advantage. Next to present was David Coleiro - one of the four founding partners of Strategic North; a leading healthcare brand building agency. David’s experience is with helping clients in the pharmaceutical industry around the globe build successful brands and subbrands. He has 20 years of global experience within pharma insight, brand and commercial roles. His insight into what makes customers tick both internally and externally, together with the ability to manage many different aspects of brand development ensure the teams he works with come to the end of their projects engaged about the future possibilities for their business or brand. He describes himself as a passionate advocate for engaging with a diverse range of stakeholders in healthcare and driving debate in the industry. David’s presentation was entitled ‘How to build a great brand …

David Coleiro, Founding Partner, Strategic North

in 20 minutes!’ Essentially he was bringing his insight into not just helping the business owners present understand the concept of a successful brand, but be in a position to apply that knowledge to their own businesses. There were many themes explored, including the realisation that a brand is not simply a product or service, a company logo or piece of packaging, but a promise made, and more importantly an experience delivered to customers. It essentially is created and lives within the mind of a consumer. As well as creating a very personal construct within both the conscious and unconscious mind of the target consumer, the ability to align the brand to customer goals is essential. A quote from Theodore Levitt nicely summed this up “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” The next K-Club taking place at Salford’s AJ Bell stadium will be on 4 February 2016 – tickets available through Eventbrite.

For further information please contact Amanda Manson, Communications Director on

07754 069 829

amanda.manson@k-club.co.uk

www.k-club.co.uk

December/January 2016

GM BUSINESS connect

Turning the Northern Powerhouse into reality In another fringe event during the recent Conservative conference in Manchester, we were invited to an audience with George Osborne on Monday 5 October at the old Granada Studios on Quay Street. Trafford Council Leader Sean Anstee invited the great, the good and the party faithful to a private review from the Chancellor looking at devolution one year on from his landmark ‘Northern Powerhouse’ speech. As a fringe event it wasn’t just party members attending but a good mix of business people from many different sectors and indeed political leanings. After an introduction from Maria Balshaw, Director of newly expanded Whitworth Art Gallery, George Osborne wasted no time in establishing his Mancunian credentials: “The Whitworth is such a great representation of everything that Manchester was – and everything that Manchester can be. It was founded just over

Maria Balshaw, Director, Whitworth Art Gallery

100 years ago as a real symbol of a city that was proud of itself and it’s culture – and wanted to exhibit that to the world. The Whitworth was the first gallery in Britain that started collecting Picassos. When all the traditional galleries weren’t touching them, they had the foresight to start. It was that ability to see into the future that of course made this a great city. The new refurbishment at the gallery, coupled with the work on the Manchester International Festival, plus all the other developments underway, show Manchester culture off with a new confidence. “There are so many great things happening here at the moment with sport of course, healthcare, the growth of commerce, and what we’re trying to do with the idea of the Northern Powerhouse, which was originally mentioned just over a year ago now, was to say let’s build on the strengths that we have in our Northern cities. Let’s connect them with transport links, healthcare links, science links, making the whole bigger than the individual parts. I must say that I have given many speeches over the years, and nothing seems to have taken off in the same way that this concept of the Northern Powerhouse has, and that is a tribute to all the people here that are making it a reality. “Let’s be clear. We’ve made some important steps forward. We’ve made some important investments in science, and also in developing

significant cultural spaces. We’re going ahead with electrification over the Pennines, but it is only just the beginning. “The reality is that we are going to have to throw everything we’ve got at it. My promise to you is that I am going to throw everything I have in making the Northern Powerhouse a reality. This will re-balance our National economy and make sure that we will close that gap between London and the rest of the UK – the North and the South – frankly something that all governments of all parties have tried and failed. “The key to this initiative is not that it is the idea of one political party, we’re working across the political parties to make it a reality. One of the incredible things about this city is the ability to work in partnership to deliver that. “Manchester has, as a result, led by example. We signed the deal last year to create an elected Mayor, and when the Council Leaders came together to agree that deal with us, it did get many other cities thinking. In a good way it put the pressure on them. Last Friday, I was in South Yorkshire signing a deal with the Leaders of the Sheffield city region, including Doncaster, Rotherham, Barnsley and of course Sheffield itself, to create an elected Mayor across South Yorkshire. That would not have happened if we had not set the pace a year earlier. “What we want to do is see this

model replicated across the whole of the North of England. This won’t be the same in every area, and we don’t see this as a ‘one size fits all’ solution, but where we have a real civic power asserting itself, we have real powers and responsibilities handed down from Whitehall to our great cities where they should always have been. “I made an announcement today that I feel will have a big impact on the way we support our local economies in this country. That is to say that areas will be able to control the business rates that they receive, and they’ll also have the ability to cut rates to businesses that they wish to attract there. And in these devolved city areas with elected Mayors they will be able to bring in a special supplement for big infrastructure if they get the support of the business community. That is about understanding that we have a new relationship with local Government, and we remember why Manchester Town Hall in all it’s neo-gothic splendour was built in the first place. It was built as a place of power, a great civic cathedral, and that is what it has become again.”

GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

review

Lamborghini roars

back into Greater Manchester

The classic 1988 Anniversario Countach

Thursday 5 November was quite an apt date for the relaunch of Lamborghini Manchester. Surrounded by a sea of smoke, fireworks and explosions, St Marys Way in Stockport is the new home for the supercar superbrand, and was officially opened with a champagne fuelled glamorous launch event perfectly suited to the iconic Italian brand. The star of the event was undoubtedly an original 1968 Miura P400, rediscovered recently and presented on the evening by Iain Tyrrell from Cheshire Classic Cars. This particular vehicle opened the 1969 Michael Caine classic ‘The Italian Job’. In the famous opening scene it was raced around the Italian Alps to the dulcet tones of Matt Munro’s ‘On days like these’, only to be unceremoniously wrecked by a Mafia-owned digger, then thrown down a cliff for good measure. Obviously the wrecked Miura was Iain Tyrrell from Cheshire Classic Cars with the ‘Italian Job’ Miura P400

The 1968 ‘Italian Job’ Miura P400

simply a bodyshell, as the original car used in the film resurfaced in Paris recently and was eventually purchased by classic car restorers and dealers Cheshire Classic Cars. As a brand, Lamborghini began in 1963, and some would say this very vehicle created the myth of Lamborghini as a supercar brand in to it’s modern form today. Hosting the event was General Manager Mark Woore, but we started off with a chat to Damien Percheron, Area Sales Manager for Southern Europe. We asked him about Lamborghini’s success as a business within the UK: “The UK is our most successful marketplace in Europe, after the US and Japan. We are estimating sales of 250 cars by the end of the year, which will be a record for the UK, and next year looks even better after the massive success of the Aventador. “Manchester is also our best performing dealership outside of

London, and this is underlined by the fact we have an exclusive site here, which includes technicians as well as sales and aftersales. This is quite unusual as not many sites around the world offer the full range of maintenance, repair and servicing by our factory trained technicians.” We then turned to Mark who was asked about the history of Lamborghini Manchester: “We were the first UK Lamborghini dealership established outside of London. In 2004 H.R. Owen brought Lamborghini Manchester to Edward Street in Stockport, where they

remained for many years. “At that time, the Gallardo was coming into the UK in significant numbers to justify the creation of a new service centre for the North. While proposing that, it made sense to add a sales centre, and so we offered sales and aftersales with maintenance and servicing all under one roof. Eventually the lease ran out, but at the same time plans were put into place for expansion of the model range, so the move to a bigger site on St. Marys Way is a method of future-proofing the business.”

Damien Percheron, Area Sales Manager for Southern Europe Mark Woore, General Manager, with current model Aventador LP 750-4 SuperVeloce

GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

focus

Looking to a colourful future Being made redundant is a frightening prospect for any employee.

meant new businesses came to them for cards and letterheads.

But for Mark Nicholson of Indigo Lithoprint in Trafford Park, it was the push he needed to fulfil his dream of running his own business.

Through word of mouth, Indigo built a client base of businesses in the financial, insurance, legal and beauty sector and mixed this with public and private sector work.

Now, 23 years after losing his job with the CEGB National Print Unit, he’s survived three recessions and hopes to double his workforce over the next five years. His advice to anyone in a similar situation is to keep a positive attitude and see it as an opportunity to follow what they really want to do. “I had an 18 month old son and a wife to provide for when I lost my job,” he recalls. “It was scary as it happened in the middle of a recession and I’d only recently relocated from the Midlands to Manchester. “I’d always wanted to be my own boss, so along with two colleagues from the CEGB we pooled our redundancy money and opened a unit on Trafford Park. “We’ve been through tricky times but I’ve never looked back.” Mark, 55, still works with original business partner Anthony Pearce, 43, and they’ve seen many changes. At the beginning, finding work was tough, but their central location

L-R Directors Anthony Pearce, Peter Kelly, Mark Nicholson

Then the recession of 2008 hit. “We lost three big clients at once and had to make redundancies which was awful but we had no choice. It was either that or go out of business. “One client didn’t pay, we saw a big dip in our public sector work and lost a contract for a lot of financial, legal and insurance printing, pretty much all at the same time. “It was tough, but it made us refocus.” This coincided with online printers offering cut price deals, but Mark feels Indigo survived by offering both digital and lithographic print and being more customer focused, so clients receive a tailored service that suits their individual needs. Their slogan is ‘Let your ideas run free’ alongside a montage of a cartoon printer in different stages of the creative process. This encapsulates the ‘can-do’ attitude of the ten Indigo staff and their ability to work with anything

from websites and branding to printing key rings, golf balls to children’s books. Speaking about some of their unusual projects, he explained: “One client came to us with a story and a set of drawings her daughter had done when she was growing up. We made it into a Mr Men style book for her 30th birthday present. “Another lady asked us to create a life-size cardboard cut out of her son who was killed when he was just 18 as she wanted him to be part of a family wedding. It was so moving seeing

how happy she was.” Building and maintaining relationships with clients is how Mark sees the business moving forward. He says: “I feel print will always be part of brand awareness. We have more customers and less volume now, but we are more client focused, so we choose projects carefully. “Being friendly and accessible means we build relationships based on trust, and whatever their needs, clients put their confidence in us and know we will make things work.”

GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

review

The North As strong supporters of business Expos, GM Business Connect were keen to see how organisers Great British Expo’s did with an event at Emirates Old Trafford covering the whole of the Northwest region.

Despite being a not so typical rainy day on 26 November the event seemed to attract visitors in their hundreds. The day started with a sponsored breakfast arranged through the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce. Sponsors PFI Solutions did a great job in kicking the day off with tea, coffees and an appreciated breakfast sandwich. It wasn’t soon until the first batch of visitors came through despite the weather and the serious business of networking got underway. There were almost 100 exhibitors on the day to take care of the busy crowds, plus a whole range of additional events including no less than 7 speakers, 3 workshops, speed networking

and a very popular cafe area located in the centre of the hall.

The 3 workshops started with ‘LinkedIn 101’. This was specifically designed to ensure that attendees were learning to use LinkedIn to develop new business, and gave valuable tips and insights into networking and promoting a specific business, their products or services. The next workshop was ‘How to sell without selling’. This was geared to look at current ways of promoting products or services, with a view that consumers no longer begin their buying journey by calling or meeting a salesperson - those days are long gone. Instead, the knowledge of a consumer’s ‘pain point’ is crucial, and methods of reaching the consumer with a message based on problem solving is the key to success. The final workshop was entitled ‘Protect your IP today!’ This identified the key areas of intellectual property that all

West Bu

start-ups and Entrepreneurs should consider, offering advice on patent law fundamentals, branding basics and IP-related agreements.

Organiser Alec Jones-Hall commented: “The main purpose of the North West Expo is to bring local businesses together. With almost 100 exhibitors attending the Expo, the environment was perfect to discover new suppliers, reduce costs and gain industry knowledge from our industry expert exhibitors. We are careful not to include any more than three of each industry at each show.

throughout the day:

Debbie Huxton - How do you overcome the feeling of overwhelm? Debbie described how to develop a mind-set that allows you to take action and achieve what you desire.

“We have also purposely accommodated both the traditional fast-paced speed networking - where the aim is to increase your business network in quick-fire succession - and the more relaxed open networking where you decide who you speak to and at what speed.” There were also no fewer than 7 Speakers in attendance

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GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

siness Expo 2015 Michelle Mills-Porter - presented ‘Phone Genius - the art of non visual communication.’

Sgt Rick Clement - double amputee and Afghanistan War Hero Rick described his incredible journey back to a successful career as an inspirational speaker.

becoming the first ever women CEO in the rail industry as the Chief Executive of the Industry’s Training and Competence Company.

Fiona Atkinson - runner-up of the North West’s Business Woman of the Year shared her HIF Advert Aug15 v5_Layout 1 25/08/2015 09:37 Page 1 Jackie Chappell - told the story of story of becoming an award-

winning entrepreneur.

Brad Burton - best selling author and one of the UK’s best motivational speakers, also managing director of 4Networking, one of the countries most successful networking groups. Warren Cass - founder of Business Scene and business visionary

shared his view of what is currently at the forefront of business thinking.

The event finished at 3pm and the overall view was that this was a successful Expo that more than reflected the growing business sectors across the entire region.

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GM BUSINESS connect

review Putting Trafford The latest Trafford Park Business Network event took place on Wednesday 21 October in the Old Trafford Supporters Club at Hotel Football. The event once again attracted a great turnout, with over 70 attendees representing local Trafford Park businesses and support organisations. The keynote speech was delivered by Mark Hughes MBE, Group Chief Executive of Manchester Growth Company (MGC). Mark provided a valuable insight into the changing role of MGC, including the broad range of support they offer to local businesses, and the impact of devolution on the business support landscape in Greater Manchester. Supporting the objective of developing new local supply chain opportunities for Trafford Park businesses, further presentations were then provided by Mark Pearson, Senior Category Manager for STAR Procurement, and Lizzi Long, Group Sales Manager for the newly opened LDeX Datacentre. Mark Pearson offered an

introduction to STAR Procurement, the shared procurement service for Stockport, Trafford and Rochdale Councils, including advice on how to register for new procurement opportunities and a lengthy list of forthcoming procurement opportunities which local businesses could apply for. In particular, Mark highlighted the importance of suppliers registering on ‘The Chest’ procurement portal (www.thechest.org.uk), along with a range of training opportunities being offered by STAR Procurement. Lizzi Long then outlined LDeX’s decision to open a new 20,000sq. ft datacentre in Trafford Park – highlighting the excellent location, digital connectivity, and proximity to local customers as key factors. Following an explanation of the technicalities and benefits of datacentres, Lizzi also identified a range of products and services which LDeX are looking to procure, inviting other attendees to contact her if they could help. In addition to breakfast and further networking opportunities,

December/January 2016

Park

on the map the event also played host to a selection of business support and information stands, including Trafford Park based Skylab, who were attending to mark the official launch of ‘Trafford Park TV’ – the new video-based business directory, designed to promote and showcase Trafford Park and it’s businesses to a global audience. The Trafford Park Business Network is delivered by Trafford Council and the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the Trafford Economic Growth Board, a partnership of key public and private stakeholders tasked with setting the strategic direction for the delivery of economic growth initiatives in Trafford. The regular networking event is open exclusively to businesses in Trafford Park, and aims to help local businesses to build relationships with their neighbours and develop new local supply chain opportunities. The next event will take place

Mark Hughes MBE, Group Chief Executive of Manchester Growth Company

Mark Pearson, Senior Category Manager for STAR Procurement

Lizzi Long, Group Sales Manager for LDeX Datacentre

on Thursday 18 February 2016, 8 -10.30am at the Imperial War Museum North. To register visit Eventbrite on www.trafford-parknetwork.eventbrite.com For further information e-mail business@trafford.gov.uk or follow @TraffordBiz on twitter.

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.

December/January 2016

GM BUSINESS connect

finance Tax relief

for the Festive Season

Christmas is almost here which can be stressful enough, and with year-end filing and tax return fast approaching, that’s one thing you don’t want to be leaving until the last minute. All tax returns are due to be completed online by January 31, so make it your New Year’s resolution to avoid any unwanted penalties and ensure you are organised when it comes to meeting the deadline. There are a number of things you must take into consideration when filling out your tax return, so here is an overview of the essential elements you must remember to account for, as well as those all-important tax savings you could make.

Gift Aid Claims It is common to gift to charities throughout the year, and these charitable donations are grossed up for tax purposes and added to the basic rate band to give an extra extension. This allows relief to higher rate tax

payers of the gross donation. For example, a donation of £800 in a year would mean the basic rate band would be extended to £1,000 to obtain tax relief of £200. All donations qualify providing that they do not exceed four times the amount you have paid in tax during that tax year, and a gift aid declaration is made. When it comes to filling out your Self-Assessment Tax Return, items from the current year are normally only stated, however, when it comes to gift aid, you can also claim tax relief on donations you make in the previous tax year as long as you haven’t previously claimed them – I can’t stress the importance of this enough!

Pension Contributions Another route to consider when obtaining tax relief is through pension contributions, which, similar to gift aid claims, are grossed up for tax purposes and added to the basic rate band to extend this further, which in turn grants relief for higher rate tax payers.

This means that more income will be taxable in the basic rate band, in addition to the fact that any unused annual allowance from the previous 3 tax years can also be accounted for. You can contribute up to 100% of relevant earnings to your pension fund up to the annual allowance of £40,000. It is your responsibility to ensure that your contributions do not exceed the stated threshold, as HMRC will require you pay the annual pension charge on the excess. Further measures are coming into force in relation to pensions from 5 April 2016. We urge you to seek financial advice in relation to maximising your contributions.

High Income Child Benefit Charge The High Income Child Benefit Charge was implemented by HMRC in 2013, meaning a taxpayer with an income in excess of £50,000 will have any child benefit received by either themselves or their partner taken back by £1 for every £100 in excess of £50,000. This charge is also relevant regardless of whether the child living with you is your own child or not, or if your partner claims and receives the child benefit for the child; it is the highest earner who must repay the child benefit. Some taxpayers choose to ‘opt out’ of receiving child benefit to avoid incurring this cost.

equipment purchased and even mileage claims not fully reimbursed by the employer up to a maximum of 45p per mile up to 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter. Basically, anything you have had to use your own money for to fulfil your professional duties and aren’t used in your personal life can be claimed in tax relief. For certain professions there is the flat rate job allowance which entitles you to claim an annual amount as a job related expense to cover things such as the washing of uniforms, and in this instance, no record or receipts need to be kept. These are just some of the key areas we recommend considering when filing your year-end self-assessment tax return, with many other opportunities for you to minimise what you pay in tax. In conclusion, our advice is to bear in mind all of the above points when filing your year-end tax return but most important of all – file it on time. We would recommend arranging a meeting with your business or personal accountant before the busy Christmas period takes over, even if it is simply to gain some tips and advice to make your filing process as stress free as possible. For some, lack of organisation may have already landed you in a stressful situation with your tax return, so we recommend dedicating some organisational filing skills to 2016’s New Year’s resolutions!

Employment Expenses It is important that you remember to include all expenses when filing your year-end tax return. If you’ve been organised for the earlier part of the year, all of those receipts and records should have been saved and filed for an easy process! Often, employees are unaware of everything they are eligible to claim expenses on, for example, any professional subscriptions incurred, tools and

Les Leavitt Leavitt Walmsley Associates Chartered Certified Accountants www.lwaltd.com

GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

social media Making Social Media work for your business When we look at the phrase “Making Social Media work for your business” there’s one word that will sum up this whole article and it’s work!

business. Social Media rarely stays still and what’s happened to Facebook will happen to other platforms with time.

The problem is an attitude that many business owners in their 30’s or older still have the attitude that ‘Social Media is just something to waste your time on’. They think that traditional Marketing is work, yet Social Media is something that can be dabbled with and played with, but isn’t ‘real work’.

3. Be hyper local

So the biggest tip I can give is at the outset - change your mind - Social Media is real work that needs real time and attention to make it work. Here are 5 Do’s and Don’ts for making Social Media work for business:

DO’S 1. Be patient Far too many business owners expect instant results from Social Media and it rarely happens. I can show you examples of businesses on any street in Manchester that are getting huge results from Social Media, and they’re the businesses who devote time and effort to making Social Media work for them. Social Media Marketing is not about Return On Investment - far too many business use that very question of ROI from Social Media as a barrier to talking about their lack of success. It’s simply about Return On Effort Turn up every day - add value to people - give a lot - and be patient. In 3 months, 6 months, 1 year - you’ll be grateful for the return that you get from Social Media. 2. Be adaptable I’ve had businesses owners fearing their business is months away from closure all because Facebook’s algorithm changes and reduced organic reach for business pages. They’d built their business on Facebook and had huge success but because of this huge Facebook success they’d never even considered Twitter or Instagram for business. Building a business on one platform is risky, as one change of the rules can have seismic effects on business. You need to look at Social Media as multi-channel, dip into new platforms and see which you can use to bring in

There are enough customers within 5 miles of your office door to build truly successful business. Are you known locally by every one of your potential customers? If someone tweets or asks on LinkedIn for a recommendation for your industry sector, does your name come up? If you can’t answer yes to those then you need to delve deeper into the local town hashtag on Twitter and you need to network closer on LinkedIn. The problem with most businesses on Social Media is they try to go wider than deeper - casting the net wide to win business in towns 50 -100 miles away rather than on the doorstep. 4. Be human and authentic At every opportunity you must bring your personality or your staff into your Social Media Marketing, It’s what brings everything to life and makes you really stand out from the crowd. Flick through the other pages of Greater Manchester Business Connect - there will be a lot more faces beaming out than anything else. If you’re interested in it - it intersects with your companies brand values and your customer base interests - post it! 5. Be a creative geek There are 2 sides to Social Media Marketing - The creative and the geeky statistician. The creative allows for the emotional response that means you well up during the John Lewis advert or laugh during the new Warburtons advert. Most businesses reading this will not have a multimillion pound marketing budget, but creatively coming up with something different every day is something you need to harness. You must be fresh every day. And once the creative is done - you need to get deep down and geeky with the Social Media stats. Data is what completes the loop and feeds back into the creative.

DON’TS 1. Oversell Have you ever had that moment where you’ve answered the phone and within 2 seconds you know it’s a sales call? Just hold on to that feeling for a while and then think that’s the feeling that most have when someone oversells on Social Media.

On a content generation level - all staff should be contributing stories, images and adding to the overall humanising of a business Social Media. Every employee should have a solid understanding of how they can contribute to the Social Media storytelling and not be something siloed in a Marketing department. 4. Post exactly the same content on all platforms

So many businesses turn into vicious salesmen the moment they jump on to Social Media, it actually puts more people off than it turns on.

Posting the same on different Social Media platforms is like posting the same advert on radio that you did on TV.

It’s OK to sell on Social Media - I do what I would describe as 1 Hard Sell Message a day - statistically that’s only 2% of what I do on Social Media in an average day.

Each platform has it’s nuances and the one mistake that so many businesses make is posting the same thing at the same time on multiple platforms.

I literally send 43 tweets a day helping others, educating people and supporting the network around me.

A company that truly works Social Media well will have a strategy for each platform and post unique content to a different audience with just a little bit of crossover.

And because of that - I make sales via Social Media - Givers Gain! 2. Think more posts equal more sales “Add Value, Not Noise” has been a motto of ours since our Social Media journey started. When Social Media isn’t working for a company - the response is often to post more and more in the hope that some of it sticks. That only works if what you’re layering on offers more value. If you’re simply adding more noise and spamming people’s timelines then people are going to unfollow or click the block button. Before you click the send button on a post - ask yourself does this post add value to your follower’s stream? 3. Leave it all to one person Social Media might be delivered by one person, but it works best when the whole organisation fully understands why Social Media is important and how it affects their role.

Dissect which types of posts are working for you on each platform, and enhance each platform one by one. 5. Think Social Media is a phase There are still Social Media deniers out there who think Social Media is still a phase that will pass and then everything will return to the status quo. Real Talk Time... It’s not a phase and your business will suffer if you keep denying it. The pain point might not be happening for you right now, but given time those competitors you laughed at for wasting time on Social Media will soon be dominating, and you’ll struggle to be heard. Imagine being the last one in your industry to have an engaged audience on Social Media.

Not every business has the budget, but in an ideal world every single person in a company from the Cleaner to the Managing Director would receive Social Media Training. On a customer service level - it’s often the customer-facing staff that are the mobilising effect to Social Media word of mouth, be it good or bad.

Alex McCann Altrincham HQ www.altrinchamhq.co.uk

December/January 2016

GM BUSINESS connect

digital marketing What is known as the

Fourth Utility?

The internet is now a massive part of everyday life, and popularly referred to as the fourth utility, after gas, electricity and water.

search engine ranking; Google will see the page is more relevant to the search term and increase the ranking accordingly.

your video and digital marketing communications, generating reach and engagement to your target audience with measurable results.

Google reports that over 50% of search traffic is now for video, and predicts this will rise to over 90% by 2018.

In the early years the internet soon became a useful information sharing tool, then came those searchers who wanted to spend their relaxing hours simply browsing (Often referred to as “Internet Idlers”). Advertisers and marketers quickly saw an opportunity to gain impulse sales from carefully targeted advertising on their favourite sites. One such website that gained early popularity with these idlers is YouTube.

Producing a high-quality video, even with a mobile phone, is simple these days with free, user-friendly software available to download. Though to maximise the success of your video marketing efforts you may consider approaching a professional video marketing company to manage the creation and distribution of your video content.

A platform is now available that uniquely integrates all forms of digital media, be it video, images, text, PDF’s, galleries and even live streaming. This management platform can be embedded directly into an existing website effectively giving the business their very own YouTube or TV channel.

Create quality video with valuable content for your website, and then manage the distribution of this video content professionally across the internet for your web business to grow from strength to strength.

Today YouTube is the second most popular search engine on the internet next to Google. YouTube is one of the greatest success stories of the internet. The very first video uploaded to YouTube on 23rd April 2005 and was titled “Me at the zoo”. It features the co-founder Jawed Karin at the San Diego Zoo. This video can still be viewed on YouTube. Within 18 months of this first video being uploaded YouTube was receiving 20m visits per month, having entered into a marketing partnership with NBC in June 2006. On 9 October 2006 YouTube was purchased by Google for $1.65billion in shares. An astonishing success story and proof of the massive demand for video. In the early Google years Larry Page, co-founder of Google made the following prediction: “In 2009 every business will need a website … in 2014 every business will need a video. And by 2019 every business will need its own online TV channel”

How important is video to a website ranking on Google? Video content on a website is now more important than ever. Just placing short explainer videos on a website can increase conversion rates by +80%. Video will increase the visitor time on page and this can have a positive impact on your

What is a YouTube Vanity Channel? One great way to show off your company video is YouTube’s vanity channel (A channel with a chosen keyword or the company name embedded in the URL). To qualify the channel must have more than 500 subscribers and have been showing videos online for longer than 30 days. Nothing is free, so it will take some work to achieve these requirements, but after jumping these barriers a channel that can boast a vanity URL will look much more professional. You will need to target those keywords that have true commercial intent. Do your keyword research then use the results to influence your subject choice and your video tags. Naturally, you will want to link visitors to your YouTube channel through to your own website. Having more links to your website means more credibility, increased search engine trust and improved rankings. YouTube is not the only video sharing website available. Also take a look at; Vimeo, Dailymotion, Facebook and many more. The importance of having control over all your digital content (Video /PDF’s / White Papers / MP3 files / Presentations etc.) is becoming paramount for businesses of all sizes. The need to guide the viewer through their digital journey and keep them on your content is more important than ever. Professional digital marketing agencies like ours can advise on how to streamline the hosting, uploading and distribution of all

This platform has a built-in video newsletter and social media integration, a paywall facility to monetise your traffic and comprehensive data capture for deep analysis. It can also be ideal for e-learning and training programs. For example a PowerPoint presentation can run simultaneously next to an ondemand or live stream broadcast.

Howard Jones Jungle Marketing www.jungle.marketing

Videos for Websites

UP TO 30%

OFF VIDEO PRODUCTION COSTS

A simple one minute video about your service or product will help to deliver your marketing message much better than the written word. Video also helps to increase the visitor time on page, this can have a very positive effect on your website search engine ranking. Call today for a friendly no obligation chat.

JUNGLE.MARKETING FOR

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GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

lead generation The true cost of sales management? There are several areas of Sales Management to be aware of:

A very important consideration with any successful sales strategy is how you manage the sales function. Managers or business owners who are not used to managing sales people can have quite a shock of what is involved. Quite often I listen to clients who recruit a sales person and say it has not worked or that they have been left to their own devices and not delivered results. A lot of sales managers have been successful sales people (who have probably spent many hours complaining about the way that they have been managed!) and then been promoted into the Sales Manager role without training and development.

Sales People can easily get demotivated and regular contact is important to act as a sounding board and refocus efforts.

How do you hire, recruit and train? Think about your product and service, but you also cannot beat the right attitude in the right place. Some people are too high maintenance and will always find an excuse why they are not delivering.

The first questions to ask are what systems do you have in place, how do you target and monitor them and what support do you give them? – quite often this is minimal. So who is to blame, the sales person or the person managing the sales person? At the end of the day the buck stops with the Sales Manager. So how is performance measured against this benchmark? Let’s explore this a little further…. Experience of managing sales teams can have a huge bearing on whether the sales campaign is a success or a failure. So when results are not good, true sales experience will pay dividends.

Motivational factors and regular team meetings.

Spot them early but develop people with the right attitude. Keep your A players and don’t let them go to your competition.

What systems and processes you have in place - are they scalable? A lack of investment in systems will mean people are spending too much time on reports and not enough time doing what they are good at. Think through the paperwork and don’t keep changing the goalposts.

How do you collect and report information in a timely manner? Make this as automated as possible with a CRM system, move away from spreadsheets. They are difficult

sales and marketing support

secret weapon 0161 41 66 069

to manage and you cannot get information out on the fly - you have to keep waiting for reports to be sent in!

it is entirely possible that you could spend the first year understanding all of the above at a large cost to the company.

How do you manage poor performance?

At the end of the day management time costs money. There are clients who value all of the above and are prepared to pay to transfer this risk and enjoy the results.

Clear realistic targets, understand what good looks like, benchmark, and try to develop clear stages to the pipeline. Review monthly and monitor weekly.

How you deal with incentives and commissions and if necessary clawback. Ensure you define the qualifying criteria for an appointment, what has been successful in the past, and what you should establish before you visit. Use telesales and field sales to get the right balance, close at least 1 in 3. On the flip side don’t have people that are too pushy or you will have clients cancelling and causing you problems. Get the right appointment in the first place.

Equally you may have experienced sales managers that just want an outsourced sales person to work with them on a campaign and want to manage them directly. Either of these is possible but you must also recognise that you and your business are set-up to manage a sales function first. If you would like to get some honesty on that one, give us a call and we will send you a sales audit questionnaire to complete.

What marketing support do you have? Have some activity to support your sales pipeline, data, eShots some exhibitions - don’t rely purely on self-generated leads or commission only agents. If you have no brand awareness it will be short lived. If you have not managed sales people or a sales function before,

Julie Cook Reach Communications www.reachcommunications.co.uk

Ssshhh…

Secret Services for Sales Support

B2B Lead Generation CRM development Web Monitoring and Inbound Management Lead Nurturing and Marketing Automation Sales Campaign Development

sales@reach-communications.co.uk

www.reach-communications.co.uk

December/January 2016

GM BUSINESS connect

wellbeing 6 tips for dealing with We all experience times in life when things don’t go to plan. There may be one area which causes serious hurt and disappointment or perhaps even a sequence of setbacks in several areas of our life where we lose our support network, become overwhelmed or feel under-resourced about what to do to improve the situation. There are a few things we can do to help with dealing with these rough patches: Acknowledge that rarely does everything ‘urgent’ have to be dealt with at once. We can get into the habit of being reactive and feeling that everything has to be done immediately it’s asked of us or else negative ramifications will follow. However, it can be useful to take a step back and identify the key, most pressing items that need immediate attention. Then perhaps something as simple as a phone call may be enough to ease the load, may placate the other party for the time being by reassuring them that you’re aware of the situation and are dealing with it promptly. Can someone else be brought in to help with certain aspects of the issue? Other people are often happy to be included and may contribute a new and different perspective. It can be lonely dealing with a rough patch or stressful situation on one’s own. Inviting others to become involved may help you feel

rough patches supported, less alone and better able to manage the stress. Take care of yourself. A rough patch can threaten your self-esteem, may cause you to feel inadequate, suspect that you can’t cope - are perhaps a failure in some way. Take care to protect your self-esteem and associate with supportive people, family, friends or colleagues who believe in you. Share your concerns with those closest to you and allow them to reassure you that you are skilled, talented, capable, likable and that this rough patch will pass. Be vigilant about eating regularly and healthily. Take breaks and detach yourself from being immersed constantly in the demands and stresses of the situation. Breaks allow you to return to work with a clearer mind and maybe even with a better perspective and some useful ideas. Allow time for gentle exercise like walking, going for a swim or a yoga class. Look after yourself by avoiding artificial stimulants to keep you going like an excess of caffeine, alcohol, sugar or junk food. By looking after yourself you’ll hopefully maintain better quality sleep throughout this time.

Try to introduce a time limit to your working day so that you commit to regularly both mentally and physically switching off after that time. It’s important to allow a couple of hours for relaxation, especially during difficult periods in your life. Turn off your technology, close the office door and try to wind down. Have a shower to wash away the day’s strains and stresses. Make time for hobbies, interests and activities that you do well, that reinforce the belief that you’re talented and successful in many areas of your life. These are ways to maintain some semblance of calm and help you to cope in a more balanced way. Avoid replaying a negative mindset over and over again. When we’re used to success or have invested a lot of ourselves in a particular outcome it can be a bitter blow to our selfesteem if things don’t go to plan. If that situation in compounded by further setbacks it can be difficult to see beyond the disappointments. Resist the temptation to beat yourself up and replay the negative story repeatedly. It can become a destructive habit, eroding hope, energy and enthusiasm for future ventures and opportunities. Rough patches can teach us a great deal. Yes, it feels good when things go well, but those times often occur within our comfort zone. The difficult experiences in life, the failures and disappointments are often the times which we reflect on in later years as having been our important learning opportunities. In order to come through rough patches we may need to learn new skills, tailor our expectations or prepare more thoroughly so that we improve our future chances of success.

MARTIN HAMBLETON I COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHER info@martinhambleton.com

07766 815703

www.commercialphotographynorthwestblog.co.uk

There may be a requirement to enhance our knowledge and learn better ways of doing things. We may need external help by way of training in order to learn new skills

and better strategies, or a business coach may help us to focus on a more effective plan, or even a counsellor or hypnotherapist may provide valuable personal healing and development opportunities. Value the space that a setback or rough patch provides to develop a more positive, structured, focused way of moving forward in your life. When you’re going through a rough patch it’s important to be especially sensitive to yourself. Have regular distractions, mini-breaks and times for fun, pampering, interesting conversation and even some therapy. Support yourself throughout times of negativity and disappointment so that you can move forward from them in the best way possible.

Susan Leigh MNCH (ACC)

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

GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

diary dates 4 Networking

Business over Breakfast

City Centre - Fridays Fortnightly - 11 Dec, 8 Jan, 22 Jan... 12noon - 2.00pm Venue Red Hot World Buffet, 48 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2EG Cost £15 Contact Brian Morrison 07719 782459

Networking - Fridays fortnightly 18 Dec, 15 Jan, 29 Jan... 7.00 - 9.00am Venue La Vina, 105/107 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2BQ Cost £15 Contact Tracy Heatley 07812 076946

Cheadle - Fridays Fortnightly - 11 Dec, 8 Jan, 22 Jan... 8.00am - 10.00am Venue De Vere Hotel Cheadle, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle SK8 3FS Cost £12 Contact Ian Lavin 07731 837936

Stockport - 2nd Tuesday monthly 12 Jan, 9 Feb 6.00pm - 8.00pm Venue The Old Rectory, 48 Churchgate, Stockport SK1 1YG

Sale - Tuesdays Fortnightly - 15 Dec, 12 Jan, 26 Jan... 8.00am - 10.00am Venue Sale Golf Club, Sale Lodge, Golf Road, Sale M33 2XU Cost £12 Contact Paul Bercik 07816 282816 www.4networking.biz

Wilmslow - 1st Wednesday monthly 6 Jan, 3 Feb 5.30pm - 7.30pm Venue Hallmark Hotel, Stanley Drive, Wilmslow SK9 3LD Contact Natalie Lewis natalie@dynamicnetworking.biz www.dynamicnetworking.biz

New Year – Fresh Opportunities – Plan Required!

Federation of 20 Small Businesses

page

Bring a buddy networking 14 Dec 6.00pm - 8.00pm Venue The Lowry Mill, Lees Street, Pendlebury M27 6DB Cost Free Contact Simon Edmondson 07766 493 428 Simon.Edmondson@fsb.org.uk

Altrincham & Sale 11 Chamber of Commerce

page

Breakfast Matters Networking and breakfast Thursdays 14 Jan, 4 Feb 8.30 - 10.00am Venue Cresta Court Hotel, Church Street, Altrincham WA14 4DP Cost £10

Forward Ladies

Christmas Lunch - 11 Dec 12noon – 2.00pm Venue Mercure Bowdon Hotel, Langham Road, Bowdon WA14 2HT Cost £30 Contact Anne Jardine 0161 941 3250 anne@altrinchamchamber.co.uk

Women’s Networking Power Business Breakfast Club 1st Wednesday Monthly 6 Jan, 3 Feb 9.30am - 11.00am Venue The Alchemist, 3 Hardman Street, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3HF Cost £10 Contact 0845 6434 940 enquiries@forwardladies.com

Bowdon Business Group 3rd Thurs monthly - 15 Oct, 19 Nov 4.00pm - 6.00pm Venue Bowdon Club, South Downs Road, Bowdon WA14 3DT Cost £5 Contact David Bellin 0161 883 0308

page

GM Biz Expo 2016

8 Greater Manchester Business Expo 15 March 2016 Weekly every Friday 10.00am - 4.00pm Early networking includes full breakfast Venue Hilton Hotel Deansgate, 6.45am - 8.30am 303 Deansgate, Venue Mercure Bowdon Hotel, Manchester M3 4LQ Langham Road, Cost Free (pre-registration required) Bowdon WA14 2HT Contact team@thebixexpos.com Cost £10 Contact Members@BowdonBusinessClub.co.uk www.gmbizexhibition.co.uk

Bowdon Business Club

The Business Network Manchester Business Lunch 9 Dec, 28 Jan 10.00am - 2.00pm Venue The Lowry Hotel, 50 Dearmans Place, Salford, Manchester M3 5LH £39.95 Cost Contact Helen Bennett 0870 751 7523 helen@business-network.co.uk

Stockport Breakfast Club 10 Dec 7.15 - 9.00am Venue Alma Lodge Hotel, 149 Buxton Road Stockport SK2 6EL £30+VAT (Members £15+VAT) Cost Contact events@gmchamber.co.uk 0161 393 4343

The Office Next Door Business Networking at Regus - Last Thursday every month - 10 Dec 8.30am - 10.30am Venue Manchester Business Park, 3000 Aviator Way, Manchester M22 5TG Free for guests Cost chris@theindependentratingscompany.co.uk

Quarterly Economic Breakfast 18 Dec 8.00 - 10.00am Venue Elliot House, 151 Deansgate M3 3WD Free Cost Contact events@gmchamber.co.uk 0161 393 4343

Dynamic Networking

Stockport - Fridays Fortnightly - 18 Dec, 15 Jan, 29 Jan... 8.00am - 10.00am Venue Bamford Arms, Buxton Road, Stockport SK2 6NB Cost £12 Contact Rachael Chiverton 07756 772950

1st Weds monthly - 2 Dec, 6 Jan 4.00pm - 5.30pm Venue Bianco’s, 1 Hereford Street, Sale, M33 7XN £5 Cost Contact Alex McCann 07806 774279 alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk

Property & Construction Networking Lunch 11 Dec 12noon - 2.30pm Venue Innside Manchester, First Street Manchester M15 4FN £50+VAT Cost

Monthly Networking 11 Jan, 15 Feb 9.30am - 11.30am Venue Carrington Business Park, Carrington, Manchester, M31 4DD Cost Free Contact Susan Renshaw 0161 776 4000 susan.renshaw@cbpl.co.uk Free Business Networking Sale - 3rd Tuesday monthly 15 Dec, 19 Jan, 16 Feb 5.30pm - 7.30pm Venue The Boathouse, Sale Water Park, Rifle Road, Sale M33 2LX

Sale Business Group

Action for Business Manchester 9 Dec 7.30am - 9.30am Venue Cloud 23, Hilton Deansgate, Manchester M3 4LQ £15 (members free) Cost

Carrington Business Park

Didsbury - Thursdays Fortnightly - 17 Dec, 14 Jan, 28 Jan... 8.00am - 10.00am Venue Grosvenor Casino Didsbury, Wilmslow Road, Didsbury M20 5PG Cost £12 Contact Jim Frayne 07773 967757

Business improvement seminar 13 Jan 9.30am - 4.30pm Venue The LifeCentre, 235 Washway Road, Sale M33 4BP Cost £135+VAT Contact Mark Dyble 07565 948 943 www.markdyble.eventbrite.co.uk

Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

The Talk

page

IP Expo Manchester 2016

page

K-Club Manchester

Timperley & Sale Business Club

M62 Connections

Weekly Networking every Friday - early networking includes breakfast 6.30 - 8.30am Venue Bean and Brush Café, The Old Sorting Office, 12 Hayfield Walk, Sale M33 7XW £5 for guests Cost Contact Jon Cheetham 07971 575977 Laura Evans 07976 894419

Workshop - Making your own videos for Social Media 26 Jan 1.00 - 5.00pm Venue The Offices, 53 King Street, Manchester M2 4LQ £97+VAT Cost office@thetalkofmanchester.co.uk

11 Greater Manchester Business Expo 18-19 May 2016 10.00am - 4.00pm Venue Manchester Central Convention Complex Ltd., Petersfield M2 3GX Free (pre-registration required) Cost Contact www.ipexpomanchester.com

22 Entrepreneur’s networking breakfast Thurs 4 Feb 7.30am - 10.00am Venue AJ Bell Stadium, Barton-Upon-Irwell, Salford M30 7EY £30.00 Cost PAYG Networking Fortnightly Weds 16 Dec... 9.30am - 11.30am Venue The Coach House, Wilderspool Wood, Trafford Centre M17 8WW Cost £10

Trafford Business Expo 2016 6 June 2016 10.00am - 4.00pm Venue The Point, Emirates Old Trafford Talbot Road, Old Trafford M16 0PX Free (pre-registration required) Cost Contact James Caldwell 0844 887 1550 james@innov8-conferences.co.uk

Thurs 10 Dec... 9.30am - 11.30am Venue The Sandbrook, Sandbrook Way, Rochdale OL11 1RY £10 Cost page

Trafford Park Business

Weds 9 Dec... 8.30am - 10.30am 28 Network B2B Networking Venue The Garden Restaurant, The Centre, - Trafford Park businesses only Birchwood Park, Warrington WA3 6YN Thurs 18 Feb 8.00am - 10.30am £10 Cost Venue Imperial War Museum North, Contact Bill Dove 07932 044 743 Trafford Wharf Road, www.m62connections.co.uk Trafford Park M17 1TZ Free (pre-registration required) Cost On the 7th Networking Contact To register visit: www.trafford-park Breakfast Networking -network.eventbrite.com 9 Dec 9.00am - 11.00am Venue On the 7th, The Landing, Blue Tower MediaCityUk, Salford M50 2ST £10 Cost Contact Alisha 0161 686 5500 hello@onthe7th.co.uk

Rotary Club Altrincham Networking, Dinner Every Monday 7.00pm Venue Cresta Court Hotel, Church Street, Altrincham WA14 4DP £12 Cost Contact Ken Garrity 0161 929 0142 kengarrity@hotmail.com

Rotary Club Sale Networking, Dinner - Every Tuesday 7.00pm Venue The Belmore, Brooklands Road, Sale M33 3QN Contact Peter Munday 0161 969 1391 Mari Griffin 0161 962 6078

Women’s 20/20 Women’s networking - second Wednesday each month - 14 Dec 12.15 - 2.30pm Venue Mercure Bowdon Hotel, Langham Road, Bowdon WA14 2HT £20 for non-members Cost Contact Julie Gray enquiries@2020network.co.uk

Don’t forget your Business Cards! 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.

GM BUSINESS connect

December/January 2016

places to meet Albert Square Chop House Address Contact Facilities

Memorial Hall, 14 Albert Square, Manchester M2 5PF 0161 834 1866 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

DeVere Venues Address Contact Facilities

Cheadle House, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle SK8 3FS 0161 492 100 Conference, Leisure, Restaurant

Eaton Place Business Park Address 114 Washway Road, Sale M33 7RF Contact 0161 905 1424 Facilities Meeting Rooms, Offices

Elliot House

Address Atlantic Street, Altrincham WA14 5NQ Address 151 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WD Contact 0161 926 3600 Contact 0161 393 4352 Facilities Conference Rooms, Café Facilities Meeting Rooms, Private Dining

Bizspace Address Contact Facilities

Bossco Address Contact Facilities

Empress Business Centre

380 Chester Road, Manchester M16 9EA 0161 877 5579 Meeting Rooms, Offices Business Design Store

13 Stonepail Road, Gatley SK8 4EZ 0161 282 0011 Tea/Coffee, Web Design, Print, Business Support

Bowdon Rooms The Cinnamon Club Address Contact Facilities

The Firs, Bowdon, Altrincham WA14 2TQ 0161 282 0011 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 Contact Facilities

Carrington Lane, Carrington, Manchester M31 4DD 0161 776 4000 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 Contact Facilities

Church Street, Altrincham WA14 4DP 0161 927 7272 Snack, Rest, Hotel, Free Parking

Emirates Old Trafford Home of LCCC - Event Space

Address Talbot Road, Manchester M16 0PX Contact 0161 282 4020 Facilities Conference, Meeting Rooms, Leisure

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 Contact Facilities

29 Stamford New Road, Altrincham WA14 1EB 0161 928 1487 Natural Organic Food Served

Manchester Airport Marriott Hotel Address Contact Facilities

Hale Road, Hale Barns, Cheshire WA15 8XW 0161 904 0301 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 Contact Facilities

Carrington Lane, Ashton On Mersey, Sale M33 5BL 0161 962 8113 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 Contact Facilities

The Blue Tower, MediaCityUK, Salford Quays M50 2ST 0161 686 5500 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, Wilmslow 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 Contact Facilities

Sunbank Lane, Altrincham WA15 8XQ 0161 489 3932 Conference Room, Conference area underneath Concorde, Restaurant, Concorde Experience and Tours, Meeting Rooms

Sam’s Chop House Address Contact Facilities

Back Pool Fold (off Cross Street), Manchester M2 1HN 0161 834 3210 Restaurant, Pub

St Anthony’s Centre Address Contact Facilities

Eleventh Street, Trafford Park, Manchester M17 1JF 0161 848 9173 Conference Rooms

San Carlo Fiorentina Address Contact Facilities

Manchester Airport, Marriott Hotel, Hale Road, Hale Barns, Cheshire WA15 8XW 0161 904 5043 Bar & Restaurant

The Coffee House Address Contact Facilities

Warburton House, 14 Eagle Brow, Lymm WA13 0LJ also at 102 School Road, Sale M33 7XB 01925 551797 Coffee, Snacks

The Life Centre Address 235 Washway Road, Sale M33 4BP Contact 0161 850 0770 Facilities Meeting Rooms, Café

The Little Deli Company Address Contact Facilities

42 Stamford Park Road, Hale WA15 9EP 07921 717548 Meeting Rooms, Café

The Mere Golf Resort & Spa Address Contact Facilities

Chester Road, Mere, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6LJ 01565 830 155 Meeting Rooms, Conferences

Victoria Warehouse Event Space and Hotel

Address Contact Facilities

Trafford Wharf Rd, Stretford, Manchester M17 1AB 0161 660 7000 Conference, Leisure, Hotel

Secured loans

Residential mortgages

Nick Jones

Tracey Bailey

Auction finance

All together now.

Buy-to-let and commercial mortgages Irene Thomas

Scott Hendry

If you liked us as Bridging Finance, you’re going to love us as Together.

Bridging finance Chris Baguley

As a group we’ve been lending for over 40 years and we’re able to help with commercial and buy-to-let mortgages, residential mortgages, secured loans and finance for properties purchased at auction. There’s a new name and still the same dedicated team. When your client requires short-term funding, they’ll often need it fast. We go the extra mile to deliver funding that is right for their needs. You can rely on us to provide a truly professional service – we won’t let you down.

If you have a client that needs short term funding call our team on 0161 933 7152 For other products visit togethermoney.com For professional use only. Together is a trading style of Bridging Finance Limited. Bridging Finance Limited is registered in England and Wales - Company Registration Number 03166982. Registered office address: Lake View, Lakeside, Cheadle, Cheshire SK8 3GW. In respect of regulated mortgage contracts, Bridging Finance Limited is an Introducer Appointed Representative of Cheshire Mortgage Corporation Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Business Connect Magazine - December/January 2016

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