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Gaddum awarded Silver Investors in People accreditation

Olivia McHugh

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13/02/2023

<strong>Gaddum awarded Silver Investors in People accreditation</strong>

High praise given to the Greater Manchester charity which has come out stronger following the Covid pandemic

Greater Manchester health and social care charity, Gaddum, has been awarded a strong Silver accreditation from Investors in People (IiP) following a two-day inspection.

Gaddum is an independent charity with a long history of providing quality social and health care services, including advocacy, carer support, and therapy services, to communities across Greater Manchester. More than half of its employees have lived experience of the issues faced by the people they help.

Since the charity’s first IiP inspection in 2019, when it achieved a bronze award, Gaddum’s trustees and leadership team have focused on making substantial improvements for its teams across the organisation.

Of significant change was the restructure of the senior leadership team by Lynne Stafford, chief executive. This has ensured the charity has the focus and capacity at a senior level to take the charity through the changes needed.

Since the last IiP review, COVID-19 has led to unprecedented challenges for the charity and its staff. During this time, Gaddum ramped up its support for staff in terms of their wellbeing and development.

Led by deputy chief executive, Ben Whalley, the charity has made significant leaps forward in the nine indicators required to achieve the nationally recognised Investors in People award. These nine indicators focus on key areas including personal and professional growth, recruitment policies, development opportunities and, particularly important during turbulent times, staff wellbeing.

During this time, improved recruitment processes were introduced, including a blind screening process to ensure the delivery of best practice in equality and diversity. And, upon joining the charity, its probationary process is now much more supportive, and staff reviews have been developed so that Gaddum’s values are at their core and lived and demonstrated.

Investors in People awarded Gaddum a very high score of 767 out of 900, which is 5.4% higher than the average IiP score – which includes large corporates with much bigger budgets. And, compared with “like for like” organisations, Gaddum scored 2.7% higher than the average charity score.

In Gaddum’s latest IiP report, several members of the Gaddum team provided anonymous quotes. One employee said: “We have regular meetings, and I am always asked my opinions, it’s good to feel involved in things”.

Another added: “I love working here, I feel I have a voice and people, including senior leaders, are prepared to listen”.

A further member of staff said: “If I need to change anything, I’m empowered to get on with it”.

One member of the Gaddum team commented: “I enjoy the opportunity to try new things and managers are open to you doing this and putting ideas forward, it makes you feel innovative.”

Ben Whalley, deputy chief executive of Gaddum, said: “The whole team is absolutely delighted to receive this strong Silver accreditation and recognition from Investors in People, particularly as it was achieved through such a turbulent time while we were dealing with the impact of the pandemic.

“Our staff are our strongest asset in delivering on the commitment we have made to people across Greater Manchester and we will absolutely use this platform to improve and aim for Gold – not because of the colour, but because it really signifies how much we care about our workforce.

“Over the last three years, we have been working really hard to provide better support to every member of the Gaddum team and ensuring that our working culture is up there with the best. That’s why we are particularly proud that Investors in People highlighted that we are living our values and linking them to actual behaviours.

“Over 50k organisations have been assessed for IiP since 1991 and so, for a small charity, Gaddum has done amazingly well, especially when you consider the unprecedented time we’ve been through and in comparison to big companies with big budgets going through the IiP process.”

Joanne Lever from Investors in People who led the evaluation, said “Congratulations on your excellent achievement! You’ve done remarkably well to achieve Silver in a particularly tough time. I’d like to thank Ben and his team for their hard work and collaboration with me. You are in fine company with a host of organisations who recognise the value of their people.”

Local firms join forces for free employment law, tax and payroll update seminar

Olivia McHugh

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13/02/2023

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<strong>Local firms join forces for free employment law, tax and payroll update seminar</strong>

Two of Bury’s leading businesses, PM+M – the chartered accountancy, business advisory and financial planning group, and local law firm Clough & Willis are collaborating on an event that will tackle some of the key employment law, tax and payroll issues that companies are facing today.

The free to attend seminar will be taking place on Wednesday 1^st March at the Red Hall Hotel from 8am to 10am.

Guests will be updated on a number of hot topics and how they effect both legislation and an employer’s responsibility, including hybrid and home working; holiday pay and the national minimum wage; salary sacrifice; auto enrolment pensions and IR35

The keynote speakers will be Julie Mason, payroll director at PM+M; Julie Walsh, tax manager at PM+M; and Chris Macwilliam, partner and head of employment at Clough & Willis.

Julie Mason said: “Employers are facing a minefield of legislation and it can be hard to see the wood for the trees. Our aim is to cut through everything and tell businesses what they need to know.”

Chris added: “Employment law is complex and even more so now that we are working in such a challenging economic environment. We want this free seminar to deliver real value so guests walk away better informed and able to drive their businesses forward.”

The event is aimed at HR and payroll professionals, senior decision-makers and business owners. Places can be booked via Eventbrite:

Employment Law, Tax and Payroll Update – Bury Tickets, Wed 1 Mar 2023 at 08:00 | Eventbrite

Businesses urged to seize the net zero opportunity

Olivia McHugh

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13/02/2023

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<strong>Businesses urged to seize the net zero opportunity</strong>

Businesses investing in net zero technology and practice will be at the forefront of unprecedented opportunities for growth.

That’s the message from entrepreneur Eddie Black who says the net zero industrial revolution offers businesses the chance to make a positive impact on the planet while future-proofing their own organisations.

Speaking as the UK’s first ever Hydrogen Week gets underway (February 13th to 19th), Eddie, who is Managing Director of Scottish-based solutions business Eco Group, believes organisations which commit to reducing their carbon footprint will reap the benefits both now and in years to come.

Eddie’s own business is pioneering world-leading net zero technology with the launch of a hydrogen separation system at its HQ in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, this summer.

Eco’s collaboration with climate tech company Levidian will see the first remote deployment of the LOOP technology in the UK, producing hydrogen on site for use in R&D projects across a variety of sectors.

“As a clean, low carbon energy source, hydrogen will play a crucial role in the UK’s transition to net zero,” he said.

“As a business we have been following the development of this technology for several years and our collaboration with Levidian offers a practical, decentralised energy solution for businesses and industry.

“With the increasing pressures of rising costs, supply chain issues and a challenging labour market, the thought of adding net zero to your to-do list can seem overwhelming but it is essential to future-proofing your business.

“The question businesses should be asking themselves is not whether they should implement a net zero strategy but whether they can afford not to. Actively demonstrating your commitment to reducing your carbon footprint will help retain staff and clients, win new customers and contracts, and attract talent to your organisation.

“By seeing net zero as an opportunity rather than a challenge, you can make a positive impact both on the planet and your own business value.

“It’s not just good business sense, it’s a chance to do business for good and with purpose.”

Eddie’s comments follow the publication last month of the Mission Zero report by former energy minister MP Chris Skidmore. Commissioned by the UK Government last year, it is based on more than 1,800 responses from business and climate experts, making it one of the largest engagement exercises on net zero in the UK.

The report stated that net zero was the economic opportunity of the 21st century and included recommendations to back businesses in net zero transition.

The UK Government has also announced that it will be creating a new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which will focus on security of energy supply, ensuring properly functioning markets, greater energy efficiency and seizing the opportunities of net zero to lead the world in new green industries.

Eddie said making the transition to net zero easy, accessible and affordable for businesses was essential to ensuring a sustainable future.

“SMEs are the main drivers of job creation, innovation and growth in the UK economy and they have the potential to be the catalyst to achieving the UK Government’s net zero target by 2050 (2045 in Scotland),” he said.

“We know that policies and regulations need to change to make net zero adoption easier for SMEs and we’re meeting regularly with representatives from Government and local authorities to push for change across a range of sectors and areas.”

Multi-disciplined solutions business, Eco Group, supports businesses and organisations across the UK on their net zero journey through its EcoGoZero range of carbon mitigation solutions which includes EV charging stations, off-grid lighting and energy decentralisation.

The Levidian LOOP10 system with fully integrated hydrogen separation which is due to be deployed at Eco’s HQ uses a patented low temperature, low pressure process to crack methane into its constituent atoms, hydrogen and carbon, without the need for catalysts or additives – decarbonising methane-rich gas to deliver hydrogen and graphene on site.

Following the initial deployment of the LOOP10, Eco will work with clients and partners to deploy larger LOOP units, creating decentralised hydrogen hubs. A single LOOP1000 reduces CO2 equivalent (CO2e) by approximately 2,400 tonnes per year. The project is being backed by business and community development agency, South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE).

Eddie said: “The ultimate objective is to develop hydrogen hubs which will enable businesses and industry to reduce their carbon footprint through self-producing hydrogen for their own use, which supports the decarbonisation of our economy.

“By working on a model of decentralised hydrogen hubs, it accelerates the transition to net zero because businesses do not have to rely on the delivery of a national hydrogen pipeline network.

“In order to reach net zero targets, we need to challenge conventional thinking and think outside the box. The fact is that everyone can make a difference and, through sharing knowledge and collaborating with each other, businesses can be a force for real and lasting change.”

Hydrogen Week brings together stakeholders across the UK to celebrate and promote the role of hydrogen in reaching net zero. For more information visit www.hydrogenweek.co.uk #H2Week

www.ecogozero.co.uk

Salford Loading launched to support creatives and community at Quayside MediaCity

Olivia McHugh

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13/02/2023

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<strong>Salford Loading launched to support creatives and community at Quayside MediaCity</strong>

For the first time, visual arts charity The Art House, is partnering with Quayside MediaCity to provide opportunities for artists, collectives and social enterprises within the local community to grow their fledgling business or community initiative within a retail environment.

The project, Salford Loading…, produced by The Art House, together with community partners, will help to facilitate the abundance of talent and creativity within Salford and surrounding areas for both community and commercial use.

The project has been kick started by Nicola Fernandes, who set up pop-up gift shop Flock and Gaggle which showcases local makers and artists and will also work with Quayside and the wider creative community to co-ordinate Salford Loading…

MWfeb23 1003 — Nicola from Flock and Gaggle at Quayside MediaCityUK Shopping has moved into a bigger shop after the success of her pop up shop

Nicola, who is also plugged into the local creative community through running her store and artist studio in Salford’s Islington Mill, said: “During challenging times, it’s vital creatives and communities still have the opportunity to grow and supporting local has never been more important. By collaborating with Quayside in this way, we want to create a new kind of ecosystem which sees spaces used in a cycle of both local and commercial use, benefiting everyone who takes part.”

Kelly Hurst, Centre Manager for Quayside added: “This is an exciting, new concept for us to adopt which will reinvigorate space within Quayside, support the community but also help in its steady evolution as a town centre provision for those who live and work within MediaCity and The Quays.”

Lucy Norton, Project Coordinator at The Art House said: “The Salford Loading project is dedicated to creating attainable opportunities for creatives and supporting communities and we’re delighted to be working with the Quayside team in making connections across Salford, collaborating with more artists, organisations and charities than ever before.”

The Salford Loading initiative builds on the success of two projects last year which saw the Manchester Fashion Movement deliver its unique concept store celebrating new, sustainable and independent brands with an inclusive space for events as well as Oakwood Academy’s charity store.

The store is entirely run by pupils from the MediaCity based sixth form college which supports pupils with additional needs.

Find out more about The Salford Loading project and spaces available here today.

Partner promotion at Beever and Struthers chartered accountants and business advisors following doubling in size of internal audit team over three years

Olivia McHugh

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13/02/2023

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<strong>Partner promotion at Beever and Struthers chartered accountants and business advisors following doubling in size of internal audit team over three years</strong>

Narinder Sandher has been promoted to partner at accountants and business advisors Beever and Struthers within the firm’s risk, audit, assurance and advisory team.

Narinder joined Beever and Struthers as director in 2019 and has been instrumental in the growth and diversification of the firm’s internal audit and consulting services across the social housing, charity, and education sectors.

He also established an IT audit team which provides specialist IT audit services across the public, not for profit and commercial sectors.

Following an increase in income and enjoying ongoing growth, the not-for-profit division at Beever and Struthers, including risk, audit, assurance and advisory, now consists of 90 dedicated colleagues delivering a wide range of services tailored to clients.

Narinder said: “I’m delighted to be a part of such a dynamic firm. I’m proud to work with a dedicated and professional team able to deliver such outstanding client service resulting in a huge range of new opportunities for the firm”.

Maria Hallows, head of social housing and executive partner at Beever and Struthers, said: “We are thrilled that Narinder is a Partner with the firm, and this is testament to the hard work put in by him and our team.

“We continue to be very proud of our reputation and standing within the social housing sector, and promoting Narinder to Partner reflects our continuing investment in the sector built on delivering a first-class service to our clients.

“We continue to invest in the future of our firm, and Narinder has been instrumental in helping us deliver consistent performance across our locations.”

Formed more than 100 years ago, accountants and business advisors Beever and Struthers have a strong not-for-profit reputation based on the provision of high quality, tailored services to the UK social housing sector.

The firm is one of the UK’s leading independent accountancy practices with offices in Manchester, London, Birmingham, and Blackburn.

Among its core strengths is a substantial not-for-profit division that ranks second as a provider of audit and assurance services to many of the leading UK private registered providers.

Beever and Struthers is a member of HLB International, a dynamic network of independent professional accounting firms and business advisors. HLB International is a leading global network comprising locally well-established member firms which mostly rank among the Top 12 nationally. HLB International is present in 157 countries, with almost 40,000 staff and partners in 1,030-member firm offices worldwide.

Growth in focus as Brooks Macdonald announces trio of senior appointments

Olivia McHugh

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13/02/2023

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<strong>Growth in focus as Brooks Macdonald announces trio of senior appointments</strong>

Brooks Macdonald, a leading investment manager with £16.2 billion in funds under management, is delighted to announce a trio of appointments in its senior team. These appointments demonstrate the Group’s continued ability to attract and retain the best talent in the industry.

Leanne Barnham will shortly be joining Brooks Macdonald in the newly created Global Head of Marketing role. Reporting to Sarah Ackland, Global Head of Distribution & Marketing, Leanne will be responsible for driving the marketing strategy and execution, supporting Brooks Macdonald’s medium term ambition to become a top five wealth manager within the UK and Crown Dependencies. Leanne has more than 15 years in investment management and brings a deep knowledge of marketing in the sector. She joins from Ninety One where she was Head of UK Marketing. She was previously Global Head of Marketing with Architas Multi-Manager and, in addition, has held marketing roles at several investment management houses.

Sarah Ackland, Global Head of Distribution & Marketing at Brooks Macdonald, said: “Leanne’s experience and proven industry expertise make her a perfect fit to lead the marketing team as we move into our next phase of growth. I am very much looking forward to working with Leanne to continue to drive forward the firm’s proposition.”

Andrew Bennie and Rachael Marsden have been appointed as the Heads of Investment Management for Manchester and Leeds, respectively. These appointments recognise the important role that Andrew and Rachael have played as part of the Manchester and Leeds teams. Andrew has been a part of Brooks Macdonald for 13 years and last year was promoted to Senior Investment Director. He has a demonstrated history of managing bespoke investment portfolios on behalf of a range of private clients. Rachael joined Brooks Macdonald in 2019 and was promoted to Senior Investment Director last year. She has more than 15 years’ experience in managing portfolios for advisers, private clients, charities, companies, trusts and pensions.

Robin Eggar, Managing Director, Head of UK Investment Management (UKIM) noted: “These appointments reflect the group’s ambitious growth targets and desire to provide outstanding service to our clients and intermediaries. Looking forward, I am excited by the opportunity to continue working closely with Andrew and Rachael to build on our history of success in the North West and Yorkshire regions.”

KPMG’s technology engineering grads celebrate after completing bespoke Northcoders bootcamp programme

Olivia McHugh

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13/02/2023

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<strong>KPMG’s technology engineering grads celebrate after completing bespoke Northcoders bootcamp programme</strong>

Northcoders – one of the UK’s leading independent providers of training programmes for software coding and data engineering – has successfully delivered a tailored 14-week software development programme to KPMG’s new 19-strong Technology Engineering Graduate intake. This is the first time the two companies have collaborated.

As KPMG’s onboarding partner, Northcoders curated the bespoke programme that covered the core fundamentals of building websites and mobile phone apps as well as a specific module on CloudOps.

The core aim was to upskill the graduates and improve their tech capabilities before they are deployed and start working with the firm’s clients across the UK. The three year-long blended KPMG Technology Engineering Graduate Programme is designed to support graduates on their journeys for a successful career in technology. They have opportunities to learn and develop a wide range of hands-on technical skills and to help deliver successful outcomes for clients.

The Northcoders x KPMG course curriculum built their confidence with JavaScript laying the foundations for them to be able to handle data and create interactive websites and apps, utilising their newly found semantic HTML and responsive CSS skills. It then moved on to give them an understanding of test-driven and object-oriented development, using Node.js to run code for the back end, and focus on dealing with asynchronous programming as well as APIs, databases and SQL and CloudOps.

The latter part of the onboarding academy then moved into UX design and React, the most in-demand front-end frameworks, which they used to create entire complex front-ends for their website and app projects. The final project phase consolidated all that they had learned and saw groups work together to create a completed app which they showcased at their graduation.

Amul Batra – chief operating officer at Northcoders – said: “We were delighted to work with KPMG as their onboarding partner and help them achieve both their people development and business goals. The firm’s Technology Engineering Graduate Programme is a truly innovative scheme that is all about helping the best people build lasting careers in the tech sector. That aligns perfectly with we what we are trying to achieve as business. We are really looking forward to now seeing the KPMG x Northcoders cohort flourish as they forge ahead in their chosen specialisms.”

Yasmin De Nardo – Head of Connected Technology Academy at KPMG – added: “It has been fantastic working with Northcoders over the past few months and to see the entire cohort graduate. The KPMG x Northcoders programme’s varied curriculum has advanced each person’s tech capabilities and given them new, valuable skills which they can apply to their roles within the business. That is something to celebrate as we continue to inspire, educate and empower young tech talent.”

Low carbon older persons’ affordable homes to be built by housing provider on site of former Chorlton Leisure Centre

Olivia McHugh

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13/02/2023

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Low carbon older persons’ affordable homes to be built by housing provider on site of former Chorlton Leisure Centre

Council’s executive are voting next week (Wed 15th Feb) on whether to dispose of the former Chorlton Leisure Centre site for affordable housing.

Subject to securing an appropriate planning consent, the site will be transferred to the housing provider Mosscare St Vincents (MSV) on a 999 year lease after they were chosen as the successful bidder for the site following a tender process in 2021.

Initial proposals for the site – subject to consultation and the planning process – would be to demolish the existing buildings to create 50 new highly sustainable affordable apartments, each built to modern energy efficiency standards in both fabric and construction.

View 6 Mcr Rd North PRESS — View from Manchester Road North.

The scheme would target over 55s, creating quality housing options for Manchester people later in life, with a mix of 40 affordable rent homes, seven for shared ownership, and three properties that would be used by the Council’s Adult Social Care team for neighbourhood apartments.

The homes being used by the Council’s Adult Social Care team will provide accommodation for people who are well enough to be discharged from hospital, but still require some care before they can return home.

Each of the homes would be built to the HAPPI design principles, which means they will have large windows for natural light, designed to be spacious inside and can be adapted to meet the care needs of future residents – alongside a sustainable design.

Sustainable features will include Mechanical Vent Heat Recovery Systems (MVHR) and Air Source Heat pumps (no gas supply), alongside energy efficient appliances. The building design itself will aim to maximise the capture and use of daylight and passive solar energy, whilst avoiding excessive solar gain in summer.

A travel plan for the development will encourage active travel options, ample bicycle storage will be available to residents along with electric vehicle (EV) charging. This is alongside Chorlton’s excellent public transport connections to the city centre, Wythenshawe and the airport.

The site is expected to transfer formally to MSV in the summer of 2023 and a public consultation will be held around the proposals for the site in the coming weeks.

LINK TO EXEC REPORT

Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said:

“We have had ambitions to bring affordable housing to this site in Chorlton for some years and so it’s a real milestone moment that we can approve the transfer of the site to MSV to then begin a public consultation for affordable housing in this key location.

“MSV have a tested record of delivering brilliant, high quality and highly sustainable homes for older people – most recently at Bowes House in Moss Side. This development will create housing options for older people who may want to move from larger family homes – or ‘rightsizing’ – which will in turn open up these larger homes for other families to settle.

“The Council could have had received a higher value return if we decided to sell this site to a private developer on the open market, but we have made a commitment to increasing the number of affordable homes for Manchester people, particularly in areas like Chorlton where we have an opportunity to create more diversity in the housing market.”

Charlie Norman, CEO for MSV, said:

“It’s fantastic news that the land transfer to MSV is underway and I’d like to thank our partners at Manchester City Council for their support. This is exactly the kind of investment we need in Manchester – 50 Later Living apartments for affordable rent, shared ownership and for people coming out of hospital and back into the community.

“The development is aimed at people in Chorlton and the local area and will play a significant part in freeing up larger family homes to those on the waiting list. We plan to deliver a beautiful, bright and modern scheme with lots of light and space to provide residents with a home suitable for their time in life. It’s very exciting to see this project get off the ground.”

The winners of the 2023 Manchester Hoteliers’ Association Awards

Olivia McHugh

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13/02/2023

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<strong>The winners of the 2023 Manchester Hoteliers’ Association Awards</strong>

Winners of this year’s Manchester Hoteliers’ Association (MHA) Awards have been announced during an awards night attended by more than 600 people on Friday evening (10th February 2023).

Ten prestigious awards, including Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality, were given out at Vermillion in Manchester as the region’s hospitality industry toasted to the year just gone.

Johan Scheepers, of Kimpton Clocktower, landed the Mentor of the Year accolade sponsored by Matthew Clark, while Outstanding Contribution Award, sponsored by UKGlobal, went to Susan Hough at The Midland Hotel. Back of House Customer Service, sponsored by The Big Orange Cleaning Company, was taken home by Julie Rogers from The Lowry Hotel, while the Rising Star, sponsored by Manchester Metropolitan University, went to AJ Ross-Jones, from Best Western Cresta Court Hotel.

Dakota Hotel took home both the Bright Idea sponsored by MINT People and Top Team sponsored by Stephensons, as well as Pino Lombardo from Dakota Hotel winning Front of House Customer Service sponsored by Expedia.

Sustainable Hotel sponsored by Uber for Business – a new category introduced this year, was won by Manchester Marriott V&A Hotel, while Young Chef of the Year sponsored by Caterer.com was taken home by Keenan Lawrence from The Edwardian Manchester.

Nathanial Farrell of Clayton Hotel Manchester City Centre also took home the Unsung Hero Award sponsored by Polkadot.

Manchester Hoteliers’ Association Chair Adrian Ellis congratulated all shortlisted, winners and attendees of the evening for ‘another fantastic spectacle’ and wished all the best for the rest of 2023.

He said: “The calibre of entries this year was once again extremely strong and took the judges three days to come to a final decision, which is a testament to the fantastic talent we have here in Manchester’s hospitality industry.

“We had a great evening celebrating another brilliant but challenging 12 months for the industry and I wish all the best for the rest of the year.”

Paul Cook, Managing Director at UKGlobal – Headline Sponsor of this years’ MHA Ball said: “UKGlobal Insurance Brokers are both privileged and proud to have been the headline sponsor for this year’s MHA Awards & Ball. The great awareness and support this brings to local charities aligns with our own company values which is one of the key reasons we wanted to contribute to the event. We very much look forward to supporting the MHA and its members for years to come.”

Cathryn O’Grady, MHA event organiser commented: “We would like to thank all the partners who supported the event this year. In addition, to the sponsors mentioned above we must thank Anita Ryan, Ice Entertainment, Simon Wood, Springbank, The Pull, Vermilion, Vision Events and all of our food partners.

“Together we have raised over £40,000 for MHA’s chosen charities including Hospitality Action, Mustard Tree, Wood Street Mission and MIND Manchester.”

Manchester Hoteliers’ Association 18th Annual Ball and Awards Winners 2023

Back of House Customer Service sponsored by The Big Orange Cleaning Company

Julie Rogers, The Lowry Hotel

Bright Idea sponsored by MINT People

Dakota Hotel Marketing Team

Front of House Customer Service sponsored by Expedia

Pino Lombardo, Dakota Hotel Manchester

Mentor of the Year sponsored by Matthew Clark

Johan Scheepers, Kimpton Clocktower Hotel

Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality sponsored by UKGlobal

Susan Hough, The Midland Hotel

Rising Star sponsored by Manchester Metropolitan University

AJ Ross-Jones, Best Western Cresta Court Hotel

Sustainable Hotel sponsored by Uber for Business

Manchester Marriott Victoria & Albert Hotel

Top Team sponsored by Stephensons

Dakota Manchester Team

Unsung Hero sponsored by Polkadot Design & Print

Nathanial Farrell, Clayton Hotel Manchester City Centre

Young Chef of the Year sponsored by Caterer.com

Keenan Lawrence, The Edwardian Manchester, A Radisson Collection Hotel

Disrupting the Cyber Divide between the North and South

Cyber
Tech

Olivia McHugh

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13/02/2023

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Disrupting the Cyber Divide between the North and South

Innovative cyber security experts from three regions have joined forces in the North to address the lack of investment and development.

Cyber security is a necessity across every business and the high-growth sector is on an upward trajectory with annual cyber security revenue in the UK now estimated at a huge £10.1 billion, an increase of 14% in the last year alone. However, when it comes to the North/South divide the statistics are a cybercrime in themselves with recent statistics citing cyber security investment in the southern regions accumulated to £982.4 million, falling very short was the Northern regions with just £8 million investment.

With a clear mission to facilitate and level up the divide three cyber security clusters in the North – North West Cyber Security Cluster, Yorkshire Cyber Security Cluster and CyberNorth have come together with UKC3 in commissioning the Northern Cyber Clusters Collaboration project, with the aim to better understand cyber security assets and key cyber security players in the Northern regions, and to develop ways for them to work together to increase visibility and to elevate growth and opportunities in the sector.

The cyber security threat and landscape is always evolving, and attacks are becoming more prevalent and sophisticated, with data breaches and hacks affecting everything from retail to healthcare to finance. Recent research cited that cyber attacks on UK organisations surged by 77% in 2002, with the UK education sector alone seeing a 257% increase in attacks compared to 2021.

There are approximately 1,800 firms within the UK providing cyber security products and services, and 52,700 people employed full-time in cyber security related roles. Unfortunately, though the statistics expose that the sector is not growing at the same rate across the country, with the North severely underrepresented.

Through the collaboration, the clusters are seeking to understand what can be done to create strong ties, develop relationships and nurture collaboration that will see individuals, organisations, communities, sectors and the economy throughout the North of England benefit. Through a digital survey and a series of events in Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and in cities in the North East and Yorkshire the team will gather insight in a move to facilitate a stronger force on the ground in the North.

Paul Boardman, Director, North West Cyber Security Cluster added:

“This collaborative campaign is vital to drive growth and development in the Northern regions. We already have some key players working in our regions – we now need to work together to maximise the opportunities that come in, whilst making sure that the opportunities that are already here stay.”

Through the survey (which is now live) and the regional events the Northern Cyber Clusters’ Collaboration project aims to gather key contributions from cyber security organisations, communities and professionals to find out what they want out of the cluster collaboration across the North of England, and how they see the clusters progressing in the future.

The cyber security industry continues to be one of the fastest growing economies in the UK, and in the North, there is the drive to grow the sector across the regions and to position the North as a great and safe place to access cyber security expertise, with a host of key organisations such as NEBRC, Universities, Mayoral authorities, Space and Satellite Applications and Offshore Renewables Energy Centre pushing a united profile. Key players in the Northern regions include GCHQ and DiSH which shows the capacity and opportunity to further develop and increase visibility of the sector in the North.

The employment market continues to be a talking point in 2023, especially in terms of recruiting and retaining talent in the regions. The Southern regions of South West, London and South East have an estimated 53% of UK based cyber security employment, while the Northern regions North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, and North East have just 16%. Plus, the average advertised salaries for cyber security roles in the Southern regions are £11,500 higher than in the Northern regions (£62,500 versus £51,000).

The UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration exists to support Cyber Clusters in their mission to drive economic growth in the sector. This is done through funding and by enabling opportunities for networking, knowledge exchange, sharing of best practice, and identification of opportunities for regional and ultimately national growth. As a national body, the UKC3 works across public, private sectors, and academia and provides a single entity for organisations wishing to engage with the UK Cyber Cluster community.

Linda Smith, UKC3 Chair, UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration said:

“We welcome this collaborative and focussed initiative to tackle and redirect more resources to underrepresented regions. Findings from the UK Cyber Security Sectoral Analysis 2022 have highlighted the strong discrepancies in the Northern regions which we need to work together to address.

There are an increasing number of key businesses and experts working across the Northern regions, and we would urge companies and individuals to come forward to engage with this collaborative project, and we look forward to working with the clusters to drive this forward.”

The survey is now live: https://ukc3.co.uk/northern-cyber-clusters-collaboration-project and the Northern Cyber Clusters Collaboration project are urging anyone from the North East, North West or Yorkshire cyber security sector, be that sole traders, SME’s, to multi-nationals from academia to private to public sector to get involved and help level up the North.

To follow the project and find out more: https://ukc3.co.uk/northern-cyber-clusters-collaboration-project/

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