Leading commercial property company, Bruntwood, has partnered with University Academy 92 (UA92), investing £1.25million in the higher education institution.

UA92 is a ground-breaking organisation co-founded by Lancaster University and the Class of ‘92. It offers a range of degree and other academic courses aimed at increasing access to higher education for a wider group of young people across the North West. The partnership has been created to help close the digital skills gap and give northern businesses greater access to local, emerging talent – a vital step in levelling up the region.

Based in Old Trafford, Manchester, UA92 aims to make higher education accessible to all, through its founding principles of accessibility, social mobility and inclusivity. It is focused on fully preparing graduates for the world of work by offering industry-led courses. UA92 works closely with a range of businesses to provide mentoring, guest lectures and work experience opportunities, in addition to character and personal development guidance.

Bruntwood has a strong track record in actively collaborating with a broad range of partners to bring about real change in the communities it operates within. This commitment to UA92 is the latest partnership which highlights Bruntwood’s ongoing focus on skills development.

Chris Oglesby, CEO of Bruntwood said: “At Bruntwood, we are proud to support a number of organisations across the North West that help to upskill and provide opportunities to young people and underserved groups. UA92 does just that, so we are incredibly excited to partner with them and help more young people from across our region to access the education and opportunities they deserve.

“Greater Manchester is currently facing a digital skills shortage, and we want to help increase the pool of available talent and help our customers to gain access to the best and brightest the region has to offer. This milestone marks the latest of many proposed collaborations to invest in skills, and reaffirms our commitment to investing in the North’s talent at every step of the journey from education with UA92, to business innovation investment through our co-founded Manchester Angels investment network.

“Our purpose is to create thriving cities and economies. To do that, our communities and societies need to be fair and equal, and we have a part to play in developing that and believe that this investment will help UA92 to unlock the ambition of more people in the North. Our role on the UA92 Board will help join the dots and bolster its strategic leadership. We are committed to continuing to embed ourselves within the communities we operate within and look forward to working with as many of the graduates as possible in future – we can’t wait to see what they do next!”

UA92 opened in 2019 and earlier this year announced it had been awarded a £2million funding grant by Office for Students to open a new Digital Academy later this year. This will deliver enhanced and cutting-edge learning and will increase UA92’s student capacity for digital students almost tenfold, from 65 to 634.

Gary Neville, co-founder at UA92, added: “We’re delighted that Bruntwood are making such a significant investment in UA92, this will drive our mission to make higher education accessible to all no matter their postcode.

“Bruntwood’s commitment to making real change in their communities, and their support of ground breaking organisations, aligns perfectly with our ethos. This is a stellar opportunity for us to boost access to higher education for as many young people as possible across our region.”

Lancaster University’s Vice-Chancellor Andy Schofield commented: “Business partnerships have played a vital role in the UA92 vision since inception, enhancing our students’ learning and providing valuable real-life opportunities and experiences. We are looking forward to working with the Bruntwood team to help provide our students with the distinctive skills and experience they need to succeed in the future.”

DrinkWell, the low-calorie alcohol retailer, has secured £1M investment from a private investor to fuel its ambitious expansion plans.

The funding will enable the Manchester-based eCommerce retailer to scale, growing its team, while investing in product development including the launch of two new brands, Lean Brew IPA and Traces Wine. In addition, DrinkWell has plans to add several new features to its retail business, expand into the European market and invest in marketing to further build its brand, plus drive recruitment, creating jobs across various areas of the business.

Over the last decade DrinkWell founder, Tom Bell, has been disrupting the alcohol market with several product launches in the low-calorie alcohol space and more recently, the launch of the dedicated eCommerce store to cater to increasingly health-conscious consumers.

Recent Mintel data has suggested scrutiny of the alcohol space has highlighted the need for brands across the sector to improve their credentials. The research also solidified the growing trend for low-calorie alcohol products, uncovering 33% of drinkers pay close attention to the number of calories in drinks.[i] Furthermore, earlier this year, the Alcohol Health Alliance found it’s possible to reach the NHS’ recommended daily sugar limit by drinking just two medium-sized glasses of wine.[ii]

To add to this, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Research, obesity is one of the leading risk factors in ill health and death amongst working aged adults in England, costing the NHS £6.1 billion every year. The government research body also recognises alcohol calories are potential contributing factors to weight gain and obesity. As, amongst those who consume alcohol, its consumption is estimated to account for 7% of female calorie intake and 8% of males, which many are unaware of. While every year, 3.5 million adults consume an additional days’ worth of calories each week, amounting to almost an additional two months of food each year.[iii]

Tom Bell, founder of DrinkWell, comments: “For the last few years I’ve made it my life’s work to bring healthier alternatives to the masses, working tirelessly to help UK consumers who enjoy drinking alcohol, but are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact it can have on their health, to find better alternatives to the products they previously had access to.

“The lifestyle drinks market is booming with innovation and more importantly, consumer demand, and DrinkWell is the home of both. We’re now seeing phenomenal demand for cleaner, lighter, and healthier alternatives that don’t compromise on ABV. For this very reason, I created a marketplace for exactly that.”

DrinkWell prides itself on giving consumers the facts to make an informed decision when it comes to their drink of choice. There is no ambiguity on the dietary information of its products, with everything from calories, sugar, ABV (alcohol by volume) and carbohydrates displayed for every product across the board – something the company has lobbied for the industry to follow suit on.

“The shift in consumer demand for lifestyle and healthier options is relentlessly accelerating. We are seeing so much growth in this space and thankfully we have solidified our position as the retailer and now wholesaler of choice for those brands.

“Thanks to the investment we have received, we are also progressing our wholesale proposition directly into the trade – offering a one-stop shop to offer a ‘better for you’ drinks category. Plus, we have several more of our own label products launching over the coming months,” concludes Tom.

NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners (“Maven”) and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (“NPIF”), has invested £250,000 in RiskSmart (“RiskSmart”). RiskSmart is currently developing an integrated risk management platform that will make risk management simpler for SMEs by utilising Machine Learning (“ML”) and Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) technologies to leverage valuable data. Its platform and solutions simplify, centralise and digitalise risk management to increase confidence and business resilience.

Manchester based RiskSmart was founded by Ryan Swann and Michael Aldred, both of whom have an extensive background in risk, having held senior positions in FinTech firms. The business was set up in order to fill a gap in the market, with risk management increasingly becoming a key priority for SMEs with the majority of existing risk management solutions focused on larger enterprise clients. RiskSmart’s platform offers SMEs an easy-to-understand, cost-effective, and simple to deploy platform to manage risk, save time and add value.

Funding from NPIF – Maven Equity Finance will support the business as it aims to bring its innovative solution to market, with its minimal viable product set for a ‘soft-launch’ this summer.

There are more than 6 million SMEs in the UK, accounting for over 99% of all businesses across the country. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has made many businesses reconsider their current compliance and risk management processes and mitigation strategies, with 71% of SME’s predicting an increase in spend in this area over the next five years.

Maven’s investment in the early-stage start-up comes as part of a wider £1.05 million investment in the business.

Dean Cox, Investment Director at Maven, said: “This is an exciting investment for Maven and NPIF. More established providers of risk management solutions focus on larger companies and are priced accordingly so there is a clear gap in the market for an ambitious business like RiskSmart to target the underserved SME segment. The team have significant experience in this sector, and we look forward to helping them move a step closer to creating an enterprise product which can be scaled.”

Ryan Swann, Founder at RiskSmart, added: “Maven and NPIF’s investment marks a significant moment for RiskSmart as we look to launch our solutions to the wider market. We’re excited for the opportunity this provides and we’re looking forward to seeing the positive impact our business will have on SMEs during this uncertain time, where managing risk is more important than ever.”

Sean Hutchinson at the British Business Bank, added: “NPIF continues to provide crucial funding to Northern businesses across the region, creating impactful change for companies looking to move to the next level of their growth journeys. Through investment, RiskSmart is now ready to bring its service to market, offering an important risk-management tool for small businesses to use. NPIF continues to bring equity financing opportunities to small businesses and driving forward its goal in building a stronger North.”

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

Independent asset manager BOOST&Co has achieved a major business milestone as its North team, which has bases in Manchester and Leeds, has now provided more than £115m of growth capital to innovative UK SMEs, in addition to successful exits of all deals completed in 2019 as well as many 2020 deals.

The team has more than tripled in size since the first Northern office was opened in Manchester in October 2018 and now provides tailored funding support for businesses in the North West, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland. Following this expansion, a second northern office was established in Leeds in 2021.

Key strategic appointments during this period include Seth Vaughan and Oliver Reece, both joining as Principals, followed by Michael Collins joining the firm as Business Development Manager, bringing with them more than 30 years of combined, relevant lending experience.

Having funded businesses in a range of sectors including technology, media, telecoms, professional and business services , BOOST&Co has now successfully cemented its standing as a leading growth capital provider in the region and nationally.

As the North team passes this milestone, it creates an ambitious target for BOOST&Co’s other regional offices – many of which have opened in the past 18 months as part of the firm’s commitment to local lending at a time when many traditional banks are withdrawing from the SME lending market.

Ryan Sorby, Head of North and Scotland at BOOST&Co, said: “This is a landmark achievement for everyone in the BOOST&Co North team and for all of our colleagues in the wider business that continue to support our success.

“It was recognition of the vast array of talent and entrepreneurship in the North West that led us to open an office here in 2018, but our experience of working with exciting firms across the northern regions has encouraged us to broaden this scope in the past two years.

“Not only have we now surpassed the £100m funding milestone we have seen successful exits of all our deals completed in 2019 and a good number of our 2020 deals. This is a fantastic story so far and testament to much hard work since the start of BOOST&Co’s journey of supporting fast-growing SMEs.”