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Travel Counsellors calls to new franchisees as June bookings continue to soar in a record-breaking month

Hospitality

Sam Whitear

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04/07/2022

Travel Counsellors calls to new franchisees as June bookings continue to soar in a record-breaking month

(30 June 2022) Manchester based Travel Counsellors, one of the UK’s leading independent travel companies continues to break all records, with nearly 60 Travel Counsellors (TCs) recording their strongest ever sales month in June.

One TC generated the highest number of sales ever recorded for a single person in the company’s history, at £1.5 million. This highlight follows six month’s record-breaking performance, with sales running at 150 percent of pre-pandemic levels. The company also welcomed a record 18 new Travel Counsellors business owners this month, with ten of these coming from outside the travel industry.

As bookings continue to go from strength to strength, the company is looking to recruit more TCs to maximise growing demand. The Travel Counsellors’ community consists of over 1,500 TCs in the UK alone, from leisure and corporate travel and non-travel backgrounds. Many of those with travel experience are joining Travel Counsellors to stay in a profession they love, whilst benefitting from the flexibility, care and support that the Travel Counsellors’ model offers.

Those with no travel experience have joined the Travel Counsellors Academy, which provides training and mentoring for entrepreneurs wanting a career change and to start their own business in the travel industry. The six-month on boarding programme means that Academy trainees train on the job, they are able to start making bookings from week two, whilst taking advantage of the comprehensive support offered by the training team. An entrepreneurial mind-set, a passion for travel, and being brilliant with people are the only pre requisites.

There are six different entry routes to becoming a Travel Counsellor and a dedicated Franchisee Team is on hand to advise on the best route for each individual. Travel Counsellors’ ethos is to put people at the heart of everything, from providing entrepreneurs with the tools, technology and support to build flourishing leisure and corporate travel businesses, to providing customers with the best possible travel experience.

Kirsten Hughes, UK managing director at Travel Counsellors, said: “We have had a tremendous six months and our record-breaking June shows no sign of slowing down. We are actively looking for new franchisees and can offer ambitious individuals the opportunity to work flexibly and be in charge of their own destiny. This is something that we know many are searching for after reassessing their own personal goals over the last two very difficult years. Franchisees with Travel Counsellors not only get to work in an aspirational industry where no two days are the same, but they also receive the support of an incredibly experienced and supportive community. So if the time is right to join our expanding business, please give us a call and speak to our franchisee team.”

The future looks bright for Travel Counsellors; the company has already generated more departures for June to October than in 2019 and has generated nearly £100 million bookings for 2023.

Fully-funded support for hospitality sector to drive recruitment and boost growth

Sam Whitear

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04/07/2022

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Fully-funded support for hospitality sector to drive recruitment and boost growth

People working across Greater Manchester’s hospitality scene are being offered fully-funded opportunities to drive productivity and progression following the effects of Covid-19.

Backed by Sacha Lord, Greater Manchester’s Night Time Economy Adviser, Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA) three-year Skills for Growth programme aims to upskill and retrain employees to aid staff retention, boost morale and attract new staff into the industry.

Through the programme’s bespoke Skills for Growth – SME Support service, which is being delivered by GC Business Growth Hub, businesses in the city-region can work with qualified Skills Coaches for up to six months who will offer an in-depth business diagnostic and workforce development plan tailored to achieve the business’ growth ambitions as well as creating personal employee development plans and signposting to appropriate training courses.

Speaking about the programme, Mr. Lord said: “This is huge for the hospitality sector. We have seen an exodus of workers over the past two to three years and many operators are having huge difficulties either attracting new staff to plug skills gaps, or financing training programmes to upskill existing employees.

“This programme offers hope to operators across Greater Manchester’s hospitality and night-time economy sector and will give them a real helping hand through these difficult economic times.”

Hospitality is an important sector for the city-region, accounting for approximately 86,000 jobs, equating to more than 6% of Greater Manchester’s workforce.

However, the sector has suffered astronomically due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is now experiencing an increase in job vacancies at much higher levels than seen pre-pandemic. As of August 2021, there were around 2,500 unfulfilled hospitality jobs in Greater Manchester.

Skills for Growth tackles challenges like this in hospitality – and in other industries – by working directly with businesses to understand their needs and offering responsive support.

Cheadle based events business, Fresh Group, has seen staff undertake 96 training courses since engaging with Skills for Growth – SME Support, which have helped to create four new jobs, increase productivity by 20 per cent and make £18,000 in savings.

Kelly Humphreys, Head of Support, Fresh Approach UK, said: “We’ve had a great experience with the Growth Company, accessing funded training for over half our team.

“We would not have been able to offer this number or variety of training to the team without the support of the team at Skills for Growth – SME Support or the funding towards training.”

One key part of the programme is the Greater Manchester Skills Map – an online resource pulling together fully funded commissioned provision across a number of industries as part of the wider Skills for Growth programme as well as other training opportunities outside of Skills for Growth that are available to businesses and individuals in Greater Manchester.

The resource acts as a ‘one stop shop’, making navigating the skills system much easier for employers and learners.

Currently, the directory holds information from more than 200 training providers, including top universities, colleges and commercial organisations and lists more than 2,000 different training courses as well as 457 apprenticeship programmes.

The resource is open to all SMEs in Greater Manchester but for full access, businesses must be registered on the programme.

Some of the training listed on GM Skills Map specific to the hospitality industry include:

Hospitality and catering (food production and cooking)
Food safety
Hospitality leadership
Security and customer service programme
Equality and diversity in the workplace
Customer service for hospitality

Dawn Duggan, Head of People Skills and Talent at GC Business Growth Hub said: “Businesses across the hospitality industry are feeling the impact of skills shortages and we want to work with as many of them as possible to ensure they are accessing the range of training available to them.

“Skills for Growth is all about helping SMEs, including the likes of bars and restaurants in Greater Manchester, to grow by identifying skills gaps and providing both the businesses and individuals with training and development to fill them.

“Hospitality businesses that work with us also get the chance to shape the future of the training landscape in Greater Manchester. When we identify skills gaps we feed this information back to Greater Manchester Combined Authority who then look to develop bespoke, fully funded training to support others in the city-region’s hospitality workforce to thrive.

“We know that it’s a challenging time for the hospitality industry and we’d urge any business that thinks they could use some help with skills shortages to get in touch to see what we can do for them.”

Skills for Growth is funded through the European Social Fund (ESF) and is an innovative £42m programme that has been developed to fill skills gaps in a number of industries in Greater Manchester.

There are two key strands to the programme; skills training delivered by a number of commissioned providers focusing on upskilling workforces in named sectors and, wraparound SME support for all industries delivered by GC Business Growth Hub.

So far, nine partners have been brought on board offering fully-funded training to businesses and those working across the digital, health and social care, construction, manufacturing, retrofit and logistics industries.

For more information about the Skills for Growth programme, visit www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/skillsforgrowth. Or, to find out more about Skills for Growth – SME Support, visit www.skillsforgrowthsme.co.uk.

Manchester-based entrepreneur announced as Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2022 finalist

Awards

Sam Whitear

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01/07/2022

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Manchester-based entrepreneur announced as Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2022 finalist

Manchester based Claire Turpin has been recognised as one of the best in the business after being named as a finalist in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

Eco-luxe activewear brand CONTUR creates shape-enhancing activewear designed to flaunt the way women look, feel and perform as they move effortlessly between spin class and street, lunch date and lifting.

Designed and manufactured in the UK, CONTUR’s range of sports crops, vests and leggings use super-soft textiles fashioned in Italy from ECONYL (repurposed nylons), ocean plastics and recycled cotton. The resulting product range is a collection of premium activewear which enhances women’s natural curves with unparalleled muscular compression, shape retention, abrasion resistance and breathability – as they work on their health, fitness and life.

Claire Turpin is one of the shortlisted business leaders from across the nation to have been selected out of over 5,300 entrants – the most the awards has ever had.
The Great British Entrepreneur Awards, in partnership with Starling Bank, acknowledges and champions the hard work and uplifting stories of business owners across the UK, with an emphasis on their journey and resilience over financial achievements.
Twelve awards will be given out per region for categories including Disruptor of the Year, Entrepreneur for Good Award, and the Great British Entrepreneur of the Year. Notable winners from previous years include Social Chain founder Steven Bartlett, who went on to become the youngest ever investor on BBC’s Dragon’s Den.
This year’s awards will also feature a brand new award highlighting the organisations investing in the training and development of young people. The John Caudwell Blaze Your Own Trail Award looks to recognise outstanding examples of businesses offering apprenticeships, vocational training, and diversity and inclusion initiatives, all in the name of improving young people’s access to work.
The winners will be announced at a Grand Final, held at the Grosvenor Hotel in London on 21st November.
This year is the 10th anniversary of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards. The alumni has collectively generated over £30 billion in revenue and employed more than 450,000 people.

To mark the milestone year for the programme, entrants will have the chance to win over £30,000 worth of marketing support and a tree will be planted for every application submitted with the support of Ecologi.

Founder of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, Francesca James, said the quality of this year’s entrants exemplified the strength of entrepreneurship across the UK: “The quality of applications is consistently excellent year on year, but we have been especially blown away by the innovation, drive and determination demonstrated this year. Shortlisting from so many inspiring contenders has been more challenging than ever, with many deserving cases put forward and an ever-growing business community thriving across the country.

“From the pandemic to the ongoing cost of living crisis, business owners haven’t had it easy over the past few years, but it’s a testament to the tenacity and perseverance of these entrepreneurs that they have continued on their path and refused to give in.

“This year’s finalists should be so proud of what they’ve already achieved both in business and in being shortlisted for an award – we’re looking forward to seeing everyone at the Finals and unveiling the winners!”

Anne Boden MBE, Founder of Starling Bank, headline partner of the Awards, said: “Congratulations to all those businesses who have made the shortlist. It’s great to see the passion, resilience and amazing ingenuity from entrepreneurs across so many categories.”

ROWAN SETS UP NEW LEADERSHIP ADVISORY TEAM

Appointments

Sam Whitear

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01/07/2022

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ROWAN SETS UP NEW LEADERSHIP ADVISORY TEAM

Rowan Executive Search has set up a new advisory team to help high-growth firms optimise the value of their leadership team’s performance through leadership design, development and change.
This includes the development of the individual’s and team’s capability and development of both physical and cognitive diversity amongst the leadership team through executive change.
The new service offering reflects the additional capability brought to Rowan as a result of the strategic investment made last year by The LCap Group.
LCap (Leadership Capital) is a professional services and software developer whose digital insights support critical decision-making in developing effective leadership teams by evaluating the value of the current team against their business objective.
In developing its suite of products, LCap worked with experts across data science, psychology and leadership, including Adrian Furnham, one of the world’s leading psychometricians who specialises in the behaviour of leaders.
Adrian, who has worked at University College London and the University of Oxford, has published more than 1,300 academic papers and 95 books.
The software analysed how over 7,000 transactions fared following private equity deals over a 12-year period. The objective, data-driven insights provide a reliable and repeatable method to ensure leadership teams have the capability to achieve their primary, business growth objective.
Paul Waite and Johnathan Massey are heading up Rowan’s newly-created leadership advisory team as the company rolls out the capability across its north west client base.
Rowan has access to The LCap Group’s digital analytics products, enabling it to provide insights as to how the physical experiences and capabilities of a company’s leadership team can support them in their ability to achieve their current performance objective. These insights include both leadership development as well an understanding of the least amount of management change a team could go through to deliver maximum impact.
The Leadership Dynamics digital product shares its data with a proprietary psychometric test called PACE, which identifies the behaviours essential for effectiveness in senior leadership roles. To date, over 2,000 PACE assessments have been taken, building a depth of insight that is science and data-led.
Owner-founders, chief executives, chairs and investors across the UK’s private capital markets are among those using Leadership Dynamics, for performance analytics, alongside PACE for behavioural analytics, on their high growth-focused leadership teams. Over 300 successful searches have been completed using LCap’s proprietary technology.
Rowan has already seen considerable interest across the north west for the new service offering and will continue to expand the leadership advisory team, underpinned by the analytical capability brought to them via The LCap Group.
Rowan has already used this product, to great success, to support family businesses planning for the next generation, and as a management due diligence exercise for private equity. This includes helping an entrepreneur to crystallise his position within an international business and supporting LDC’s latest investment.
Rowan, which has offices in Manchester and Chorley, specialises in securing the right talent to strengthen the boards and leadership teams of privately and family-owned SMEs as well as high growth companies backed by private equity.
Johnathan said: “A report in 2020 by global management consulting firm Bain cited leadership quality as the single most important reason for business success and the second most important reason for why companies were not successful.
“Leadership Dynamics supports an understanding of leaders and leadership teams by providing an additional perspective through its objective, data-driven insights. These insights consider the team’s structure, experience, behaviours and, critically, the team’s overall behavioural complementarity. When these variable factors are aligned and working with each other, performance follows.
“Both Leadership Dynamics and PACE provide incredibly powerful insights, empowering the business owner to use their experience, knowledge and insights on the individual leader, leadership team and business performance, to make critical people decisions. Our insights support critical decision-making on how and where the leadership team can develop and ultimately, improve business performance. The best plan for growth is only as good as the team’s capability to deliver.
“We know that, as businesses develop, the challenges change and so do the demands on the leadership team. In some circumstances the leadership team needs to operate differently with each other, in other instances new skills and experiences are required, but in all instances the leadership team need to operate effectively at all times.

“Our new leadership advisory offering is a logical extension to the services we already offer, and we have received some very positive feedback from clients who have bought Leadership Dynamics and PACE.
“The whole process takes about three weeks from start to finish, so it is quite rapid. The outcomes are objective and robust, as they are based on measurable data.”
Paul said: “We have ambitious plans for Rowan and we are confident, with the investment from LCap and the access we now have to its suite of digital analytics products, that we will continue to offer our clients the support they need to focus on growing their businesses.
“We strongly believe that leadership is the primary lever for value creation and are delighted to have this opportunity to work with the north west’s most ambitious companies.
“We regularly find that successful businesses which are performing well today do so in a way that is unique to their circumstances. But, as those businesses grow and their circumstances change, performance can be impacted, meaning the leadership team needs to adapt and evolve to remain as effective today as they were when they began.
“This prospect for some can be quite daunting, whilst others are happy to readily accept it, but whichever side of the spectrum an owner-founder may stand, they need support to develop the effectiveness of the leadership team without losing the cultural DNA of the company.
“We will continue to work with owner-founders and the investment community to ensure they have access to the leaders their businesses need to continue to grow. Powered with Leadership Dynamics and PACE, we are excited by the support our new offering will be able to provide.
“We read about how we are all living in a digital age, but up until now that has not been reflected in the tools our industry use or the capabilities we collectively have developed. Using data science to evaluate a leadership team’s capability so we can predict their performance is an invaluable insight that opens up a different conversation which up until now was only ever discussed using hindsight. We now can offer our clients foresight.”

Transformation of Salford’s Middlewood Locks to continue with £30m Government Levelling Up deal

Partnerships

Sam Whitear

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01/07/2022

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Transformation of Salford’s Middlewood Locks to continue with £30m Government Levelling Up deal

Homes England, the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, has agreed a £30m loan to continue the transformation of Middlewood Locks in Salford.

The agreement with Middlewood Locks KLM, a partnership between Scarborough Group International and its joint-venture partners Metro Holdings and Hualing Group, will see 189 new homes built as the third phase of the 25-acre brownfield site.

Middlewood Locks is a significant regeneration project in Salford, being created over a number of phases. Once complete, it will deliver over 2,000 homes, 900,000 sq. ft of commercial space, including a hotel and leisure amenities set in a calm canal side environment with 4.5 acres of public realm and event space.

Just a stone’s throw from Salford Central station and a short walk from Manchester’s Spinningfields business district, the site includes substantial public realm within the design, incorporating the attractive waterside setting of the restored Manchester, Bolton and Bury canal.

Housing Minister Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP said:

“The regeneration of our towns and cities is a key part of our levelling up mission. I am pleased to see the progress being made at Middlewood Locks, a major regeneration project for Salford that will deliver vital new homes for the city, create jobs and boost the wider economy. It is a fantastic example of our brownfield-first plan to transform disused land into thriving communities.”

Planning consent was granted last year for the Railings at Middlewood Locks following the successful completion and sell out of 1,117 apartments in phases one and two. The multi-award-winning new neighbourhood is already thriving with over 1,300 people living and working at Middlewood Locks with a recent report highlighting a £260 million contribution to the Greater Manchester economy so far.

Peter Denton, Chief Executive at Homes England, said:

“With the first two phases of Middlewood Locks now complete, we’re already seeing the transformational impact that this scheme is having on the local area. This latest funding will help to bring forward the next phase and add a new community to the already vibrant neighbourhoods created there.

“It is urban regeneration schemes like Middlewood Locks that will support the levelling up of towns and cities, creating places where people want to live, work and play.”

The funding comes from the Government’s Levelling Up Home Building Fund, which provides development finance to small-medium housebuilders to help diversify the market and build much needed homes and communities.

This deal marks the second commitment made by Homes England to Middlewood Locks, after the first phase of the project benefitted from both short and long-term loans to support the creation of 1,100 homes, supported by vital infrastructure. The approval of both of these loans for one project is rare and underlines the agency’s belief in the importance of the project to the community and wider area.

Kevin McCabe, Chairman at Scarborough Group International, said:

“Securing this funding from Homes England marks a significant step forward in the expansion of our award-winning, mixed-use neighbourhood at Middlewood Locks.

“Not only does it reinforce our long-standing relationship with Homes England, it also underlines our joint aspiration for creating a vibrant city centre community through the delivery of a further 189 high-quality homes, together with supporting amenity space and public realm.”

With a broader commitment to place-making, Middlewood Locks is just one of the schemes Homes England is supporting in Salford. The English Cities Fund, Homes England’s long-standing partnership with Legal & General and Muse Developments, has also secured a £2.5bn, 240-acre scheme at Salford Crescent in partnership with Salford City Council and the University of Salford, which will bring over 3,000 homes. It will also deliver up to 1 million sq ft of space to innovate and collaborate, 1 million sq ft of offices, retail, and leisure space, and a new multi-modal transport hub with active travel at its heart to the city, all set within swathes of green space.

Extraordinary early years superstar makes inaugural Business Women in Education list

Education

Sam Whitear

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30/06/2022

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Extraordinary early years superstar makes inaugural Business Women in Education list

Danielle Hamer from Prestwich, Manchester, a Regional Director at Bright Horizons, is named in the very first Business Women in Education Women to Watch list 2022.

Danielle is one of 70 business women to feature in the list, which celebrates women who are driving change, breaking glass ceilings and supporting their peers in education. Full details of the inaugural list are here.

Danielle commented: “It is an incredible honour to receive this recognition. I am proud to lead such an amazing team. We all look to make sure every day that the Early Years for a child are the best they can possibly be. Wellbeing is at heart of our approach to our care and our curriculum. We help children flourish today, so they are ready and prepared for tomorrow. I am fully committed to ensuring that skilled and well-supported practitioners are key to the quality of our Early Years services.”

Danielle Hamer is a mum of three boys and began her childcare career in 1995 when she started as a newly qualified NNEB in a small nursery working in the baby room. She managed her first nursery by the time she was 25 years old and progressed to a Regional Director in 2017. Today Danielle is responsible for the daily operations at 35 Bright Horizons nurseries across the Northwest. She looks to ensure high quality care and education for children and support to Nursery Managers in achieving optimal performance at their individual nursery settings. Ofsted have graded 50% of the nurseries in her region as ‘Outstanding’ with the rest graded as ‘Good’ as they eagerly await new inspections.

Ros Marshall, Managing Director UK at Bright Horizons, said: “Danielle truly deserves to be on this list of inspirational women in education. Having known her personally for over 15 years I can say with confidence that her passion, love and professionalism always shine through. Danielle supports her colleagues every single day in delivering exceptional care and education. These formative years between 0 and 5 are crucial in the emotional, social and physical development of all children and the part Early Years plays to help shape the future of our society is so vital. It is wonderful to see high calibre educational leaders like Danielle recognised by wider networks for the phenomenal work that they do.”

Step Places moves forwards at Wigan Pier to rescue and renovate iconic destination buildings

Property

Sam Whitear

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30/06/2022

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Step Places moves forwards at Wigan Pier to rescue and renovate iconic destination buildings

Step Places is to restart work on the regeneration of the three landmark buildings at Wigan Pier as part of its multi-million-pound redevelopment of the iconic destination at the town’s Pier Quarter.

The move follows its first phase completed renovation of the roof structures and Internal structural elements, a pause caused by initially Covid and latterly construction industry challenges around contractor availability labour and materials costs.

The new uses of the 55,000 sq ft of buildings, includes events spaces for corporate and community hire including weddings and parties, offices/workspace, an educational facility and meanwhile pop-up space for retail, performance, and market food hall events.

It is hoped the food and beverage and live events facilities at Piers 2 and 3 will be open by late autumn and work is expected to complete at Pier 4 by spring/summer 2023.

The project will add to the Pier Quarter’s appeal as a visitor destination, with artisan crafts and food and beverage a key part of the offer, along with cultural activity like live music.

Step Places is working in partnership with Wigan Borough Council, the Canals and Rivers Trust and the Old Courts arts centre which will operate the events, hospitality, and leisure business.

Leader of Wigan Council, Councillor David Molyneux, said: “We’re really pleased that work will soon be restarting on the exciting regeneration of Wigan Pier.

“The Pier is an important and iconic part of our local heritage, synonymous with our borough and renowned far and wide.

“We simply cannot wait to see it begin its next chapter and achieve its full potential as an attractive visitor destination and hive of cultural activity and creativity.”

Step Places Harinder Dhaliwal says: “We are very excited to be able to take our project at The Pier Quarter a step forward. Our renovation will see this iconic destination fully rejuvenated to become a cultural and culinary focal point, not only for Wigan town centre but nationally.

“We were initially concerned that another year of delay would mean the buildings would be at an irretrievable stage, but we are delighted to have rescued them from further disrepair as we have painstakingly restored the iconic buildings including the coal jetties, new cantilevered boardwalks, and now we can start to fit out the historic buildings for modern uses and open to the public to enjoy.

This important heritage location is at the heart of Wigan’s history and sits a short distance from the town and its transport links. The area was formerly at the end of a narrow-gauge tram line used to transport coal to the surrounding warehouses.

Manchester businesses step up to the plate for Tim Bacon Foundation charity fund-raiser

CSR

Sam Whitear

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30/06/2022

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Manchester businesses step up to the plate for Tim Bacon Foundation charity fund-raiser

15 companies & 11 restaurants will raise cash in September for 7 cancer charities in Tim’s memory

Manchester’s business community has stepped up to the plate in the memory of much-loved leisure sector king Tim Bacon.

Fifteen of the city’s companies have bought 11 packages at £15,000 each for staff and guests at what is thought to be the biggest charity event the city’s hospitality industry has ever seen.

They will sponsor a night of fine food, fun and fundraising for Dream The Impossible II: The Sequel on Thursday September 8th.

The event is set to better the success of 2017’s event, which raised £300,000 of the £1/2 million pound raised for the Christie Hospital, where Tim was treated before his death in 2016.

Around 1,400 people will take part at a simultaneous dinner in top city centre restaurants before gathering at the Albert Hall for music and dancing.

It is hoped that this year’s event will raise over £300,000 for cancer charities to add to the £1m total already raised by the Tim Bacon Foundation towards a range of cancer-related causes, including the UK’s first Proton Beam Therapy Centre, which opened at the Christie in 2018.

As well as the TBF, other charities set to be benefit are Bury Cancer Support Centre, Joshua Tree Children’s Charity, Maggie’s Manchester, Prevent Breast Cancer, The Christie Charitable Fund and Young Lives vs Cancer.

Among the companies supporting the event from the hospitality industry are Mission Mars, Asahi,

C and C Group and Pernod-Ricard, and local businesses directly sponsoring individual restaurants for the evening; Addleshaw Goddard LLP, Airship Ltd, Bruntwood Group, Fearless Adventures LLC, GG Hospitality Ltd, Kroll Ltd, OBI Property Ltd, Palatine Private Equity, Pareto Financial Planning Ltd, Urban Splash Ltd, Verlingue Ltd, Vita Ventures Ltd, Wireless Social Ltd, Yumpingo and Zonal Ltd.

The participating restaurants are: Australasia, Duttons, Grand Pacific, Gusto, Habas, Hawksmoor, San Carlo, Tattu, The Alchemist, The Bull and Bear and 20 Stories. All the venues will be digitally connected via TV screens for a silent auction during the dinner for which donations of prizes for the auction are currently invited.

The event is fully booked with all the charity and corporate sponsors but there are a few seats left for individuals who wish to attend at Duttons in Albert Square. Anyone interested in booking can buy tickets for £175 each directly at https://dream-at-duttons.eventbrite.co.uk

Aussie entrepreneur Bacon, with his partner Jeremy Roberts, founded and built the Living Ventures empire of leisure brands including The Living Room, The New World Trading Company, The Alchemist, Gusto, Australasia and Grand Pacific.

Following his partner’s tragic death at the age of 52, Jeremy set up the Tim Bacon Foundation to raise money for cancer charities, Jeremy said: “We are so grateful to the city’s businesses and the hospitality industry supply chain who have once again rallied round and supported us so brilliantly.

“We have extended the recipients of this year’s Dream event to benefit a wide range of Manchester based charities helping people living with cancer.”

He adds: “We are proud of what we’ve achieved to date, but we are really excited to stage “DREAM” again bigger and even better so we can honour Tim’s memory and help the 1 in 2 of us that are affected by cancer.”

Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing law firm opens UK head office in Manchester

Growth

Sam Whitear

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29/06/2022

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Commercial law firm disruptor LegalVision provides an innovative membership that offers businesses unlimited access to specialist, in-house lawyers

Expansion to the UK follows a decade of strong growth and success in disrupting the legal industry and improving access to services for businesses in Australia and New Zealand

A SYDNEY-headquartered law firm that’s aiming to shake up the sector with its innovative approach is setting up an office in Manchester’s iconic Express Building.

LegalVision aims to quadruple its headcount within the first year at its new base on Great Ancoats Street, building on a decade of success in its home country and more recent wins in New Zealand.

The firm was named 2022 Law Firm of the Year at the Australasian Law Awards and has been recognised by the Financial Times as Asia-Pacific’s fastest growing law firm.

The tech-driven commercial law outfit was established in 2012 by Lachlan McKnight and Evan Tait-Styles to provide an industry-first membership for businesses to access unlimited, on-demand legal services.

Mr McKnight, LegalVision CEO, said: “We’re confident our transformational approach to client experience, online acquisition and legal services will translate well all across the UK as it has done in Australia and New Zealand.

“We provide business owners and startup founders with affordable, ongoing support through our subscription-based membership.

“It means UK SMEs can rest assured they have on-demand access to a team of specialist lawyers. And we have leveraged our custom-built tech to make the client experience as smooth as possible.

“The member platform allows clients to book consultations, request legal assistance, and download legal documents and templates.

“Our award-winning membership includes unlimited document drafting and reviews, trade mark applications and legal advice consultations from experienced in-house lawyers.”

Services provided by LegalVision include commercial contracts, intellectual property, employment, business sales, data and privacy law, franchising and leasing.

Mr McKnight added: “Businesses can now have access to specialist lawyers across all sectors without the worry of racking up expensive hourly rates they would find at big city outfits or even local firms.

“With our affordable membership, there is no further expense – which is very welcome for business owners, especially those looking for more cost certainty.

“All of our proprietary technology is designed and built in-house to ensure it offers clients an exceptional experience when dealing with our lawyers. ”

LegalVision is growing 40 per cent year on year and says its membership is a first for the legal profession.

Mr McKnight revealed the UK has been a major target for a while, adding: “The British market is three times larger than Australia and there are very few tech-driven, client-centric legal service providers.

“Being the only firm operating on a membership model, we can provide an exclusive and valuable service to companies.

“Growth in our existing markets has exceeded expectations and with the way the world has changed post-Covid, we feel this is the perfect time to launch in the UK.”

School suppliers conquer Snowdon for sick children

CSR

Sam Whitear

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29/06/2022

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School suppliers conquer Snowdon for sick children

Greater Manchester-based educational resources supplier Findel Education are top of the class after scaling the country’s highest mountain to raise money for charity.

The intrepid team of 18 members of staff put their strength to the test in the super slog to the top of Mount Snowdon in North Wales, to raise money for Derian House Children’s Hospice, on Friday, 17 June.

Findel Education has supported Derian House as its charity of the year since 2019 and since then has raised more than £30,000 for the care of children and young people with life-limiting conditions.

The Snowdon challenge was inspired by a walk they took part in during the COVID lockdown in which 150 of Findel’s employees walked the distance of Lands End to John O’Groats and back (socially-distanced), to raise £7,000 for the charity.

Claire Woolley, Executive and Business Support Manager at Findel Education, said: “I am still on cloud 9 after such an amazing day on Friday climbing Mount Snowdon with the team. 18 of us set off on the hottest day of the year so far in search of the summit.

“It was definitely a challenge, the route we climbed was tough, demanded concentration and a good amount of physical and mental energy, but I can honestly say reaching the summit was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had!

“It was the fact that all 18 of us dug deep, and pushed on and all reached the top within 30 mins of each other. We are so proud to have raised over £7,000 for Derian, we know how much this will mean to them.”

And Snowdon isn’t Findel’s only undertaking this year as seven of the company’s bravest will also leap out of a plane for Derian House this summer as part of the Dive for Derian skydiving challenge.

Ellie Smith, Community Fundraiser at Derian House, said: “Although it’s free for families, it costs £5.7million to run services at Derian every year.

“Without our generous supporters, like Findel Education, we wouldn’t be able to provide care for our 450 children and young people. We’re so impressed by their team work and dedication to Derian.”

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