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McCann to Kickstart careers in creative sector

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Manchester, September 24th , 2021: McCann Manchester, part of McCann Worldgroup is searching for the next generation of advertising and marketing talent as the agency pledges its support to the UK Government’s Kickstart Scheme. McCann Manchester is helping 16–24-year-olds gain meaningful long-term employment and experience in the creative industry.

The integrated agency, which is recognised for its work for clients such as Aldi, Smyths Toys and Matalan, has created 14 roles across a number of disciplines at its offices in Manchester city centre, Poynton and Prestbury. From strategy to production and new business, McCann Manchester is on the lookout for the next generation of advertising stars. The roles will be offered on a six-month contract from October this year.

Backed by the UK Government’s Kickstart Scheme, McCann Worldgroup announced its integrated network of agencies in the UK, including McCann Manchester, and sister agencies, FutureBrand and McCann Health London, have developed over 80 internships to address the serious skill and talent shortages in the UK.

Commenting on the opportunity, Karen Buchanan, CEO at McCann Manchester, said: “Our industry is fun, fast paced, challenging but above all can be incredibly rewarding. At McCann Manchester we connect all disciplines from production through to data and digital so our recruits will gain an in-depth understanding of the entire mix and how they work together to create effective connected ideas and experiences’.”

Mark Lund, president, UK and Europe at McCann Worldgroup, said: “We see it as our responsibility to leverage the unique breadth and depth of our network in the UK to help address the talent shortage among young people in our sector. Following the announcement of the Kickstart Scheme by the UK government we are working even harder to create new and sustainable opportunities for a generation of young people to experience all aspects of the marketing communications industry. Our aim is to create careers that have a wider impact on the future of our industry and use our platform to nurture the next generation of talent.”

Those interested in applying should contact their local job centre. Applicants need to be receiving or be eligible for Universal Credit to qualify.

Kuits advises on opening of Summit Up climbing centre

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Commercial law firm Kuits has advised on the opening of Summit Up, a new state of the art climbing centre in Oldham.

The centre is owned by the Stoller Charitable Trust, which was created and has been funded by Sir Norman Stoller.

Summit Up is one of the UK’s largest Clip ‘n Climb centres, featuring a variety of climbing walls, angles and holds. In addition to Clip n’ Climb it has traditional rope wall climbing and bouldering sectors.

The centre has 100 climbing routes across 47 rope lines, two official speed walls with timers and a two-tier floating boulder, all of which are equal to the standard of those used in the Tokyo Olympics.

The team at Kuits advised the Stoller Charitable Trust on all matters involved in the opening of the climbing centre, including purchase of the land, funding and company structure, employment contracts and commercial agreements.

Graham Wood, Partner in Kuits’ Private Client Team said: “We have been involved in this project right from its infancy, so to see the centre develop into what is going to be the best climbing centre in the UK is phenomenal and we are very proud.

“Summit Up is aimed at all abilities and ages, making it a great day out for young people and families as well as experienced climbers. The Stoller Charitable Trust is heavily involved in the advancement of young people in the Greater Manchester area, so there is a real passion that has gone into the design, construction and overall feel of the centre.”

Stephen Lowe, Chairman of Summit Up said: “This climbing centre is a community-focused project, with the young people of Oldham and Greater Manchester at its heart. We hope that the Summit Up will attract people from across the country to try their hand at climbing and see all the fantastic benefits this sport can bring. All of Summit Up’s distributable profits will go directly to supporting charity”

Bupa Global completes major rebrand to market new bespoke luxury ‘lifecare’ proposition

Premium health insurer Bupa Global has today announced the launch of a new proposition targeted at ultra-high net worth (uHNW) customers. More than healthcare; Private Client by Bupa is “Lifecare”, which defines a new category within the health insurance market to meet demand for a tailored service, focused on prevention, holistic wellbeing, and sought-after therapies.

Research from Bupa Global found that 59% of uHNW customers are now investing in their health and wellbeing more than tangible luxury goods such as handbags and cars, demonstrating that health is a key priority for this demographic. A similar number (65%) said that the pandemic has prompted a renewed focus on their health and wellbeing over the past year.

The Private Client by Bupa proposition focuses on prevention and holistic wellbeing in addition to being there for customers when they need healthcare the most. It curates exceptional health and wellbeing services, bringing them together in one simple package.

Market analysis of cash-rich and time-poor customers reveals that there’s an appetite for increased service levels, personal guidance and greater tailoring to individual needs. As a result, each customer is appointed a named Lifecare Concierge Manager to handle all aspects of their individual or family health plan, with an understanding of their lifestyles, medical conditions, provider preferences and whereabouts.

The brand proposition has been developed in partnership with McCann Manchester, to identify the specific needs of the ultra-wealthy target audience and communicate to them directly. Private Client by Bupa will be introduced to the UK, in China in partnership with the Alltrust Insurance Company, and to Hong Kong based customers this month, and rolled-out across further products in September.

Analysis of the customer segment has shown that reaching uHNWs rely heavily on highly personalised, bespoke content and word of mouth referrals. To target this hard to reach group, a marketing campaign has begun this month with a media partnership with the Financial Times, followed by a series of targeted digital campaigns.

Customers are offered Lifecare, a newly branded proposition, which curates a complete service for the mind, body and being, with plans that are designed to be used. It provides them access to world-class health professionals and services that meet their health priorities, with a focus on prevention and holistic wellbeing. They can also share their health screening results with Bupa Global’s senior clinical experts, to actively manage potential conditions and work out the best ways to use the benefits that come with a health plan.

Neil Kirby, Marketing Director at Bupa Global, said: “Private Client by Bupa is an exciting first step in defining a new luxury ‘Lifecare’ category. This new proposition demonstrates our understanding of the ultra-high net worth market; we know this demographic is looking for a wellness partner, with a provider that understands their needs and priorities, helping to give them peace of mind that their health is in safe hands.”

Richard Aldiss, Managing Director at McCann Manchester, commented: “High net worth consumers demand the very best across all categories and lifestyle purchases. Our insights highlighted the desire for preventative treatments and personalised healthcare plans rooted in a prestige offering. Private Client by Bupa has a prestigious look and feel and is framed as a lifestyle commodity not a circumstance purchase.”

Love Hemp appoints new media partner SPORF

Love Hemp, Britain’s fastest growing CBD brand, has appointed Social Chain’s sports brand SPORF as a new sports media partner.

SPORF is one of the biggest digital sports communities in the world with more than 15 million followers.

SPORF will work with Love Hemp to publish unique and behind-the-scenes content from UFC fights, training camps with some of the greatest UFC athletes of all time and all Anthony Joshua fights on its social media and digital channels.

In June, two-time Heavyweight Champion of the World Anthony Joshua signed a three-year endorsement deal with Love Hemp and became a key shareholder in the business.

It follows Love Hemp’s signing of a five-year sponsorship deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and partnerships with the World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organisation.

Love Hemp also sponsors several world-leading UFC athletes including Georges St-Pierre and current Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman – and SPORF will be regularly creating content with them.

In addition, SPORF will amplify the content Love Hemp creates around its UFC sponsorship, athlete ambassadors and run bi-monthly competitions for fans with exclusive prizes such as access to the biggest UFC events and Anthony Joshua fights, including the upcoming fight against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk.

Ian Munzberger, Love Hemp’s Chief Partnerships Officer, said: “The global CBD market is growing at a rapid pace. As a trusted leader in our field we are looking forward to working with SPORF and driving our brand to the highest levels.”

Greg Rowell, head of SPORF at Social Chain, said: “Getting the chance to secure unrivalled behind the scenes access through Love Hemp’s sponsorship felt like the perfect fit for SPORF. We’re working on a number of formats that we know our audience will love.”

Love Hemp was founded in London in 2015 by friends Tony Calamita and Tom Rowland. The premium CBD health and wellness brand sells over 40 products including oils, edibles, sprays, cosmetics and topicals.

Its range of products are sold online across 70 websites and in over 2,000 stores including some of the biggest retailers in the UK, such as Holland & Barrett, Boots and Ocado.

Love Hemp has just opened a satellite headquarters in Manchester for its growing creative and marketing team as it gears up for global expansion.

Porcelain Superstore see sales more than double to £13.5million

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Manchester-based tile retailer Porcelain Superstore has recorded a seventh consecutive year of growth, after seeing more than a 100% increase in year-on-year turnover.

Sales at the family-run business topped £13.5m during their financial year, which ran from September 1, 2020 to August 31, 2021.

This is more than double their 2020-year-end of £6.65m. The online tile retailer also took on seven full-time hires across service, warehousing and fulfilment – increasing their total workforce to 25.

The three brothers behind the family-run-business hope to see turnover hit a record £15m for the 2021 calendar year.

Abbas Youssefi, who founded Porcelain Superstore alongside his siblings Ben and Sam in 2014, credits the success to the firm’s clear ambition to buck existing trends in the tile market as well as continued investment into their website, marketing and staff.

He said: “Logistically, it was an extremely challenging year with the impact of Brexit and the ongoing pandemic.

“However, rather than buckle down over the last 12 months, we’ve expanded our range, our staffing and completely overhauled our website to make it more aspirational, informative – and most importantly – user friendly.”

The year hasn’t been without its problems. One of the biggest issues faced by Porcelain Superstore has been the shortage of HGV drivers, which has delayed some stock reaching their warehouse, as well as longer turnaround times on customer orders. However, thanks to their large stockholdings, impact has been kept to a minimum.

Abbas added: “The growth plan has been strong and deliberate, and we have seen the benefits of previous investment in warehousing.”

It is the seventh year of sustained growth for Porcelain Superstore. The results show an increase in year-on-year revenue. In 2020, they finished the financial year up 80% on 2019’s figure of £3,706,000, which was an increase on 2018’s £2,167,000.

KOMI Group’s ARK Media signs deals with Reuters and AFLO and announces appointment of News Editor

ARK Media – the licensing, syndication and rights management division of Manchester-based the KOMI Group – has signed distribution partnerships with Reuters and AFLO that will give the business the opportunity to distribute its content to a broad network of leading international publishers and broadcasters for the first time.

Reuters will be focusing on breaking news and trending content whilst AFLO will be targeting the Japanese market with the viral and trending content.

The deals were negotiated by Terry Pierce, who joined ARK Media as its Head of Distribution and Partnerships earlier this year. Since his arrival, Terry has led the licensing and distribution of KOMI’s acquired and licensed content for use across editorial, TV production and brand/ad segments. He has also consulted across the wider group to enhance its entire content licensing and distribution services.

The business has also announced that Jack Mobley has been named as its News Editor. Prior to joining, Jack was acting Head of UGC at Caters Media Group. His focus will be on driving Ark Media’s day-to-day content acquisition strategy, ensuring it builds on the quality of content it offers to its clients.

Over the past few months, the Ark Media team has undertaken a complete rebuild of the ARK video platform, allowing its clients to discover, license and access content completely autonomously, as well as overhauling its content distribution notices, meaning more clients get more relevant notifications of great content in real time.

Terry said: “2021 has been a real turning point for Ark Media and these new deals, along with the arrival of Jack and the recent platform development, are all enabling us to iterate our content offering and to shift to a more timely, current content collection. Our focus is on continuing to strive to acquire and distribute the best trending videos online every day.”

KOMI Group is a three-divisional agency business consisting of dedicated social media, marketing, and licensing teams. Its team of content creators, analysts and video producers have made and then distributed video content and viral campaign adverts for international brands such as BBC Films, O2, Universal, Bud Light and Disney.

Content is shared across its Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts including the It’s Gone Viral page as well as Go Fetch, a platform for dog lovers to connect with one another; Happiest, which focusses on bringing the most entertaining and uplifting content and real-life stories; and Ultimate which is a community based around crafts and lifestyle. On average the company delivers over one billion views across its portfolio of pages each month.

It recently doubled its office space at Beehive Mill in Manchester after taking an additional 1,300 sqft on a six-year lease. The firm moved its operations to the site on Jersey Street in early 2020. It also announced that it had achieved £2m turnover for the first time in the past year and that it will grow its headcount to 50 by the end of September 2021.

AG Project + Building Consultancy secures place on £560million framework

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Manchester-based AG Project + Building Consultancy (AG), has secured a place on the JV North framework, a consortium of housing associations and local authorities.

The £560 million framework will enable the framework partners to build approximately 4,000 homes from now to the end of 2025. The JV North consortium is one of the biggest developers of new social homes in the UK, and its members are building the equivalent of 3.5 homes every day.

Consortium members include Bury Council, Johnnie Johnson Housing, One Manchester, Peaks and Plains Housing Trust, Muir Group, Plus Dane Housing, Sovini, Stockport Homes, Stockport Council, Torus, Trafford Housing Trust, Weaver Vale Housing Trust and Wythenshawe Community Housing Group.

AG is one of eight employers’ agents to secure a place on the framework.

Managing director Jonathan Shaw said, “We’re proud to have been selected and look forward to playing our part in helping deliver quality affordable housing for people living in the North West.

“The inclusion to the framework aids our expansion into the housing sector, which is an important aspect of our growth plans. We look forward to working with the consortium members in not only creating quality housing but helping deliver projects that help rebuild communities.”

Adyen partners with Dubarry to support growing international online sales

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The maker of the iconic Galway Boot doubles down on online sales by re-platforming to remain resilient throughout the pandemic

Manchester, UK, 21st September 2021: Adyen (ADYEN:AMS), the payments platform of choice for many of the world’s leading companies, has partnered with premium performance footwear brand, Dubarry of Ireland, to support rapidly increasing online sales. Founded in 1937, Dubarry has evolved greatly over 80 years. Its partnership with Adyen is yet another marker of change for the Galway brand as it looked to smooth out operational complexities and expand its international reach.

With international expansion being central to its goal, Dubarry consolidated its global online payment infrastructure to Adyen’s single platform. Integrating Adyen acquiring has improved Dubarry’s authorisation rates by up to 15%, and its shoppers can now enjoy a seamless and localised checkout experience.

“Before Adyen, we were working with four different providers, which was both costly and convoluted. One of the key things we wanted to achieve was to standardise from one market to the next. Adyen allowed us to do that effortlessly through unified reporting for our accounts team and a single integration for the tech teams,” said Marc O’Donnell, Head of eCommerce at Dubarry.

“Local payment methods are so important, especially where the brand is not as well known. They help to build trust and remove a potential barrier to purchase. And with Adyen, it’s been so easy. All the payment methods we have wanted have been available to us without having to integrate each one separately.”

“The global acceleration of ecommerce adoption in the last 18 months has been a significant challenge to many businesses. Together with Dubarry, we have helped evolve its online operations and extended its reach across borders,” said Colin Neil, Managing Director of Adyen UK.

“The team at Dubarry understands the importance of global partners that can help them simplify their operations, while providing a unified view of their business around the world. We’re delighted to help them achieve this.”

As the partnership develops, Adyen will be working with Dubarry to combine its online and in-store payments into one system. “We want to make the customer experience better by having a consolidated view of everything in one place. And I don’t see any reason why we’d need to look past Adyen for this,” said O’Donnell.

About Adyen

Adyen is the payments platform of choice for many of the world’s leading companies, providing a modern end-to-end infrastructure connecting directly to Visa, Mastercard, and consumers’ globally preferred payment methods. Adyen delivers frictionless payments across online, mobile, and in-store channels. With offices across the world, Adyen serves customers including Facebook, Uber, Spotify, Vue Entertainment and Fat Face. The cooperation with Dubarry as described in this merchant update underlines Adyen’s continuous growth with current and new merchants over the years.

Employee Engagement Levels: How To Prevent Your Employees Becoming Bored

If your team is bored, then your team will be disengaged from their work. This article will explain some methods that you and your HR department could look to implement to boost employee engagement levels sooner rather than later.

Communicate Regularly

One of the most important factors in regards to boosting an employee’s engagement level and prevent them from becoming bored comes in the form of communication. This is a crucial aspect of any business, and any business without effective communication is doomed to fail. You should look at the way your business currently communicated, both internally and externally.

This information will help you find strategies and innovations to improve communication. It could be with the way you conduct meetings, or the way each department talks to each other. Consider speaking to your employees to see what they think.

Implement Modern Engagement Strategies

Ideally, you should be looking at the inner workings of your business at all times, striving for innovation.

That’s why you should be looking at research and changes related to employee engagement strategies. One of the most effective modern engagement techniques comes in the form of talent mobility solutions. This encompasses a range of different techniques to boost employee engagement levels as well as make them more productive.

Talent mobility solutions are an effective way of boosting the morale of your employees, and giving them something more interesting to do day-to-day. If you’re considering taking a look at the internal talent mobility solutions, then you should work with an HR expert who understands career growth and employee happiness, such as Randstad RiseSmart. Seeking third-party assistance can go a long way in helping your business grow through employee engagement boosting.

Praise Good Work Often

If you want your employees to be more productive and happier with the work they’re doing, then you must praise them often for their work. If an employee has worked hard on an assignment or project and they receive no credit for it or praise, then it may make them feel like it was a pointless endeavour.

The danger here is that this could lead to an employee not putting in any effort for any work they do in the future, as they don’t feel like they’ll be praised for any hard work. The bare minimum is something you want to avoid in work, instead, you want to build a culture of workers who are happy to be there and support each other.

Listen To Feedback

Similarly, you must listen to regular feedback from your workers, in both positive and negative ways. This will help you identify what is working with the business, and what will require work. It can only benefit your business to hear what your workers truly think, and allow you to build a business that has a fully committed team. You can do surveys anonymously if you want feedback that you feel will be more honest.

R&D tax experts Counting King save businesses over £3 million in six months

A specialist research and development tax credit consultancy has saved businesses over £3 million in the last six months by delivering expert advice to help them claim back corporation tax relief.

Salford-based Counting King has grown year on year and helped hundreds of businesses save money in tax benefits. It recently smashed its tax saving record by supporting clients to receive over £500,000 in a single month.

Counting King has expanded its team to eight people over the past six months, including specialist R&D tax analysts and an ex-associate tax director from EY, who has over 20 years of experience.

In May this year, it opened new offices on the fifth floor of innovation hub HOST, the Home of Skills & Technology at MediaCityUK, with space for up to 20 people to support its growth ambitions.

It plans to continue expanding its service offering by showcasing and educating businesses on the importance of innovation across the country, helping to guide them through the process of utilising incentives and the funding opportunities that they may be eligible for.

As part of this, Counting King is holding its first networking and exhibition event, Innovation North West, which will bring together leading industry experts including AWS DeepRacer, Viscgo and the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre.

Established in 2020 by Gary Hilton and Sam Dallow, Counting King works with UK limited companies to help remove the stress and effort of submitting labour intensive technical reports and detailed financial calculations to HMRC.

Sam, co-founder and head of R&D analysis, said: “We have experienced immense growth in the past three months, with an additional six new team members joining us across several departments. We attribute this growth to our wide network of partners, consultants, and commitment to compliance which has always been at the forefront of our business.

“As a company, we wanted to create an accessible platform for companies within the sector, to promote innovation in the region and that’s how Innovation North West was born. It’s a fantastic opportunity for businesses and entrepreneurs to network and connect with like-minded people.”

Martin Bremner, MD of Bremner Group, said: “It’s always a pleasure working with Gary, Sam and Sunny from Counting King, they’re very knowledgeable and transparent with their process. The service that they provide is always professional, smooth and compliant.”