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GroupM to recruit more than 90 Digital Marketing apprentices in London and Manchester

The media investment company is creating over 90 opportunities for aspiring Digital Marketers in London and Manchester: part of a wider investment by the company into apprenticeships.

GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, is partnering with EdTech start-up Multiverse, to recruit over 90 apprentices for its first Digital Academy programme allowing participants to specialise in Search, Social, Programmatic and e-Commerce digital marketing.

Applications are now open for roles in Manchester and London, with assessment days to take place mid-July. All the roles are open to people without university qualifications.

The Digital Academy launched by GroupM delivers best-in-class training, with specialist classes and one-to-one coaching. Over the 15-month programme, apprentices will master topics ranging from digital marketing principles to the basics of coding. Specifically, their first six weeks will be focused entirely on training; getting them up to speed in how digital works, their specialist areas and hands-on in specific platforms, including Google and Facebook.

With three of the top five global media agencies and $63 billion in annual media spend, GroupM’s apprentices will have the opportunity to work with some of the world’s leading brands at the heart of the media and advertising industry.

The GroupM Digital Academy will also enable GroupM to continue to deliver crucial skills to clients. Digital is a key area for the company, last month it produced its forecast for digital advertising and predicted growth of 33% in 2021.

Training will be delivered by a combination of GroupM specialists, Multiverse and some of the key Digital Marketing platforms.

The move shows a commitment from GroupM, the largest media advertising group in the UK, towards on-the-job training and skills development for its staff. The company will create over 100 apprenticeship opportunities for diverse, entry-level employees over the next 12 months.

It also shows the company’s commitment to diversity. The recruitment process will target non-graduates across Manchester and London, and Multiverse has a track record of placing candidates from various backgrounds into the top roles.

Paul Cooper, COO at GroupM agency Mediacom North: “Digital marketing as a specialism is seeing huge growth, especially over the last 16 months creating a massive demand for people with these specialist skillsets. However, people with these skillsets are in short supply, at GroupM we want to train the next generation to help us continue to grow. We are passionate about recruiting non-graduates and giving people real apprenticeships in an industry that will dominate the next 20 years in terms of media consumption. We want young, diverse talent from any and all backgrounds that reflect the society we market our clients products to. We have a people first philosophy which runs through everything we do and believe. We are looking for applicants for both our Manchester and London centres of excellence to help us build our business and your career whilst having fun as we do it. You don’t have to have a degree to succeed in our business, most of our senior people have come through the business learning by doing on the job training, the industry is that fast paced it’s the best way to learn.”

Multiverse matches talented individuals with careers and delivers world-class training in a wide range of qualifications in leadership, digital and technology. Apprentices benefit from one-to-one coaching with an industry expert and are supported by a thriving community with events, socials, mentoring and leadership programmes designed to exceed the best of the university experience.

Multiverse founder and CEO, Euan Blair, said: “Recruiting talented digital marketers is essential to media and advertising agencies around the world, and apprenticeships are becoming the best way to find and develop that talent. The expansion of GroupM’s apprenticeship programme will create career defining opportunities for talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds.

“Professional apprenticeships offer a unique and exciting way for great companies to invest in their workforces and develop leaders of the future. Apprenticeship skills are taught, tested and learnt through immediate application in the workplace – that makes them a highly effective way to equip people with the skills they need to be successful.”

GroupM’s investment in their new Digital Marketing academy comes via the Apprenticeship Levy.

UK childbirth injury charity MASIC rebranded by Two Stories

Lancaster brand consultancy and design studio Two Stories has created a new brand and designed and developed a new website for MASIC, the UK’s only charity supporting women with injuries from childbirth.

The brand consultancy was briefed to help the charity create a stronger digital and commercial presence to reach a wider audience and engage healthcare professionals and partners to support the organisation.

Two Stories’ approach included a new brand identity, definition of the charity’s tone of voice, and the design and development of a new website, which moved away from being overly medicalised and instead focused on being approachable and inclusive for women affected by birth injury.

MASIC’s new branding communicates “supporting women, challenging stigma and driving change” and the website will act as a hub for women needing help after giving birth and the years that follow.

Bekkie Hull, creative director and co-founder of Two Stories said: “MASIC are passionate about supporting women and making their voices heard to break the stigma around childbirth injuries. The charity came to us for consultancy on how they should develop a stronger digital and commercial presence and we have delivered an emotive, warm and supportive brand, featuring original hand drawn illustrations, that gives MASIC a compelling platform to advocate for women and change the lives of those injured during childbirth.”

Jen Hall, MASIC social media and website co-ordinator, said: “Our work raises awareness of some very difficult issues around childbirth that aren’t widely discussed and need to be approached with sensitivity and empathy. Right from the start, Two Stories understood the need to balance these issues with a warm, inclusive, and appealing brand. We couldn’t have asked for a more creative and empathic approach to the brief.”

“The website needed to act as a hub for women needing our support and Two Stories worked creatively and intuitively to deliver a visually appealing website that provides a lot of information in an interactive and user-friendly way. The team are a pleasure to work with and their enthusiasm and vision has delivered us a website that will now enable us to reach a much wider audience and meet our charity objectives going forward.”

MASIC’s new website is now live and the branding features on all the charities social channels and owned media. Two Stories is continuing to work with MASIC for ongoing design and brand communication support.

Stanlow Terminals appoints Access as digital partner

The partnership will see Access create a new brand identity and positioning, a new website design, the creation of visual assets and video, and lead generation through e-marketing and social media.

Manchester digital agency Access has been appointed to develop a new digital identity and website design for Stanlow Terminals, which owns and operates the largest tank storage facility in the UK.
A carve out of Essar Oil UK’s huge Stanlow Manufacturing Complex, the company was established in 2020 and has big ambitions to drive increased business through its digital capabilities. Stanlow Terminals’ core operation is its storage, blending and transportation of petrochemicals. Excelling in logistics it plans to work with businesses throughout the UK to reduce risk within the supply chain and has extensive experience and expertise across oil, bio fuels, chemicals and bitumen.

By expanding its digital brand and digital marketing, Stanlow Terminals will be able to better communicate its range of services and ongoing achievements to customers. Access’ remit will cover brand identity and positioning, a new website design, the creation of visual assets and video, and lead generation through e-marketing and social media.

Zara Giles, Chief Commercial Officer at Stanlow Terminals, said: “We’ve appointed Access to help us transform how we will communicate our brand and business to key audiences. Access showed that they understood our company and demonstrated an ability to deliver what we need – from brand identity and positioning through to e-marketing.

“We have a clearly defined long-term vision to maximise the site at Stanlow – manufacturing, processing and storing fuels of the future and utilising road, pipeline, sea and rail for in and outbound transportation; showcasing our capabilities and driving awareness is now vital in our growth.”

Based at Stanlow Refinery in Ellesmere Port, Stanlow Terminals is linked via on site infrastructure to the Hynet initiative, designed to establish the North West UK as a low carbon hydrogen hub. Earlier this year, the project – which will see the development of the UK’s first Low Carbon Hydrogen Plant at Stanlow – received UK Government support. The plant will produce 3TWh of low carbon hydrogen (double the UK’s total current production of bio-methane) which will be provided to industrial and domestic customers in the region.

Frankie Metzinger from Access added: “We’re extremely proud to be supporting a business that is so heavily invested in creating a more sustainable future. As well as the HyNet project, Stanlow is also helping to reduce the burden on landfills and reliance on fossil fuels with its involvement in the waste-to-fuel project that will create greener fuel for airlines operating at UK airports. We back any organisations that are helping to build a cleaner, greener future and look forward to working with Stanlow on its journey.”

Place Capital Group Add Pete Adams, former Chief QS at Lovell to its Senior Leadership Team

The housing estate regeneration specialist, launched by David Smith-Milne at the start of 2021, has strengthened its senior leadership team through the addition of Pete Adams, former Chief Quantity Surveyor at Lovell and previously Commercial Director at Placefirst.

Pete joins the Place Capital Group team as Commercial Director with responsibility to build the commercial and cost management functions for the business in support of its rapidly growing pipeline of new development opportunities.

Commenting on the recruitment, Smith-Milne said: “Having worked with Pete in the past, we knew immediately that he would be the right fit for our business. Pete shares our culture and mindset, which is to disrupt the mediocrity that characterises so much of the housing sector and to deliver projects that put the end user, not the investor, at the core of development plan. He is technically excellent and has a personality and character around which we can build a high functioning, but values-led commercial team”.

Place Capital Group intends to announce its first major housing project later in the summer and is currently in discussions with several large Local Authorities, with a growing pipeline of exciting, visionary, housing led regeneration schemes that will see the transformation of former council estates.

Commenting on his move, Pete Adams said: “David’s energy and vision have led to rapid growth in the Place Capital Group project pipeline. The entire team is now focused on securing planning permission for several major development and place making projects, which I will be taking to market later this year. Our intention is to partner with a construction supply chain that shares our ethos and values, to create significant social value, whilst delivering imaginative, design led solutions to much forgotten former council estates”.

Pete joins Faye Whiteoak, former Group Development Director at Redrow, who joined PCG as Development Director earlier this year, as well as Vicky Hoare, who also recently joined as Head of Operations and Marketing.

PCG recently acquired specialist place making advisors Fourth Street and will announce its second acquisition in July.

WestBridge promotes Barkley to director following regional growth

Barkley joined WestBridge in August 2019 to head the firm’s newly opened Manchester office and establish the firm in the north west, north east and Yorkshire markets.

After qualifying at BDO, he joined Dow Schofield Watts where he came to the attention of WestBridge after advising the firm on its £10 million investment in environmental consultancy APEM. Since moving to WestBridge, he has joined the APEM board and is actively supporting the company’s buy and build strategy.

Barkley was also instrumental in the delivery and completion of the firm’s second north west deal, its £12.8 million investment in Aptus Utilities.

Most recently, he took responsibility for the firm’s largest transaction, its £29 million investment in construction software provider Eque2.

Managing partner Guy Davies said:

“Pete is a superb member of our team. He made the transition from adviser to investor with ease and has forged solid relationships with the management teams of our portfolio companies, helping accelerate growth and create shareholder value in all of them.

“His focus and drive have already ensured WestBridge has rapidly and successfully established itself as an active and dynamic participant in the north west and beyond. Our regional success is in no small part down to him being able to leverage the close relationships he has developed and nurtured over the years.

“Pete is playing a pivotal role in our on-going success and it is clear he will play a significant role in our business in the future.”

An avid Leicester City fan and cyclist, Barkley said of his appointment to director:

“I couldn’t be more delighted and am thoroughly enjoying taking an active role in supporting investee companies and believe the way we do business is really refreshing.

“It’s a particularly exciting time to be here as the WestBridge team and our offering continues to develop and evolve.”

WestBridge, which has offices in London, Manchester and Cardiff, typically invests between £10-£25m into established, profitable and ambitious UK SMEs with enterprise values of between £15m and £50m.

Northcoders makes six new appointments across the business.

Northcoders – the Manchester and Leeds based software development training and solutions provider – has made six new appointments across the business.

The first starter is Gina Hilton who is Northcoders’ newest career development manager. During her career, Gina has specialised in recruitment, business development and training. Her new role will see her support Northcoders graduates and help them find their dream jobs in tech. Gina, who has recently relocated to Manchester from Singapore, previously worked at LinkedIn and then Facebook where she launched a product similar to Slack into the Australian large enterprise market.

Diya Okorie has joined Northcoders as a partnership success manager. Diya’s core role and responsibilities will be to onboard apprenticeship candidates, drive employment engagement and business development. Prior to joining Northcoders, she worked as an employment engagement consultant at the Growth Company.

Duncan Crawley (they/them) has been appointed as a junior software developer and mentor. Duncan is part of the classroom team, so will provide one to one support for learners on the Northcoders bootcamp programme. Duncan, who is a previous Northcoders graduate, also holds a level three education and training qualification and a degree in childhood studies.

Daniel Saleh also joins as junior software developer and mentor. He too is a Northcoders graduate and, over the years, has worked as a self-employed musician and guitar tutor.

Sarah Browncross is the apprenticeship team’s new solutions manager. Sarah became a software engineer after completing the Northcoders bootcamp in 2020. She previously worked at Science Museum Group for six years.

The final new appointment is Sarah Cooney who is the new HR and office manager. Sarah joins Northcoders from the Co-operative Bank.

Gina Hillton said of her new role: “I’ve known about Northcoders for a long time and have always respected its mission, ethos and commitment to developing and nurturing the best tech talent in the UK. I’m excited to now be playing my part in helping drive the future of the company and the careers of our graduates.”

Chris Hill – founder and CEO at Northcoders – added: Northcoders is going through an exciting period with new teams, products and clients. This new intake of experienced people into the business is another step towards achieving that growth. Each person brings with them some fantastic experience, so we are delighted to welcome them. I’m sure they will add value to the company, our students, hiring partners and clients.

Since its inaugural course in 2015, Northcoders has helped over 750 people switch careers into tech, with average starting salaries of around £25,500. Whilst 95% of Northcoders secure a software engineering role after graduation. Northcoders’ main campus is at Manchester Technology Centre and it has a base at Platform in Leeds.

Over the past three years, it has been selected as one of the country’s brightest tech stars in Creative England’s CE50 list and was named Business of the Year at the 15th Annual Chamber Business Awards in 2018. It has also launched scholarship schemes and a deferred payment programme aimed at women and gender minorities, as well as those who identify as BAME or LGBTQ+, have a disability or have had limited access to education, to help address diversity in tech. The firm also relocated its Manchester campus to a new 10,000 sq. ft space at Manchester Technology Centre on Oxford Road in early 2020.

Soaring demand for Manchester office space indicates rapid recovery for city centre workplace market

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In the weeks since Covid restrictions were eased on 17 May, a growing number of people have returned to the city centre and their workplaces, at least in a hybrid capacity, showing positive signs of recovery and growing confidence for businesses of all sizes.

Public transport timetables have returned to almost capacity, with 85% of the UK’s rail network now running, and rush-hour traffic congestion at 65% – 10% up month on month, according to the Department for Transport.

Anthony Powell, managing director at Department comments on the increase in workspace occupancy at Department Bonded Warehouse, an iconic workspace for varying-sized businesses within Enterprise City.

“Despite the circumstances over the past 12 months, Department Bonded Warehouse has remained open to its members and those that are unable to work from home. Over recent weeks and months, we’ve welcomed even more of our members back to Department, as restrictions ease and the workforce require an alternative to working from their kitchen table.

“We are now in a position where office space occupancy here is at 91% compared to a market report trend of 70% within flexible workspace operators. We believe our progressive approach to the workplace, which includes beneficial wellness and social amenities, enables a positive association around returning to the office; where a work life balance is attainable outside the remit of working from home. We’re optimistic this will continue to be a contributing factor to positive occupancy levels.

“Since the start of 2021, despite the pandemic, Department Bonded Warehouse has welcomed 43 new businesses to its community. This is a promising indicator that the flexible workspace market in Manchester is making a strong recovery after a turbulent year.

“We have also had six of our Exchange Programme graduates move into larger spaces within Department Bonded Warehouse in recent months, following the successful completion of the scheme. PixelMax, Koolstof, Hydr, MissKick, HN Flow and Qonnected will continue to grow and develop their innovative business concepts, as the programme looks to welcome the second cohort of 25 ambitious entrepreneurs hoping to scale their tech businesses.

“Almost 60% of the businesses that are occupying Department Bonded Warehouse are from the tech, digital or creative sectors. Not only does this boost Manchester’s tech scene, but the members themselves will benefit from the collaborative community we have developed within Bonded Warehouse. The workspace is specifically designed to facilitate these types of interactions, and grow a community of like-minded businesses, creating a place of connection and collaboration.”

NPIF – FW Capital facilitates growth for Manchester-based facilities business

A Manchester-based facilities management company has received a £200,000 loan from NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance, managed by FW Capital and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).

innovatefm or ifm (trading as Innovate Corporation) offers specialist cleaning, waste management and other facilities services and support across a range of sectors including food, hygiene, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, corporate and construction.

The company recently underwent an MBO which was funded by Close Brothers and advised by Paul Mak of Pomegranate Finance and Dan Bowles of Toppings Partnership. The deal saw director Jigme Tashi take control of the business which is operationally run by operations director Richard Evans and his management and national support team.

Following completion of the MBO, the business secured funding from NPIF – FW Capital to provide working capital, helping them navigate difficult trading conditions during the pandemic.

Innovate employs around 90 staff and over 100 subcontractors and has a turnover of around £1.7M, with another £850k of support services to other larger FM’s and businesses in the UK.

Managing director Jigme Tashi said: “For the first three months of the initial lockdown most of our customers reduced or paused services and this led to a 60% reduction in our business. The funding from NPIF – FW Capital and our focus on innovative savings has been critical for providing cost savings and working capital to support our business through this tough transition.

“We were able to use this time to focus on reducing our carbon footprint and digitising 99% of our systems. Our focus then moved to our employees to grow them within the business and alongside training all our management teams to support areas of the business.

“The business, our strong management and our treasured employees have steered the business to its current position, and we look forward to steady growth with our partner FW Capital supporting our visions for the future.”

Adam Husband, investment executive at FW Capital said: “Innovate is an impressive and profitable business that is run by an experienced and dynamic management team. Like many companies, their business was affected by the pandemic and they needed some support to help them. They have now recovered well and have already recovered well and look to have already achieved many of the milestones set out in their business plan.”

Sue Barnard at British Business Bank, said: “NPIF continues to support high-growth businesses in the North, providing vital funding to enable job creation and expansion into new markets. This investment into Innovate demonstrates how this funding can make a real and measurable difference to businesses across the Northern Powerhouse region, in turn helping to create a more prosperous regional economy.”

FW Capital provides loans of £100,000 to £750,000 to businesses based in the NPIF region with a focus on the North West, Cumbria and Tees Valley.

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.

CAPITAL&CENTRIC grows with bunch of new hires.

Social impact developer CAPITAL&CENTRIC has made five new hires as the company continues to grow.

Bolstering the development team is David Wells, who joins after a decade at Muse Developments where he was the Regional Director running the Leeds office. David brings a wealth of experience in public/private sector partnerships and large-scale regeneration projects.

David said: “It’s a great time to be joining CAPITAL&CENTRIC as they look to breathe new life into town centres across the UK, something that’s even more important in a post-COVID world. It’s a really exciting and impressive list of projects.

“I’ve always kept an eye on what Tim and Adam have been up to and really admire what they’ve done to shake up the property market by banning investors at Crusader and Phoenix. Their focus on people over property and creating social value really appealed to me.”

He joins Emma Cooper who is moving from Cube Homes where she has worked for the past eight years as a Project Manager across the company’s North West residential portfolio.

They join other recent hire Richard Spackman who was previously Project Manager at DeTrafford where he was working on the company’s residential portfolio across the North West, including the Manchester Gardens masterplan.

Andrew Bargh has also been appointed, who joins from CityBlock Group in Lancaster where he was Development Manager working across residential, student and commercial development.

The four will support CAPITAL&CENTRIC’s recent expansion into Greater Manchester towns, with plans for new communities in Rochdale, Stockport and Bolton, and into Stoke in the Midlands.

The company is also planning a new community on Swan Street in Manchester’s New Cross district and recently launched rentals at its £250m new garden neighbourhood Kampus (a joint venture with HBD). Residents have now also started moving into the owner occupier community created at Crusader Mill, which recently featured in the BBC2 documentary Manctopia.

Adam said: “It’s been a busy year for us with owner occupiers starting to move into Phoenix and Crusader in Piccadilly East and our garden neighbourhood, Kampus, opening its doors. Add to this the partnerships we’ve announced with Rochdale, Stockport, Bolton and Stoke, and it was time to grow the team.

“We’ve got around 3000 homes under development, so we’re definitely not the new kid on the block anymore! We’re always looking for new opportunities and the guys will be helping us to find more town centre sites in need of some love that can be repurposed into buzzing new communities.”

To add to the in-house marketing and design team, Ellen Petty will join as Marketing Manager from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Ellen will work alongside CAPITAL&CENTRIC’s retained PR agency, Font Communications.

AGENT CHOOSES BRUNTWOOD SCITECH’S NO.2 CIRCLE SQUARE FOR NORTH WEST EXPANSION

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Brand and communications agency, Agent, and its sister training company, Agent Academy CIC, have increased their North West footprint, following strong growth across both organisations.

Agent has taken space at Bruntwood SciTech’s No.2 Circle Square, in the heart of Manchester’s innovation district, which is also home to Accenture, KPMG and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, among others.

The expansion into Greater Manchester comes after a record 12 months for the agency, which has called Liverpool home since its inception in 2006 and marks a significant step as it continues to broaden its national client base, with the likes of National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Yodel, RHA and The Environment Agency on its roster.

The growth of Agent’s space reflects significant investment in its multidisciplinary team, which now sits at 35, spanning strategy, creative, digital and communications. Expanding into Manchester gives Agent the opportunity to continue to grow the team and its integrated offer for clients. Agent Academy will shortly be launching new training programmes in Greater Manchester for emerging creative and digital talent.

Paul Corcoran, CEO of Agent, said:

“This really is an exciting time for us at Agent and the Academy. Our investment into Greater Manchester makes absolute sense as we continue to widen our networks, grow our team and evolve our offer for clients not just in the North, but across the UK.

“Where we work is incredibly important to us as a team and as a brand, so finding a space with a strong atmosphere, energy and culture and surrounding ourselves with the right people have been high priorities for finding this space.

“As we move forward, our focus will be to continue working with forward thinking, like-minded businesses that share our values by actively doing good for people and our planet. Greater Manchester is known for being an ambitious, bold and adventurous city region with real heart and I’m eager to see how being based here will shape the next part of our story.”

Joseph Venables, Head of Business Development, Bruntwood SciTech, said:

“We’re delighted to be working with Agent to help them with their expansion into Greater Manchester. We have a long-standing relationship with Agent and are thrilled to be able to support this next stage in their impressive journey. We’ve loved seeing what they’ve done in Liverpool City Region; building a solid reputation for their unique, warm and welcoming culture and we’re excited for what they’ll bring to Circle Square.

“Agent will be a great addition to the Circle Square community. We’re really looking forward to welcoming them to their new home and continuing to support them on their journey.”