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SHE Software confirms commitment to providing opportunities for talented trainees with opening of apprenticeship academy.

Apprenticeship

Sam Whitear

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28/04/2021

SHE Software confirms commitment to providing opportunities for talented trainees with opening of apprenticeship academy.

SHE Software has partnered with Multiverse to launch an apprenticeship academy in Manchester, UK and is recruiting the first two project management apprentices.

SHE Software, the leading international provider of configurable health and safety management software, is recruiting two project management apprentices at it’s newly created apprenticeship academy in Manchester, UK.

In partnership with Multiverse, the SHE Software apprenticeship academy will combine best-in-class training with one-to-one coaching delivered by it’s global team of experts. The 18-month project management apprentice programme will blend academic learning with practical application. Leaning on a strong mix of technical and people skills, this provides the opportunity to master essential project management skills such as navigating complex organisational challenges and getting things done efficiently.

By working at SHE Software, the pioneer of digital transformation within health and safety, apprentices gain strong insight into how technology can help the global health and safety sector overcome many of the challenges. These include employee engagement, tracking leading indicators and insight driven decision making.

This move from SHE Software shows a commitment towards on-the-job training and skills development for its staff. It also shows the company’s commitment to diversity. The recruitment process will target
non-graduates across Manchester and Multiverse has a track record of placing candidates from a range of backgrounds into the top roles.

The virtual classroom training will be delivered by Multiverse, a startup tech company focused on high-quality education and training through a unique professional apprenticeship model. Multiserve announced the closing of a $44 million Series B funding round earlier this year and has tripled the number of apprentices trained to 3,000 in the last twelve months.

Kimberly Baker, V.P. of Talent at SHE Software, said: “We’ve established an office in Manchester as it’s a thriving area bursting with diverse talent. Taking on apprentices in this area will help us bring new, energetic staff into our team and grow them internally with the support of Multiverse.

We are a company that believes strongly in promoting from within, and we set ourselves a target of filling 50% of our roles from our graduate and apprentice intake. I can’t wait to see these 2 new Manchester based apprentices learn and grow into successful members of our team.”

SHE Software’s investment in their new data academy comes via the Apprenticeship Levy.

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.

Euan Blair, Founder and CEO of Multiverse said: “Apprenticeships are an outstanding alternative to the university system, helping a broad range of the most talented people find great jobs, and supporting those in employment to access reskilling opportunities to meet the demands of the future of work. What this partnership shows is that innovative software companies like SHE see apprenticeships as a core part of their talent acquisition and development strategy. We’re excited to partner with them in Manchester to provide exciting new apprenticeship opportunities to those launching their careers.”

The North West businesswoman on a confidence mission for women

Business support

Sam Whitear

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28/04/2021

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The North West businesswoman on a confidence mission for women

Manchester-based Beckie Taylor, CEO of Tech Returners an organisation focused on career empowerment has launched a new venture with a spotlight on women and confidence.

The Confidence Collective is a 4 part programme designed to develop and empower women to embrace natural strengths to enable effective communication, build confidence and resilience, manage imposter syndrome, develop leadership skills and processes to build effective teams and partnerships all as part of a unique journey towards confidence and success.

The programme which is led by Beckie Taylor, a People and HR expert provides practical advice and activities and a range of free resources and is available to individuals and businesses in both Manchester and London with programmes running throughout the year.

The programme forms part of a wider confidence mission for Taylor who has created online platform The Confidence Community, a home for free resources and advice and in her own words is “ a community shaped by a community, we don’t just want to be another unread notification in a sea of content and there are plenty of fantastic resources already out there who do excellent work, so we’ll be building our community with the help of the people within it and taking their guidance on what is important’

Whilst the community platform is a new project for Taylor, her mission around women and confidence was the original catalyst for the Tech Returners organisation of which she is CEO and for which her work earned her the Northern Power Women Transformational Leader Award 2021. Most recently she has been focusing on ‘ The Confidence Collective’ programme which has been quietly gathering momentum since 2018 having seen more than 70 women already complete the programme and go on to win industry awards, obtain promotions and new roles and even speak at TEDx. The programme has also worked exclusively with The CoOp to develop female talent.

Speaking about the programme Beckie Taylor said

“ I have always been passionate about empowering women to be confident in their careers and their lives as a whole and never has it been more important than now, in the face of a pandemic, a time when women are literally losing their jobs, their childcare and their support networks, we have never needed to support each other more, if you are a business that can invest in the development of your female talent now is absolutely the time to do it and if you are an individual looking for support with confidence then we are here to help”

Places on the 4 part programme are £1,500 per person with payment options available. Bespoke packages are also available for businesses considering multiple individuals for the programme.

MANCHESTER’S WHAT MEDIA ‘ON POINTE’ AS IT BAGS SUSTAINABLE BALLETWEAR VIDEO SHOWCASE

Sam Whitear

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28/04/2021

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MANCHESTER’S WHAT MEDIA ‘ON POINTE’ AS IT BAGS SUSTAINABLE BALLETWEAR VIDEO SHOWCASE

Sustainable dancewear brand Imperfect Pointes has appointed Manchester’s video agency What Media to produce its first brand video.

The video project will showcase the Imperfect Pointes ethical, and environmentally friendly, designs while helping consumers to understand the impact balletwear can have on the environment.

Striking a balance between beauty and destruction, the creative will show a dancer moving through projected images of climate change, landfill, and a sea of plastic – highlighting the dangers of fast fashion in dancewear.

The What Media team, based in Manchester, has worked closely with the brand’s founder Helen Banks handling the showcase from brief, developing the creative concept and managing content execution.

Shot in the ‘Depot at Mayfield’, an old train station near Manchester’s Piccadilly that has been repurposed as an event space, hosted a fully green shoot – banning single use plastic on site.

The team worked with brand ambassador Mayara Magri, First Soloist of The Royal Ballet and choreographer Mathew Ball, Principal Dancer with The Royal Ballet.
Helen Banks, director of Imperfect Pointes, said: “Having worked on campaigns for big fashion and sports brands over the years, launching my own sustainable brand meant I was keen to ensure my vision was brought to life.
“I chose What Media for their quick understanding, passion and technical skill to collaborate and create something really special. Chris and his team really listened to what I wanted to achieve, and I trusted them to create something that reflected my brand purpose and show off Mayara’s sublime ballet dancing. The What Media team hadn’t worked on a ballet film previously and I think they really stepped up to the challenge to get an outstanding result.”
The Imperfect Pointes campaign goes live April 27th and will be featured across its website and social channels.

Speaking about the showcase, creative director of What Media, Chris Townsend, said: “One of the key things we look for in new projects is working with businesses that are trying to make a positive impact on the world or the environment.

“The Imperfect Pointes showcase has been a great balance of working with a brand that is focused on making a difference, while being given the freedom to take an incredible brief and bring their messaging to life through video.”

Chris added: “We have really enjoyed collaborating with the team, taking the idea from inception to the video content. We look forward to seeing it go live.”

Founded in 2016 in Manchester, What Media specialise in creative, video, and animation.
What Media has kick-started 2021 with a bang, winning several new clients and project briefs, including Uber for Business and Muscle Food.

British premium sports fashion brand Castore has agreed a deal to relocate its company headquarters on Manchester City Centre

Creative

Sam Whitear

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28/04/2021

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British premium sports fashion brand Castore has agreed a deal to relocate its company headquarters to One Central Street, part of The Albert Estate in Manchester city centre.

Castore has signed a 13-year lease with landlords Kinrise to occupy all available workspace – circa 22,100 sq ft – within the building, situated across five floors.

Founded in 2015 by brothers Thomas and Philip Beahon, Castore’s vision was to bring a new level of performance to men’s sportswear. The brand currently sells products in more than 50 countries worldwide and boasts collaborations with sports stars such as Andy Murray. Revenue is expected to reach £100m this year.

Castore will relocate all staff from current headquarters in Liverpool to Manchester this year and expect to create a further 300 jobs in the city in the next 2 years.

Phil Beahon, Castore Co-Founder “We are delighted to be moving to Manchester and opening Castore House as our global HQ in the city. It is clear for everyone to see that Manchester is a city with an incredible buzz about it and the number of fast-growing, high tech businesses in the city were a real draw for us when choosing our long-term home for Castore.”

Chief Executive of Manchester City Council Joanne Roney said: “I am delighted to welcome Castore to Manchester. The business has seen impressive growth since their founding and this significant investment will create 300 jobs, another endorsement of the city’s strengths in areas such as digital and e-commerce. We very much look forward to working with them, to both assist with their HQ relocation to the city and to match the talent in this city to the opportunities they bring.”

George Aberdeen, Co-Founder at Kinrise said; “We are delighted to welcome Castore as the lead tenant at our 1 Central Street building in Manchester. Like all properties in the Kinrise portfolio, the newly refurbished former mill has been carefully re-designed to reveal the original character of the building; making it the perfect location in which a forward-thinking business like Castore can thrive.”

OBI advised on the transaction. The team has also been appointed to design the new workspace and manage the refurbishment project.

Andrew Cowell from OBI said: “One Central Street is a building with character and will provide a brilliant space for Castore’s continued growth. The team required a creative space that would allow for collaboration and evolution. Manchester is a brilliant city for a business such as Castore.”

Tim Newns, MIDAS Chief Executive said: “Castore is one of the UK’s most exciting and fastest-growing sportswear brands and we’re delighted to welcome them to Manchester. Not only will this be Castore’s HQ, but it will also include a new innovation hub, product development studio and content studio which combined will house 500 people over the next two years. It brings together many of Greater Manchester’s strengths, including sport, tech/ecommerce, fashion, creative talent, technical textiles and innovation and is further recognition that Manchester is the UK’s best city to scale a digital business. They will follow in the footsteps of our many unicorns which have benefitted from a diverse talent pool and tech ecosystem, and we look forward to continuing our support and seeing this innovative company reach its potential.”

Rents within One Central Street range from £25.00 psf – £28.00 psf. OBI is the sole leasing agent.

The company has retail stores on the King’s Road in London and within the Liverpool ONE scheme in the city centre and is expecting to open a further 5 stores around the UK in the next 6 months.

Zuto Donates Laptops to Local Manchester Community Groups

CSR

Sam Whitear

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28/04/2021

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Zuto Donates Laptops to Local Manchester Community Groups

Manchester based car finance company, Zuto, has donated laptops to two local community groups to help support their commitment to helping the local community.

Working with Forever Manchester, the charity recommended two community groups, Women’s Footprints and The United Estates of Wythenshawe, who would benefit from a laptop donation. Zuto then partnered with IT company Bytes to send 18 laptops to the groups.

A spokesperson from Forever Manchester commented:

‘Big thanks to Zuto for the donation of the laptops to two grassroot community projects in Ardwick and Wythenshawe. These will make a massive difference to the local residents who attend that group. They will help them to develop and enhance skills which can lead to better prospects.’

Women’s Footprints is an intergenerational group for women living in the Brunswick and Ardwick area of Manchester. They hold weekly sessions in well-being and creativity and during the pandemic have moved their services online. Some of the women in the groups have struggled with getting online during the pandemic, either due to sharing devices with their children or not having a computer. The laptop donation will aide this, as well as offer access to valuable courses to help with education and employment.

The United Estates of Wythenshawe is a community centre home to many groups, including Mum’s Mart. Mum’s Mart have a new digital inclusion class to help people enhance their computer skills and the laptops are being used to support this, as well as being available to other groups.

James Wardlaw, Customer Support & Relationship Manager at Bytes, said

‘We’re immensely proud to have partnered with Zuto to donate laptops. It’s incredible to see how much good these devices will do at such a difficult time’.

Mary Beighton from Zuto commented,

‘We’ve supported Forever Manchester for a number of years and have always been inspired by their tireless work to support and fund community activities across Greater Manchester. Forever Manchester provides opportunities for businesses to make a difference to community groups at grassroots level, and their ethos aligns very closely with our ambition to use Zuto as a force for good in society. We hope the donation will help with the great work both Women’s Footprints and The United Estates of Wythenshawe are doing’.

Be The Best Communications launches new data-fuelled digital PR service

Creative

Sam Whitear

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28/04/2021

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Be The Best Communications launches new data-fuelled digital PR service

Manchester-based agency Be The Best Communications has announced the launch of “Search PR” – its new data-fuelled digital PR and marketing division.

The agency has launched the new service in response to client demand for digital services after revenue increased by more than 80% in 2020.

“Search PR” combines multiple digital disciplines together into one strategic offering, including link building, SEO, social listening, search listening, and data analytics.

The result of this is a data-informed digital PR service, which works in tandem with the agency’s existing services of public relations, public affairs, and strategic communications.

The Ancoats-based agency offers these services independently or as part of a package.

The past year has widely been credited as the year of digital transformation after the Covid-19 pandemic forced businesses to move online.

UK internet usage more than doubled in 2020, as people stayed home during the coronavirus pandemic, according to data from Openreach, which runs much of the UK’s broadband network.

Chris Walker, founder and director of Be The Best Communications, said: “By harnessing the power of data we can provide more insight on our client’s target customers and then find better ways of communicating with them.

“I’m hugely excited to be launching our new Search PR function as the past year of growth has taught us that our clients really value our approach of bringing together different disciplines of communications to help them build better relationships, generate more sales and deliver results more quickly”.

Pixel Kicks celebrates raft of new account wins

Sam Whitear

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28/04/2021

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Pixel Kicks celebrates raft of new account wins

Pixel Kicks, the Manchester based full-service digital agency, has secured four new major client briefs from DOCAN, Avaris e-bikes, Synextra and Sensory Solutions.

Cheshire headquartered DOCAN is an engineering consultancy and software distributor run by professional engineers, consultants and designers. Its primary experience is in the application of advanced engineering and its services cover everything required for the engineering lifecycle including mathematical modelling, engineering design, pressure systems design, stress analysis, multi physics, thermo-fluids, system and process modelling and computer aided engineering. The project will see Pixel Kicks create a brand-new brochure website and it will provide ongoing digital marketing consultancy services.

For Avaris e-bikes, Pixel Kicks will be creating, launching and delivering a bespoke digital marketing campaign encompassing Pay-Per-Click services, SEO work – including content creation, as well as social media activity. The core aims will be to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, and to improve performance of paid ads and sales.

Synextra, which is a leading cloud IT provider, has briefed Pixel Kicks to design and develop a modern and mobile responsive brochure website that will include a large blog library, a live chat facility, and a live quotation system. The new site is expected to go live later this year.

The final project is for Sensory Solutions which is a community interest company founded by the Seed SistAs who are two entrepreneurs who between them have decades of study and clinical practice in herbal medicine. The company sells online courses, books, and wide range of herbal products. Pixel Kicks will be renewing and harmonising their branding, and developing a fully responsive, optimised, and user-friendly ecommerce website.

Matt Hartley – principal sales and account manager at Pixel Kicks said: “These new wins are great news and are testament to the hard work, creative thinking, and proven results of the Pixel Kicks team. Each company is a leader in its respective field so we are really excited to be working with them. Our focus is now on delivering on every project and adding commercial value to our clients.”

LMO Properties appoint Regional Property Solutions to manage £5m portfolio

Property

Sam Whitear

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27/04/2021

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LMO Properties appoint Regional Property Solutions to manage £5m portfolio

Hale based LMO Properties has appointed Regional Property Solutions to manage its property portfolio of 13 commercial properties in Altrincham, Hale, Hale Barns and Bowdon.

Mark Oakes, managing director, LMO Properties, said: “RPS facilitated our very first lease over 10 years ago and we’ve worked closely with them ever since, primarily on acquisitions and lettings. In that time the portfolio has grown to an asset value of over £5m, so the time is now right for me to hand over the management side as well”.

The portfolio comprises a combination of single and multi-let offices, retail premises and an element of residential. Long standing occupiers include Lloyds Bank in Altrincham, Citybranch in Hale and Playon Football in Bowdon, as well as more recent tenants including Jaw Digital and Moonchild Tattoo in Hale.

Daniel Lee, managing director, Regional Property Solutions, said: “We have worked with Mark over the last decade acting on his behalf in the acquisitions, sales and lettings of all the properties and we are delighted take over the management of this high quality diverse portfolio, as well looking for further value added opportunities to expand the portfolio.

SAVILLS GETS GO AHEAD FOR MANCHESTER OFFICE REDEVELOPMENT

Property

Sam Whitear

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27/04/2021

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SAVILLS GETS GO AHEAD FOR MANCHESTER OFFICE REDEVELOPMENT

Savills has successfully secured consent for a redevelopment of 70 Great Bridgewater Street in Manchester city centre on behalf of a fund managed by Credit Suisse Asset Management. The building was formerly the office of law firm Eversheds Sutherland.

The scheme will utilise the existing frame to provide 120,000 sq ft of Grade A office space over seven storeys. The building will benefit from two new upper floors with the external appearance of the building being transformed through a new façade treatment.

Wellness and sustainability will be at the heart of the scheme with most floors benefiting from external terraces and various tenant focused amenities provided throughout the building.

Jin Cui, Head of UK Real Estate at Credit Suisse Asset Management, comments: “We are delighted to have secured consent for what promises to be a fantastic new office scheme. The intention for the project has always been to put the occupier experience first. We believe the building responds to changing occupier needs by providing an abundance of outdoor space, dedicated wellbeing areas and a contemporary, sustainable specification.”

The scheme is anticipated to be available from Q4 2023.

International real estate advisor Savills is providing planning and project management advice with OMI the appointed architect and Simten Developments appointed as development manager.

PMD to support RHA members with flexible funding

Partnerships

Sam Whitear

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27/04/2021

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PMD to support RHA members with flexible funding

PMD begins a strategic partnership with the RHA, the trade association of choice for all operators of commercial vehicles, giving its members access to the widest panel of funding lines available in the market.

Manchester based PMD Business Finance is one of the UK’s leading independent providers of business finance and is now lending over £150m each year to UK businesses. With access to over 100 trusted funders from high street banks, alternative lenders, through to boutique finance providers, PMD supports over 10,000 SME businesses, 3,000 of which fall within haulage and transportation.

As banks regress, the alternative finance sector continues to grow and become a more trusted provider of SME business finance. As part of the partnership, PMD will provide RHA members with access to multiple funding lines, ensuring they are never over exposed to one funding source for asset purchases.

Peter Dobson, Managing Director at PMD, said:
“We are proud to begin our partnership with the RHA to develop the Business Finance remit offered to its members, including our innovative benchmarking service. The alternative finance marketplace continues to grow, and PMD is perfectly positioned to guide operators through the ever-changing financial landscape.”

The dedicated PMD team will provide members with support above and beyond asset finance as their specialisms include invoice finance, loans, acquisitions, property and supplier led finance.

Peter adds:
“The partnership comes soon after the Chancellor’s announcement of Super-deduction Annual Investment Allowance in the Spring Budget. Savings of up to £24,700, on assets costing £100,000, are there to be had over the next two years – a true incentive for operators considering investing in new plant and machinery and commercial vehicles.
“With access to over 100 funders, PMD is as close to the funding world as a business can get and I am confident in the support we can offer.”

Pete Short, Head of Business Development at the RHA, comments on the new partnership:
“We are excited to be launching RHA Business Finance driven by PMD. This partnership will ensure our members have access to the best-in-class business finance solutions, to help them recover after such a difficult year for businesses, but ultimately to grow and thrive as businesses in the future. The expertise PMD can bring to the table will be essential for helping operators navigate much needed financial support.”

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