LeasingOptions.co.uk has seen a 75 per cent increase in sales of electric cars year-on-year over the last 12 months and is predicting a minimum increase of 60 per cent over the next 12 months.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), sales of cars with alternative fuels – including battery electric vehicles and hybrids – were down 11.8% in June compared with the same month last year, the first annual decline since April 2017.

LeasingOptions.co.uk, the UK’s leading car leasing company, revealed the most popular electric cars:

– Tesla Model 3
– Jaguar I Pace
– Tesla Model S
– Audi E-Tron
– Tesla Model X

LeasingOptions.co.uk Director of Sales and Marketing, Mike Thompson said: “We’ve seen a big growth in demand for electric car sales over the last 12 months.

“Our own data reveals quite a different story than the national motoring industry – we’ve seen a significant increase in demand for electric cars and we predict that this is set to continue.”

A premium alcoholic drinks brand selected by Coca-Cola as its official spirit partner has developed two new, highly anticipated flavours following a five-figure loan from GC Business Finance.

Tom Hurst, founder of Manchester-based Rockstar Spirits, aimed to create a drink perfect for mixing with coke, putting resources into researching the traditional flavours of the soft drink to blend the perfect match. Given that 80 per cent of the nation’s rum is sold with the cola, Rockstar Spirits launched the Two Swallows rum range, which was recently selected by Coca-Cola as the official partner for its new Signature Premium Mixers range of flavours.

With a focus on premium spiced rums, the firm’s two existing flavours – Pineapple Grenade and Two Swallows – have proved popular with the public. Following rave reviews from Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on ITV’s This Morning, Pineapple Grenade sold out on Amazon within an hour. The ‘Two Swallows’ range of Rockstar Spirits is 38 per cent ABV while the ‘Grenade’ range is amongst the only over-proof premium rums available at 65 per cent ABV. Despite the ABV strength of the Grenade series, the rum offers a smooth easy drinking spirit due to the high quality and unique flavour combinations.

The Rockstar Spirits brand has developed significantly across Manchester since launch in October 2018. So far, company director Daren Newman – whose artwork Manchester bargoers might recognise in the branding of The Botanist and Crazy Pedros – has helped the development of a strong brand identity for Rockstar Spirits. The ‘orange strip’ along the bottleneck – which signals quality to customers – is available in Booths, on Amazon, and in bars such as Revolucion de Cuba across the country.

The loan comes as the latest development in the relationship between GC Business Finance and Rockstar – a previous loan of £14,000 had helped to establish the company in 2018. The new funding has enabled Rockstar to develop two new flavours: Grapefruit Grenade, which is now available to purchase; and Two Swallows Cherry, which is set to launch at the end of August. The loan has also helped ramp up production of its original flavours to help the business deliver on current order volumes.

Owner of Rockstar Spirits, Tom Hurst said:“Right now is a very interesting time for spirits – we’ve seen gin reinvigorated by producers looking to please a more discerning audience which has paid off massively. Now I believe is the time for rum to undergo the same transition. Our Coca-Cola partnership shows that the appetite for our upmarket rums is growing, and with the help of this latest loan we’ll be able to make a bigger impact on the growing sector.

“We’ve established an excellent relationship with the team at GC Business Finance, who have supported Rockstar Spirits right from the get-go. We’re looking forward to working with them and hitting our target of releasing the next two flavours with use of this loan.”

Simon Truby, Senior Business Loan Manager at GC Business Finance, said: “Rockstar Spirits have thus far developed at an extraordinary rate – the official partnership with Coca-Cola’s Signature range is the latest example of this. Not only is the business really exciting to work with, the products are fantastic, and we look forward to working with the company to help maintain the impressive pace they’ve set.”

Trafford Leisure has invested £30,000 into gymnastics and trampolining, through the purchase of new gymnastics equipment and the strategic development of its gymnastics and trampolining teaching programme.

Gymnastics Trafford is one of the largest leisure centre schemes in the UK and already teaches 1200 children and young adults a week, across 50 gymnastics and 38 trampolining classes. Trafford Leisure is launching an additional 15 gymnastics and trampolining classes each week from September 2019.

Trafford Leisure has recently partnered with British Gymnastics, the National Governing Body for the sport and is now following its ‘Jump into Gymnastics’ teaching programme.  Children in the Trafford Gymnastics classes will work towards the British Gymnastics Awards and will be continually assessed throughout the classes.

The expansion of the teaching programme goes hand in hand with the new gymnastics equipment, which has recently been installed at its Altrincham Leisure Centre.  The equipment includes a new floor, balance beams, high beams, safety mats, asymmetric bars and soft play teaching aids, as well as an Air Track and a Fast Track course.

The Air Track is a 15 metre long, extremely bouncy tumble track, which is used by gymnasts to rehearse their tumbling safely. The Fast Track is a 10 metre long trampoline that is a teaching aid used by coaches for practising front and back flips, as well as somersaults.

Shane Robinson, the Gymnastics and Trampolining Brand Manager for Trafford Leisure, joined the leisure group in March 2019 and has overseen the investment in its gymnastics and trampolining offerings.

Robinson has a wealth of experience and has taught British, European and World Champions during his coaching career, as well as being both a UK and international gymnastics judge. He specialises in tumbling and is the youngest international judge in the UK.

Robinson said: “It’s a very exciting time for Gymnastics Trafford. All our students are thrilled to be using world class equipment. The new facilities mean our young gymnasts can train to their best ability with our fully qualified instructors and following the British Gymnastics teaching programme in a safe and fun environment.”

Trafford Gymnastics offers a fun and structured programme for children, young people and adults of all abilities and levels, with classes starting for children aged from 18 months, as well as boy and girl-only sessions.

Jo Cherrett, CEO, Trafford Leisure said: “We are immensely proud of Trafford Gymnastics. The demand for these sessions has grown year on year. Our gymnastics programme is already very strong and this substantial investment means we can get stronger still. Our new class programme and the superb equipment is a direct reflection on our expert gymnastic and trampolining coaching staff. Gymnastics is a fantastic way to keep active and flexible. Leaping, jumping, balancing and tumbling…I’m dizzy just thinking about it!”

The University Campus of Football Business (UCFB) has announced a new long-term lease that will transform ground floor office space at Piccadilly Place into a thriving study hub for UCFB Etihad Campus students in the heart of Manchester city centre.

The new offering will host a large study space, world-class IT facilities and library, as well as a high-tech sports lab and media broadcast studios, enriching the student experience for those studying UCFB’s innovative football and sports degrees.

Since opening in 2016, UCFB Etihad Campus has seen rapid growth with over 1,000 students now studying its predominantly football-focussed undergraduate and postgraduate university education from its state-of-the-art campus, with Etihad Stadium at its heart.

Adjacent to Manchester Piccadilly train station and Metrolink interchange, the new Piccadilly Place study hub is a perfect complement to the existing campus which includes seminar rooms and lecture theatres inside Etihad Stadium and Belle Vue Sports Village, as well as access to a range of the sporting venues that students benefit from across the Etihad Campus.

Construction of UCFB’s contemporary student space at Piccadilly Place has now begun and will be completed ahead of the 2019/20 academic year.

It also comes after UCFB last month announced stadium partnerships in the USA, Canada and Australia where it will create four UCFB Global Study Hubs, giving its students and graduates the chance to visit some of the greatest venues in world sport including New York City’s Red Bull Arena, Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Toronto FC’s BMO Field and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Brendan Flood, UCFB Chairman and Chief Executive, said: “This is a landmark moment for UCFB’s growth in Manchester. We are delighted with the addition of these brilliant facilities at Piccadilly Place for our students, adding another dimension to UCFB Etihad Campus on top of the unique opportunity to learn with us inside Etihad Stadium.

“The Piccadilly Place development will further enhance the student experience at UCFB in one of the world’s greatest sporting cities and we are proud to have worked closely with Property Alliance Group, Transport For Greater Manchester and Manchester City Council to make this long-term agreement a reality.”

Piccadilly Place is a mixed-use development by Property Alliance Group.

Commenting on the announcement, Alliance’s Head of Offices, Rob Peill, said: “We’re extremely excited about UCFB’s new study hub at Piccadilly Place. We’ve worked hard to ensure the right mix of occupiers for the development and we’re confident that UCFB will complement it well with its mix of students and staff members enhancing footfall and utilising everything that Piccadilly Place has to offer.”

RS Components (RS), part of Electrocomponents plc, has chosen Manchester-based Godel as its nearshore software development partner to help re-engineer its ‘My Account’ customer loyalty platform using a Java and Node.js microservices methodology. With operations in 32 countries, RS ships more than 50,000 parcels a day. The Godel development teams will work closely with the RS in-house team on a continuous software delivery approach.

The company’s ambition for My Account’s is for it to become the global channel of choice for customers to experience fully personalised journeys to connect, discover, purchase and manage their component orders and their relationship with RS in the simplest and fastest way. RS will work closely with Godel’s software delivery centres of excellence based in Belarus to help it deliver on that goal.

“We chose the nearshoring model with Godel as it’s important to us that our software development partner works closely with us and delivers more than quality code. Belarus has a two-hour time difference and our teams are able to communicate via video links for daily stand-ups,” said Guy Magrath, chief digital officer, RS Components.

“Godel will support our goal of moving from a project to product mindset, with teams embedded within the overall Product team, working collaboratively towards common goals as colleagues.”

LSH Auto UK, part of the world’s largest Mercedes-Benz dealership (LSH International), has officially opened the UK’s first Mercedes-Benz Autohaus – a dedicated retail space that forms part of the brand-new Mercedes-Benz of Stockport, which is now open.

LSH Auto UK has regenerated the site off Brighton Road with a state-of-the art, purpose-built three-story facility, which will form LSH Auto UK’s Mercedes-Benz hub for the entire Manchester area.

Mercedes-Benz of Stockport has two buildings at the flagship site – a 13,492sqm showroom – the Autohaus; a retail space for new and used cars and an aftersales facility, and a 17,166sqm purpose-built high-tech Body, Paint and Repair Centre, which is now open. This building also operates LSH Auto UK’s regional Used Car Preparation Facility and Parts Distribution Centre.

A destination in its own right, spread over 10.5-acres, Mercedes-Benz of Stockport comes complete with distinct, innovative features including a brand-new bistro, dedicated event facilities and garden, as well as a sleek-designed dealership space showcasing 140 vehicles. It will also incorporate a dedicated AMG suite and display 100 approved used Mercedes Benz vehicles in a purpose-built indoor showroom.

The first Mercedes-Benz showroom in the UK to offer a licensed in-house bistro, serving refreshing light bites for breakfast and lunch including paninis, specialty cakes and pastries and a selection of wine and craft beers. The new hospitality concept will also have its very own dedicated Hospitality Manager, Tom Smith, previously Bar and Tea Room Manager at The Midland Hotel.

The site also sees the innovative use of green spaces, including a living green wall and a contemporary water feature, with further extensive landscaping creating an attractive garden.

The modern space can also be hired for private events and meetings, with the facility holding an event license for exclusive late-night events, including a car registration change event, which will be hosted twice a year at the site.

The site also boasts an ample outdoor roof terrace, complete with plush furniture and views across Stockport, as well as multiple meetings room and a cinema style meeting room, all available for private hire.

Mercedes-Benz of Stockport will also unveil a calendar of events to be held there across the year.

John Stanton, General Manager at Mercedes-Benz of Stockport, said: “We’re really excited to be officially open and welcoming customers through the doors. Mercedes-Benz of Stockport is a landmark destination in its own right. We have a really unique customer offering here that will be a game-changer for automotive retailing as we know it. Everything we provide here is about being unique and distinct, we want to see the space used in innovative ways and look forward to showcasing its endless possibilities.”