The charity set up in memory of BBC presenter Dianne Oxberry has teamed up with Trafford-based personalised clothing business Clothes2order to launch a t-shirt fundraising campaign.

Dianne, a former BBC Radio 1 host and BBC North West Tonight weather presenter, died from ovarian cancer in January aged 51.

The Dianne Oxberry Trust was founded by her husband Ian Hindle to raise awareness of ovarian cancer and its symptoms, support families affected by the condition and to fund research.

Since its inception, it has raised more than £100,000 and it now aims to boost this figure by selling t-shirts designed to promote the charity and a rose grown in honour of Dianne.

The ‘Florida Sunset’ rose was unveiled at the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show as part of the BBC NWT ‘Sunshine Garden’ dedicated to Dianne.

The rose was given its name because of Dianne’s long-standing fondness for the US state, and the flower’s two-tone pinks reminded Ian of the spectacular sunsets they enjoyed watching together there while on family holidays.

The first batch of roses has already sold out and Fryer’s Roses, based in Knutsford, is growing more for next year.

Specially-designed t-shirts bearing a picture of the rose, as well as bright yellow Dianne Oxberry Trust shirts, are being sold via www.charityshirts.co.uk, a website run by Clothes2order.

The t-shirts are available in sizes XS-XL and cost £9.99 each. All proceeds from the first 100 of each design that are sold will go to the trust, excluding VAT and delivery costs. After that, all of the profits – £3.25 per shirt – will go to the charity.

Charityshirts.co.uk makes no profit from the sales.

Sam Jones, managing director of Clothes2order, which is based in Trafford Park, said: “We are honoured to be working with the Dianne Oxberry Trust to help support their cause through the sale of these t-shirts.

“Since we launched Charity Shirts, over £18,000 has been raised for different causes all over the country. We are extremely proud to be able to offer this platform for charities to make a difference through the sale of t-shirts to their supporters.”

An Oldham-based business finance firm has launched its own training academy in a bid to attract new talent to the industry.

PMD Business Finance, based at Howarth Court, officially launched its Accelerate programme this summer, as part of the firm’s expansion plans.

Managing director, Peter Dobson, said: “PMD is one of the fastest growing business finance intermediaries in the UK and one of the largest brokers in the country. We have seen rapid and exciting growth in the business and now we want to attract fresh and young talent to join our team.

“The Accelerate programme has been in the pipeline for a while, but we wanted to make sure that the time was right to launch. PMD has expanded massively over the last few years, and this year also saw the launch of our new invoice finance division. Our aim is to use this programme to develop ambitious people who are motivated to join our dynamic sales team and enjoy a rewarding and successful career.”

Successful applicants will undergo a structured training and development programme, with potential to join the team as a business development executive and progress through to business development director status within three years.

Peter added: “The most important qualities for us is that the people we hire have a strong work ethic, are self-motivated and ambitious. Previous sales experience is required, but finance sales experience is not essential.”

Over the last year, PMD Business Finance has arranged 2,516 deals, lending £108million. In Manchester and Greater Manchester, the firm has supported 256 SME businesses (of which, 34 were start-ups), accessing £21.5million. PMD also arranged £6.2million of EFG (Enterprise Finance Guarantee) funding.

As part of its expansion, PMD moved offices to a larger space at Howarth Court in Oldham in order to house its rising 30+ staff count, which has grown from just eight staff members when the business was founded in 2010. This year, the firm has also introduced an invoice finance division, headed up by Mark Millhouse.

Peter said: “We are in the middle of big growth plans for PMD, and launching our invoice finance division earlier this year was a massive development for us. It’s already had a huge positive effect and allows us to attack the asset-based lending marketplace. We decided to launch the Accelerate programme this summer as we’re making substantial investment in hiring new sales people to join the team.”

Peter added: “As a firm, we work with businesses in a host of different industries. We currently have 75 different funding partners offering the ultimate funding panel – it’s competitive, flexible and fast. SMEs understand that there are now alternatives to traditional bank funding and these are just as competitive and can be delivered in an efficient and professional manner.”

Northcoders – the coding bootcamp for the North – is launching a new “Study Now, Pay Later” initiative as part of its Developing Diversity programme that aims to address the gender imbalance that exists in the tech sector.

20 places will be available on Northcoders’ September, October and November cohorts and will help women and gender minorities – people who identify as non-binary, transgender or intersex – start their career in tech by not having to pay tuition fees up front.

Successful applicants can study in Manchester (Federation House) or Leeds (Platform) and will only start to repay their fees once they start earning a regular wage. Payments will be 10% of their gross income each month until the balance is paid in full with no interest being charged. The only contribution being asked for up front is a £300 deposit to show commitment to their place on the course.

There are no formal entry requirements and applicants don’t even need to know a line of code. It’s more about having an aptitude for coding and having the passion to learn and then start a career in the industry.

The launch of the scheme is the latest initiative from Northcoders to help address the gender imbalance of people working in the development and tech communities. In May, the business partnered for a second time with global technology consultancy ThoughtWorks to offer four fully-funded scholarships for women and gender minorities.

Chris Hill, CEO of Northcoders, said: “After months of hard work behind the scenes I feel incredibly proud to be able to announce the launch of this scheme. We know it’s going to make a significant difference to gender diversity in tech across the region. Everyone at Northcoders is passionate about addressing diversity in tech, and we’re looking forward to helping more women and people who belong to gender minorities enter the tech industry.”

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Greater Manchester can apply for grants of up to £12,500 to improve their energy efficiency.

The grants, being offered by GC Business Growth Hub, could pay for half the cost of projects worth between £2,000 and £25,000 to replace old equipment with more modern, energy-efficient kit.

The move could save local SMEs 50 per cent or more on energy bills, as well as helping them demonstrate their green credentials and enabling them to play a part in making Greater Manchester one of the greenest cities in Europe.

The grants are available for a limited time on a first-come first-served basis and can go towards, for example, a new LED lighting system for a firm’s premises, heating equipment upgrades, replacement drives or motors, or another energy efficiency project that a business needs.

Local firms trading with other businesses, employing fewer than 250 people and with a turnover of less than £40m last year are eligible.

Kevin Lambert, Resource Efficiency Lead for GC Business Growth Hub, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Greater Manchester Combined Authority, said: “I would strongly encourage any SMEs based in Greater Manchester which have identified an energy saving opportunity to contact us to see if we can help.

“We can provide the funding SMEs need to upgrade their lighting or equipment, slash energy bills and reduce their environmental impact. Going green could help SMEs cut their energy bills by half or more.

“The application process is simple and we will respond within 24 working hours to confirm your eligibility and get things moving.

“Becoming more energy efficient will enable SMEs to play a role in helping make Greater Manchester one of the greenest places in Europe. And once you’ve successfully applied for a grant, why not consider signing up to our Green Business Pledge?

“Our specialists have been helping small and medium-sized businesses in Greater Manchester increase efficiency, boost profitability and cut carbon emissions since 2001.

“In the last four years, we’ve saved businesses more than £3million by helping them improve their environmental performance.”

Manchester-based Godel has completed the initial phase of software development work with Fintech lending platform Freedom Finance to re-engineer its technology platform to deliver a faster and more efficient experience for borrowers and lenders.

Godel has worked with the in-house software development team at Freedom Finance to deliver a cloud-based platform which will allow users to enter their details once and via an API gateway, deliver the information into multiple lenders’ systems without any rekeying of data. The intermediary platform can then provide personalised lending options for each user whilst also using analytics to identify gaps in the market and deliver what customers are looking for.

The joint development work has delivered a new scalable platform, which will support Freedom Finance’s growth ambitions and allow it to offer new and improved credit services – taking it into the next phase of its evolution.

Nick Allen, CTO Freedom Finance said: “Working with Godel allowed us to deploy software that is faster and more efficient than ever before. Providing lenders with state-of-the-art technology, alongside human touch and support, allows them to offer a service that better responds to customers’ needs. That’s been Freedom Finance’s experience.

“By migrating our platform to a cloud-based service, we’ve been able to give even more customers the opportunity to make well-informed decisions. We’re focused on connecting borrowers to the right lenders by streamlining options, so tailored loans for individual circumstances can be recognised at the touch of a button. Thanks to our work with Godel, we’re ahead of the market and are making customer journeys as seamless as possible.”

Paul Green, CCO, Godel said: “Personalisation is so often at the heart of digitisation – the ability to deliver precisely what the customer is looking for at the touch of a button or swipe of a screen. API’s offer the capabilities to achieve this, and the work we’ve done with Freedom Finance ultimately means it’s new platform can grow with the company and the market place in which it operates.”

Price Slater Gawne solicitors, based in Altrincham, have announced the further expansion of their team with the appointment of Nicole Paton as a Clinical Negligence Solicitor.

Nicole joins the firm with a wealth of legal knowledge and experience gained with personal injury legal teams and firms in the North West.

In her role in Price Slater Gawne’s expanding medical negligence department, Nicole will be investigating and presenting claims on behalf of injured clients and supporting them through the physical and/or psychological rehabilitation they require.

Regarding joining the Price Slater Gawne team, Nicole commented:

“I am delighted to join such an experienced medical negligence team as well as joining such a prominent firm in this field. This area of law continues to expand and Price Slater Gawne are also growing and I am looking forward to being a part of that future with them.”

Victoria Price, Director at Price Slater Gawne commented:

“We are very pleased to welcome Nicole to our Medical Negligence team.

At Price Slater Gawne we are currently undergoing a period of expansion which sees us developing our teams in all areas. Our constant aim is to deliver the highest standards of legal services for our clients . That means expanding with the right people on board. Nicole’s expertise and approach are a very welcome addition to the medical negligence team and to the firm as a whole”.