The Samuel James Group and its media brand, Business Manchester, has been selected by the UK national newspaper, The Telegraph, to be its regional media partner for a series of events, including the Festival of Business Manchester.

The Festival of Business Manchester will host over 250 North West SMEs at the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel, Manchester on 4 June 2019.

As part of the partnership, the first event saw Business Manchester promoting the free to attend Business Digital Transformation Forum on 26 February 2019 at The Landing, Manchester, in association with Vodafone.

The Forum explored how business leaders in the North West can effectively implement new technology and processes, and ensure that their businesses are well equipped to thrive in the digital economy.

Opening with a debate from trusted industry voices, local business leaders and Vodafone experts, attendees also had the opportunity to drill down into key topic areas and gain practical advice in their choice of exclusive workshop. Both sessions provided actionable takeaways and solutions to help power businesses.

Luke Toudup from The Telegraph, said: “We are very excited to announce our media partnership with Business Manchester. The quality of their business content, coupled with their impressive reach across the North West region, sets the partnership with our Manchester events up for success!”

Added Sam Whitear, Group Commercial Director, The Samuel James Group: “This is a tremendous honour for us to be asked to partner with a media organisation of the standing of The Telegraph.

“Business Manchester was only launched in September 2018 and it illustrates the great progress we have made to establish a good news business newspaper in Greater Manchester and the level of support we have received.”

A fast-growing clean tech start-up launched in Manchester is celebrating after winning a five-figure government contract to help combat waste crime.

Dsposal, set up by CEO Tom Passmore and COO Sophie Walker, was launched in March 2018 with a mission to make it easy for everyone to find the right place for their waste and tackle the national fly tipping epidemic.

The company has won an £80,000 contract to research how to develop a smart waste tracking system for the entire UK.

Dsposal is one of five companies across the UK to have been awarded this contract. The start-up is also in the running to be one of two potential projects that could be chosen for an additional £500,000 of second phase funding under the new GovTech Catalyst scheme; which if successful, would start later this year.

Sophie Walker, co-founder and COO, said: “Dsposal is the first interconnected, collaborative waste management platform for everyone. We’re on a mission to help tackle waste crime, promote waste as a valuable resource and drive the circular economy.

“Winning this contract is a testament to all the work that we’ve put in and reassures us that we’re on the right track. It’s a huge challenge, the waste industry is very complex, but it’s also an enormous opportunity. We need to be bold and use this chance to do something transformative. Waste is in the public eye like never before and we must seize this chance to deliver solutions that move the country towards resource efficiency and help us deliver on the Government’s ambitious Resources and Waste Strategy.”

Businesses in Manchester could be claiming millions more in research and development (R&D) tax credits as more than eight in 10 companies across the city are eligible, according to tax relief specialists Catax.

A massive 84 per cent of companies in Manchester have developed new products or business processes in the last two years, spending an average of £209,758 on these innovations, research shows1.

This means these companies are in line for valuable R&D tax relief that the government provides to encourage innovation.

But so far only 48 per cent of all Manchester firms report having claimed the tax credits which means at least 43 per cent of eligible firms could start claiming, boosting their revenue by tens of thousands of pounds every year, according to the study.

Manchester business executives believed the average value of an R&D tax relief claim in the first year to be just £19,118 when the true figure is more than double that, at £49,000 for firms in all sectors nationwide. R&D doesn’t have to have been successful to qualify and claims can be backdated at least two years2.

Companies in Manchester have previously missed out on R&D claims either because they don’t think they qualify or they incorrectly believe that it is expensive and time consuming and ‘would not know where to start’.

This is despite 76% of businesses in Manchester being aware that companies can claim R&D tax relief if they develop a new product or service, according to the Censuswide survey.

Across the UK, the number of firms that have ever claimed is 37%, which puts Manchester ahead of the national average.

Mark Tighe, CEO of Manchester-based tax relief specialist Catax, commented:

“There is a great opportunity here for Manchester’s business sector to really cash in on its impressive investment in innovation by ensuring all eligible companies claim what they are due in R&D tax credits.

“With average annual R&D claims sitting in the tens of thousands, this is a major untapped revenue stream for many Manchester companies and could make a huge difference to their bottom lines.

“There is still a misconception among many companies that R&D is all about science laboratories and test tubes and is not related to their own work. We’d like to see this change.

“Companies in Manchester invest hundreds of thousands each year on developing new products and services so business executives looking to improve margins and efficiencies should take a proper look at their R&D tax relief entitlements.

“If all this money were reinvested in the businesses to fuel further growth and innovation, it could really supercharge the whole city’s economy.”