Recipe4Success, Greater Manchester’s highly successful business development initiative aimed at supporting small food and drink producers and operators, has announced details of its latest programme which begins this month.

The next Recipe4Success programme, which helps ambitious companies looking to grow their business, will be officially launched at the offices of PwC on Hardman Street in Manchester on Tuesday 8th January.

Budding food and beverage entrepreneurs who attend the launch will be able to find out more about the programme and what it offers to ambitious firms wanting to succeed in the food and drink sector.

At the end of the programme participants will also get the chance to pitch to a major supermarket buyer with a view to securing a national listing for their product.

Previous Recipe4Success programmes have already helped a large number of fledgling Greater Manchester businesses see their products stocked in major supermarkets, including Tesco and Morrisons, and specialist independent retailers.

One recent graduate of the scheme is Alex Markham, founder of SOOP.

SOOP, who are based in Ancoats, produce a range of high-quality, fresh noodle soups which contain no MSG, no freeze-dried vegetables and a minimum of processed ingredients.

Earlier this year, on the advice of the Recipe4Success team, Alex entered the Guild of Fine Foods Great Taste Awards 2018 and won six gold stars.

Out of 12,634 products to be judged in total, only 192 products were awarded the most prestigious 3-Star Award. This included SOOP’s Tofu & Wild Mushroom product.

Alex said of the Recipe4Success programme: “The awards were a game-changing moment for our business and one that’s only happened thanks to the advice of the Recipe4Success scheme.

“As a result of our participation in the programme our products are now in several independent retailers across the country and will shortly be on the shelves of Selfridges and Harrods. We’re also in talks with a major supermarket brand about a trial. If that goes well, we’ll be rolling out the product nationwide.

“Throughout our journey the Recipe4Success team’s industry experience has been invaluable. From advice on costings to introduction to supermarket buyers, they have been a vital source of information from day one.

“Their help has given me the confidence to take the product from being produced in my home kitchen to a purpose-built facility where we have the capacity to produce 15,000 SOOPs per week. I would therefore strongly encourage any small-scale or start-up food producers to register on the scheme.”

Transportation software provider Autocab has been gaining national recognition for the game-changing technology it is providing to local taxi firms.

Finalists in the UK App Awards and the UK IT Awards, Autocab walked away as winners in the UK Business Tech Awards, the Engage Awards and the Finance Awards North West.

As one of the fastest growing tech companies in the North West of England, Autocab transformed its business model in 2015 in order to help local taxi companies compete against Uber.

Autocab built the iGo Network after seeing ride-hailing apps shaking up the passenger market, effectively turning the industry on its head. The iGo Network is uniting taxi firms around the world into a cooperative network – allowing passengers to use their local taxi firm’s app to book a taxi wherever they are. By creating equivalent app-based technology, Autocab has been recognised for its role in levelling the playing field for smaller players.

The Cheadle-based firm now has a 52% market share in the UK and is expanding globally, with customers in 20 countries. The SaaS-based business has grown at 43% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the last four years.

Safa Alkateb, CEO at Autocab said: “Our team and technology wholeheartedly deserve the amount of recognition they’re getting. We continually strive to provide the best technology to our customers, helping them compete against the ever-growing tech-first transport giants. We know that our customers provide a customer service proposition that Uber cannot match – and by working together through the iGo Network they can now reach people whenever and wherever.”

Customers of Autocab include Manchester Street Cars, who introduced the app to its customers in 2016. Aqeel Arshad, Operations Director of Street Cars, said: “The feedback we’ve received from our passenger app has been phenomenal. Our customers love the convenience of being able to book a taxi with three taps on their phone and now, with iGo, we can offer our regular passengers a taxi anywhere in the country.”

Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) is gearing up once again for the traditional Christmas and New Year ‘getaway’, with over 140,000 passengers expected to pass through the Airport over the festive and New Year holiday period.

Passenger numbers have been on the increase throughout 2018 and the Airport expects to see the 5 millionth passenger this year pass through its door at some point during the festive season as annual passenger numbers are set to reach their highest in 7 years.

The Airport is expecting over 4,000 more travellers to pass through the Airport over the Christmas and New Year period – a 3% increase compared to 2017, with this Friday expected to be the one of busiest days with around 15,000 passengers departing and arriving at LJLA.

As schools finish for Christmas towards the end of this week, families from across the region are expected to head off on flights over the holiday period with passengers travelling to a mix of destinations in search of some much needed Winter sun, to go skiing, visit relatives, or looking for Christmas and New Year festivities across a range of European cities.

The Airport will once again be helping passengers get into the festive mood on Friday with a Christmas DJ, face painters and even Father Christmas finding time during his busy schedule to meet with passengers young and old.

As usual, popular flights for passengers over the coming days are expected to be Winter ski destinations such as Geneva and Tenerife for some warmer Winter weather, whilst closer to home flights between Liverpool and Dublin, Belfast and the Isle of Man will be amongst the busiest with passengers travelling to be with friends and families.

LJLA Management are once again keen to remind all passengers to allow plenty of time to pass through the Airport during this busy period and that restrictions on liquids carried in hand luggage are still in place. Passengers are also reminded to think carefully about what items they are intending to pack in hand luggage, before they set off for the Airport – especially those who are travelling with presents for friends and relatives.

To avoid disappointment at the security search point and to help keep security queues to a minimum, passengers are being asked to travel with their presents unwrapped if they are to be carried in hand luggage.

Robin Tudor, Head of PR for LJLA commented, “The Christmas and New Year period is one of our busiest times of the year and we expect this year to be one of the busiest for some time, as thousands of passengers from across the region take advantage of the convenience of flying via Liverpool, without any of the hassle.

We pride ourselves for being faster, easier and friendlier and would like to remind all passengers to allow plenty of time, come prepared and think carefully about what you are carrying in your hand luggage.”