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The Translation People opens second German office in Munich

International

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06/04/2018

The Translation People opens second German office in Munich

The Translation People will this month launch a second German office in response to growing demand and is planning further openings in the country over the next couple of years.

The translation and language services provider, which has had an office in Bonn since 2011, is to establish a presence in Munich as it seeks to expand its client base across southern Germany.

Munich is also close to Austria and Switzerland, giving the company scope to develop its business in those countries.

Cities under consideration for further office locations include Frankfurt and Berlin.

Germany is The Translation People’s second largest market after Britain. Sales there grew 60 per cent in 2017.

David Nichols, managing director of The Translation People GmbH, the company’s German business, which was incorporated as a limited company last year, said: “We have grown our German operation year-on-year since we established the office in Bonn and the opening of a second base is the next logical step.

“Germany has a thriving economy with a firm international focus, and companies there increasingly need translation services.

“We have chosen Munich for our second office because it is a very important technology hub and is home to lots of automotive and IT companies. For example, BMW, MAN and Siemens all have their headquarters there.

“Having a presence in Munich gives us a springboard for attracting new business in southern Germany and beyond, as well as helping us to provide a better service to existing clients.”

He said The Translation People has gained a significant number of new clients in the region this year, in sectors ranging from food and drink production to IT, consumer goods and chemicals.

“This gives me great confidence that we will be able to build on our success in the region to further increase our market share,” he added.

David founded The Translation People with Steve Wilde in 2007. The company has its headquarters in Cheadle Hulme. Its expansion in Germany follows a record year in 2017, which saw revenues surge from £4.5m to £5.1m, a rise of 12 per cent.

Visualsoft appoints new digital marketing manager

Blog

Sam Whitear

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06/04/2018

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Visualsoft appoints new digital marketing manager

Manchester leading e-commerce and digital agency, Visualsoft, has appointed Hayley Wright as digital marketing manager.

Hayley will be responsible for improving the overall digital performance of the company’s online channels and promoting the brand as a leader in the e-commerce and digital industry. This will include creating effective strategies for the business’ SEO, PPC, paid social media and email campaigns, which is expected to drive business growth and expand Visualsoft’s reach across the UK.

She has over four years’ experience within the digital sector and has a proven flair with managing a variety of clients and boosting their online reach. Most recently, she spent a year and a half working as an account manager for Mediaworks, a North East digital marketing agency, where she was responsible for handling strategies, managing web and app projects and creating project timelines.

The Manchester-based company has a growing team of over 200 staff who specialise in the design, build, support and marketing of online stores for retailers across the UK. TJ Hughes, Shoetique and Psyche are amongst the brands on the business’ ever-growing client list. The company also operates a unique ‘Shared Success’ model which, unlike the industry norm, charges clients based on a percentage of their sales, instead of upfront and fixed fees.

Hayley said: “Having just come from another digital agency, I am experienced implementing new digital strategies that significantly improve brand recognition. I am really excited to bring a fresh perspective to Visualsoft’s digital marketing team and see how we can increase the brand’s online reach even further.”

Lauren Archer, Visualsoft’s head of brand marketing said: “We have introduced this new position to bolster growth as we mark our 20th anniversary. Hayley was the ideal person to help drive the business forward through effective use of digital marketing. I’m confident she will be able to maximise the brand’s online reach and optimise our existing activity, so we can make the most of our channels and website.

“We were inundated with applications for the digital marketing role, but Hayley’s experience in project and account management was really attractive to us and helped her fend off the competition. She’s everything I’d hoped for and I can’t wait to see what exciting progress she makes within her new position.”

New board member for AJ Bell

Blog

Sam Whitear

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05/04/2018

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Manchester-headquartered AJ Bell, one of the UK’s leading investment platforms operating in both the direct-to-consumer and advised markets, has appointed Laura Carstensen to its Board as non-executive director as it prepares to list on the London Stock Exchange.

Laura is currently non-executive chairman of Park Group plc and a non-executive director of The Co-operative Bank where she chairs the values and ethics committee and is a member of the remuneration and risk committees.

Previously Laura spent 20 years at law firm Slaughter and May where she was a partner and Board member. She has also been deputy chairman of the Competition Commission and a commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Laura’s appointment adds significant expertise and experience to the AJ Bell Board as it prepares for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange towards the end of 2018 or early 2019.

AJ Bell previously announced that Eamonn Flanagan has also been appointed to its Board as non-executive director.

Les Platts, chairman of AJ Bell, commented: “Laura adds significant experience to our Board which I believe will be invaluable as we prepare for an IPO and beyond. We operate in a fast growing sector of the financial services market and our continual focus on the needs of our customers is resulting in controlled and sustained expansion. Laura therefore joins us at a very exciting time and will help us continue this momentum through the next phase of our growth and development.”

Laura Carstensen added: “AJ Bell is a fantastic business with values that I greatly admire. It has an unwavering focus on helping its customers to invest and the market for those investment services is growing rapidly. I am looking forward to working with Les and the rest of the AJ Bell Board to help steer the company through the planned IPO, whilst maintaining the commitment to customer service that has served it so well for many years.”

One in five Manchester workplaces allow pets in the office

Blog

Sam Whitear

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04/04/2018

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One in five Manchester workplaces allow pets in the office

April is officially National Pet Month and according to new research, one-fifth of workplaces in Manchester allow employees to bring pets into the office, yet a similar proportion (22%) of workers have complained about the furry companions.

The topical survey by online job board CV-Library found that when it comes to the personal effect of animals in the workplace, there is clear evidence of a “gender pet gap”. According to the data:

Nearly half (46%) of women believe that having a pet at work eases stress and helps relaxation, compared to 29% of men
40% of men accuse pets of being distracting in the workplace, in contrast to 30% of women
21% of women believes it makes them feel more friendly or approachable, compared to 14% of men
Nearly one-fifth of men (19%) go as far to call pets annoying in the workplace

The result of the “gender pet gap” led to a shocking 12% of Mancunian men admitting to complaining about pets at work, in stark contrast to virtually no female complaints (1%).

In the eternal battle between cats and dogs, canines rule the workplace – making up 87% of all “professional” pets. Cats are clearly an unpopular option at work with only 5% admitting to having a feline in the workplace, and rabbits coming in third with 2%.

Across the country, London, with its trendy, mutt-ropolitan co-working spaces, leads pet allowance in the office with 27% of workers admitting to having them in the office. The South East (24%), Wales (22%) and Northern Ireland (22%) follow close behind. The East Midlands and the North East are the keenest to keep pets at home, with 91% and 87% of workplaces saying no.

In general, nearly half of Manchester folk would like to see more workplaces allowing pets, but 20% suggest that strict policies from HR should be in place.

With bringing animals into the office becoming a growing trend, employers should sit up and take notice. 28% of Brits suggested that they’d be more likely to apply for a job if they have, or were allowed to bring in, furry friends in their working environment.

Greater Manchester-based Bardsley Construction wins £9.8m contract

Blog

Sam Whitear

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04/04/2018

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Greater Manchester-based Bardsley Construction wins £9.8m contract

A North West based housing provider has announced it has appointed Bardsley Construction as the main contractor for a scheme on the Flyde Coast.

The contract, worth £9.8m, will see Bardsley undertake the construction of Regenda Homes’ state of the art Extra Care supported living facilities in Fleetwood.

Gareth Wyatt, development project manager at Regenda Homes, said: “We are delighted to appoint Bardsley as the main contractor for this project. Bardsley has a proven track record of delivering specialist care schemes and we look forward to working together.”

Ged Rooney, procurement director at Bardsley Construction, said: “Our selection for this prestigious contract with Regenda Homes is further evidence of Bardsley being recognised for the delivery of such specialist care facilities throughout the North West of England and Yorkshire, and continues the long relationship we have with them in the successful delivery of similar projects.”

UKFast declares 0.9% gender pay gap

Blog

Sam Whitear

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04/04/2018

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Manchester-based hosting firm UKFast today announces its gender pay gap, which bucks the national average with a mean gap of just 0.9%.

The fast-growing tech firm has a baseline mean gender pay gap of 0%, which rises to 0.9% when shift allowance is taken into consideration. The UK national average pay gap is 18.4%.

UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones MBE said: “Whilst 0.9% is a small amount, we’re working toward ensuring our overall figure for the coming year is 0% and I’m confident we are on track for that.

“The gap is seen when taking shift allowance into consideration simply because, despite our best efforts, the data centre and out-of-hours support teams receiving shift allowances are predominantly male.

“To combat this, we’re focussed on encouraging more women into tech roles. Our work with girls’ schools and education providers in the area is tackling this issue at a grass-roots level. It’s a program we started more than 10 years ago.”

UKFast reaches around 60,000 children through 60 schools in Greater Manchester with Code Clubs, work experience and workshops.

The gender pay gap data requested by the government covers the average pay of men v the average pay of women, regardless of role, something that Jones says could go further.

“It is fantastic to see the government enforcing the release of this data, but is it asking the right question? The gender pay gap exposes the fact that there are fewer women in high-paying jobs or technical roles, rather than a pay gap for like-for-like roles. Both are issues that need tackling, particularly considering that equal pay is the law and it’s flouted by so many big businesses.”

UKFast has a 50/50 gender split within its board of directors and has more women than men in senior management roles.

Businesses must publish their gender pay gap data on the government website before 4 April 2018 or face potential fines. Big businesses are have already published their data including the BBC (9.3%), EasyJet (45.5%), Royal Bank of Scotland (36.5%) and Marks and Spencer (3.3%).

Hotel Gotham named Coolest Non-London Venue

Blog

Sam Whitear

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29/03/2018

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Hotel Gotham named Coolest Non-London Venue

Hotel Gotham has been named the ‘Coolest Non-London Venue’ at the 2018 COOL Venue Awards, adding a 15^th industry honour to its fast-growing collection. Having previously picked up the prize for ‘Coolest Boutique Hotel’ at the 2016 awards, the business leads the charge for the city of Manchester, as its reputation and influence as an economic hub continues to grow.

The award sees Hotel Gotham go another year with industry honours, having been widely recognised across the hospitality and tourism industries since its launch in April 2015. Named Best Boutique Hotel at the 2017 Manchester Awards, Best Luxury Hotel at the 2017 Best Stay Awards, as well as one of the Top 100 British Hotels by the Sunday Times, the King Street property has continued to enjoy an outstanding reputation with both guests and reviewers alike, boasting over 90% average occupancy, with five-star certification and Two Rosettes awarded by the AA.

“Myself and the entire Gotham team are over the moon to have won our second Cool Venue Award”, commented General Manager, Mario Ovsenjak. “The organisers have been extremely supportive of the business since we launched three years ago, and it is a great honour to have been positioned at the forefront of the booming economic scene here in Manchester.”

“The aim with Hotel Gotham was to offer an attractive and glamorous alternative to London”, said Graham Marskell, Managing Director of Operations for Bespoke Hotels. “In this regard, we are delighted to be honoured in this way and positioned at the forefront of Manchester’s ongoing emergence as a ‘Northern Powerhouse’.”

“The timing of the award couldn’t be better”, added Robin Sheppard, Chairman of Bespoke Hotels. “We hope shortly to announce the location of the next Hotel Gotham, and this latest recognition is the perfect way with which to introduce an exciting sequel.”

Manchester City Council selects three businesses to help make the city truly smart

Transport

Sam Whitear

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29/03/2018

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Manchester City Council selects three businesses to help make the city truly smart

Three new trial projects from companies with big ideas to help make Manchester city centre smarter are being launched through CityVerve – the UK’s smart cities demonstrator.

The three companies responded to a market consultation exercise that took place in late 2017. The consultation provided an opportunity for companies to address current challenges within Manchester using digital solutions and provide new ideas that will be presented, developed and supported as part of CityVerve.

Based in Manchester, CityVerve is a consortium of 20 partners led by Manchester City Council and funded by Innovate UK and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It aims to provide a stepchange to how cities use the internet of things to deliver smarter services and create a real-life blueprint for smart cities worldwide.

Each company submitted an excellent application outlining the potential of their technology through the implementation of small-scale demonstration pilots, which address challenges identified in the council’s City Centre Review. The Review, which took place in 2016, identified a number of areas that Manchester City Council want to improve for citizens, businesses and visitors.

The companies are:

Retail Sensing – a Manchester-based people-counting and data collection provider;
Tracsis – a leading provider of transport survey and data-capture services to the public and private sectors across the UK
Apadmi – an award-winning UK mobile technology provider in Manchester

Retail Sensing is deploying people and traffic-counting sensors along the Oxford Road Corridor, to capture data on density and directional flow of traffic and footfall. The data collected will help inform future infrastructure plans and city centre management.

Tracsis is deploying people-counting sensors at the access points to Albert Square and four of the city’s railway stations – Oxford Road, Deansgate, Piccadilly and Victoria. The data captured on footfall will support future event-planning and enhance understanding of crowd behaviours.

Apadmi have designed a communications app for reporting environmental problems, which will be trialled by Manchester City Council employees working in the city centre. The data captured will focus on the usability of the app as a tool for communication.

Results from the three trials are expected in the summer.

Richard Elliott, Head of Policy, Partnerships and Research at Manchester City Council said: “I’d like to congratulate the three successful firms who have been chosen to become recognised CityVerve suppliers. This is a fantastic platform for them to showcase their business, contribute to the wider CityVerve project and demonstrate how digital innovation can work for Manchester.”

Asad Syed, Managing Director for Retail Sensing and Urban Sensing said: “I am delighted we have been selected to implement our IoT smart city technologies within the UK’s leading smart city demonstrator CityVerve. Manchester’s CityVerve is a pioneering blueprint for smart cities worldwide and the use of our smart technologies will make a positive difference to the citizens and businesses across the city of Manchester. We are hugely excited to be part of this innovative and outstanding world changing smart city project.”

Chris Jackson, Chief Operating Officer for Tracsis’ Traffic and Data Services Division commented: “Tracsis have strong historic relationships with key stakeholders in Manchester and we are incredibly excited to be awarded this opportunity to apply our latest cutting-edge technology to the CityVerve project.

“Our solution utilises an innovative combination of Wi-Fi sensing and video analytics technologies to provide a unique view of the city’s pulse and an understanding of how citizens engage with core parts of the city centre. We can’t wait to see the results flowing out from the pilot project.”

Marcus Hadfield, Chief Strategy Officer for Apadmi said: “We’re always looking for ways to innovate and help organisations make things even better with mobile – this is the perfect opportunity to do it on a city-wide scale, in our hometown. It’s been a fantastic experience so far getting behind the CityVerve initiative and we’re just getting started.

“The focus for us with this project is to test how mobile can be used for communicating with citizens, helping them to engage more frequently and closely with their local council. We’re excited to understand if it works as well as we think it will.”

GC Business Growth Hub offers new three-part development programme for Greater Manchester SMEs working in the Green Technologies and Services sectors

Energy

Sam Whitear

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29/03/2018

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GC Business Growth Hub offers new three-part development programme for Greater Manchester SMEs working in the Green Technologies and Services sectors

Greater Manchester’s GC Business Growth Hub, part of the Growth Company, has announced details of its latest business development initiative designed specifically for SMEs working within the Green Technologies and Services sectors.

These include companies working in areas such as renewable energy, alternative vehicles, waste management, air quality, energy efficiency and other low-carbon industries.

The programme, spread over three days in late April and early May and hosted at Manchester United’s Old Trafford football stadium, will offer businesses guidance and training across a range of key issues.

These will include comprehensive and in-depth sessions on business planning, creating focused strategies for driving business growth, developing winning sales techniques, managing the recruitment progress and building an effective marketing plan.

The support will be delivered through a mix of training and mentoring from both the Hub’s staff and external experts. This will be complemented by peer-to-peer exercises which will allow business owners to share their own experiences.

Companies taking part in the Switched On programme will also enjoy a wide range of practical and valuable takeaways from the three workshops.

For example, the ‘Switched On to Marketing’ session will see participants receiving a marketing plan tailored to their specific business, an action plan for future market research, and free access to a resource library of how-to guides.

Those enrolled on the ‘Switched On to Sales’ session will get free resources directly linked to business development, while those attending the ‘Switched On to Business Planning’ session will leave with horizon scanning and business modelling tools.

Further, all three Switched On sessions are fully funded for Greater Manchester based SMEs, meaning there is no charge for qualifying companies.

Dsposal, a new Manchester-based company which helps firms dispose of commercial waste by connecting them quickly and easily with licensed waste facilities, attended a series of similar Switched On workshops last year.

Sophie Walker, Dsposal’s co-founder, said: “We chose to relocate to Manchester based on the incredible support and access to expert advice that is on offer here. By attending the Switched On masterclass series we were able to learn the crucial skills required to successfully launch our start-up. I would definitely recommend it.”

Samantha Nicholson, GC Growth Hub’s Head of Low Carbon, said: “The Hub is here to support all kinds of businesses in many different sectors, but this programme has been tailor-made for businesses active within the green economy.

“This specific sector can be quite a hard-sell for some, as not all customers appreciate the benefits and lasting social value that procuring sustainable products and services bring to their business, and to the wider community.

“However, this series of collaborative Switched On workshops will equip SMEs with expert knowledge and support to help them to grow their business and enable them to maximise opportunities in this growing market.”

Innovators land £30k following UMIP’s ‘Next Big Thing’ finale

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Sam Whitear

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28/03/2018

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Innovators land £30k following UMIP’s ‘Next Big Thing’ finale

Three innovative spin-out ideas have landed £30,000 following the final of UMIP’s inaugural ‘Next Big Thing’ competition which attracted 23 applications from entrepreneurial academics, staff and post-doctoral researchers from across the University.

Value from Data, Manchester Robotics and RobotAnalyst all secured £10,000 apiece which will enable them to start their commercial journeys in the business world.

‘The Next Big Thing’, hosted at The University of Manchester Innovation Centre on Grafton Street by UMIP, a division of UMI3 Ltd, also saw four other finalists pitch business concepts to a panel of four judges.

Through Value from Data Norman Paton, a Professor of Computer Science at the University since 2000 and Nikolaos Konstantinou, are seeking to make it easier for data scientists to clean up and organise the data that they need in order to carry out analyses and gain insights.

Post-Doctoral Research Associate Matthew Nancekievill is behind Manchester Robotics, which is aiming to sell a small educational robot to universities, colleges and schools.

John McNaught, Deputy Director of the National Centre for Text Mining, standing in for the Director, Professor Sophia Ananiadou, pitched RobotAnalyst to the judges –a project that aims to help people working to elaborate best practices, guidelines and policies, by vastly reducing the amount of effort needed to filter nuggets of evidence from large datasets, through learning from human decisions on relevance.

Chair of the judging panel, Dr Rich Ferrie, UMIP Director of Operations, said: “The Next Big Thing has been a real experiment for us.

“And we’ve been overwhelmed with entries during what was a tight timeline to develop value propositions around these entrants.

“The applicants were all of a high standard and very passionate about commercialising their research. With that in mind it was important that we made sure all the finalists got some form of support from UMIP. They are all strong businesses and UMIP is intent on helping them achieve commercial success.”

He added: “Having said that we had to make a decision about who the recipients would be of the £10,000 prizes.

“We felt that having sizeable commercial opportunities to go for, those companies where there was an urgent need to engage, and where £10,000 could make a real impact, should benefit.

“We intend to build on this competition next year.”

Manchester Robotics’ Matthew Nancekievill said: “We are aiming to sell a small educational robot to universities and design tech students and are also going to build an online web presence to create market credibility.

“We are also going to talk to universities that are already interested in the product which will be followed by advertising the product to other universities and schools.”

He added: “It’s been a fantastic competition. I started the process wanting to learn more and start my own company at some point. So, to actually get to the final, do the pitch and win is absolutely fantastic.”

John McNaught and Sophia Ananiadou of RobotAnalyst, said: “Winning this is very important because business funding is very hard to come by.

“We will put this money to very good use to take what is currently a research prototype forward to a full product.

“It’s also very important to be working in partnership with UMIP as we are academics without business backgrounds.”

Norman Paton of Value from Data said: “What we are seeking to do is make it easier for data scientists to clean up and organise the data that they need in order to carry out analyses and gain insights into their data.

“We have a plan to set up the company to market our data preparation software.

“As a fledgling tech company we are building a minimum viable product, and will use the £10,000 to launch that and the website.

“This initial launch will help us to improve our understanding of how people use the product in practice, and thus show us how best to develop and market it.”

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