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Last surviving Dam Buster to give talk at Manchester Airport’s Runway Visitor Park

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05/03/2018

Last surviving Dam Buster to give talk at Manchester Airport’s Runway Visitor Park

Under the wings of Concorde, the last surviving British member of the infamous Dam Busters raid will take to the stage and talk about Operation Chastise. On April 19, Johnny Johnson MBE DFM, will talk about his role in the raids on German dams in May 1943 by the Royal Air Force 617 Squadron.

As part of Manchester Airport’s 80th celebrations, The Aviation Society and the Avro Heritage Museum has organised this very special event that marks 75 years since the operation. As well as the talk there will be entertainment from a 1940’s singer the Lancashire Belle and there will also be afternoon tea.

The aircraft used for the raid was the Avro Lancaster bomber which was predominantly developed in the factories around Greater Manchester and its first flight was from Ringway airfield which became Manchester Airport.

Johnny Johnson, MBE, said: “I am very much looking forward to our evening in Manchester. In my opinion the Avro Lancaster, was the finest four engine heavy bomber aircraft of World War 2, myself and colleagues look forward to sharing our experiences of Operation Chastise and other missions where the Lanc was certainly put through her paces.”

Peter Hampson, Chairman of The Aviation Society said “This is without doubt a unique event which will bring together so many fascinating people from the world of aviation. Johnny Johnson is a true hero having flown over 50 missions during WW11 and operated as a Bomb aimer on the Lancaster during operation Chastise. It’s very appropriate that Manchester and specifically the airport from where the iconic Lancaster made its first flight has been chosen as the venue for this presentation.”

There will be a number of special guests joining Johnny for the evening including Mary Stopes-Roe, (Daughter of Sir Barnes Wallis), Eric Verdon Roe (Grandson of Sir Alliott Verdon Roe – founder of the Avro Aircraft Company), Sir Charles Masefield – President of BAE Systems and former Avro Chief Test Pilot.

Preparing businesses for GDPR

Blog

Sam Whitear

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05/03/2018

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The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect 25 May 2018 and businesses failing to comply may face a large fine – up to 4% of their turnover – imposed by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

GDPR applies to all organisations processing the personal data of individuals, in both electronic and physical formats. Failing to ensure proper procedures are in place will pose a high risk to businesses; under GDPR, a business is liable if a data breach leads to an individual’s information being stolen.

Research from the ICO revealed that over 40% of UK data security incidents in 2017 were attributed to paper documents and, under the new legislation, businesses using a standard office shredder may still be at risk since documents may not be shredded to a high enough standard.

B&M Secure Shredding, are supporting organisations with the transition to GDPR compliance, helping them to reduce potential risks. Paul Curtis, Director of the Carbon Neutral shredding service, advises: “It’s important to try and reduce human error as much as possible, taking responsibility away from your staff. The most secure process is to use a locked console for storing all potentially sensitive paper waste then have it professionally – and, most importantly, securely – shredded.”

B&M’s uniformed operatives, vetted to BS 7858, visit each locked console and remove the full sacks, replacing each with an empty sack. They then offer an on-site or off-site shredding service for confidential material. All organisations – regardless of whether they choose an on- or off-site service – will receive an electronic Certificate of Destruction as proof that can be held for audit purposes.

Beast from the East brings unexpected windfall

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Sam Whitear

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02/03/2018

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Beast from the East brings unexpected windfall

Whilst this week’s weather has wrought havoc on businesses across the UK, one sector has been snowed under with new customers, and we’re not talking grit suppliers. The conference call sector has been booming as workers dial in from home and even from stranded cars and trains.

Kieron James founder of Manchester based WHYPAY?, a service that provides free conference calls, has seen call traffic increase yesterday by 77% compared to this time last week, said: “It’s been good for us, but I know it’s been terrible for many people. We’re just glad that we’re able to help people stay in touch and keep their businesses on track when a lot of our physical infrastructure is weighed down by the snow and ice.”

“We were expecting an increase, but the upsurge has been astounding.” From the moment the ‘Beast from the East’ blew in, the call numbers started escalating and whilst cars have been stationary on the motorways the traffic to WHYPAY?’s servers has risen every day this week. Call volumes are expected to be at their highest ever level today – Friday 2^ndMarch.

“Our data reflected the actual movement of the weather systems” Kieron added “with dial ins from the eastern side of the company being the first to show up on Tuesday. Today we’ve seen a deluge of calls from Bristol and the South West.”

The Baldwins KickStart Young Entrepreneur Awards open

Awards

Sam Whitear

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02/03/2018

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The Baldwins KickStart Young Entrepreneur Awards open

Manchester’s up and coming entrepreneurs are being given the chance to kick-start their business ideas with a five-figure investment.

The Baldwins KickStart Young Entrepreneur Awards are open in Manchester for 18 to 25-year-olds as the competition enters its sixth year, which has seen £150,000 invested in start-up businesses since 2013.

The winner of the awards will be given a grant of £10,000 along with £10,000 worth of mentoring and accountancy advice, while two runners-up will each receive £5,000 worth of mentoring and accountancy advice.

Last year’s Baldwins KickStart Young Entrepreneur Awards saw 19-year-olds Harry Smith and Jack Cornes scoop the top prize for their concept of wall-climbing painting robots, with the investment enabling them to develop their prototype ready to show to investors.

This year’s three finalists will be invited to present in front of more than 400 people at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham on Thursday, November 15.

Les Nutter, from Baldwins in Manchester who are part of the Baldwins Group, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for young people who have just started a business or are looking to turn their idea into a reality.

“At a time of economic uncertainty it’s important that we are nurturing the next generation of business professionals, particularly when it comes to the practicalities of setting up a business and creating a steady flow of income, and applicants that are invited for an interview will receive constructive feedback to help their ideas flourish.

“The awards are not restricted to any sector and everyone who enters will have the invaluable experience of putting together a business plan.

“Ten people are chosen to be interviewed about their ideas, which will then be whittled down to a final three.”

The 2018 Baldwins KickStart Young Entrepreneur Awards come off the back of another strong year of expansion for the Baldwins Group, which now has 60 offices around the UK.

Baldwins, a CogitalGroup company, is one of the UK’s leading business services groups. Currently, CogitalGroup has 4,700 people operating from 150 offices in seven countries, with revenue in excess of £320 million.

David Baldwin, director at Baldwins, has overseen the Baldwins KickStart Young Entrepreneur Awards since its inception.

He added: “These awards have developed an enviable reputation for producing some talented home-grown entrepreneurs, and the growing standard of entries that we receive year-on-year shows us that there is still more to come.

“Our senior management team has overseen the development of a skiwear brand called Snooks which is now trading in the UK high street, while another of our winners that prints and designs products celebrating iconic sporting moments has recently expanded to larger premises.

“The best thing anybody can wear is confidence, if you have that and an idea that addresses a gap, then please get in touch.”

From world-class professional rugby to trendy micro-brewery business start-ups; there’s something to interest everyone at Salford Red Devils’ first Club 13 business networking event

Blog

Sam Whitear

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01/03/2018

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From world-class professional rugby to trendy micro-brewery business start-ups; there’s something to interest everyone at Salford Red Devils’ first Club 13 business networking event

Club 13, a new business club run in association with Salford Red Devils, has today announced guest speakers to launch its inaugural event as international rugby star Robbie Hunter Paul and Seven Bro7hers brand owner, Nathan McAvoy.

Aptly held on 13^th March, Club 13’s business networking event will discuss the transition from field to office. Exploring how elite athletes have taken skills developed in sport and applied those talents and competitive mindsets to life after sport.

New Zealand born Paul, former international rugby ace with an impressive 243 tries under his belt, will be sharing insights from his past professional rugby career at Salford Red Devils, Huddersfield Giants and Bradford Bulls. To then discuss the path that then led him to his current role as Managing Director for TXM Sports Ltd, a Sports marketing company specialising in sponsorship and content creation.

Fellow retired professional sportsmen, Adrian Morley and Paul Highton, who led successful Rugby League careers, and both played for Salford Red Devils will join guest speakers at the Club 13 event. Morley, the first British player to win both a NRL and Super League championship, will discuss life after a successful career in sport having retired from Rugby League just two years ago.

Adding to the business club’s first bill of guest speakers, Salford born micro-brewery and Manchester bar owner, Nathan McAvoy, of beer brand Seven Bro7hers will also speak at the AJ Bell Stadium on the topic of building strong business networks steeped in community and discuss ideas to create opportunities to take local businesses to the next level, whether nationally or globally.

Local lad, McAvoy, 41, alongside his six brothers turned their love of beer into a brewery business and are now living the dream having opened their first bar in Manchester’s hipster-favourite neighbourhood of Ancoats, while operating a micro-brewery in Salford that now employs 20 people across the two sites.

Since Seven Bro7hers launched in 2014, the business has gone from strength to strength with 2017 exceeding the business estimated £500,000 annual turnover mark. Stocked nationwide in Co-op, Booths and with Tesco knocking on the door, it’s the business ambition to occupy a larger brewery site and launch two further bars in Leeds and Liverpool to meet demand for the much-loved beer.

Speaking ahead of the first Club 13 event, Andrew Rosler, a founding director of SRD Holdings, said: “We are excited to unlock the key to successful business networking here in the North, and provide inspiration from our guest speakers.”

“We have carefully hand-picked Club 13’s first guest speakers to pave the way for future events, always held on the 13^th of the month, to assist our Club 13 members in their business aims whether new ventures or helping to take business plans to the next level.”

“Robbie is testament to how retiring rugby players can turn their unique career path into a profitable and successful business, likewise, Nathan is a fantastic example of how small-scale family-run businesses using start-up loans can profit and grow from strength to strength and all in under just three years.”

The first bi-annual North West Business Fair of 2018

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Sam Whitear

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01/03/2018

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The first bi-annual North West Business Fair of 2018

Sponsored by Bury Council, Co-operative Insurance & thebestofbury, The North West Premier Business Fair comes to Bury on the 22^nd March 2018, in a new 50-acre prestigious location at The Stables Country Club, Bury.

The North West Premier Business Fair is the most cost-effective marketing opportunity to increase your brand awareness to hundreds of delegates. The networking opportunities are endless, including seminars from industry leading experts, the opportunity to meet some of the North West’s best businesses, and a fantastic speed networking session will form just some of the event itinerary.

You can expect to see around 90 exhibitors from a variety of sectors; we’ve over 70 businesses already confirmed to showcase their brand in front of 500+ attendees. Will you be joining them?

This is your opportunity to promote your products and services and build relationships with businesses across the North West.

A previous attendee said: “What an amazing, stunningly organised, well attended Expo! – I was made to feel most welcome coming all the way from Huddersfield and it was indeed such a pleasure to meet so many lovely, genuine business people. I now hope my expert services can be considered moving forward. Well done to the team, here’s to looking forward to the next one! Alexander Mullen (MD) Absolute Media (UK ) Ltd.”

University of Manchester-based WideCells Group lands ‘significant licence’

Education

Sam Whitear

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01/03/2018

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University of Manchester-based WideCells Group lands ‘significant licence’

WideCells Group PLC, a provider of stem cell services, has secured a highly sought-after licence from the UK Human Tissue Authority (HTA).

Based at the University of Manchester Innovation Centre (UMIC), WideCells, can now offer umbilical cord blood and tissue storage services to clients in the UK and Europe. This service will be known as BabyCells.

WideCells CEO, João Andrade, described the licence as a ‘transformational milestone’.

He said: “The granting of this licence from the HTA marks a significant step in the Group’s end-to-end stem cell service solution.

“WideCells Group can now store and process umbilical cord blood and tissue, provide financial cover and support for associated treatment through our innovative CellPlan insurance product, and support development and medical advancement within the industry through both our research work, and our education and training division Wideacademy.

“This licence enables us to leverage further our significant industry contacts and market presence to position our state of the art facility in Manchester as a leading stem cell storage bank. The Group is now positioned to focus on revenue generation from all three of our divisions.”

After listing on the London Stock Exchange in July 2016, WideCells was later ranked as the 21st most disruptive company globally by ‘Disrupt 100’ and has been nominated for the IPO Life Sciences of the year award by Biotech&Money.

WideCells Group employs 30 people across its three divisions in Manchester, Lisbon and Brazil.

Professor Peter Hollands, Chief Scientific Officer of WideCells Group, heads up the laboratory at UMIC, just outside Manchester city centre.

After securing the HTA licence CEO João Andrade said clients of BabyCells will be offered one year’s stem cell insurance cover, provided by the Group’s complementary CellPlan division.

BabyCells will be charged at a cost of circa £2,000 per sample for one year’s storage (including collection and processing), with recurring storage revenues of £50-£75 per annum thereafter and alternative multi-year pre-paid storage plans.

Manchester’s top community property schemes in the running for ‘Project of the Year’ title

Sam Whitear

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01/03/2018

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Manchester’s top community property schemes in the running for ‘Project of the Year’ title

Manchester’s top community beneficial property projects dominate this year’s 2018 RICS Awards, North West with a whole host of its newest built schemes shortlisted for prestigious industry accolades including the overall ‘North West Project of the Year’ title.

The annual awards recognise exemplary built projects that are positively contributing to the region and this year over 45 schemes of all sizes and budgets – from across the North West – are in with a chance of gaining acclaimed industry recognition, along with the teams behind them.

The restoration – and in some cases the conversion – of four of Manchester’s oldest historic builds are in the running for the Building Conservation award. These are: The Mackie Mayor’ building in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, which has been converted into a multi-tenanted food and beverage market, Gorton Monastery and the conservation of its altars and surrounding surfaces, along with the conversion of the Unitarian Chapel on Upper Brook Street into high quality student accommodation. Meanwhile the restoration of Manchester Cathedral and the installation of a beautiful Stoller Organ will also compete for the Building Conservation award.

The Bright Building – the first new development to be completed within BDP’s masterplan for Manchester Science Park (MSP) – is up for the Commercial property accolade for its striking yet open collaborative-hub for the wider MSP community. It will face competition from Phase Two of Stockport Exchange (the first Grade A office in Stockport for many years, along with a Holiday Inn Express) and Market Place – a £20 million contemporary shopping, dining and leisure destination – in the heart of Bolton.

A 24-hour Extra Care Scheme in Whthenshawe – known as Village 135 – developed by Wythenshawe Community Housing Group (WCHG) with 135 luxury two-bedroom apartments has been shortlisted for the Community Benefit award (along with Gorton Monastery). Limelight – a pioneering project within the heart of the Old Trafford master plan area, which offers housing for older people with primary care and council services – will also compete for the Community Benefit accolade.

The Space Studios – a £27 million purpose-built TV production facility for the North of England – on Vaughn street is in the running for the Regeneration award. It will face competition from the Mackie Mayor’s building, Phase Two of Stockport Exchange and The Maples and Maple Court – a development of three-bed houses and 34 apartments with commercial units – in Sale.

Lastly, Redrow’s 361 modern, desirable, high-spec new homes (which cost £40 million to construct/deliver) in Moston & Harpurhey will compete for the Residential award, along with Village 135, Limelight and a number of Salford-based housing projects including Fir Street and Langworthy Road, Slate Yard and Time Keepers Square, along with Peter Moss in Levenshulme.

The RICS Awards, North West have eight categories: Building Conservation, Commercial property, Community Benefit, Design through Innovation, Infrastructure, Regeneration, Residential and Tourism & Leisure.

Those shortlisted for category awards will automatically be considered for the highly esteemed ‘North West Project of the Year’ title, presented to the scheme which demonstrates overall outstanding best practice and an exemplary commitment to adding value to its local area. Last year, the title went to the £37m scheme to convert the grade II listed Oldham Town Hall into an eight-screen Odeon cinema with a contemporary restaurant complex, whilst safeguarding the building’s future.

All category winners will go on to compete against other regional winners at the national RICS Awards Grand Final on November 2018, for the chance to be crowned the overall UK winner in their respective category.

Chair of the RICS Awards, North West judging panel, Will Rees, Director at Rees Straw Chartered Surveyors said: “Despite ups and downs in the current climate, our region’s property professionals continue to deliver exemplary, and in many cases, world-class built projects that are having a profoundly positive impact on our cities and towns.

“I am delighted to see so many of these remarkable built initiatives in Manchester and its surrounding areas, on this year’s shortlist for the 2018 RICS Awards, North West. The exceptional talent and skills of the teams and surveyors behind these schemes is nothing short of remarkable, and I wish them all the best of luck in gaining the recognition they deserve for ensuring their local communities remain fantastic places to live, work, and visit.”

Manchester Digital Agency, e3creative, Expands International Footprint with Three New Clients

Sam Whitear

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01/03/2018

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Manchester Digital Agency, e3creative, Expands International Footprint with Three New Clients

The international client roster at e3creative continues to grow with the integrated digital agency on-boarding three new clients this week that are stationed across the globe. e3creative welcomes Phillips Consulting, a leading Management Consulting firm in West Africa with offices in Abuja and Lagos. And the ink is freshly dried on a new contract with BagGirl.com, an eCommerce venture hailing from New York, that specialises in customisable fashion accessories. Both of these new accounts have turned to e3creative for digital projects, aiming to grow their brand’s presence in the UK as well as internationally as Jake Welsh, Founder of e3creative, comments:

“ The international opportunities e3creative is receiving is in direct response to the world-class products and groundbreaking strategies our teams are outputting for some of the most recognisable brands. With intuitive user experience designs and multilingual interfaces, we’ve naturally gained global recognition and haven’t actively looked for new opportunities outside of the UK, yet as a brand, we’re constantly pushing boundaries and welcome the new partnerships.”

Also joining e3creative to mark a hattrick of new international accounts is Swedish company BTI Studio, among the world’s largest and most renown localisation companies providing dubbing, subtitling, access services and media solutions in all languages, operating out of 21 studios globally. BTI Studios work with leading broadcast networks from 20th Century Fox to Amazon, BBC, Discovery Channel and beyond. And most recently they provided live subtitles for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

e3creative reports a turnover of £2.6m annually in 2017, which is an increase of 47% from the previous year. They’re a fully integrated digital agency providing marketing and digital services, priding themselves in experience-led design and development for mobile and web products.

Medlock helps Premier Inn expand further

Blog

Sam Whitear

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28/02/2018

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Medlock helps Premier Inn expand further

Oldham-based Leisure contractor Medlock FRB has completed new-build Premier Inn projects at three tourist destinations and has two further schemes under way for the hotel chain.

The completed contracts are at Ulverston in Cumbria and on the seafronts at Bridlington and Rhyl.

Medlock is currently building a 24-bedroom extension at the Stockport South Premier Inn, where it also making improvements to the lobby and reception area. The scheme is due for completion in April.

Meanwhile Medlock is also constructing a four-storey annex at a Premier Inn at Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. The project is due for completion in the summer and will create an additional 44 bedrooms.

The total value of the five Premier Inn contracts is nearly £15m.

At Ulverston, Medlock has built a 79-bedroom hotel which includes a Thyme restaurant and breakfast bar. It is the company’s third Premier Inn project in Cumbria, following ones in Penrith and Cockermouth.

The Bridlington scheme sees the first newly-built hotel open in the resort since the 1930s. It has 82 bedrooms plus a Cookhouse and Pub restaurant on the ground floor.

On Rhyl’s promenade, Medlock has built a 70-bedroom hotel which also features a Cookhouse and Pub.

The Premier Inn chain is owned by Whitbread, which operates over 760 hotels across the UK with more than 68,000 rooms. Whitbread aims to have 85,000 rooms by 2020.

Dan Lewis, project director at Medlock, said: “The three newly-completed schemes mean we have now successfully delivered 10 Premier Inn projects for Whitbread over the past three years.

“We are delighted to see our relationship with Whitbread continue with the latest projects at Stockport South and Stoke-on-Trent.”

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