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Looking for a life-changer? Foster for Guide Dogs!

Sam Whitear
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Could your home be the perfect relaxation zone for a guide dog in training?

Foster families are urgently needed to support the Guide Dogs team in Atherton and for the right person, it’s an amazing opportunity to have all the benefits of caring for a dog without the full-time responsibility.

Fosterers play a pivotal role as young dogs go through their training. Training during the day; they need somewhere to wind down in the evening and at weekends, and research has shown that dogs who spend their spare time with a fosterer do better than they would even in the most luxurious kennels.

Hannah Laidlaw of Guide Dogs at Atherton is part of the team hoping to recruit more fosterer volunteers. She explained: “The fostering of trainee guide dogs is really beneficial, as the dogs are tested socially in a family situation, getting them used to all the things they will encounter in their life as a qualified guide dog. Simple things like how they react to the postman, or how they greet visitors and interact with other pets gives us some really good information about character and behaviour.

“It can also be a genuine life-changer for some fosterers, who relish the chance to care for one of our dogs, even if they are working full-time during the day. Some say it brings a whole new dimension to family life, others just love the companionship.”

The Guide Dogs charity supplies basic equipment and covers all veterinary and feeding expenses, but fosterers must be able to drop off and pick up their dogs from the centre before and after work Monday to Friday between 7:30 and 9am, then 4:15-5:45pm. The dogs are not yet qualified, so can’t be taken into most shops and restaurants as a guide dog can, but they benefit from the routine of ordinary domestic life before being matched with their new owner.

Hannah said: “Our fosterers say it is so rewarding to be involved in the development of a guide dog, which will one day provide independence to a blind or partially sighted person. They love having a dog in the home at evenings and weekend but they can still carry on with their 9-5 weekday commitments as usual. Foster families tend to come from within a few miles of the regional centre because what we really need are people who can pick up and drop off each day – it’s a bit like a school run!

“We would love to hear from people interested in joining the team. It’s a wonderful way to support the local community, and there’s really no ‘ideal’ family or home. A single person can foster, a family with other pets can foster, and no one should worry about having to follow complicated training routines – it’s all about supporting the dog’s behaviour and we just want our dogs to have some down time in a caring, homely environment. If they simply chill in front of the fire or enjoy a free run in the park, that’s fine by us.”

Guide Dogs in training usually spend 26 weeks with a foster family before being matched with a blind or partially sighted person. There’s a comprehensive training programme and lots of advice before a dog is placed with a new foster family, to give the partnership the best chance of success.

Hannah said: “We offer a lot of support to fosterers and we need a constant pipeline of volunteers to take the dogs as they go through training. There’s no doubt our foster families are part of something very special and talking to those involved makes me realise how our dogs can enrich the lives of those who volunteer to be part of Guide Dogs training.”

New business support scheme for young start-ups and entrepreneurs in Manchester

Sam Whitear
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Virtually There, a virtual office and services provider, is empowering young entrepreneurs and early-stage start-ups in Manchester with £5000 worth of business support and services to get their ideas or fledgling enterprises off the ground.

The Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) launches today (Thursday, 17th June), with applications closing on Thursday 12th August. It is open to any entrepreneur aged between 16-25 years old who has a business idea or a pre-existing start-up that could benefit from Virtually There’s services and support.

The scheme follows the devastating effects Covid has had on youth unemployment, which hit up to 15% compared to pre-pandemic levels in the past year. This has nonetheless been coupled with a boom in young entrepreneurship, with many business-savvy individuals using their free time over the lockdowns to start an enterprise.

Virtually There’s scheme will empower those who are seizing this moment to take a leap into entrepreneurship. Successful applicants will attend a free start-up 101 workshop, delivered in partnership with highly-reputable business incubator Enterprise Orchard, and receive a free year of virtual office space, virtual receptionist or assistant services, as well as 1-2-1 mentoring with leading industry experts.

Virtually There Co-Founders Edgar Thoemmes and Jack Head started their joint venture in order to assist other business owners and help them grow. “As serial founders ourselves, we know just how tough it can be starting out. We want to offer the next generation a helping hand in reaching their entrepreneurial goals” said Edgar of the new scheme. “Many young people have had to rely on their creativity and initiative to unearth opportunities. We feel it is our responsibility to empower them.” Added Jack.

Pandemic Tours launches in Manchester

Sam Whitear
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The world’s first free virtual tour app – which allows you to stroll around cities and attractions guided by your smartphone – is piloting in Manchester.

Forget about old fashioned crowded tours, not having information about guides beforehand or waiting for a tour to start.

Pandemic Tours offers walking tours, made by experienced and knowledgeable veteran guides, so people can stroll around cities and attractions for free at their own pace.

Whether you are fascinated in history, architecture, pub crawling, music, football or other stuff; the Pandemic Tours platform will gather all interests under the same roof so when you are looking for a unique experience you just go to the same app.

With Pandemic Tours, just choose the city or attraction, select the tour that suits you best and then you are ready to start discovering the world at your leisure.

Every tour comes with an interactive map marked with the stops where you can listen to or read stories about that building, landmark or historical figure with photos and video to bring it alive for walkers.

Also provided are handpicked insider recommendations for places to eat and drink, seasonal events and perfect selfie spots close by.

Pandemic Tours is the brainchild of University of Manchester graduate entrepreneur Joaquin Contreras who saw a gap in the tourism market.

He said: “Pandemic Tours was born out of the limitations and restrictions put on all of our lives by Covid 19. With travel bans and limits to household mixing the traditional walking tour is almost dead so we’ve come up with an app which allows you to stroll around places and learn about them as if you were on a tour with a conventional guide.”

Pandemic Tours is launching its app with a free two-hour walking tour around Manchester city centre. The tour lets you stroll around the city with ten different stops at places like St Peter’s Square, Canal Street and Chinatown.

A new walking tour of York is just out of the oven and Pandemic Tours have plans to cover the rest of the UK.

The idea for Pandemic Tours was born during Joaquin’s year at the University of Manchester studying for an MA in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship but it was the support from the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre at Alliance Manchester Business School that really helped turn it into a reality.

He said: “I was awarded a £1,000 Nick Sandars kickstarter award which helped me get Pandemic Tours off the ground and get the app built. I’ve had the opportunity to access a business coach, workshops and consultancy which has been great for honing where I put my efforts in the business, establishing goals and working to timescales.”

Greenwashing: What it is and how to avoid it

Sam Whitear
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Kevin Lambert, Resource Efficiency Lead at GC Business Growth Hub, explains the rising awareness of ‘corporate greenwash’ and why businesses need to be accurate, clear and transparent when promoting their environmental credentials.

 

The demand for ‘eco-friendly’ products and services is booming. According to one recent survey by WWF, online searches for ‘sustainable’ goods have increased by 71 per cent since 2016. This has translated into growing pressure throughout supply chains for organisations to demonstrate ‘green’ credentials. Many companies are now actively reporting their ‘environmental impact’ and committing to long-term goals like ‘carbon neutrality’.

 

Notice all the terms in apostrophes. Today’s environmental agenda is filled with these buzzwords, many of which have no universally agreed definition. In fact, all of the terms highlighted above can be used in varying, and sometimes misleading, ways.

 

Greenwashing

Misleading customers or stakeholders into believing a company, product or service is doing more for the environment than it is in reality is called greenwashing.

Unfortunately, greenwash is not uncommon. Sometimes it’s rather obvious, like a fossil fuel company advertising that it is leading the way to cleaner energy, when in reality such activities only make up a tiny proportion of its business. Sometimes it’s less obvious, and may even occur despite good intentions. For example, a business that chooses to purchase carbon offsets and promote itself as ‘carbon neutral’, without making any change in reality to its own operations, could easily be accused of greenwashing.

 

Research shows that an alarming 40 per cent of ‘green’ claims being made by businesses online could be considered misleading, often due to:

  • Vague and unclear terms such as ‘eco’ or ‘sustainable’ without adequate explanation or evidence
  • Own brand ‘eco’ logos and labels not associated with any recognised body or certification
  • Hiding or omitting certain information to make products or services appear more environmentally friendly than they actually are.

The proliferation of greenwashing is causing rising scepticism amongst stakeholders. A recent YouGov poll found that two thirds of people are now wary of environmental and social claims made by brands. Separate research found that around 60 per cent of institutional investors believe greenwashing is blocking them from delivering on their sustainable investment goals, while the vast majority of individual investors say they find it hard to trust business’ claims at face value.

There is even a growing backlash against corporate net zero emissions goals, some of which offer little accountability or any genuine action on the ground.

How to steer clear of trouble

This cynicism is good news in the fight against greenwashing, but it also poses a risk for companies who are trying to do the right thing. Even if you are taking genuine action to improve the impact of your products, services and/or operations, you could get caught up in accusations of greenwashing if you communicate your action poorly.

To ensure businesses don’t fall foul of a stakeholder backlash – or break the law – the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has recently proposed new consumer protection law guidance for environmental claims. Once set into consumer protection law, failing to comply with them could leave businesses facing legal action from consumers or trading standards bodies.

The proposed guidance sets out six principles all businesses should follow:

 

  1. Be truthful and accurate

Businesses must live up to all environmental claims they make. You cannot say something that is factually incorrect, nor overstate or exaggerate the sustainability or environmental impact of your products, services, brand or activities.

In other words, buzzwords like ‘green’ and ‘eco-friendly’ must not be used without proof of positive environmental impact. You also cannot claim that you are environmentally friendly if you are simply complying with legal requirements or an expected minimum standard. Honesty is the best policy – admitting that you aren’t the finished article, but that you are making progress, is likely to be welcomed by stakeholders.

 

  1. Be clear and unambiguous

An environmental claim must be transparent and properly defined. Vague or general terms with multiple meanings should be clearly explained. Claims about future goals or ambitions must only be used if you have a clear, measurable and verifiable strategy to deliver on those goals. The more these goals are embedded in the fabric of your overall business strategy, the better.

 

  1. Do not omit or hide important information

Avoid giving stakeholders the impression that a product, service or business has a positive environmental impact by leaving out the negatives. For example, you cannot state that a product is recyclable if only certain parts of it are. Similarly, you cannot say your business is ‘sustainable’ because of improvements made to your building, if they mask negative impacts in your supply chain.

 

  1. Make fair and meaningful comparisons

If making a comparison between your product and another, it should be like-for-like – the products should be intended for the same purpose and the comparison should be relevant, verifiable and measured using the same metrics.

 

  1. Consider the full lifecycle

Be mindful of the total impact of your business or your products and services when making claims. For example, claiming that an entire product is ‘eco-friendly’ because of the material it is made with could be considered misleading if the benefit is outweighed by negative environmental impacts elsewhere in its lifecycle.

Complying with this rule can also be a useful exercise in helping you to identify and prioritise action where it is most effective – the largest part of your environmental impact is not necessarily the most obvious, or the most visible.

 

  1. Substantiate any claims made

Make sure you can back up any claims you make with robust, credible and up-to-date evidence. Wherever possible, this information should be publicly available.

This requirement can sometimes be satisfied through a respected third-party environmental standard or certification.

These six principles are designed for any business making an environmental claim that is ultimately aimed at the end consumer. But even if that doesn’t apply to you directly, they are good principles to follow for building trust and legitimacy when communicating with your stakeholders and potential customers.

 

We can help

If you’re unsure about the environmental aspects of your operations or products, want to do more to minimise your impact or need support to give you confidence that your claims are accurate, GC Business Growth Hub’s Resource Efficiency service can help.

Pixel Kicks scores double client win success

Sam Whitear
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Pixel Kicks has once again added to its client roster after securing two new briefs with Clicksit and IPEC. The news follows other recent wins for the Manchester based full-service digital agency with coffee brand 92°, DOCAN, Avaris e-bikes, Synextra and Sensory Solutions.

Clicksit is a SaaS company that provides online customer returns management to retailers. It automates the entire customer return process, gains insights, and increases revenue by providing the perfect customer return experience. Pixel Kicks was appointed via a competitive pitch and will now be developing a completely new brochure website and delivering content writing services. The core aims will be to increase overall brand awareness, drive enquiries and subscribers, and effectively showcase case studies.

The project with IPEC will see Pixel Kicks again create a new brochure website. The agency will also manage content migration and conduct a full SEO audit. Formed in 1995, IPEC is highly specialised engineering company based in Manchester which is at the very forefront of technological innovations within the field of electrical engineering. It is now a world leader in on-line Partial Discharge detection and location for MV, HV and EHV cables, switchgear, and accessories. It works with network operators, large and small, around the world, including UK Power Networks, National Grid, Network Rail, Siemens, and Heathrow Airport.

Both sites are expected to launch towards the end of 2021.

Matt Hartley – principal sales and account manager at Pixel Kicks said: “Despite the challenges the pandemic has thrown up, we have worked incredibly hard and have secured a series of big wins since the start of the year. This is testament to the efforts and skills of our team who all have an unwavering focus on delivering first-class client servicing, the highest quality of work, and the best results for our clients. We’re now really excited to help Clicksit and IPEC on the next phase of their digital evolutions.”

Parcels by pedal power

Sam Whitear
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20210416 072213 225x300 1 We chat to Kirrien Wilson, Managing Director of cycle delivery start-up ZEEM Logistics, about the inspiration behind the business, Clean Air Zones and the future of urban logistics.

 

Founded by two seasoned cycle couriers in 2020, ZEEM Logistics offers an ethical and environmental solution to cargo delivery in Manchester.

Powered by its fleet of electric cargo and fixed gear bikes, the business began operating in January 2021 and already provides services ranging from takeaway food and parcel delivery to hotel-to-airport luggage transfers.

The company has been working with GC Business Growth Hub’s Green Technologies and Services Sector team, who have provided advice on tenders, funding, and sales and value proposition to support its ongoing growth.

 

What inspired you to set up ZEEM?

 

Myself and my business partner are cycle couriers. We met outside a fish and chip shop in May 2020 whilst on the job and got chatting, and we agreed that we could do it a lot better than the big company we were working for. We were both fed up with working for a company that treated us poorly and wanted to work for a business where financial gain for directors and shareholders didn’t come at the expense of the ethical treatment of staff.

A week later, we were writing a business plan and had begun talking to other start-ups doing a similar thing elsewhere. Two months after that, we registered the company and began speaking to potential investors, and by January 2021 we were making our first deliveries.

 

What makes your service different?

We’ve proved that we can do things better. On average, all of our deliveries arrive 5-10 minutes early. Our customers are happier than they were with their previous provider. All of our staff are on at least £9.50 an hour and every year they will get a wage review – if the company is performing well, all staff get a wage increase. Our riders are on a minimum terms contract, so they are guaranteed a minimum amount of work, and usually get more than that.

And we’re a green cycle company – everything we do has to be environmentally friendly. We run on a fleet of fixed gear bikes for smaller items, and electric cargo bikes for larger items of up to 80kgs.

We also consult with our clients on how they can become greener themselves. For example, one of our clients uses reusable packaging that was being thrown away. They are now using our service to encourage regular customers to keep the packaging so we can collect it when they order their next delivery. Not only does that stop plastic being thrown into landfill; it’s also reduced our client’s costs.

 

How did you end up working with the Hub?

I got referred to GC Business Growth Hub by Transport for Greater Manchester, after complaining that there wasn’t enough start-up support for businesses like ours in Greater Manchester. We’re glad they did because the Hub has been very supportive.

When we’ve needed advice from our advisor Jack, he’s been very helpful – even in the event he’s not able to answer our questions, he’s gone away and found the information we needed, so it’s been great to have access to that kind of support.

 

Why is cycle logistics a growing trend?

We’re in a situation now where businesses are realising that they can’t just keep using vans in cities, not just from an environmental perspective but also from an economic perspective. When you look at the research by companies such as Pedal Me in London, who transport people as well as goods, cargo bikes are far more efficient and get from A to B quicker than vans and cars.

As Clean Air Zones come into play the business case for cycle logistics gets even stronger, especially as the market for electric vans isn’t quite there yet. Even as electric vans become more mainstream, we can still expect to see far more cargo bikes on the road for shorter distance journeys.

What difference do you think Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Zone will have?

The GM Clean Air Zone is going to have a direct impact on our ability to increase business. London has its Low Emission Zone and Congestion Zone, and from our contact with companies there, business is better than ever. There are around 15 cycle logistics companies in London alone and all of them are busy.

Birmingham has just started its Clean Air Zone and we’re already connected with a start-up there that’s at a similar stage to us. If it’s managed properly, the zone will be fantastic for our business and fantastic for the environmental health of Greater Manchester as well.

 

What does the future hold for ZEEM?

Our aim is to cover the whole of Greater Manchester within five years. Every area in Greater Manchester will have a hub of cyclists and bikes, in effect creating an interconnected cycle network that can transfer goods from one area to another. In ten years’ time, we want to expand to other cities like Liverpool or Sheffield. Our ideas are definitely bigger than just Manchester.

In the near-term, we’re in the process of negotiating with several parcel companies within Manchester, and we’re already getting orders that require bigger bikes so we’re planning to expand our bike fleet with an electric cargo trike that can carry up to 300kgs in weight. As the saying goes, no job is too big or too small!

Choosing the right ecommerce platform for your business needs

Sam Whitear
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Chris Murphy 300x200 1 Chris Murphy, Digital Innovation Specialist at GC Business Growth Hub, has put together a guide on the five main ecommerce platforms available, detailing their key features and what you need to consider when choosing the platform for your business.

 

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated the pace of digital transformation. With restrictions imposed across the world, consumers and businesses had to quickly move to the online space to buy, sell and interact with one another.

For some businesses, this meant creating an online shop to serve existing customers. For others who worked exclusively with trade clients, this was an opportunity to move into a new market and start selling directly to the consumer. Whichever the case, it has become evident that over the past year many companies have prioritised ecommerce, positioning it at the core of their business models and rightly so. According to Gartner research, digital commerce has become a growth accelerator for most organisations and those with digital commerce will see higher growth than those without.

Setting up an ecommerce website can be an important investment for many businesses though, so you must ensure the right digital approach is taken. You don’t want to pay over the odds but cheaper isn’t always better and a platform that supports the needs of your business today may not necessarily support your business of the future.

Comparing different platforms, weighing up the potential benefits of one platform over another and establishing which is the best platform for your business, can be difficult. Some of the most important factors to consider include price, technical support, payment options, ease of use, features, themes, scalability, functionality, SEO optimisation, mobile friendliness and security.

In addition, you’ll need to plan ahead to ensure that you choose a platform that can support future growth.

In this guide we will explore some of the most popular ecommerce platforms for SMEs that can rapidly transform your business.

Five Ecommerce Platforms for SMEs

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is ideal for established SMEs looking to grow. The platform is available in four different versions and each offer a host of built-in features.

Setup can be a little trickier than some of the above and the platform provides only a limited range of free templates. Security is of the highest standard and they offer 24/7 support.

There are plenty of payment options for customers and there are no transaction fees. The interface is easy to use, good for multi-channel selling and SEO performs well.

The platform makes scaling up easy, but this can quickly become expensive for larger stores.

Pros: Security, Support, SEO

Cons: Limited free templates, Tricky set-up

 

Shopify

Shopify is a scalable ecommerce platform that allows you to create your own online store, which is ideal for businesses looking to grow rapidly. Shopify provides 24/7 support with easy setup and navigation for beginners.

The platform is available in a number of different versions, from Lite to Advanced, and fees can increase accordingly. A monthly fee applies to use the platform’s services and there are transaction fees if you don’t use Shopify payments.

Setup is straight forward, and the platform provides easy to understand instructions on how to customise your site, add products and manage business operations through a simple central dashboard.

The platform is Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant and works with over 2,500 apps. All sites have SEO optimisation built in and you can manage all of your business from your phone. Customers can also access your online store and make purchases via their mobiles. There are a whole host of payment options for customers, ranging from PayPal and Apple Pay to Amazon Pay and even Cryptocurrency.

Pros: Easy to use, great support, multiple pay options, smart phone compatible

Cons: Cost, transaction fees

 

Squarespace

Squarespace is a good choice for SMEs that want a creative look and feel to their ecommerce platform, offering a variety scalability and customisation options.

Setup is as simple as picking a template and making the desired adjustments to suit your business needs, and free trials are offered so you can test usability. Templates are fully adaptive and flexible with a clean-cut interface, making it a user-friendly experience for both the business and the customer, performing perfectly well on mobiles too.

You can monitor your businesses performance with analytics which provides an overall view. There are built in security features and support is available 24/7.

Transaction fees are applied and charged at 3%, which is higher than other platforms. SEO doesn’t perform as well as WordPress, but there are plug ins available to improve this.

Pros: Beautiful designs, free trial, easy to use

Cons: SEO performance, high transaction fees

 

Wix

Wix is perfect for small scale SMEs looking to launch an ecommerce website quickly as it provides a platform where you can build your store and get it ready to go using the free plan, with fees charged when you go live.

It is easy to set up and use, with drag and drop functionality. The cost is low, including a lifetime free plan but there are only a limited number of templates, speed can sometimes be an issue and it doesn’t perform as well on SEO as other platforms.

Pros: Low cost, easy to use, free set up

Cons: Limited templates, SEO performance, speed

 

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a free, open-source, ecommerce plugin for WordPress. It is designed for small to large online merchants using WordPress. It is completely customisable and flexible platform, WooCommerce gives you total control over your online store.

Setup is simple, with a number of different themes to choose from and a wizard to take you through the process.

Customers will find the site easy to navigate and there are plugins and extra functionality available at a cost.

It is mobile friendly, which means that you can make changes and access your products and services from your smartphone.

The platform collaborates with Google Analytics to provide up to date information and statistics on all your business happenings via an easy to understand dashboard.

Although use is free and there are no transaction fees, tech support can be lacking and lots of plugins come at a cost which can add up. And since it requires hosting, security is down to the business owner.

Pros: Free, no transaction fees, good SEO

Cons: Security not included, cost of plugins, tech support

 

In summary…

Choosing an ecommerce platform is dependent on the business and its needs. To summarise your key considerations when choosing a platform are:

• Budget
• Time
• Scalability of your business
• Number of products you have
• Integrations required
• Setup
• Security

And if in doubt GC Business Growth Hub’s Digital Innovation team is on hand to support you: get in touch here.

 

GM Chamber Launches First Ever Excellence Awards

Sam Whitear
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Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce has launched its first ever Excellence Awards. The Awards will be a celebration of business achievements and resilience after a turbulent last 18 months and will give businesses, leaders and teams a chance to shine in the spotlight and have their contribution officially recognised and rewarded.

Reet Dhallu, Head of Membership at the Chamber, said: “Everyone agrees that since March 2020 businesses and communities right across Greater Manchester have all been impacted in some way or another by the pandemic. We are a great community and a strong economy here in GM but the going has been extremely tough for a lot of people and some businesses. Being part of this great community the Chamber wanted to recognise the contribution of organisations across the whole of GM.

“So we decided on setting simple-to-enter Excellence Awards covering 5 categories that allow the full range of businesses and organisations we have in GM to enter.

“You can enter your own business or even someone else’s if you feel they’ve done something worthy of recognition and reward. We want to do something that encourages people to take part as well as raise awareness of the great work and achievements that goes on day after day even in times of real adversity. It’s also a way of just saying thank-you to some real superstars that often go unnoticed but who achieve astonishing things.”

The awards open on 25th June and culminate in an evening celebration at the Chamber’s offices at Elliot House on 28th October when the overall winners will be revealed.

For more information about the awards including the entry forms visit https://www.gmchamber.co.uk/gmcc-excellence-awards/

The Vita Group donates 300 mattresses to Shelter to help tackle rough sleeping across Greater Manchester

Sam Whitear
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The Vita Group, Europe’s leading flexible foam solutions provider, is donating 300 mattresses to Shelter Greater Manchester to help tackle the region’s housing emergency.

The first 100 mattresses were delivered earlier this month and are being distributed to temporary accommodation providers across Greater Manchester, bolstering the city’s ability to house its hundreds of rough sleepers and families affected by the housing crisis.

Shelter is working with Manchester City Council’s temporary accommodation provider, ICCG Services, to allocate the mattresses to temporary and emergency housing, so that people staying there have a clean, suitable bed to sleep on when they are most in need.

The Vita Group has committed to donating a further 200 mattresses by the end of the year, bringing the total donation for 2021 to 300 mattresses, with a value of over £50k. The mattresses have been designed and manufactured to meet the stringent CRIB 5 fire regulations required in hostel premises.

In 2017, a report by Shelter revealed that 1 in every 154 people in Manchester was homeless, a statistic that looks to snowball after the pandemic. The mattress donations will help to ensure the temporary accommodation offering within the region has clean and suitable beds.

Currently, 520 beds are available to rough sleepers, and more than £660,000 has been pledged, as part of the city’s A Bed Every Night scheme launched by Greater Manchester Major Andy Burnham, to support young people identified as being at high risk of homelessness.

The Vita Group’s donation is the latest in several efforts from the company to support the local community. As suppliers of polyurethane foam, Vita partnered with healthcare companies at the height of the pandemic last year to supply foam for more than 25,000 additional mattresses used in the NHS Nightingale Hospitals.

Ian Robb, Group CEO at The Vita Group said: “Shelter’s work is instrumental in helping tackle the homelessness crisis in Manchester and we are incredibly proud of our team who have worked hard to manufacturer the mattresses, which can now be distributed to places most in need of them.

“At The Vita Group, we have always been committed to supporting local communities, and believe it is more essential than ever that businesses are looking for ways to help charities and organisations. We look forward to continuing our work with Shelter and providing more mattresses in the future.”

Shelter is a homelessness charity that works nationally to tackle the UK’s housing emergency, with the ultimate goal to end homelessness.

John Ryan, Shelter’s HUB Manager for Greater Manchester, added: “We are extremely grateful for The Vita Group’s support. We have so many people needing these beds at the moment and one of the biggest costs is trying to refresh mattresses. Vita’s donations allow temporary accommodation providers, who are already struggling for funds as a result of the pandemic, to provide more, clean beds to those who need them.

“It is more important now than ever that we are all coming together to support those who need it most, and donations such as this from local businesses can really help in our aim to provide safe spaces for rough sleepers.”

AVRO COMPLETES IN MANCHESTER – WITH 3,000 SQ FT OF OUTDOOR SPACE FOR RESIDENTS NOW OPEN

Sam Whitear
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It’s rare to see a city centre apartment development offering residents garden space, but that’s what award-winning regeneration company Urban Splash has created at Avro on Great Ancoats Street in Manchester.

Here, the developer has transformed one of Manchester’s last undeveloped Victorian mills, a beautiful, Grade II* Listed brick building which overlooks the Rochdale Canal and was once home to the famous AV Roe aviation company and was the place in which warplanes were built. Famous artist LS Lowry was also the building’s rent collector.

Embracing the building’s original features, whilst taking inspiration from the aesthetics of a spacious Manhattan loft, the 31 homes now created here are some of the biggest on the market, with just a handful of homes remaining – each exceeding 1,000 sq ft of living space.

And while there’s many appealing features inside these homes – brickwork, cast iron columns, beams – there’s an even more enticing prospect as we head into summer – 3,000 sq ft of brand-new residents’ gardens.

The new space is rich in soft and hard landscaping, giving residents an inner-city oasis that’s a stark contrast to bustling Ancoats outside. Anjub Ali is development manager for the building and said: “I am delighted to see our work at Avro now complete. It has been a fascinating project to work on; we’ve unearthed so much industrial heritage and sensitively restored the fabric of the space, without losing any of that history.

“The new gardens are the perfect extension of that, using the red brick exterior of the building to deliver a city-centre oasis at the very heart of Ancoats.

“Featuring plentiful seating areas for socialising or solo relaxation, the garden is both green space and outdoor living area combined. One of the advantages of living within a residential building is the sense of community and at Avro, this is amplified by the use of a communal outdoor space to really draw people together.”

The completion comes as Urban Splash continues its quest to create more green spaces for increasing numbers of people who want to live in the city centre, without compromising on the perks of suburbia. Across the road from Avro at New Islington, the company is creating more family homes with residents’ gardens, the Cotton Field Park and Marina, and plans for another public park underway.

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