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Lights, camera, action as Greater Manchester builds on its reputation as a world-class media production hub

Sam Whitear
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Greater Manchester is set to build on its reputation as one of the most significant media production hubs on the planet as further studio facilities, staff and independent production companies begin operations – with almost one million sq ft of formal production space.

New research from the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (GM LEP) reveals the scale of production space across the city-region is now equivalent to more than 15 full-size football pitches.

Ten years since the BBC first broadcast from its new base at MediaCityUK in Salford, the economic impact of Greater Manchester’s burgeoning digital, creative and tech sector is being felt across the city-region.
The BBC has announced an expansion of its MediaCityUK operations, boosting staff beyond the current 3,500 headcount and bringing new services to the North from London.

MediaCityUK is also home to 1,000 ITV staff from departments including the MultiStory label, Lifted Entertainment, as well as Coronation Street’s 7.7-acre (335,000 sq ft) production centre – the biggest single television production site in the world.

Also at MediaCityUK, studio and post-production facility Dock10 has hosted many of the biggest programmes on British television, including The Voice UK, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and the British Soap Awards.
Employing more than 150 staff, Dock10 has two divisions: studios and post productions. It spans a total of 157,000 sq ft of production space, including the UK’s biggest multi-camera TV studio for major productions.

Providing brilliant backdrops and cost-effective filming locations, Manchester city centre has become a magnet for high profile productions, with Screen Manchester facilitating productions including The Stranger, Peaky Blinders, The Crown, Das Boot, Years and Years, Curfew, Cold Feet, Darkest Hour and The A Word, and upcoming Sony Pictures production Morbius.

Other recent Manchester productions include It’s A Sin, which was written by Russell T Davies and produced by Manchester’s Red Production Company. Independent production companies include Nine Lives Media, Lion Eyes, Factory Create, Quay Street Productions and Studio Liddell. The ITV label, Quay Street Productions, is also based in Manchester centre.

Part of the Enterprise City development in Manchester’s St John’s District and operated by All Studios, Manchester Studios has more than 100,000 sq ft of studio and stage facilities available, including 41,400 sq ft of production space within the former ITV Studios 02, 06, 08 and 12.

Complementing production hubs in Salford and Manchester city centre, Space Studios in West Gorton is expanding to offer 105,000 sq ft of stage space across eight stages on a 17-acre site. And the Sharp Project in Newton Heath, Manchester has 50,000 sq ft of space dedicated to TV and film production.

In Stockport, the Vectar Project has committed to carbon neutral film production with studios totalling almost 4,000 sq ft.

Greater Manchester’s four universities and University Academy 92 also have production facilities and are producing a pipeline of talent.

Due to open in September 2021 and part-funded by the GM LEP and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), SODA – the School of Digital Arts – at Manchester Metropolitan University is a £35m investment into the workspaces, networks, teaching and research that will drive ideas and innovation across all forms of creative content.

In addition, Greater Manchester’s tech community is investing in bespoke media production facilities.

Among them is The Hut Group’s (THG) ICON development at Manchester Airport, which will include content creation facilities totalling 168,000 sq ft.

ICON will house around 2,000 people who will be focused on video production and photography, to be used across THG’s digital offering.

A thriving digital and creative sector is cited in the Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy and Economic Vision as a key part of the city-region’s future prosperity. The 2019 publication of the Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy highlighted the city-region’s strengths in the digital, creative and media sector, detailing how local leaders will “build on Greater Manchester’s position as a leading European digital city-region; enable the digitalisation of all sectors; and capitalise on the links between digital and creative industries that feed internationally significant clusters in broadcasting, content creation and media, and maximise growing assets in cyber security”.

Greater Manchester is already home to 19,000 tech, creative and digital companies, with 88,000 people working in creative and digital companies as part of a £5bn digital ecosystem.

Lou Cordwell, Chair of Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (GM LEP), said: “This is an incredibly exciting time for media and digital content production in Greater Manchester, with the BBC expanding its base at MediaCityUK and new facilities providing opportunities for jobs and skills across the city-region.

“We now know that Greater Manchester has around a million sq ft of formal media production space as well as stunning locations across the city-region which are regularly utilised for film and TV.

“Across film and TV, Greater Manchester provides a production base for hundreds of hours of output annually – entertaining and informing millions of people across the world.

“The digital, creative and media sector is a cornerstone in the Greater Manchester Local industrial Strategy, and of our Economic Vision, and has always had a vibrant role in our cultural offer. The success of our growing media and content production base and can support us in further growth across our £5bn digital ecosystem, creating new jobs and opportunities.”

Cllr Elise Wilson, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) portfolio lead for Economy, said: “From Granada Television and Coronation Street in the 1960s, through to MediaCityUK, Space Studios and a wave of exciting new projects in the present day, Greater Manchester’s media production industry has become one of our biggest assets.

“We have so much to offer to those who make TV, film and content – outstanding facilities, dramatic locations and access to a huge pool of talent. The sector contributes enormously to our regional economy, employing thousands of people in skilled roles, while also helping the city-region maintain its status as a global cultural hub.

“With almost one million sq ft of production space now available, we’re excited to see more Greater Manchester productions hit screens around the world.”

HOST partners with TiE UK North to join its global network of industry-leading entrepreneurs

Sam Whitear
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A landmark partnership between two prominent Northern organisations will offer start-up businesses direct access to world-class entrepreneurs and advisers to accelerate their growth and help prepare them for investment.

Innovation hub HOST, the Home of Skills & Technology at MediaCityUK, is collaborating with TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) UK North, one of the largest entrepreneur networks in the world.

HOST offers a unique entrepreneur-led approach and alongside TiE UK North, it will provide emerging business in the region with personalised leadership support and mentoring.

TiE UK North will become a HOST industry partner to support young businesses with specialist expertise from experienced entrepreneurs through one-to-ones, speaker-led sessions, drop-ins and roundtable events.

Start-up businesses from the HOST community will also have access to TiE’s investment readiness support and learning through ‘friendly dragon’ sessions as part of the hub’s innovation and business growth programme.

Mo Isap, CEO of IN4.0 Group, the operators of HOST, will become a TiE entrepreneur charter member and Vikas Shah MBE, board member of TiE UK North is joining HOST as head of entrepreneurship.

Former president of TiE UK North and CEO of Swiscot Group, Vikas, is a respected speaker on entrepreneurship, business and social issues, and most recently authored a book collating his personal interviews with celebrities and public figures.

Mo said: “HOST is proud to be partnering with TiE UK North and with its impressive global reach, this collaboration will hugely benefit the innovation community at HOST and the wider Northern ecosystem. We are also excited to welcome Vikas to the HOST team, where he will be instrumental as an ambassador for all of the training and programmes we are developing to support and grow entrepreneurship across the North West regions.

“This impactful partnership will bring together world-leading entrepreneurs to provide key mentoring, leadership and funding support to start-ups, nurturing the next generation of diverse talent and our future business leaders.”

Tony Walker, President of TiE UK North, said: “We are thrilled for TiE UK North to join forces with HOST, it is an amazing organisation with a wonderful, revitalised building. We look forward to developing our joint focus on innovation support for entrepreneurial people and businesses, especially for start-ups and SMEs.

“It’s critical organisations like ours come together to help encourage more entrepreneurs and grow our way out of the pandemic and create a vibrant regional ecosystem with global ambition. Mo and his HOST team are primed to add value to our events and activities and enhance our already esteemed board membership. I am personally looking forwards to us holding physical events once again on the 7th floor of HOST, as it’s such an iconic location and to have our communities link up with the support available there.”

Manchester commercial law firm Kuits has announced the promotion of eight of its lawyers, including two to Partner level

Sam Whitear
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The news comes after the firm promoted ten of its lawyers in December.

Senior Associates Helen Mather in the corporate team and Tim Arkwright in the Commercial Property team have been promoted to Partners, bringing the total number of Partners to 32.

Meanwhile, Associate Madelaine Hailey in the Family Law Team has been promoted to Senior Associate. Solicitors Daniel Adcock-Kirsh and Richard Wilson both in the Litigation department, Matthew Wallis and Victoria Leam both in the Commercial Property team and Claire Treacy in the Firm’s Employment team have all been promoted to Associate.

Managing Partner Steve Eccleston said: “It has been a challenging year, but throughout all the obstacles that we have faced, our people have remained committed to their work and clients; demonstrating excellent client service and always providing commercially sound legal advice.

“We are delighted to be able to make these promotions, to recognise the dedication that these team members in particular have demonstrated.”

KOMI Media reports record engagement figures

Sam Whitear
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KOMI Media – the dedicated in-house publisher division of Manchester-based KOMI Group – has secured record engagement figures for one of its key brands in the latest set of CrowdTangle figures covering May 2021.

The ‘Ultimate’ brand, which is a community based around crafts and lifestyle, notched up 1.51m interactions in May 2021 compared to 252,000 in May 2020. Its interaction rate – the main KPI that measures the ratio of interactions such as clicks, started videos and page views – stood at 1.156%. That figure is considerably higher than every other major UK social publisher.

It’s Gone Viral, which is dedicated to relatable, informative, and educational content, was ranked third in the list. It grew its page followers from 5,851,045 to 7,537,652.

CrowdTangle is a respected public insights tool from Facebook that makes it easy to follow, analyse, and report on what’s happening with public content on social media. It’s used to benchmark and compare performance of public accounts over time, track referrals and find larger trends to understand how public content spreads on social media.

Ryan Williams – content director and co-founder of KOMI Group – said: “All of us at KOMI Media are committed to developing highly engaged brands that our followers want to interact with on a regular basis. To see us have two pages ranked so highly amongst our competitors is a testament to the team’s tireless hard work and creativity. ‘Ultimate’ is a relatively new project which went through a major rebrand last year so to see such strong results in a relatively short period of time is fantastic.”

Andrew Trotman – managing director – added: “Ultimate’s growth over the past year has been phenomenal and reflects how we can effectively grow our internal brands across all platforms. Our mission is to build aspirational brands and communities filled with engaged people and these results are a great example of this in action. It’s the absolute backbone of our business as we adopt the same approach for the clients we work with in our marketing and licensing divisions.”

KOMI Group is a three divisional agency business consisting of dedicated social media, marketing, and licensing teams. Its team of content creators, analysts and video producers have made and then distributed video content and viral campaign adverts for international brands such as BBC Films, O2, Universal, Bud Light and Disney.

Content is shared across its Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts including the It’s Gone Viral page, which is dedicated to relatable, informative, and educational content; as well as Go Fetch, a platform for dog lovers to connect with one another; Happiest, which focusses on bringing the most entertaining and uplifting content and real-life stories; and Ultimate which is a community based around crafts and lifestyle. On average the company delivers over one billion views across its portfolio of pages each month.

Investment and diversification result in stronger than ever pipeline for cleaning specialists The Tudor Group

Sam Whitear
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The Tudor Group, the leading Manchester based cleaning company, is celebrating emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic with a stronger pipeline than ever having adapted its services to support public health in a greater variety of buildings and facilities.

During the start of 2020, the Tudor Group radically altered its business strategy to adjust to the impact of the pandemic. At the start of that year, the majority of its business was related to window cleaning for hospitality venues and event cleaning services for leisure sites. When those services were not required during lockdowns, the company accelerated its product development strategy to expand upon its specialist cleaning operation.

Now, The Tudor Group’s hospitality clients have returned and the company has also established a significant foothold in the property management, education, healthcare, construction, commercial and public sectors.

In order to support more organisations in opening safely, the company has developed a specialist deep cleaning service called ‘Back to Business’ and has completed a significant number of deep cleans throughout the last twelve months in residential properties and commercial offices in advance of employees and customers returning. In addition to this, the company is preparing to carry out cleaning services to over 5,000 student accommodations for the second year running.

As a result, the company is forecasting a significant increase in revenue in 2021 and anticipates the creation of over 100 jobs throughout its service delivery teams.

That the company is able to deliver its superior services to a much broader range of clients has been supported by a comprehensive investment programme in the past year. The role of Operations Director and a new Business Development team have been created, while significant enhancements have been implemented to systems and processes, including a platform that manages the entire sales process from initial enquiry to invoice and an electronic tool that enables the management of health and safety processes in real time.

Additionally, The Tudor Group restructured operationally to create a more flexible workforce to deal with the peaks and trough associated with the uncertainties of the pandemic. The company has also recently committed to paying the Real Living Wage, one of several initiatives it has introduced to attract and retain staff.

Crucial to the Tudor Group’s strong position is the integration into its business of A Quality Service Limited (AQS), the Welsh cleaning company that was acquired by the company in early 2020 as a result of a £1.1 million growth capital investment from owners Foresight Group, a leading private equity and infrastructure investment manager.

Over the past year, AQS has worked on sanitisation contracts at the Dragon’s Heart Hospital, a temporary hospital located at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, ensuring it was safe for NHS staff and patients. It has also undertaken deep cleans at other sporting venues such as Cardiff Blues and Glamorgan County Cricket Club to enable the safe return of fans.

Fabien Caqueret, managing director at The Tudor Group, added: “Looking back over the past year, I am immensely proud of how our business has adapted to this challenging period by changing our business strategy in order to ensure our expertise could be used as a tool in the fight against COVID-19. Although there have been difficult periods, we have remained profitable and operational and we’ve been able to fulfill every contract we’ve been asked to deliver.

“Amongst other things, the pandemic has highlighted the importance of hygiene in the places we live, work, travel and play, and the vital job that the staff who undertake this work have in keeping our country safe. Our becoming a Real Living Wage service provider reflected the esteem in which we hold all of our colleagues and I’m encouraging the government to class cleaners as key workers in recognition of the importance of the work they do.”

Hugh Minnock, senior investment manager, at Foresight Group said: “It’s been a privilege to support Fabien and his team and witness the incredible value they bring to every client they work with. Through The Tudor Group’s expertise and dedication, it is able to ensure each facility they work on is safe and supports the health and wellbeing of those who use it. More than ever before, we realise how critical hygiene is to all locations we interact with, and we look forward to supporting The Tudor Group as it continues to deliver the services that will help many organisations welcome people back as we come out of lockdown.”

Laura Gardiner, director, Living Wage Foundation said: “We’re delighted that Tudor Group has joined the movement of over 7,000 responsible employers across the UK who voluntarily commit to go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on.

“They join thousands of small businesses, as well as household names such as Burberry, Barclays, Everton Football Club and many more. These businesses recognise that paying the real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like Tudor Group, believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”

SAS Daniels bolsters team with another eight recruits

Sam Whitear
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Manchester law firm SAS Daniels LLP is announcing the appointment of eight recruits across its four offices.

Anna Sharp joins as an associate solicitor in the litigation team at the Stockport office, whilst Jessica Shore has been appointed as a solicitor in the private client team in Chester.

The residential property team in Stockport has been bolstered by five new appointments as the region continues to experience a record number of property transactions. Senior conveyancer Florence Jordan and four conveyancing assistants; Ayesha Roshan, Bhajan Khalsa, Kardam Gupta and Hannah Bhatti join the Stockport office.

Also, Catherine Peers has been appointed business development and marketing manager for the full-service firm.

Jeremy Orrell, Chief Executive Officer at SAS Daniels LLP said:

“We’ve kicked off the financial year with a significant number of appointments as we continue to invest in teams across the firm. It’s fantastic to attract such highly skilled individuals, all of whom bring experience and sector knowledge that will benefit our clients across the region.

“Despite a challenging 15 months, we’ve continued to support our clients, providing a first-class service and our growth is testament to the strength of the individuals in our team. We have seen a significant increase in work since last autumn and we have recruited 35 professionals since then to meet that demand. We are budgeting for record turnover this financial year and the latest recruits will help us achieve that.”

SAS Daniels LLP provides a full range of legal services and has offices located in Chester, Congleton, Macclesfield and Stockport.

CubicWorks partners with IAQ Solutions to install indoor air quality tech for Manchester office workers

Sam Whitear
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In preparation for the safe return to the office for workers, CubicWorks has partnered with IAQ Solutions to install indoor air quality (IAQ) monitoring technology at Spinnaker Court in Manchester.

In April this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recognised Covid-19 as an airborne virus. In a statement, the health organisation confirms the virus can spread in poorly ventilated and/or crowded indoor settings, where people tend to spend longer periods of time.

IAQ Solutions Director, Adam Dearden said: “As people are beginning to return to work, employers have a focus on wellbeing and a responsibility to ensure a safe and healthy environment. The new system installed will enable CubicWorks to monitor their ventilation system closely to better the working environment for office workers, boost productivity and create peace of mind for both the employer and employees.”

The technology, provided and installed by IAQ Solutions, has a Virus Risk Indicator and Occupancy sensor whilst monitoring pollutants such as radon, CO2, TVOCs, temperature, humidity and pressure that can damage office workers health and affect performance, Innovative sensors paired with cloud technology, produce real time air quality monitoring that connects to a digital dashboard, allowing facility mangers to monitor the air quality throughout the day. There is the added ability to connect to other software such as Building Management Systems, with APIs and Webhooks, to control the building based on live IAQ data.

Andy McKee, Head of M&E Projects at CubicWorks, said: “The proposal from IAQ Solutions was to provide an insight into their systems capabilities by monitoring the air quality within our office over a four-week period. Our office is ventilated through opening windows and a small mechanical ventilation system to provide supplementary fresh air on the occasions we can’t open the windows. From the reports, it became apparent that our fresh air supply could be compromised under certain conditions and at times when occupation increased. Because of the findings of the reports, we have installed a new larger mechanical ventilation system and also added filtration to our air conditioning units.”

In conjunction with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, indoor air quality and radon monitoring helps ensure the optimum air conditions in a building. Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) increases risk of influenza transmission and respiratory illness, reduces productivity and impairs cognitive function.

The installation of IAQ technology in offices, care homes and schools will help those returning or living in those spaces feel safer and have confidence in the air that they’re breathing. Wireless technology means that installation is simple – the latest indoor air quality monitors can be up and running in hours. And they use APIs, meaning that they can communicate wirelessly with other technologies.

Adam concludes: “Evidence suggests that employees are happier, more motivated and more productive when indoor air quality is better. The direct correlation with productivity shows the potential for our customers to improve revenue by optimising their indoor air quality. In addition, focusing on ventilation doesn’t necessarily mean sacrificing energy efficiency. With smart implementation, it’s possible to run a system that operates only when it’s needed, keeping costs to a minimum and maximising the return on investment.”

Full house for St John’s Court with third and final deal

Sam Whitear
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PJD Property has completed its third and final deal for St Johns Court, Quay Street, with leading medical aesthetics experts SkinViva Limited taking both the ground and first floor, totalling 2,253 sq ft, on a nine year lease.

Skin Viva’s letting follows jeweller Steven Stone’s letting of the 1,076 sq ft third floor suite in December 2020, and property consultancy Orland Reid’s letting of the 1,262 sq ft second-floor suite in April this year. The Orlando Reid letting was on the basis of a fully fitted and furnished suite to offer a ‘plug & play’ opportunity, including the creation of a meeting room, kitchen area and provision of carpeting, lights and desks throughout.

Totalling 4,842 sq ft over four floors, the building sits in a prime location opposite Spinningfields and next to the new St John’s District. PJD Property have carried out a comprehensive refurbishment creating Grade A space.

Mark Davies, director of PJD Property, said: “With its central location and the quality of fit-out, St John’s Court received a considerable amount of interest from the outset, and we are delighted to have fully let the building during the last 12 months which has been a challenging period.”

Canning O’Neill and OBI Property acted on behalf of PJD Property.

A beginner’s guide to carbon footprinting

Sam Whitear
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Claire Scott, Environmental Business Advisor at GC Business Growth Hub, explains what a carbon footprint is, how they are calculated and why it’s something every business should consider.

Within a few short years, knowing your carbon footprint has gone from a niche ‘nice to have’ to a relatively common occurrence in business. Many large UK companies and larger energy users have had to report on their carbon emissions by law for over 10 years, and many are beginning to make carbon a key part of their procurement process. In the public sector, buyers are increasingly asking for evidence of reducing carbon emissions as part of their social value commitments.

It’s not surprising, then, that we’re seeing more and more forward-thinking SMEs in Greater Manchester ask us about carbon footprinting and how to get ahead.

2021 is certainly the right year to get started. Being seen as a ‘green’ business has already become more important in the wake of COVID-19, and this year we’ll see it become centre stage as the Net Zero agenda takes off. Companies of all sizes from around the world are committing to net zero emissions – and you can’t set a target without measuring your carbon footprint first.

On a more practical level, measuring your carbon footprint provides many direct benefits. You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and by collecting the data you’ll need for a carbon footprint you’ll be able to identify and prioritise where you can make the biggest improvements to the way you use energy, fuel and other resources.

What exactly is a carbon footprint?

So what is a carbon footprint? Put simply, it’s a measure of your contribution to climate change. There are generally two types – organisational carbon footprints and product carbon footprints. This blog focuses on the former.

Your organisational carbon footprint stacks up all the greenhouse gas emissions you emit over a 12-month period and gives you a total figure expressed in tonnes of ‘carbon’, or to be more precise, carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). There are six key greenhouse gases emitted by human activities that contribute to global warming, but to make things easier we measure everything in relation to CO2 because it’s the most common.

There are many possible sources of greenhouse gas emissions from a business. To make managing them easier, we split them into three ‘scopes’:

Scope 1: These are the emissions from sources you own and control and are therefore directly responsible for. For most businesses, this will be any gas heating or fuel oil you burn on-site, and the fuel you use in your company vehicles. If you use industrial refrigeration or air conditioning, refrigerant losses would also be included here, along with any emissions that may be released directly during a manufacturing process.

Scope 2: These are the emissions you indirectly produce through the energy you purchase, which for most businesses is solely electricity. By using electricity, you are indirectly responsible for the greenhouse gases generated at source by the energy producer.

Scope 3: These are any other emissions you’re indirectly responsible for from sources outside your direct control, e.g. the goods and services you purchase, the distribution and use of your own goods and services by customers, the disposal of your waste, employee commuting or business travel, and so on.

For most emissions sources, there is a specific ‘emissions conversion factor’ to calculate the total carbon from that activity. For example, to measure the carbon emitted by a van that runs on diesel, you take the litres of diesel consumed by the van and multiply it by the corresponding emissions factor for diesel.

The UK emissions factors are publicly available so you can do this yourself on a spreadsheet (which GC Business Growth Hub’s Resource Efficiency team can help you with), or you can use one of many tools available online that do it for you.

There are also a number of formal routes to verify your carbon footprint to a recognised standard, such as ISO 14064 or the Carbon Trust Standard, to name just two. But, as I said above, if you’re just starting out, with the right data to hand you can do it yourself and achieve a good internal benchmark for future improvement.

A quick step-by-step guide

1. Decide what’s in scope

Start by setting the boundaries for your footprint. The best approach for you will depend on what your major emissions sources are, which sources you have most influence over and how much data is available to you. Carbon footprints should include scope 1 and 2 emissions as a minimum. Scope 3 emissions are more difficult to measure, so there is flexibility here in how much or little of these you include. Some of the more commonly measured scope 3 activities include emissions from waste going to landfill, water consumption and business travel.

For most small businesses measuring their footprint for the first time, the emissions from your heating, electricity consumption and vehicle use are a good start.

2. Collect the data

Once you’ve identified all the activities you want to measure, begin collecting data for each using a relevant metric, e.g. litres of fuel or mileage for vehicles, kWh of gas or electricity from your energy bill/meter, cubic metres of water from your water bill/meter, and so on. Track them in a spreadsheet, separating them out into the different scopes.

3. Calculate your emissions

To calculate your footprint, convert the data in your spreadsheet using the relevant CO2e conversion factor for each of your emissions, or use an online tool such as the Carbon Trust’s SME Carbon Footprint Calculator (others are available). It’s normal practice to calculate your carbon footprint on an annual basis. You may wish to align it with your accounting period.

4. Use it to identify improvements

Once you have your carbon footprint, use the data to identify the most suitable actions to reduce your emissions and make cost savings. If electricity use is by far your biggest contributor to your carbon footprint, for example, prioritise measures that reduce your electricity use.

5. Set targets

Use your first carbon footprint as a baseline to set targets. The Science Based Targets initiative, which helps companies to set targets based on what climate science tells us we need to achieve, currently recommends an absolute reduction of 2.5 – 4.2% year-on-year as a minimum – although many companies are moving far faster.

6. Share your progress

Communicating your progress to stakeholders – both internal and external – is a great opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to improving environmental performance and tackling climate change.

Carbon offsetting

You have probably come across the term carbon offsetting, where you purchase ‘credits’ from schemes that remove carbon from the atmosphere (often tree planting) to cancel out your own emissions. It can be tempting to jump for this option straight away, but to get the most out of your carbon reduction journey it should be the last resort if you can’t eliminate or reduce the emissions themselves.

Offsetting your entire carbon footprint is a huge missed opportunity to make efficiency improvements in your business and benefit your bottom line. As a rule of thumb – focus on efficiency first, then look at indirect measures such as securing a 100% renewable electricity supply, and only explore offsetting once all other avenues have been exhausted.

You should also be cautious about the claims you make when offsetting your emissions. Not all offsetting schemes are equal. Be wary of the quality of what you’re purchasing, the wider impacts of the project you’re investing in and whether the credits are verified/guaranteed.

GC Business Growth Hub’s Resource Efficiency service is perfectly placed to start you off on your carbon reduction journey. Specialist advisors can audit your business to identify the most effective efficiency measures, provide advice and support on data collection, and guide you through your carbon footprint calculation. They can also offer funding for eligible improvements through an Energy Efficiency Grant.

GC Business Growth Hub is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The Hub is also supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Greater Manchester local authorities.

Deloitte announces a host of senior promotions across the North West

Sam Whitear
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Deloitte has made 18 senior promotions across its North West offices, comprising four new Partners and fourteen Directors.

The newly appointed Partners are Helen Cutting in Risk Advisory and Stephane Laffly, Dean Lonsdale and Alan Simpson who all work within the Consulting arm of the firm. All four Partners will be based in Deloitte’s Manchester office.

Having spent almost 17 years’ at Deloitte, Helen will now lead the firm’s Risk Advisory practice in the region. She has extensive experience in technology risk and internal controls, advising both corporate and public sector organisations to tackle the ever-increasing risks around technology and data.

The other Partner promotions are the latest step in Deloitte’s plans to grow its Consulting business across the North as it looks to create a further 200 jobs in the region in this area over the next three to four years. The expansion is being led by Richard Bray, a Partner who relocated from London last year.

Having joined the Deloitte Consulting team in 2008, Stephane is an expert in public sector procurement and supply chain. Meanwhile, Dean has been with the firm for four years, after spending over 15 years working at technology giants Hewlett Packard Enterprise and IBM. Alan joined Deloitte in 2016, having previously spent 18 years in the technology consulting team at Accenture.

Across the practice, the highest number of new Directors is within Tax, with Hannah Townsend, Mo Undre, Kym Handbridge, Chris Brady, Alex Hall and Eleanor Caine all being promoted. There are two promotions in both Audit and Financial Advisory, with Natalie Maguire and Larry Rhodes in the former and Nick Sands and Dan Murphy in the latter. The remaining Director promotions all come from within Consulting and comprise Matthew Clark, Michelle Jermy, Richard Cole and Rob Machin.

Andy Westbrook, Practice Senior Partner for Deloitte in the North West, said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce these senior promotions. Each one is richly deserved and marks a tremendous milestone in the career of the individuals involved.

The investment we continue to make in the region is significant, as evidenced not only by these promotions but also by those that have happened over the past couple of years. The talent within our North West team is exceptional, and these promotions further bolster the strength and depth of our expertise in the region. Huge congratulations to all those who have been promoted.”

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