Celebrating its 50th year in business and with turnover in excess of £867 million, Morson Group has developed an enviable track record for the provision of contract and permanent talent to many of the world’s leading organisations.

A focus on being the best employer and recruiter has reaped outstanding retention, with 85% of clients having 10 year+ relationships. This attests to its strategy of working within a framework of constant improvement to maintain and grow client and candidate partnerships.

Despite rapid growth, its family values shine through in a corporate marketplace. With a unique structure and ownership, the Group’s focus is to make clients, candidates and employees lives better. A key part of this is the company’s commitment to both physical and mental wellness, and it leads the way in this arena, having supported many organisations in developing effective policies and practises in the subject.

Join us at the company’s offices in Manchester for an informal and open session, to find out about how it approaches wellbeing in the workplace and gain some key takeaways that you can implement in your business. We are also delighted that deaf rugby star and veteran, Craig Monaghan, from Sale Sharks, will be delivering his powerful ‘Balls to That’ mental health session in which he shares his personal experiences with PTSD and recovery.

Huawei, the leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, has today brought its 5G Experiential hub to the Manchester Media City to showcase the future of the technology.

Powered by 5G, the Huawei 5G Experiential has based itself at the Manchester Media City and houses several ‘demo zones’ each dedicated to showcasing how 5G cloud-based services will transform the mobile consumer experience. The 5G Experiential illustrates Huawei’s end to end portfolio of 5G products and solutions, covering areas such as cloud computing, live broadcast streaming and virtual reality, and will allow Manchester’s local start-ups, communities and more to see first-hand how a 5G future could help local businesses and the wider area.

To celebrate Manchester’s position as a leading city for tech start-ups to flourish, Huawei will be hosting Connectivity Counts: The 5G Experience, a panel discussion featuring leading Manchester based experts from across academia, start-ups and industry to discuss the impact 5G will play in the start-up community in Manchester over the next few years, helping the city flourish like never before and providing the future foundation of the Northern Powerhouse.

The panel discussion will be chaired by Dan Sodergren, Head of Business Services at The Landing, with panellists including The Social Chain’s COO Dominic McGregor, Saskia Coplans; Data Protection Officer at Digital Interruption, Senior Lecturer at Manchester Met University Dr Sunday Ekpo and Huawei UK Director Edward Brewster.

Huawei UK CEO, Jerry Wang, said: “We are excited to bring a tangible example of a future lead by 5G to Manchester. 5G has the power to transform Manchester into a totally connected city; for the burgeoning start-up community in the city, this presents even more of an opportunity. 5G is fundamental in building a solid foundation across new and innovative technologies and brings endless potential opportunities for businesses and communities to exploit alike. 5G is most certainly on in Manchester.”

LeasingOptions.co.uk has seen a 75 per cent increase in sales of electric cars year-on-year over the last 12 months and is predicting a minimum increase of 60 per cent over the next 12 months.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), sales of cars with alternative fuels – including battery electric vehicles and hybrids – were down 11.8% in June compared with the same month last year, the first annual decline since April 2017.

LeasingOptions.co.uk, the UK’s leading car leasing company, revealed the most popular electric cars:

– Tesla Model 3
– Jaguar I Pace
– Tesla Model S
– Audi E-Tron
– Tesla Model X

LeasingOptions.co.uk Director of Sales and Marketing, Mike Thompson said: “We’ve seen a big growth in demand for electric car sales over the last 12 months.

“Our own data reveals quite a different story than the national motoring industry – we’ve seen a significant increase in demand for electric cars and we predict that this is set to continue.”

A premium alcoholic drinks brand selected by Coca-Cola as its official spirit partner has developed two new, highly anticipated flavours following a five-figure loan from GC Business Finance.

Tom Hurst, founder of Manchester-based Rockstar Spirits, aimed to create a drink perfect for mixing with coke, putting resources into researching the traditional flavours of the soft drink to blend the perfect match. Given that 80 per cent of the nation’s rum is sold with the cola, Rockstar Spirits launched the Two Swallows rum range, which was recently selected by Coca-Cola as the official partner for its new Signature Premium Mixers range of flavours.

With a focus on premium spiced rums, the firm’s two existing flavours – Pineapple Grenade and Two Swallows – have proved popular with the public. Following rave reviews from Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on ITV’s This Morning, Pineapple Grenade sold out on Amazon within an hour. The ‘Two Swallows’ range of Rockstar Spirits is 38 per cent ABV while the ‘Grenade’ range is amongst the only over-proof premium rums available at 65 per cent ABV. Despite the ABV strength of the Grenade series, the rum offers a smooth easy drinking spirit due to the high quality and unique flavour combinations.

The Rockstar Spirits brand has developed significantly across Manchester since launch in October 2018. So far, company director Daren Newman – whose artwork Manchester bargoers might recognise in the branding of The Botanist and Crazy Pedros – has helped the development of a strong brand identity for Rockstar Spirits. The ‘orange strip’ along the bottleneck – which signals quality to customers – is available in Booths, on Amazon, and in bars such as Revolucion de Cuba across the country.

The loan comes as the latest development in the relationship between GC Business Finance and Rockstar – a previous loan of £14,000 had helped to establish the company in 2018. The new funding has enabled Rockstar to develop two new flavours: Grapefruit Grenade, which is now available to purchase; and Two Swallows Cherry, which is set to launch at the end of August. The loan has also helped ramp up production of its original flavours to help the business deliver on current order volumes.

Owner of Rockstar Spirits, Tom Hurst said:“Right now is a very interesting time for spirits – we’ve seen gin reinvigorated by producers looking to please a more discerning audience which has paid off massively. Now I believe is the time for rum to undergo the same transition. Our Coca-Cola partnership shows that the appetite for our upmarket rums is growing, and with the help of this latest loan we’ll be able to make a bigger impact on the growing sector.

“We’ve established an excellent relationship with the team at GC Business Finance, who have supported Rockstar Spirits right from the get-go. We’re looking forward to working with them and hitting our target of releasing the next two flavours with use of this loan.”

Simon Truby, Senior Business Loan Manager at GC Business Finance, said: “Rockstar Spirits have thus far developed at an extraordinary rate – the official partnership with Coca-Cola’s Signature range is the latest example of this. Not only is the business really exciting to work with, the products are fantastic, and we look forward to working with the company to help maintain the impressive pace they’ve set.”

Trafford Leisure has invested £30,000 into gymnastics and trampolining, through the purchase of new gymnastics equipment and the strategic development of its gymnastics and trampolining teaching programme.

Gymnastics Trafford is one of the largest leisure centre schemes in the UK and already teaches 1200 children and young adults a week, across 50 gymnastics and 38 trampolining classes. Trafford Leisure is launching an additional 15 gymnastics and trampolining classes each week from September 2019.

Trafford Leisure has recently partnered with British Gymnastics, the National Governing Body for the sport and is now following its ‘Jump into Gymnastics’ teaching programme.  Children in the Trafford Gymnastics classes will work towards the British Gymnastics Awards and will be continually assessed throughout the classes.

The expansion of the teaching programme goes hand in hand with the new gymnastics equipment, which has recently been installed at its Altrincham Leisure Centre.  The equipment includes a new floor, balance beams, high beams, safety mats, asymmetric bars and soft play teaching aids, as well as an Air Track and a Fast Track course.

The Air Track is a 15 metre long, extremely bouncy tumble track, which is used by gymnasts to rehearse their tumbling safely. The Fast Track is a 10 metre long trampoline that is a teaching aid used by coaches for practising front and back flips, as well as somersaults.

Shane Robinson, the Gymnastics and Trampolining Brand Manager for Trafford Leisure, joined the leisure group in March 2019 and has overseen the investment in its gymnastics and trampolining offerings.

Robinson has a wealth of experience and has taught British, European and World Champions during his coaching career, as well as being both a UK and international gymnastics judge. He specialises in tumbling and is the youngest international judge in the UK.

Robinson said: “It’s a very exciting time for Gymnastics Trafford. All our students are thrilled to be using world class equipment. The new facilities mean our young gymnasts can train to their best ability with our fully qualified instructors and following the British Gymnastics teaching programme in a safe and fun environment.”

Trafford Gymnastics offers a fun and structured programme for children, young people and adults of all abilities and levels, with classes starting for children aged from 18 months, as well as boy and girl-only sessions.

Jo Cherrett, CEO, Trafford Leisure said: “We are immensely proud of Trafford Gymnastics. The demand for these sessions has grown year on year. Our gymnastics programme is already very strong and this substantial investment means we can get stronger still. Our new class programme and the superb equipment is a direct reflection on our expert gymnastic and trampolining coaching staff. Gymnastics is a fantastic way to keep active and flexible. Leaping, jumping, balancing and tumbling…I’m dizzy just thinking about it!”