The University Campus of Football Business (UCFB) has announced a new long-term lease that will transform ground floor office space at Piccadilly Place into a thriving study hub for UCFB Etihad Campus students in the heart of Manchester city centre.

The new offering will host a large study space, world-class IT facilities and library, as well as a high-tech sports lab and media broadcast studios, enriching the student experience for those studying UCFB’s innovative football and sports degrees.

Since opening in 2016, UCFB Etihad Campus has seen rapid growth with over 1,000 students now studying its predominantly football-focussed undergraduate and postgraduate university education from its state-of-the-art campus, with Etihad Stadium at its heart.

Adjacent to Manchester Piccadilly train station and Metrolink interchange, the new Piccadilly Place study hub is a perfect complement to the existing campus which includes seminar rooms and lecture theatres inside Etihad Stadium and Belle Vue Sports Village, as well as access to a range of the sporting venues that students benefit from across the Etihad Campus.

Construction of UCFB’s contemporary student space at Piccadilly Place has now begun and will be completed ahead of the 2019/20 academic year.

It also comes after UCFB last month announced stadium partnerships in the USA, Canada and Australia where it will create four UCFB Global Study Hubs, giving its students and graduates the chance to visit some of the greatest venues in world sport including New York City’s Red Bull Arena, Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Toronto FC’s BMO Field and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Brendan Flood, UCFB Chairman and Chief Executive, said: “This is a landmark moment for UCFB’s growth in Manchester. We are delighted with the addition of these brilliant facilities at Piccadilly Place for our students, adding another dimension to UCFB Etihad Campus on top of the unique opportunity to learn with us inside Etihad Stadium.

“The Piccadilly Place development will further enhance the student experience at UCFB in one of the world’s greatest sporting cities and we are proud to have worked closely with Property Alliance Group, Transport For Greater Manchester and Manchester City Council to make this long-term agreement a reality.”

Piccadilly Place is a mixed-use development by Property Alliance Group.

Commenting on the announcement, Alliance’s Head of Offices, Rob Peill, said: “We’re extremely excited about UCFB’s new study hub at Piccadilly Place. We’ve worked hard to ensure the right mix of occupiers for the development and we’re confident that UCFB will complement it well with its mix of students and staff members enhancing footfall and utilising everything that Piccadilly Place has to offer.”

RS Components (RS), part of Electrocomponents plc, has chosen Manchester-based Godel as its nearshore software development partner to help re-engineer its ‘My Account’ customer loyalty platform using a Java and Node.js microservices methodology. With operations in 32 countries, RS ships more than 50,000 parcels a day. The Godel development teams will work closely with the RS in-house team on a continuous software delivery approach.

The company’s ambition for My Account’s is for it to become the global channel of choice for customers to experience fully personalised journeys to connect, discover, purchase and manage their component orders and their relationship with RS in the simplest and fastest way. RS will work closely with Godel’s software delivery centres of excellence based in Belarus to help it deliver on that goal.

“We chose the nearshoring model with Godel as it’s important to us that our software development partner works closely with us and delivers more than quality code. Belarus has a two-hour time difference and our teams are able to communicate via video links for daily stand-ups,” said Guy Magrath, chief digital officer, RS Components.

“Godel will support our goal of moving from a project to product mindset, with teams embedded within the overall Product team, working collaboratively towards common goals as colleagues.”

LSH Auto UK, part of the world’s largest Mercedes-Benz dealership (LSH International), has officially opened the UK’s first Mercedes-Benz Autohaus – a dedicated retail space that forms part of the brand-new Mercedes-Benz of Stockport, which is now open.

LSH Auto UK has regenerated the site off Brighton Road with a state-of-the art, purpose-built three-story facility, which will form LSH Auto UK’s Mercedes-Benz hub for the entire Manchester area.

Mercedes-Benz of Stockport has two buildings at the flagship site – a 13,492sqm showroom – the Autohaus; a retail space for new and used cars and an aftersales facility, and a 17,166sqm purpose-built high-tech Body, Paint and Repair Centre, which is now open. This building also operates LSH Auto UK’s regional Used Car Preparation Facility and Parts Distribution Centre.

A destination in its own right, spread over 10.5-acres, Mercedes-Benz of Stockport comes complete with distinct, innovative features including a brand-new bistro, dedicated event facilities and garden, as well as a sleek-designed dealership space showcasing 140 vehicles. It will also incorporate a dedicated AMG suite and display 100 approved used Mercedes Benz vehicles in a purpose-built indoor showroom.

The first Mercedes-Benz showroom in the UK to offer a licensed in-house bistro, serving refreshing light bites for breakfast and lunch including paninis, specialty cakes and pastries and a selection of wine and craft beers. The new hospitality concept will also have its very own dedicated Hospitality Manager, Tom Smith, previously Bar and Tea Room Manager at The Midland Hotel.

The site also sees the innovative use of green spaces, including a living green wall and a contemporary water feature, with further extensive landscaping creating an attractive garden.

The modern space can also be hired for private events and meetings, with the facility holding an event license for exclusive late-night events, including a car registration change event, which will be hosted twice a year at the site.

The site also boasts an ample outdoor roof terrace, complete with plush furniture and views across Stockport, as well as multiple meetings room and a cinema style meeting room, all available for private hire.

Mercedes-Benz of Stockport will also unveil a calendar of events to be held there across the year.

John Stanton, General Manager at Mercedes-Benz of Stockport, said: “We’re really excited to be officially open and welcoming customers through the doors. Mercedes-Benz of Stockport is a landmark destination in its own right. We have a really unique customer offering here that will be a game-changer for automotive retailing as we know it. Everything we provide here is about being unique and distinct, we want to see the space used in innovative ways and look forward to showcasing its endless possibilities.”

The charity set up in memory of BBC presenter Dianne Oxberry has teamed up with Trafford-based personalised clothing business Clothes2order to launch a t-shirt fundraising campaign.

Dianne, a former BBC Radio 1 host and BBC North West Tonight weather presenter, died from ovarian cancer in January aged 51.

The Dianne Oxberry Trust was founded by her husband Ian Hindle to raise awareness of ovarian cancer and its symptoms, support families affected by the condition and to fund research.

Since its inception, it has raised more than £100,000 and it now aims to boost this figure by selling t-shirts designed to promote the charity and a rose grown in honour of Dianne.

The ‘Florida Sunset’ rose was unveiled at the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show as part of the BBC NWT ‘Sunshine Garden’ dedicated to Dianne.

The rose was given its name because of Dianne’s long-standing fondness for the US state, and the flower’s two-tone pinks reminded Ian of the spectacular sunsets they enjoyed watching together there while on family holidays.

The first batch of roses has already sold out and Fryer’s Roses, based in Knutsford, is growing more for next year.

Specially-designed t-shirts bearing a picture of the rose, as well as bright yellow Dianne Oxberry Trust shirts, are being sold via www.charityshirts.co.uk, a website run by Clothes2order.

The t-shirts are available in sizes XS-XL and cost £9.99 each. All proceeds from the first 100 of each design that are sold will go to the trust, excluding VAT and delivery costs. After that, all of the profits – £3.25 per shirt – will go to the charity.

Charityshirts.co.uk makes no profit from the sales.

Sam Jones, managing director of Clothes2order, which is based in Trafford Park, said: “We are honoured to be working with the Dianne Oxberry Trust to help support their cause through the sale of these t-shirts.

“Since we launched Charity Shirts, over £18,000 has been raised for different causes all over the country. We are extremely proud to be able to offer this platform for charities to make a difference through the sale of t-shirts to their supporters.”

An Oldham-based business finance firm has launched its own training academy in a bid to attract new talent to the industry.

PMD Business Finance, based at Howarth Court, officially launched its Accelerate programme this summer, as part of the firm’s expansion plans.

Managing director, Peter Dobson, said: “PMD is one of the fastest growing business finance intermediaries in the UK and one of the largest brokers in the country. We have seen rapid and exciting growth in the business and now we want to attract fresh and young talent to join our team.

“The Accelerate programme has been in the pipeline for a while, but we wanted to make sure that the time was right to launch. PMD has expanded massively over the last few years, and this year also saw the launch of our new invoice finance division. Our aim is to use this programme to develop ambitious people who are motivated to join our dynamic sales team and enjoy a rewarding and successful career.”

Successful applicants will undergo a structured training and development programme, with potential to join the team as a business development executive and progress through to business development director status within three years.

Peter added: “The most important qualities for us is that the people we hire have a strong work ethic, are self-motivated and ambitious. Previous sales experience is required, but finance sales experience is not essential.”

Over the last year, PMD Business Finance has arranged 2,516 deals, lending £108million. In Manchester and Greater Manchester, the firm has supported 256 SME businesses (of which, 34 were start-ups), accessing £21.5million. PMD also arranged £6.2million of EFG (Enterprise Finance Guarantee) funding.

As part of its expansion, PMD moved offices to a larger space at Howarth Court in Oldham in order to house its rising 30+ staff count, which has grown from just eight staff members when the business was founded in 2010. This year, the firm has also introduced an invoice finance division, headed up by Mark Millhouse.

Peter said: “We are in the middle of big growth plans for PMD, and launching our invoice finance division earlier this year was a massive development for us. It’s already had a huge positive effect and allows us to attack the asset-based lending marketplace. We decided to launch the Accelerate programme this summer as we’re making substantial investment in hiring new sales people to join the team.”

Peter added: “As a firm, we work with businesses in a host of different industries. We currently have 75 different funding partners offering the ultimate funding panel – it’s competitive, flexible and fast. SMEs understand that there are now alternatives to traditional bank funding and these are just as competitive and can be delivered in an efficient and professional manner.”

Northcoders – the coding bootcamp for the North – is launching a new “Study Now, Pay Later” initiative as part of its Developing Diversity programme that aims to address the gender imbalance that exists in the tech sector.

20 places will be available on Northcoders’ September, October and November cohorts and will help women and gender minorities – people who identify as non-binary, transgender or intersex – start their career in tech by not having to pay tuition fees up front.

Successful applicants can study in Manchester (Federation House) or Leeds (Platform) and will only start to repay their fees once they start earning a regular wage. Payments will be 10% of their gross income each month until the balance is paid in full with no interest being charged. The only contribution being asked for up front is a £300 deposit to show commitment to their place on the course.

There are no formal entry requirements and applicants don’t even need to know a line of code. It’s more about having an aptitude for coding and having the passion to learn and then start a career in the industry.

The launch of the scheme is the latest initiative from Northcoders to help address the gender imbalance of people working in the development and tech communities. In May, the business partnered for a second time with global technology consultancy ThoughtWorks to offer four fully-funded scholarships for women and gender minorities.

Chris Hill, CEO of Northcoders, said: “After months of hard work behind the scenes I feel incredibly proud to be able to announce the launch of this scheme. We know it’s going to make a significant difference to gender diversity in tech across the region. Everyone at Northcoders is passionate about addressing diversity in tech, and we’re looking forward to helping more women and people who belong to gender minorities enter the tech industry.”