RRG Bury is starting 2019 by celebrating its 2018 success, having won a Kia Customer Experience Award, announced at this years’ Kia National Dealer Conference.

Paul Philpott, President and CEO of Kia Motors (UK) Ltd. visited RRG Bury to congratulate the team on an outstanding performance in customer experience and formally hand over the award.

Jonathan Brogan, Sales Manager at RRG Kia Bury commented on winning the award: “We had a really successful 2018 at our dealership. We pride ourselves on delivering outstanding customer experience, so to win this award means a lot to us. It’s a great start to 2019 and we’re looking forward to an exciting year ahead.”

Paul Philpott, President and CEO of Kia Motors (UK) Ltd. commented: “2018 was a hugely successful year for Kia, despite numerous external challenges. We’re extremely proud of all our Kia dealerships, including RRG Bury Kia, for making 2018 another record sales year for us at Kia. As a brand customer care, support and service is extremely important to us and this award goes to show how much we continue to invest and develop our customer service experience. We’re excited to see what 2019 brings.”

Gallagher, one of the UK’s largest providers of risk management and commercial insurance solutions, has appointed Matthew Fahy into the role of Sales and Services Director at its Manchester branch, to oversee business development and further build on a sustained period of growth.

Matthew, who will based in Gallagher’s Manchester office in Delphian House on New Bailey Street, joins the team from Marsh with over 15 years’ experience working in senior positions and an impressive CV working across a broad range of clients and industries. With extensive experience of handling complex and technical clients, Matthew is a Chartered Insurance Broker and holds the ACII qualification.

In his new role, Matthew will be responsible for developing a growth strategy to bolster the branch’s year-on-year growth, attracting new clients in line with the company’s growth strategy and raise Gallagher’s profile in the region. Responsible for a 12-strong team of Account Executives, Matthew will also be responsible for overseeing the branch’s client services function to further develop current client relationships.

Matthew said: “As a community broker with global reach, I’m excited to join a business renowned for its first-class client service and ability to develop bespoke risk management solutions that help our clients face their future with confidence. I look forward to building out the branch’s business development activities as we continue to expand, in line with the company’s growth strategy. It’s a really exciting time to join Gallagher and work within a team whose drive, ambition and ethos is very similar to my own and I look forward to working with the wider team to drive the business forward over the coming years.”

James Fletcher, Branch Director for Gallagher in Manchester, said: “We are delighted to welcome Matthew to the Gallagher team. This is an incredibly exciting time for the branch and Matthew’s appointment signifies another key milestone in our continued growth. Well-known within the region and the industry, Matthew brings with him a plethora of knowledge and experience and is a really valuable hire for us. He will be key in helping us to further drive the businesses growth and reviewing our current service propositions as we look to attract new business in new sectors.”

A specialist recruiter for senior finance roles in entrepreneurial businesses, private equity houses and corporate finance firms across the North West is celebrating its 20^th anniversary.

Brothers Mike and Daniel Mesrie established Manchester-based MDM Resourcing in March 1999.

They formed MDM because they were frustrated with the consistently poor service they had received from recruitment consultants when hiring staff for the family textile business.

Mike said: “We were looking to diversify beyond textiles and believed there was a gap in the market for a service level in recruitment that a business owner would want and expect but which, from our experience, was frustratingly lacking.

“We are both trained finance professionals and therefore decided to focus on finance roles at MDM. Seeing things from the customer’s perspective stood us in good stead and, by the end of our first year, we realised the business was viable.”

He added: “We provide a personal service which is focused on achieving the right results for clients and candidates, with an ethos of total honesty and objectivity when it comes to giving advice. Our business has grown almost entirely through networking and referrals.”

The brothers completed their exit from the textile industry in 2002, by when MDM had expanded into recruiting for Manchester’s emerging private equity market.

MDM, which is based in Amazon House, Brazil Street, now recruits for a large number of PE and corporate finance houses in the north west. It also works with regional entrepreneurs to recruit finance directors and financial controllers for their businesses.

Daniel added: “The business spirit for which Manchester is renowned is very much alive, and we are proud to play our part by helping entrepreneurial mid-market companies, often backed by private equity investors, achieve profitable growth through their recruitment of key finance professionals.

“These businesses are the real engine room of the North West economy and their robust growth is a great sign of the region’s underlying strength.”

The Growth Company is looking for ambitious Greater Manchester businesses who are ready to take the leap to global success by applying to its Global Scale-up Programme.

Companies selected will gain access to unique peer-to-peer opportunities made available by the programme partners and the GC Business Growth Hub networks, creating a global scale up community for Greater Manchester.

The programme launch was held at HOME, Manchester, attended by 70 small business owners and speakers including Vikas Shah MBE, Mike Blackburn OBE and Irene Graham, CEO at The ScaleUp Institute.

Developed in partnership with high profile international companies including Santander, DWF, KPMG and Manchester Airport, the Global Scale-up Programme will help fast-growing businesses to seize opportunities in international markets.

The first of its kind outside London, the programme will give 50 of the region’s SMEs access to a global market entry network alongside a combination of tailored coaching, international growth sprints and regular bootcamps. Split into four phases, the programme will refine and identify target markets for each client and ensure that businesses are fully prepared before each international visit, with support ranging from strategy development to pitch practice.

As revealed in The ScaleUp Institute’s 2018 annual review, two thirds of scale-ups are involved in international trade, yet only an estimated 9,300 of the region’s businesses currently make use of opportunities in international markets – about 10 per cent of the 86,600 based in Greater Manchester.

Richard Jeffery, Director of Business Growth, The Growth Company, said: “The Global Scale Up Programme was launched to support Greater Manchester businesses to take advantage of the huge international opportunities available. Given the current uncertain economic times, it is crucial that we tackle this issue head-on, helping the best, most ambitious businesses in Greater Manchester to grow their international footprints.

“It is also about changing the mindset of businesses – instilling a sense of confidence and belief in their ability to expand both in the UK and overseas. By working with internationally-known partners and getting the best advice, it is time for Greater Manchester’s businesses to step outside their comfort zone and take the next leap to global success.”

Nicola Quayle, Office Senior Partner at KPMG in Manchester, said: “Ambitious, fast-growing companies in Greater Manchester need access to funding, to talent, to governance and to new markets. We hope to deliver all of these, alongside The Growth Company, and further embed KPMG within the regional innovation eco-system. This programme will build on our longstanding commitment to creating long-lasting strategic relationships with start-up and fast growth businesses. Quite simply, we look forward to using our expertise and opening up our networks and contacts to local businesses to help accelerate their growth at home and abroad.”

Sir Richard Leese, Deputy Mayor at GMCA for economic growth, said: “Greater Manchester is mobilising its resources to encourage new approaches to internationalisation that will enhance city to city trading relationships. We are delighted to be working with a range of world-class partners to help local businesses to scale up through global opportunities, and urge Greater Manchester businesses to register their interest in taking part in the programme.”

A new group of industry, university and local government leaders have come together to form a powerful new collaboration to secure ‘game-changing’ investment in the future of clean growth in the North West of England.

Led by Richard Carter, Chairman of the North West Business Leadership Team (NWBLT) and Managing Director of BASF for UK, the group has announced its response to the Government’s challenge to establish a Low Carbon Industrial Cluster by 2030. The goal is a world first that would attract innovators, investors and problem solvers to create a low-carbon exemplar that others in the UK and internationally can learn from and replicate.  The North West group consists of private and public sector partners from across the Liverpool City Region, Cheshire and Warrington, and Greater Manchester.  A list of supporters is below.

Richard Carter, Chairman of the NWBLT, said: “This collaboration represents one of the most vibrant clusters in the UK with a wide range of energy intensive industry partners. We are already home to a number of existing complementary initiatives that, when brought together, represent a game-changing opportunity. We believe, with appropriate Government support, that this will result in the North West meeting the challenge of becoming the UK’s first low carbon industrial cluster by 2030.”

David Parkin, of Progressive Energy has been instrumental in bringing partners together: “Innovation will be key to the success of this plan and the region is also supported by a network of experts in the field of industrial decarbonisation, from our major Universities and from the private sector. The joint response sets out the decarbonisation challenge for the region, a proposed delivery model, and in excess of £500 million of prospective investment from the private sector.”

Christine Gaskell CBE, Chairman of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership: “There is no better place to be leading the clean-growth agenda than the North West – harnessing our world-class innovation track record, academic expertise and the energy-intensive industry that’s located here – through working together we can co-create the UK’s first low carbon, and in time zero carbon, industrial cluster further cementing our international reputation and bringing new jobs and capital investment to the region.”

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region: “We are rightly planning for the long term and a zero carbon future, and we are taking urgent action now.  In the Liverpool City Region our low carbon sector is already worth £2 billion a year to our economy, while employing 22,000 people and we stand ready to play a key role in creating the UK’s first low carbon cluster.  Just a fortnight ago, I launched our own £10 million Green Investment Fund, which will back renewable energy projects and support my ambition for a zero-carbon city region by 2040.”

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester: “Doing things differently doesn’t just mean a new set of policies – it means a new approach altogether. I want Greater Manchester to be the best place in the world to grow up, get on and grow old: clean, green and vibrant.

 “At our Green Summit later this month we will publish an ambitious new plan which will make a significant impact on this city-region in the short term. We will transform our buildings, revolutionise the way we travel and restore our natural environment.

 “Cities, and city-regions, will make the difference on climate change and, in working to decarbonise in the North West, we can create a blueprint for every other city in the world. It wouldn’t be the first time. We can change ourselves, and we can inspire change in others.”