The Greater Manchester Export Loan Fund has supported Rochdale based IBB Media Limited (IBB) with a £100,000 loan to fund the growth of its digital platform for brass bands, players, educators and enthusiasts across the world.

The Fund is delivered by GC Business Finance, who have also introduced IBB to the Department for International Trade (DIT), part of The Growth Company.  DIT provides access to a wide range of International trade support for both new and existing exporters to secure and grow export contracts all over the world.

Incorporated in 2018, IBB developed digital platform BrassPass TV to connect brass bands and enthusiasts. It currently has over 1200 subscribers and draws 75% of its audience from overseas.  The site features live streams of major concerts including this year’s Band of the Year contest, innovative and unique content from contributors, profiles of major musical figures, a video magazine to focus on community and youth bands and is in the process of building the brass world’s biggest content archive.

The business will use the £100k loan to buy cameras and recording equipment, to develop and generate more unique content for the website and to start production of a virtual reality project designed to connect brass band enthusiasts in having an “on stage experience” which will change the way music performance is viewed.  The loan will also create full time jobs alongside IBB’s prestigious freelance talent pool which includes BAFTA winning producer Simon Powell and former Listen to the Band BBC presenters and producers Frank Renton and Terry Carter.

IBB owner Martin Gernon has a lifetime of experience within the brass band sector himself, having performed as a percussionist with bands including The Fairey Band and the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band.  He is also Managing Director of The Centre Stage Group Ltd, a company specialising in the sale of uniforms and percussion instruments to the brass and military band sector in the UK and across the world.

Martin said: “The audience for brass band music is growing every year, with musicians and enthusiasts alike keen to come together to share events and expertise. We developed BrassPass as a platform to bring all of these interests together and are committed to making the very best in the business, both at home and overseas.

“This investment from the Export Fund means that we are now able to deliver a really exciting programme of new content and collaborations, designed to keep our global audience entertained, engaged and expanding.”

Andrew Nichols, Senior Loans Manager at GC Business Finance, said: “IBB is powered by some of the UK’s foremost figures in music and broadcasting, all of whom are passionate about building a truly connected brass band community. The GM Export Loan Fund was developed to support exactly this type of innovative and ambitious business and we’re proud to be working closely with Martin and his collaborators to develop this unique platform and to reach new territories across the globe.”

Bury and Bolton based law firm Clough & Willis has grown its Commercial Property team following the appointment of Andrew Palmer as a senior associate.

Andrew, who joins Clough & Willis from Bermans, will be working alongside David Leviten, partner and head of the department. His role will encompass the complete range of commercial property services the firm offers, including; sales and purchases of land and property, development work as well as landlord and tenant cases. He will also advise clients on specialist lending.

Andrew has worked in the commercial property sector for 32 years including 19 years in private practice. He has also held positions at Eversheds and Halliwells.

David Leviten, commented: “Demand for our commercial property services has got stronger and stronger so Andrew’s appointment is great news for the firm. He brings a wealth of talent and experience that will help to both service the needs of existing clients and grow our client base.”

Andrew said of his appointment: “Clough & Willis is a fantastic firm and I’m now looking forward to adding value and helping the team to grow.”

Planixs, a high-growth FinTech company, has secured an initial £3.5m minority equity investment from BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active investor in growing businesses. The company will take advantage of a fast-growing market by using the funding to expand its global customer base, accelerate product development and support recruitment across the business.

Founded in 2011, Manchester-based Planixs works with global financial institutions such as Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and Zenith Bank, in providing its market-leading product suite Realiti®, a cloud-based and on premise technology solution suite delivering real-time intraday cash, collateral and liquidity management capabilities to the financial services industry.

Realiti® helps firms to comply with global BCBS248 regulatory requirements including stress modelling (incorporating UK PRA, FED and European Banking Authority regulations), using Planixs’ highly scalable business intelligence, optimisation and analytics technology platform Graphite which can work with any legacy systems. Realiti also drives operational savings and improves risk management for banks, financial institutions and large corporates including reducing expensive liquidity buffers.

Led by CEO and Founder Neville Roberts, the business recently moved its head office to Union House on Albert Square in the centre of Manchester. In 2018, Planixs ranked 22nd overall in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 and is the UK’s number one Enterprise Fintech and leading North West technology company. The Tech Track awards are published every year by the Sunday Times and represent some of the fastest growing, profitable and most admired technology companies in the UK.

The investment comes after BGF experienced a record year of investing in the North West in 2018, providing £80m in long-term funding across 16 deals. New investments in 2018 included web hosting company Miss Group, digital solutions manufacturer Evoke Creative and image mapping business Gaist.

Neville Roberts, CEO of Planixs, commented: “Planixs has experienced significant growth in a relatively short period due to the team’s commitment to staying at the forefront of technology, simplifying regulatory compliance, driving liquidity cost benefit and delivering against the complexities of legacy systems that continue to permeate the financial system.

“I am hugely proud of what the business and the team has achieved to date and delighted to drive our growth agenda forward with the backing of BGF and its network. There is much more we want to achieve, particularly in terms of innovation and international expansion, and the move from angel investment to the support of a long-term investor in BGF is an important vote of confidence and enabler in those plans.”

Pinesh Mehta, an investor at BGF, said: “Planixs has built the market-leading FinTech solution for its rapidly-growing client base, delivering big data at scale and taking advantage of opportunities opening up due to important regulatory drivers.

“We’re delighted to be partnering with a strong, experienced management team, supporting them to deliver their world-class solutions and technology to a global market.”

Andy Gregory, BGF’s Head of Investments in the North, Scotland & Ireland, said: “Manchester is quickly becoming a global FinTech hub in the North West, with some great investments in infrastructure to date. Many of the UK’s leading financial services businesses have their back-office payment processing teams based here and we’re therefore seeing high levels of innovation to help them streamline their processes and manage their systems in a more efficient way. We’re delighted to be part of the UK’s FinTech growth story with our investment in Planixs. BGF invested in one business per week in 2018, and we’re ready to support more ambitious businesses in this industry and in Manchester in 2019.”

National law firm Simpson Millar has taken the next step in its ambitious £50m growth strategy with the appointment of a new Director of HR.

Helen Sutton will be taking on the brand new role to support the firm’s expanding workforce in Manchester as part of its ongoing commitment to investment in its people.

Joining the firm from Northgate Plc and with past roles at Johnston Press, Hallmark Cards and BAE Systems Helen brings 15 years of HR experience to Simpson Millar, with particular expertise in leading successful organisational change programmes such as employee engagement and organisational effectiveness.

Her new role seeks to support the firm’s growth on the back of its two recent acquisitions of Liverpool-based law firm EAD and North-West based firm, JWK, and will look to revamp and modernise the firm’s ways of working to innovate its legal practices.

Speaking on the new appointment, Greg Cox, CEO of Simpson Millar said: “We are delighted to appoint Helen as Director of HR. Her role will provide valuable support for our growing teams across the UK, and will help us develop new innovative ways to modernise our legal services, and ways of working to benefit employees and clients alike.

“Her appointment comes at an exciting time in Simpson Millar’s growth plans, following acquisitions and appointments to ensure that we are best placed to meet the growing and ever changing needs of our clients.

“Helen brings a wealth of experience to the table and I am sure her expertise will enable the firm to become even more innovative to push our growth plans forward.”

Commenting on her new role, Helen said: “I’m extremely excited about working at Simpson Millar to help deliver the ambitious growth plans, and to ensure that all employees feel supported, informed and engaged as we move towards achieving the Simpson Millar vision.

“I am looking forward to creating and delivering a strong people plan that will make the company a great place to work for everyone.”

Work has started on a £6.5m hotel next to the Irish World Heritage Centre in Manchester.

Truman Design & Build, based in Bolton, is the main contractor for the 135-bedroom hotel, which is due to open later this year. The brand which will operate the hotel will be named in due course.

Along with the design and construction phases, Truman will also fit out the hotel, which is being developed on a derelict 1.8-acre site on Irish Town Way in Cheetham Hill. Further works will include extensive landscaping and parking for 110 vehicles.

The Irish World Heritage Centre is a major base for the region’s Irish community, offering a diverse programme of cultural activities alongside conference and events facilities.

Truman is an associate company of Oldham-based construction, fit-out and refurbishment specialist Medlock FRB.

Its team is led by executive chairman Mike Peden, commercial director David Wheeler, project director Dan Lewis and design manager Nick Riley.

Truman targets projects in the £3m-£10m bracket across a variety of sectors, including hotels and leisure, student accommodation, commercial, industrial and healthcare, with a focus on schemes within a 100-mile radius of Manchester.

Recently-completed projects include ones at tennis and fitness centre The Shrewsbury Club in Shropshire, the MADE Wellness Centre at the Moddershall Oaks Country Spa Retreat in Stone, Staffordshire, and The Flower Bowl family entertainment complex near Garstang in Lancashire.

Dan Lewis said: “We are excited to be on site for the construction and fit-out of the new hotel next to the Irish World Heritage Centre.

“It is a prestigious scheme which will provide much-needed hotel accommodation for visitors to the complex and to the surrounding area, including Manchester Arena and the city centre.

“We have a team of highly-experienced professionals who are committed to delivering projects safely, on time and on budget. This project further underlines Truman’s credibility in the design, construction and fit-out of prominent developments across the region.”

Vodafone has switched on 5G at Manchester Airport, with other travel locations set to follow suit within weeks. In a UK first, holidaymakers and travellers getting ready for the half-term getaway tested the new, super-fast network by downloading a film or TV box set using 5G. The testers downloaded content up to four times quicker than over 4G, providing them with more than enough entertainment for their flight.

Manchester Airport is the first of several travel hot spots where Vodafone is trialling 5G. Vodafone 5G masts are now in place at the airport, forming part of the 5G trials taking place across the city.  Further trials over the coming weeks will include Snow Hill railway station in Birmingham.

Passengers at Manchester’s Terminal One visited Vodafone’s special 5G ‘blast pod’ and were given a free Entertainment Pass on streaming service NOW TV. Airport users could download an episode of the new series of Tin Star in 45 seconds and the whole series in six minutes and seven seconds – up to four times faster than over 4G, which took 26 minutes and eight seconds**.  At these speeds, Vodafone’s 5G network will allow a home Wi-Fi like experience, on the go.

5G will enable holiday makers and business travellers to load a web page or a video instantly and, thanks to  super low latency, people will be able to seamlessly stream a movie over 5G without buffering or lag.

Nick Jeffery, CEO, Vodafone UK, said: “We all love to catch up on our favourite TV shows, play games or finish off some work when travelling. 5G, with its fast speeds and quick response times, will make that quick and easy, even in busy locations. We are proud to be the first provider to bring 5G to an airport and will be adding more major travel hotspots to our 5G network throughout the year.”

Brad Miller, Chief Operating Officer, Manchester Airpor, said: “We are delighted to support Vodafone’s 5G trial at Manchester Airport. As we progress with the design and delivery of our £1bn transformation programme, we are constantly exploring how new innovations and technology can be applied to improve the airport experience.

“As a business with a strong presence in our surrounding community, Vodafone was a natural partner for a trial project like this and we look forward to collaborating with them again in the future.”