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Award joy for MC Construction

Sam Whitear
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MC Construction has gained another accolade for its approach to staff training and development.

The Salford-based company won the People Development category at the 12th annual North West Regional Construction Awards, which celebrate best practice and recognise exceptional companies and projects from across the region.

In their citation, the judges said: “The judges were impressed by how this company truly captured the value of their human resource. The opportunities for personal development within this organisation are outstanding.”

MC Construction will now be entered into the Constructing Excellence National Awards, which will take place in London in November.

The latest accolade follows the company’s success last year in the British Chamber of Commerce’s 2017 Chamber Business Awards. It won the commitment to people development prize in the Greater Manchester heat and then nationally.

MC Construction operates a direct labour policy and the average length of service among its workforce is over 10 years.

It has a policy of nurturing talent from within its ranks and supports staff who wish to study for a degree by funding up to 80 per cent of the course fees.

Currently more than 20 employees are working towards qualifications.

The company’s ‘grow your own’ talent strategy has led to five of the seven current directors rising through the ranks, including David Lowe from apprentice bricklayer to managing director and Eugene O’Callaghan from assistant quantity surveyor to commercial director.

Others have followed suit into senior roles and the company also has a record number of apprentices on its books – seven in total. Each employee has an annual training and development plan.

Last year staff undertook a total of 250 training days and the company spent £500,000 to extend and refurbish its offices to improve the working environment.

David Lowe said: “We work hard to provide our staff with the best possible career and development opportunities, which helps us to combat the industry skills shortage, nurture our own talent and ensure our values are ingrained in our team.

“The main reason for our success as a business is our staff – they are at the heart of everything we do and we engage with them at every opportunity.

“We’re delighted that this commitment has been recognised with the people development honour at the North West Regional Construction Awards and we look forward to representing the region in the national awards later this year.”

More than 400 people attended the NWRCA ceremony at The Principal Hotel in Manchester. The awards were hosted by the University of Salford, the Centre for Construction Innovation and Constructing Excellence.

Growth in corporate events inspires two new appointments at TLC

Sam Whitear
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With steady growth in the private events sector this year, and an upsurge in corporate event enquires for 2018/9, events management company, the Taylor Lynn Corporation (TLC), has strengthened its events team with the recruitment of two new event managers this month.

Natalie Eastwood joins TLC from Silverstone Circuits and Lauren Worsley from Hallmark Hotels, both taking up the role of corporate events manager.  The duo, both graduates in events management, bring with them over 15 years of events management experience across the international sports, corporate and private sectors.

The appointments bolster TLC’s corporate team and is part of the strategic development plan for 2017-18 that also saw Ellie Barnes promoted to the post of operations director earlier this year.

“Business is growing.  Corporate enquiries are already up by 30% for 2019.  It’s clear from the increase that companies are keen to invest in quality business events.” said TLC’s managing director Liz Taylor

“In spite of the economic uncertainty surrounding Brexit, I am seeing an increase in confidence by our corporate clients in their own marketing futures. Meetings, conferences and recognition events are firmly back on their agenda! “

Liz added: “Natalie and Lauren have joined us at an exciting time and their roles give us the additional employee support to deliver a series of events lined-up this year, but also a platform upon which to secure further growth in 2019.”

K7 Media announced as knowledge partner for Kyiv Media Week 2018

Sam Whitear
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International media consultancy K7 Media has been appointed as official Knowledge Partner at Kyiv Media Week, this September.

For the fourth consecutive year, Manchester-based K7 Media will present at the event, talking through the latest trends and insights in programming from around the world.

K7 Media’s Communications Manager, David Ciaramella, will host a session focusing on the FAANGS (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google and Snapchat), in which he will shine a light on how the world’s biggest digital players are developing their video offerings.

The discussion will address the secrecy surrounding commissions from the FAANGS and the ongoing impact this has on industry trends and developments. It will look at the different approaches taken by the platforms and highlight key shows in both scripted and unscripted programming.

Speaking on the partnership, David commented: “We are delighted to continue our work with Kyiv Media Week. It has been fantastic to see the festival develop and service a territory which remains largely unexplored.

“The FAANGS are notoriously shadowy and continue to create new and interesting challenges for the industry as a whole.  Far from providing a clear formula for success, the industry often finds itself forced to beat a new path to find success with online programming.”

Kyiv Media Week will introduce a completely new format for 2018 and will see the addition of thematic exhibitions. The new format will expand on the range of events and activities available to attendees, making it easier to tailor an individual programme of events.

Business community comes together to raise £800 at Ward Hadaway charity BBQ

Sam Whitear
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The sun shone and sausages sizzled at Ward Hadaway’s recent fundraising BBQ in aid of The Booth Centre in Manchester.

Around 70 members of Manchester’s business community enjoyed a good meal for a great cause and raised hundreds of pounds in the process recently.

The BBQ event, which took place at Dukes 92 in Castlefield, raised over £800.  Donations of 64 jars of coffee and 158 pairs of men’s socks which had been specifically requested by the centre were also collected.

Amy Hinks from the Booth Centre attended and spoke about the work they do to help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in Manchester.  This allowed those attending to get a better understanding of the work of the centre.

Uniquely Manchester, which sells arts, crafts and other gifts, all with a Manchester connection had a pop-up stall at the event and donated a prize for the raffle.

Jodi Seddon, Hollie Walsh, and Laura Andrew from the Ward Hadaway team also spoke about their involvement with the charity, which has included a sleepout and volunteer day.

Rachel Birks, Partner at Ward Hadaway, said: “It was a fantastic turnout from the business community in Manchester and was very well received by everyone. There was also a raffle with some fantastic prizes which were kindly donated by local businesses and organisations.”

“As a business, it’s vital we support the local community in which we all live and work. Homelessness is a really visual issue in Manchester at the moment.

“The Booth Centre provides the basics of life for people like hot drinks, freshly cooked meals and a place to get a shower, but it is also more than that.  It is a real community where people can learn skills to help gain employment and take part in activities which develop self esteem.  I would really encourage other businesses to get involved with the Booth Centre.”

Ward Hadaway is now planning its next fundraising mission for the Booth Centre, which is to put forward a team to take part in the annual Sleepout in the grounds of Manchester Cathedral on the night of Friday, 9 November.

Rachel added: “Last year 400 people from Manchester took part with a huge £120,000 raised, vital funds for a charity that provides hot meals for 250 people a week.”

Kellogg’s team go green for Emmaus Salford

Sam Whitear
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A team of employees from Kellogg’s have completed painting work to create a ‘Big Green Meeting Machine’ at homelessness charity Emmaus Salford.

Six staff members from Kellogg’s UK office based at MediaCityUK spent the day upcycling an old camper van into a mobile meeting room at Emmaus Salford’s community base in Pendleton.

Anna Wall, one of the volunteers from Kellogg’s, said: “We had such a fun day volunteering at Emmaus. Everyone enjoyed working with the team on a project that will hopefully make a difference in our new community of Salford.”

Emmaus Salford supports formerly homeless people by offering a home, meaningful work in a social enterprise and an opportunity to get back on their feet again. The charity operates shops at Fitzwarren Street and Seaford Road in Salford, as well as the Emmaus Emporium in Swinton.

Emmaus Salford’s new Big Green Meeting Machine will be used by partner agencies, including Salford Citizen’s Advice Bureau, to offer one to one support to local residents, charity beneficiaries, customers of Emmaus and members of Lucie’s Pantry social supermarket.

Simon Locke, Community Director of Emmaus Salford, said: “The team of volunteers from Kellogg’s completed fantastic work on our new Big Green Meeting Machine and I would like to thank them for their generous support.

“I would also like to give thanks to companions Ian and Jed, who live and work at Emmaus Salford and completed work to strip and fit out the interior of the new meeting room. This new facility will enable us to work with partners to support even more people in the Salford community.”

The Kellogg’s volunteer day at Emmaus Salford followed another similar day of action back in March where employees helped to paint and improve the Emmaus community building.

Tech startup mentors We Are Nova appoint Head of Marketing

Sam Whitear
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Following an impressive period of company growth, with 15 new businesses co-founded since the beginning of the year, northwest based We Are Nova have begun the first in a series of marketing recruitments. The company’s success will allow further strengthening of the team and an enhanced depth of support for their digital startup partners.

Paul Dodd, previously of Gyro and Bevie, has joined Nova to lead the marketing team through the next phase of business growth. Paul will be responsible for developing the growing marketing team and creating a strategic plan to support the increasing number of tech startup businesses that they co-found. Speaking of his new appointment, Paul said: “Throughout my career, I’ve loved creating and growing brands. This new role has given me the opportunity to work with, and shape, some of the tech businesses of the future. I’m excited to join such a customer-focused business that is aligned with my approach of using customer understanding and insight to build successful brands.

I’m exploring how we can shape our offering to add even more value to our startups, helping them to implement better marketing strategy and communications, and ultimately develop more successful tech startup businesses”

Andy Davidson, We Are Nova CEO, says “We are delighted to have Paul on the team, his marketing experience and successes speak for themselves. He has brought with him some really exciting plans that will allow us to grow both Nova and our co-founded digital startups”

Funding package and business growth strategy helps Africa Al’s Handmade African Sauces to scale-up production by 600 per cent to meet demand

Sam Whitear
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A detailed three-year funding and growth strategy has been put in place to support a Stockport-based West African food company, as they take their products into the retail market.

Funding from the Manchester Growth Hub has allowed Africa Al’s Handmade African Sauces to scale up production, resulting in a massive 600 per cent increase in production.

Launched in 2017 by ex-police detective sergeant Alex Anyakwo, Africa Al’s Handmade African Sauces has proved a major hit at artisan markets and food fairs throughout the North West and West Midlands.

The popularity of Alex’s sauces have seen him turn a passion for cooking into a business.  Africa Al’s has been working with Lightbulb Solutions, a specialist consultancy with expertise in the food market.

This has led to a presence in butchers, delis and farm shops. The business wants to expand this base for the next year and then will begin to target product listings in UK supermarkets.

Emma Wilson, Marketing Director at Cheadle Hulme based Lightbulb Solutions, said support for Africa Al’s Handmade African Sauces has involved helping to put funding and production facilities in place. “This has involved business planning and cashflow advice and advise on new product developments. A three-year- plan is in place to develop the business going forward, overdraft facilities are in place with a bank and funding has been arranged through the Manchester Growth Hub.

Emma added: “Africa Al’s have had a phenomenal journey so far and the growth, on the back of Alex’s fantastic cuisine, has been incredible. We are now looking forward to presenting to a wider audience.”

Martin Hyman a Manufacturing Advisor at Manchester Growth Hub has worked with Alex and Emma. He said: “The Manufacturing Grant provides the extra funding needed to access expert support needed to help Manchester based SME’s (Small, Medium Enterprises) to develop and grow, and in particular to advance the business into production so they can scale up to be future employers in the region. The grant refunds 30 per cent of all spend up to £5,000.”

Alex, aged 53, came to Manchester from his native Nigeria at the age of 19 and has lived in Bramhall, Cheshire, for many years.

A passion to explore the cuisine of his native Nigeria led Alex to start experimenting in his home kitchen, cooking authentic West African food for friends and family. When a farm shop owner encouraged Alex to take his cookery skills further, he rose to the challenge and soon began to cook extra batches of sauce for food fairs and markets.

“We soon built up a following and demand has grown,” said Alex, “we regularly take stalls at farm and food markets and often sell out.”

Initial success with two cooking pastes encouraged Alex to increase the range and they now offer seven products. Alex’s recipes are based on the dishes he remembers from childhood, he said: “I was born in Lagos and I recall sitting down on Sundays to a traditional West African stew – the aromas and tastes around the dining room table have stayed with me all my life. Food figured large in our culture, using fresh ingredients such as onions, scallions, ginger, garlic and peppers, with the heat added by using Scotch Bonnet peppers.

The Africa Al range enjoys considerable success within the vegetarian and vegan community as they are all preservative and additive free.

Alex added: “We have a mission statement to be the first to introduce African cooking to the wider public by providing a range of authentic, accessible and easy to prepare sauces, breads and accompaniments that are reflective of the varied and delicious cuisine of this region of the world.”

The expansion plans has seen Africa Al move production from his Bramhall home kitchen to a carefully selected intermediate production site.  All products are still made by Alex but support from a four-strong team of cooks means the business has been able to scale-up output by a massive 600 per cent, while achieving high levels of consistency across the range.

“We had been constantly struggling to meet demand and were working night and day in our home kitchen, so we are now very much enjoying being in full production as the throughput is allowing us to expand sales further,” added Alex.

Further to meeting direct customer demand, the company is now in a position to grow its supply side of the business and would welcome further engagement with retailers.

Greater Manchester-based Growth Company to help build next generation of export support services in the North West

Sam Whitear
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Export Growth Partners is a new venture formed by four leading UK business support organisations. The pioneering collaboration consists of Business West, One Midlands, the Greater-Manchester based Growth Company and digital innovators Enterprise Nation.

The four founding organisations are a mixture of award-winning global trade specialists providing export services on behalf of government, and private sector firms offering expert advice to businesses.

Building on strong strategic partnerships with Department for International Trade (DIT), Department for Exiting the EU (DEXU) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Export Growth Partners will support the realisation of the government’s Industrial Strategy and forthcoming Export Strategy.

Export Growth Partners provides support across all stages of the export journey – from market research, overseas market visits, finding buyers to fulfilling export documentation – right up to ensuring payment is received.

Ahead of launching, the group has also negotiated preferred partner arrangements with specialist banks, translation agencies and shipping agents, to provide a comprehensive end-to-end support package for businesses.

Speaking for Export Growth Partners, Mark Hughes, Chief Executive of The Growth Company said:

“Capitalising on global opportunities is vital for UK firms and this new collaboration will give businesses a clear advantage to get access to global markets, while building strong sustainable links in a post-Brexit world.

“Many of our companies feel daunted by the complexity of exporting. Even those businesses that have seen the benefit of the extra sales that exporting brings, still struggle to know where to turn to for help, advice and hands on fulfilment – including how to get paid.

“Export Growth Partners is going to fundamentally change how we drive and assist UK companies to export – making it simpler than ever before to enter new markets with products and services.  Combining our individual expertise, we will deliver an unrivalled range of international trade support from the public and private sector to companies up and down the country.

“Technology has changed everything, and it has an important role to play in how we can make a difference to UK plc.  Four of us pooling our resources together will be able to accelerate exports much faster than each one working alone.”

By coming together Export Growth Partners will build on their market-leading strengths to transform how businesses trade internationally – redefining export support to meet the challenges and opportunities of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Between them, since 2015 these organisations have supported over 56,000 businesses to export, creating more than 14,000 jobs for the UK economy.

Last year alone, they assisted UK businesses in achieving additional export sales of £2.26bn.

Their vision is to create an integrated, nationally recognised route to world-beating export support.  As a new venture they will assemble bespoke export support packages from ‘best in class’ public and private sector specialists.

BJSS retrains ex-military personnel to join the private sector

Sam Whitear
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BJSS, the UK’s largest privately-owned IT consultancy and recent winner of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise has introduced a Platform Engineering Academy for ex-armed forces personnel wishing to retrain for technology careers in the private sector.

Delivered by BJSS in Manchester, and in association with AWS, this 12-week long programme equips candidates with a range of Platform Engineering skills and Is constructed on BJSS’ software delivery approach, Enterprise Agile.

Upon successfully completing the programme, candidates wishing to apply for roles at BJSS are fast-tracked through the company’s recruitment process. All three candidates who recently completed the programme have taken full-time permanent roles at BJSS as Platform Engineers and are now contributing to client deliveries. Through this initiative, BJSS has demonstrated that viable career opportunities are available to servicepeople when they leave the forces.

Stephen Davies, former Corporal in the Royal Air Force, recent graduate of the BJSS Platform Engineering Academy, and Platform Engineer at BJSS said: “Leaving the Military is stressful, but the help and support I received from the BJSS Platform Engineering Academy has made me a confident and competent Platform Engineer. Having been offered a permanent role at BJSS and knowing that the company will still support me as I continue to learn, has made my transition into civilian life easier.”

Matt Whalley, Head of Delivery at BJSS continues: “With the digital landscape set to become an even bigger part of Britain’s economy over the next few years, technology organisations such as BJSS have a role to play in ensuring that as many people as possible are equipped to pursue careers in this space. The BJSS Platform Engineering Academy allows our ex-servicepeople to develop the skills they need to transition into viable and rewarding technology careers in the private sector. This is a further demonstration of the commitment BJSS initially made in 2017 to the Armed Forces Community by signing up to the Armed Forces Covenant.”

This programme is part of several CSR initiatives spearheaded by BJSS to encourage greater diversity in the IT sector. Much of this CSR support is delivered from BJSS’ Manchester Development Centre, such as extensive pro-bono engineering support to Turinglab, an organisation dedicated to teaching fundamental coding skills to school children. This has resulted in free Turinglab learning being delivered to 2,552 students across the UK in 2017 alone, 1,309 of whom were girls and 14% of the total students from the North West.

Tech brand tackles ‘Holiday Hunger’ with 18,000 Meals

Sam Whitear
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Hosting firm UKFast today announces its commitment to provide 18,000 meals to school children living in poverty in Greater Manchester over the summer holiday period.

Recent statistics show that 32% of children in Greater Manchester are living in poverty, many of whom go without proper nutrition outside of the school calendar.

Russell Feingold, UKFast’s Director of CSR, said: “More than 76,000 children across Greater Manchester receive free school meals during term time. That’s a huge number of extra meals for parents to find during the summer holidays, along with the spiralling overheads of childcare. For many families, their income doesn’t stretch that far.

“Summer clubs are essential in bridging both the childcare gap and holiday hunger, which is why UKFast is supporting three projects across the region, delivering 18,000 meals throughout the summer.”

UKFast is supporting Holiday Hunger projects at initiatives across Greater Manchester, including Bolton Lads’ and Girls’ Club, One Manchester Housing Association and Manchester Youth Zone (formerly Factory Youth Zone). The firm’s support means more meals for more children in these areas over the summer period.

Karen Edwards OBE, CEO of Bolton Lads’ and Girls’ Club, said:  “We are thrilled to be able to expand our holiday provision and be able to offer breakfast, lunch and an evening meal for our members. School holidays are a critical time; fun, safe activities and regular meals are essential for healthy kids.”

UKFast recently announced its backing for a breakfast club at Holy Name RC Primary School in Moss Side to bridge the breakfast gap at the school.

Gail Jones, UKFast MD, said: “The summer holidays should be a time of fun and making memories for families, instead the increased childcare costs add a huge weight to parents’ shoulders and is leaving many unable to make ends meet. Hearing that the loss of free school meals over the holidays can lead to a child losing half a stone in weight is simply unbearable.

“As a parent it’s heartbreaking to hear of parents unable to feed their children because of desperate circumstances.

“Through our work with schools and young people, it became clear that this issue goes beyond a breakfast gap as we head into the summer break. We had to step in to help ensure these children get the nutrition they need and to ease the pressure on their parents.”

UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones added: “Businesses have a huge amount of resources available at their fingertips. It’s up to us to use them to support the community we live and work in. You can expect to see more of this type of activity as we continue to grow.”

The team at UKFast hope that its Holiday Hunger Project inspires other business to identify the areas of most need within local communities and step in to help.

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