Manchester gin-thusiasts Mark Smallwood and Liam Manton created Didsbury Gin in 2017 and the tipple has already been hailed by Vogue Magazine as ‘one of the most exciting new British gins’.

Hot off the heels of redundancy, and a bumper year making gin, Mark from Middlesbrough and Liam from Manchester took on their biggest challenge yet, the Dragons’ Den.

The craft gin makers bagged themselves three minutes to pitch their plans for world domination to the BBC show’s five resident multi-millionaires in a bid to convince them to invest their own cash in the craft gin company.

After some initial banter between the multi-millionaires, Liam and Mark hooked in offers from both Jenny Campbell and Tej Lalvani. Ex-career banker turned business turnaround specialist and European cash machine entrepreneur Jenny prides herself on helping young talent realise their potential and the gin-makers felt an instant chemistry with her. What’s more she has a well documented love of gin and her own home gin bar already!

With the promise of help scaling up the business and reducing costs so they could increase production of the gin, enabling them to offer the right price point to take their product to the bigger retailers and restaurant and bar chains, Liam and Mark took Jenny’s offer of £75,000 for 33.3% of their one year old business.

Since the show was recorded in April 2018 Jenny has already guided Liam and Mark through a rebrand, an upscale of the business as well as legal and financial advice, and they are now just days away from announcing a number of listings with some of the UK’s biggest bar groups.

Corporate social responsibility manager for a construction firm Liam and partner in gin ex-bar manager Mark were spookily both made redundant from their respective jobs at the beginning of 2018 just as the gin business was starting to take off.

After first deciding not to take part in the BBC show in January 2018 because they had jobs and didn’t feel that it was the right time for the business, they jumped at the chance later on in the year just after they had been made redundant.

Liam Manton, co-founder of Didsbury Gin, said; “It was terrifying especially when minutes before we went in front of the Dragons we realised that our glasses smelled of egg. Sulphur in the washing machine water had made them disgusting and our gin would also be disgusting. We had to wash everything very quickly before our chances were ruined.”

Mark Smallwood, co-founder of Didsbury Gin, continued; “We loved having the opportunity to appear on the show, and when Jenny offered to invest, everything just seemed like it was coming together. Her no-nonsense Northern personality fits really well with the brand we are building, and we really liked how straightforward she was with us. She has some great ideas, and saw the growth opportunities for Didsbury Gin both nationally and internationally. Plus, we know she has a genuine interest in the product because she is a gin drinker herself.”

Jenny Campbell, Dragon and business turnaround specialist, said; “Didsbury Gin is all about Mark and Liam. They instantly drew me in with their charm and I thought this could work. I also went to school in Didsbury so I thought that was a good omen! They knew their product and the numbers behind the business, they stood their ground when my fellow Dragons attacked and most importantly I liked them. I think gin drinkers across the UK will too. They have a great brand which will be taking on the classics names by the end of the year. Watch this space.”

Manchester Airport’s busiest ever festive period helped the Northern gateway to report a record year for passenger numbers in 2018.

More than 28.2 million passengers passed through the UK’s third largest airport in the last 12 months.

Popular holiday hot spots included Turkey with passenger numbers to Antalya up 50% and Dalaman 30% versus 2017.  Agadir also saw a significant increase of 95%.  Looking further afield traffic to Hong Kong was up 39% and Muscat was up 34% against 2017, showcasing the increased demand for long-haul connectivity from the Northern hub.

It was a significant year for the airport as it celebrated its 80th birthday and progressed works on its £1bn transformation. The UK’s third largest airport also added further long-haul connectivity with new routes to Seattle with Thomas Cook Airlines, Mumbai with Jet Airways and Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines. In all these cases, Manchester is the only UK airport outside of London to offer such services.

Andrew Cowan, Manchester Airport CEO, said: “Last year was a strong one for the airport with a number of key long-haul routes launched and a range of significant milestones achieved. We also saw strong growth from airlines such as easyJet, Ryanair and Jet2.com, all of which added frequency and capacity last year.

“For 2019 we’ve already seen significant growth announcements from the likes of easyJet, Ryanair, Jet2.com, TUI and Thomas Cook Airlines, giving our passengers a greater choice of destinations to choose from.

“The year also saw us celebrate our 80th birthday and it was great to celebrate the milestone with a wide range of people and organisations over the course of the 12 months. Activities ranged from the release of the hugely poignant “Time Flies” film, created in partnership with Tony Walsh, to our involvement in Manchester Day and the planting of 80 oak trees across the whole of the region.

“Now we are into a New Year, excitement is really building about the delivery of the first phase of our £1bn transformation programme. There has been impressive progress on what is the biggest investment in our history and in April, the first brand new pier will open to passengers. I look forward to celebrating the occasion with customers, airlines and other partner organisations.

“As 2019 progresses we will continue to work hard to secure further new routes to important business and leisure destinations across the world, unlocking opportunities for all of the North.”

AKA North has won a competitive pitch to manage all media buying and planning for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust – the independent charity which cares for the five historic Shakespeare heritage sites in Stratford-upon-Avon and promotes the enjoyment of Shakespeare’s work, life and times.

AKA has created a bespoke strategy for the Trust based on its varying audiences and their different media consumptions. Consumer and business audiences will be targeted, both in the local areas and across the UK, using digital, out of home, specialist marketing, print and broadcast media.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was formed over 170 years ago, following the purchase of Shakespeare’s Birthplace as a national memorial. The five Shakespeare Family Homes welcome over 820,000 visitors every year and the Trust holds the world’s largest Shakespeare-related museum, archive and library collection, with over one million documents, 55,000 books and 12,000 museum objects. It also runs award-winning education programmes for all ages, encouraging the understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare’s works.

David Wright, head of marketing at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, comments: “William Shakespeare is the UK’s greatest cultural icon and as guardians of his legacy, we’re committed to finding new and interesting ways to engage audiences with Shakespeare. Our historical sites, creative programming and educational courses appeal to people all over the UK – and further afield – so we were thrilled to see such a wide-reaching yet targeted approach from AKA. We’re really looking forward to working with the team.”

Louise Walsh, client services director at AKA, comments: “We’re delighted to be promoting such a unique organisation, to help grow its new and returning visitor base. Our campaign will kick off in March 2019 and is a fantastic addition to our culture portfolio.”

Manchester-based brand, web and digital campaign agency, Cube3 celebrates new client win, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).

TfGM owns Metrolink, the UK’s largest light rail network, and coordinates public transport and other types of travel – such as driving, cycling and walking – throughout the 10 district areas of Greater Manchester. It aims to make travel easier and more convenient through a better connected Greater Manchester.

TfGM required a company to manage and develop its social media account, Instagram, over the next 12 months.

Mike Mellor, Head of Commercial and Marketing at TfGM, commented: “We wanted to partner with a company that could help us to grow our Instagram account and maximise audience engagement on the platform.

“The team at Cube3 impressed us with their creative execution and ability to measure every aspect of their strategy against our campaign objectives.

“It was also important to us that in expanding our influence on this channel we didn’t lose sight of building valuable relationships between our brand and our followers – Cube3 demonstrated a real understanding of this.

“We are excited to see what’s to come.”

Cube3’s Managing Director, Mark Bailey, added: “After a competitive pitch process, we are delighted to be working with TfGM to develop a content strategy that will accelerate the brand’s growth and expand its influence on Instagram.

“This is an exciting project which involves building and nurturing an online community by celebrating Manchester with engaging, creative visual content and a carefully considered narrative.

“We hope that this is the first of many future partnerships together.”