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Friday, August 15, 2025
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Manchester’s Arro Money toasts smashing customer growth milestone

Sam Whitear
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Manchester’s Arro Money, a product of Marq Millions, has passed a major business milestone, successfully reaching 15,000 account holders in just ten months. The news comes after the business launched its multi-level personal accounts and unique business accounts specifically tailored to SMEs, start-ups, and sole traders earlier this month.

As a result of the business’s impressive growth, Arro Money has expanded, moving to a larger office space in Manchester. The team has tripled in size over the last six months to handle increasing customer demand, with plans to expand even further throughout the year.

Arro Money CEO, Muhammad Asim, has credited the business’s exponential growth to its uniquely flexible personal and business accounts which can be opened in under three minutes. Users are not confined to a single service level upon opening their account; instead account holders can pick the financial services package that is most relevant to them. Additionally, customers can manage their money easily and in real time, a particular pull factor to users wanting more control over their spending.

Talking about the ongoing achievements of the business, Asim commented: “We’re thrilled to see how much the business has grown and so rapidly too. We’re proud of what we’re delivering to those who need financial services and have been turned away from traditional banks. The rapid growth we’re seeing demonstrates that the product really does fit with our customer’s requirements.

“Our business growth shows no sign of slowing, and we’re set to have an incredible year, supporting more businesses and individuals to access the financial services that they vitally need. We aim to onboard a further 200,000 clients in 2018 alone – we want to make financial services accessible for all, and with this product that is exactly what we’re doing.”

Leading footwear e-tailer makes donation to Manchester Dogs Home

Sam Whitear
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Leading footwear manufacturer and e-tailer Lazy Dogz have made a £750 donation to Manchester Dogs Home.

The Rawtenstall-based company, who currently offer products including slippers and sandals, work closely with Manchester Dogs Home, donating £1 for every pair of their shoes which are sold through their website.

The cheque was presented by Mark Newman, Lazy Dogz’ Brand Sales Manager, to Colin Ballance, Home Liaison Officer at Manchester Dogs Home, and Scooby, a rescue who has been at the home for 8 months.  Colin lives on site and was the first person to discover the horrendous fire which devastated the premises back in September 2014, claiming the lives of 60 animals.

On making the donation, Mark said: “I’m delighted to be able to present the cheque on behalf of Lazy Dogz from the money we have recently raised through sales of our products.

“The £1 donation to the home is just one of many reasons people choose to buy Lazy Dogz footwear, and we’re looking forward to selling even more pairs in the future, which will enable us to raise even more money for an extremely worthwhile cause.”

Colin, added: “We all at the Manchester Dogs Home would like to thank Lazy Dogz for the generous donation and welcome their continued support”

Energizer to work with Cunning Plan to launch new phone range 

Sam Whitear
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Avenir Telecom, licensee of the world-famous battery brand, Energizer® has enlisted the help of Manchester based creative agency, Cunning Plan Marketing to help it launch a new range of phones to the UK Market.

There are 14 different handsets in the new long-lasting range, which varies from rugged smartphones to retro flip phones priced from £14.99-£399.99. These new devices promise to shake-up the low and mid-range smartphone space giving consumers long-lasting battery power, durability and great features – at an affordable price.

The hero products include the Power Max P600S with a whopping 4500 mAh of battery power, which means it will last up to 16 days on standby or up to 12 hours of constant 4G talk time!  There’s also the Hardcase H550S, which again boasts a bigger than average battery, but with a Corning®Gorilla® Glass curved screen it is set to be one of the best-looking rugged phones on the market. The Energizer® Power Max P550S and the Energy E520 LTE are the more affordable smartphones in the range.

French manufacturer, Avenir Telecom has been a licensing partner with Energizer®  since 2010.

Cunning Plan has been briefed to promote the brand via a traditional PR and digital media strategy.  The agency has previously won awards for its work with the JCB tough phone and more recently has worked with the innovative children’s smartphone, Monqi, which launched in October 2017.

James Adam, Managing Director at Cunning Plan Marketing said: “Research has shown that consumers are looking for practical features when buying a smartphone – we are sick of cracked screens and phones that need constant charging! Energizer’s® new phone range promises to eradicate these bones of contention and bring a fresh new approach to the market.  Our launch campaign will combine PR, social media and blogger outreach to bring these USPs to UK consumers.”

Lucile DeVictor, Communication Manager from Avenir Telecom said: “We needed an agency that could hit the ground running and thanks to Cunning Plan’s telecom experience they will help us to reach our target audience quickly using a variety of effective tactics.  We’re pleased to be finally launching in the UK and look forward to a long-lasting relationship with James and his team.”

Rule 5 delivers course to Nando’s  

Sam Whitear
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MediaCityUK communications agency, Rule 5, has been recruited to deliver social media training for Nando’s. The agency has been appointed by Gillian Harrison, Regional Marketing Manager for the restaurant company. Rule 5 has been briefed to create bespoke training for fifteen social media champions who work for Nando’s restaurants across Scotland, Ireland and the North of England.

“Our social media champions look after around ten restaurants each and deliver excellent social campaigns” said Gillian “but it’s always good to get an external perspective and Rule 5 came highly recommended” she added.

The training will cover current best practice when using all leading social media platforms and will also look at what changes may be in store and how that will impact on the work of communications professionals in the sector. For example, developments in AI are already having an impact in social media both in ordering deliveries and for customer service.

“Nando’s have a strong social media presence nationally and regionally” said Rule 5 Managing Partner Rob Brown “as part of the training we’ll explore ways the team can build their presence and take advantage of many of the emerging trends.”

The team at Rule 5 have been delivering social media training since the agency launched five years ago. The team have delivered tailored social media training for a host of national global brands including: British Airways, Wedgwood, British Cycling and ASDA.

Rule 5 specialises in PR and digital communications and has clients in the sport, leisure, media, food and lifestyle sectors.

Small Business Minister chooses Greater Manchester for first visit to a growth hub

Sam Whitear
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Andrew Griffiths, has visited business support service GC Business Growth Hub in Manchester City Centre.

The Government’s Small Business Minister, Mr Griffiths, met Director of Business Growth Richard Jeffery, and Donna Edwards, Managing Director – Business Support and Business Finance, both from parent company The Growth Company, to discuss the benefits of support from growth hubs for start-ups and SMEs.

Richard and Donna talked about how GC Business Growth Hub has engaged 37,000 businesses and provided support to over 9,000 businesses in Greater Manchester over the last seven years, explaining that for every £1 of support the Hub invests in a start-up or SME, £4.65 is generated for the local economy. The minister also heard how the GC Business Growth Hub, the first of its kind in the UK, has become the template for other business growth hubs across the country.

Following the meeting, Mr Griffiths participated in a roundtable with representatives from seven Greater Manchester companies from a range of sectors which have all received support from the Hub. These included: workwear company Tibard from Dukinfield; urinary disposal and hygiene specialists U-Drain from Bowdon; Stockport clothing supplier Creative Apparel; gasket manufacturer JA Harrison from Middleton; speech and language therapists Speechwise from Stockport; and Manchester cloud-based app developers Shaping Cloud.

In a lively exchange, topics discussed included the key role that SMEs play in the evolving Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy, digitisation to boost productivity, the importance of inclusive growth in building a sustainable, successful economy, closing the productivity gap with the South, and increasing Greater Manchester’s international trade activity.

Earlier in the day, the minister visited GC Business Growth Hub client Seven Brothers brewery in Salford. With support from the Hub, including help sourcing suppliers and guidance on logistics, the brewery has created 15 new jobs in the local area and has doubled its brewing capacity to over 60,000 pints a week. In addition, the company are selling over £50,000-worth of beer each month and is projected to nearly double its year-on-year turnover to £1.5m by the end of 2018.

Richard Jeffery, Director of Business Growth, The Growth Company, commented: “As soon as Andrew Griffiths was appointed in January, I extended a personal invitation to his office, offering him the opportunity to visit and to find out more about the support we provide to businesses across Greater Manchester.

“Today has been a fantastic opportunity to show how innovative approaches to business support are helping entrepreneurs to make their dreams of starting and growing a successful business reality. SMEs are the engine room for the UK economy, and growth hubs like ours are crucial in ensuring today’s SMEs survive and thrive.

“We were also able to talk about some of the work we’re doing across the North, like leading the network of Northern growth hubs to help boost productivity in SMEs across the whole of the region. Andrew Griffiths was particularly interested in our national work, including our mentoring programme that is increasing productivity in the manufacturing sector.”

Martin Shepherd, JA Harrison, commented: “It was fantastic to have the opportunity to discuss the issues that really matter to businesses like JA Harrison with the minister. I was proud to sit alongside the other SMEs at the roundtable, talking about how Greater Manchester is leading the way in tackling issues like productivity, skills, and more recently the impact of Brexit.”

Small Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said: “This Government is fully behind the entrepreneurs delivering jobs, growth and greater choice for consumers. I was pleased to visit the Greater Manchester growth hub to see how it is supporting local SMEs to start up and grow.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, with over 1,000 being created every day across the country, and in the North West supporting nearly 1.3 million jobs and generating revenues of £111 billion. Through our Industrial Strategy, we are building a Britain in which they will continue to thrive.”

The spirit of Seattle comes to Manchester

Sam Whitear
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Thomas Cook Airlines’ inaugural flight from Manchester airport to Seattle departed on Sunday morning  to an American jazz-themed event.

The twice-weekly direct flight from Manchester will operate throughout summer until September 20 2018. It is Thomas Cook Airlines’ latest direct long-haul route from the airport, taking the airline’s number of seats on sale from Manchester to over three million.

Thomas Cook Airlines has a fleet of 19 aircraft based at the airport, including its A330 long-haul fleet – it is Manchester airport’s largest long-haul airline.

During summer 18 and winter 18/19, Thomas Cook Airlines will fly to 70 destinations from Manchester, 17 of which are direct long-haul routes with Seattle taking its US total to seven – the largest number of stateside routes of any airline from the airport.

The 250 lucky customers on Sunday’s inaugural flight were swept up in the Seattle spirit at check-in with an invitation to a gate celebration. At the gate, a jazz band created a party atmosphere and pilots and cabin crew joined in the celebrations. A special cake was cut for all to enjoy and with Seattle the famous birthplace of Starbucks, customers enjoyed free Starbucks coffee with their cake.

Paul Hutchings, Managing Director of Operations at Thomas Cook Airlines said: “Manchester is our long-haul hub in the UK and we are looking forward to a successful new route in Seattle. It’s fantastic that we are able to mark the occasion with a lively airport event for customers.

“As well as a fantastic destination in its own right, we have seen 43 per cent of bookings for Seattle have a feeder destination at either end with one of our partner airlines, with the most popular including Portland, Salt Lake City and Honolulu. Our number of feeder destinations has grown by 30 per cent over the last two years. This highlights that our growing number of interline agreements enable our customers to explore the world when flying with us from Manchester airport.”

Stephen Turner, Commercial Director at Manchester Airport, said: “Everyone at Manchester Airport is delighted to see direct flights to Seattle commence from the UK’s global gateway in the North.

“In the UK this route, alongside a host of our other long-haul destinations, can only be found at Manchester Airport outside of London. It cements our position as the UK’s Northern hub and will unlock a host of economic, trade and tourism opportunities for the North.

“I hope everyone on the inaugural flight enjoyed their USA themed send off and we look forward to continuing to work closely with Thomas Cook Airlines as they grow and add more routes from Manchester.”

NES Global Talent reaches 40th year milestone in the energy industry

Sam Whitear
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NES Global Talent (NES), one of the world’s largest engineering workforce providers and with an office in Manchester, is announcing the celebration of the organisation’s 40th anniversary servicing the Energy industry. The company has grown throughout the years and now boasts 10,000-plus mobilisations, 8,000-plus active contractors, 750-plus employees and 45-plus offices servicing 28 countries.

“Our customers are the centre of everything that we do and I’m so pleased that we’ve been able to offer our quality services across the oil and gas, power, construction and infrastructure, life sciences, manufacturing, chemical and mining sectors worldwide for four decades,” said Tig Gilliam, CEO. “These industries have changed dramatically in the last 40 years, and so has the way to properly staff them. The knowledge that our organisation has gained throughout this time has allowed us to learn and grow with these industries, staying ahead of trends, and always providing the top talent and workforce solutions to alleviate any pain points for our customers.”

NES, who recently received the Best International Recruitment Agency award at the 2018 Recruiter Awards, has industry and discipline-specific trained Staffing Consultants based around the world, to stay close to candidates and clients. Most recently they announced the opening of an office in Midland, Texas to service the booming energy business in the Permian Basin.

World Tai Chi event raises £1,300 for Salford homeless charity

Sam Whitear
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An event to celebrate World Tai Chi Day at MediaCityUK has raised £1,300 for homelessness charity Emmaus Salford.

MediaCityUK was the venue for a World Tai Chi Day event with more than 300 attendees coming together for a mass tai chi performance, workshops and demonstrations. The event, supported by MediaCityUK, raised over £1300 for this year’s nominated charity, Emmaus Salford.

Stephen Wild, Managing Director of MediaCityUK said: “We’re always delighted to support the World Tai Chi Day as it is such an inspirational day which brings people together at the same time all across the world.”

World Tai Chi Day is celebrated across the globe. In each country, at 10am local time, tai chi is performed in city parks, tiny village halls, sports centres or beaches – sending a wave of tai chi energy around the world. 2018 is the 20th international World Tai Chi Day and the sixth year an event has been held in Salford.

Simon Locke, Community Director of Emmaus Salford, said: “We are delighted that Emmaus Salford was selected as this year’s nominated charity to benefit from the World Tai Chi Day event at MediaCityUK. I would like to thank everyone who took part in the event and give special thanks to the team at MediaCityUK for their ongoing support of Emmaus Salford.”

Emmaus Salford supports formerly homeless people by providing them with a home and work in a community setting. The charity operates shops at Fitzwarren Street and Seaford Road in Salford, as well as the Emmaus Emporium in Swinton, stocking good quality, affordable furniture, household goods, clothes, textiles, books and vintage wares.

TickX Partners with Lancashire Cricket and Emirates Old Trafford

Sam Whitear
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 TickX, the UK’s leading search engine and discovery platform for events and attractions tickets, has agreed an exciting new partnership with Lancashire Cricket and the award-winning Emirates Old Trafford venue, as it continues to bolster its sports offering.

The partnership will see the Club’s international and domestic fixtures feature on the ever-growing TickX search engine platform, providing Lancashire Cricket and Emirates Old Trafford with a new wider and larger marketing channel opportunity to bring even more fans to the £60 million redeveloped Emirates Old Trafford.

Fans will benefit as TickX pulls results from more than 75 ticket-selling platforms, including Ticketmaster, Eventim and See Tickets, and displays them in one place, so they will always get the best-priced tickets available.

As part of the agreement, TickX has also partnered with ticketing engagement platform SecuTix, who have recently announced a new contract with Lancashire Cricket to become its ticketing system provider.

The new partnership underlines TickX’s commitment to give fans of all sports a one-stop destination to find and buy the best tickets, with further sporting partnerships to be announced soon.

Steve Pearce, TickX co-founder and CEO, said: “We’re delighted to announce the partnerships with Lancashire Cricket and SecuTix. Lancashire is a forward-thinking club who want to open up new channels to market. The team at SecuTix has also been a pleasure to work with and it was an easy decision to partner with their market-leading ticket engagement platform. We’re committed to partnering with clubs and stadiums across all sports to make it easier than ever for fans to get the best-priced tickets available.”

Jonathon Nuttall, Head of Ticketing and Digital Systems at Lancashire Cricket, said: “The game of cricket is entering a key phase of its development. We’ve been preparing for this with changes to our providers, and the way we approach the sales of tickets across all of our events, to existing, lapsed and new audiences. TickX provides us with a new route to market, and as they develop their offering to buyers, we hope to grow our supporter base alongside them.”

David Hornby, SecuTix: UK MD, added: “It’s fantastic to see our client Lancashire Cricket partner with TickX to bring their events to a wider audience. Our agile platform has integrated easily with the TickX system. This means that customers coming through TickX will experience the same seamless journey as fans who buy direct from the club do. And ultimately, this will help in the efforts to turn first-time visitors into long-term loyal cricket fans.”

In addition to sports, TickX also allows customers to find and buy tickets to over 125,000 events and attractions, including gigs, comedy, theatre, festivals and club nights, with over one million customers using TickX last year to plan their day or night out.

TickX is available to customers across UK, Ireland and Spain online or via the TickX app, with further expansion across Europe coming soon.

Manchester Airport celebrates 80th birthday

Sam Whitear
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Manchester Airport has announced a wide-ranging programme of activity to celebrate its 80th birthday with passengers, communities and colleagues past and present.

The airport’s “oak” anniversary celebrations will emphasise its regional roots and global branches, telling the story of its evolution from a single wooden hut in 1938 to the UK’s third largest airport today.

Activities took place either side of Manchester Airport’s official birthday, on June 25, and also looked forward to how the gateway will be transformed through the £1bn investment programme currently underway.

The airport is also set to open up the archives and curate a special exhibition of artefacts from across the decades. These include old airline memorabilia, uniforms and antique luggage scales, some not being seen for many years. These will go on display at the airport’s Runway Visitor Park for its thousands of visitors to see, free of charge.

Manchester Airport has also partnered with airline KLM, who operated the first commercial flight on 27 June 1938 to Amsterdam via Doncaster. The Dutch national carrier is planning a range of activities to celebrate this milestone with its passengers.

The airport has made a pledge to plant 80 oak trees around the region, working community organisations to decide the locations for them.

Andrew Cowan, CEO of Manchester Airport said: “Marking 80 years is a milestone everyone at the airport is incredibly proud of. As we look back, it is clear to see Manchester is a totally different airport to when it first opened in 1938, but we have never lost sight of our local roots and the important role we play in the lives of those living and working around us.

“As passenger numbers have grown, along with the number of places we fly to, so have the benefits we deliver to the region, in terms of the number of jobs created, businesses supported through our investment or the trade and tourism links we provide.

“I look forward to the coming years and seeing the airport develop through our £1bn transformation programme that will see Manchester continue to be a world-class airport for all of the North.”

The Leader of Manchester City Council, Sir Richard Leese, said: “Manchester Airport is integral to the city’s prosperity and future growth, helping us to attract investment from around the globe and create jobs, while connecting international visitors with everything we have to offer.  It’s also a really important local employer, so it’s fitting that staff from the Airport will be joining us for the Manchester Day parade, as part of the 80th anniversary celebrations for this vital asset to Manchester.”

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