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Wednesday, August 6, 2025
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Champion Accountants appoints new client manager

Sam Whitear
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Manchester-based Business advisory group, Champion Accountants, has appointed a new client manager at its Preston office.

Jonathan Robinson rejoins the practice in Riversway after previously working for Champion Accountants for four years before moving into industry as an in-house financial controller with a North West manufacturer and distributor of pipeline inspection systems.

Jonathan said: “I wanted exposure to both industry and practice, which has given me the chance to see both perspectives and also the challenges and opportunities that come with running your own business.”

Shortly before joining Mini-Cam in Warrington, the business received private equity investment from LDC to support an MBO. Jonathan’s remit was to professionalise the organisation by introducing robust structures, governance and processes found in modern businesses and providing accurate, timely and detailed management reporting and monthly accounts, which assisted in preparing Mini-Cam for LDC’s eventual exit and a successful £85m acquisition by listed company, Halma.

Jonathan adds: “The experience that I bring back to Champion is invaluable, especially around sales and acquisitions in the private equity market and I’m looking forward to working closely with different businesses to help them to improve their end to end operations and achieve their strategic goals and growth plans.”

As client manager, Jonathan’s role at Champion Accountants is to support and advise a growing portfolio of start-ups and SMEs, across all sectors, as well as private individuals.

Group managing partner, Ged Cosgrove, added: “We’re all delighted to welcome Jonathan back to the team. He brings real experience from the client’s perspective and is already delivering new, exciting ideas and solutions.

“Our entire team is hand-picked on their ability to deliver exceptional service and add value to our clients and Jonathan will play a big part in driving Preston and the wider Champion Group forward.”

Church Wharf developer named

Sam Whitear
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The key developer who will lead the regeneration of Church Wharf has been announced by Bolton Council today at an international property event.

Muse Developments will work on the transformation of one of the five key sites in the council’s billion-pound town centre masterplan, which was unveiled last September.

The announcement was made at MIPIM 2018, in Cannes, by Director of Place Stephen Young at an event hosted by Channel 4’s George Clarke. The panel also included Mike Horner from Muse Developments, and cricketer and developer Andrew Flintoff.

Ambitions for Church Wharf include creating a distinctive residential neighbourhood that brings together hundreds of new homes all woven together by high quality new public spaces as well as a new pedestrian route along the River Croal.

Muse Developments specialises in working with landowners and the public sector to bring about sustainable regeneration and urban renewal.

Muse will now work up a scheme in line with the council’s masterplan vision.

The masterplan contains proposals to redevelop the town centre up to 2030 and beyond. It includes creating 1,800 new homes, 7,400 new jobs and generating economic activity worth an additional £412 million over five sites.

Deputy Leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Ebrahim Adia, said: “We are really pleased that Muse will lead on the regeneration of Church Wharf.

“They have a great track record of creating spaces that are both commercially successful and also popular with the public.

“Our town centre vision is bold and exciting but we know it cannot be delivered by the council in isolation.

“To achieve regeneration on the scale we require the help of our private sector partners, and the team at Muse has an excellent track record of delivering high quality creative schemes.

“Church Wharf is a key gateway into Bolton town centre and we want to see regeneration taking place there as soon as possible.”

Director at Muse Developments, Phil Mayall, added: “We are excited to work on a scheme that has so much potential. Bolton is a forward-thinking council that wants to bring real change to the town.

“We have been tracking the project for a long time, so it will be great to begin to get the wheels in motion.

“However, we are at the start of a long journey – at this stage all options will be analysed and considered and we will be working closely with the council to get the plans right for the town.  Local residents, businesses and stakeholders will also be consulted as proposals emerge.”

The council also recently sought feedback on a draft Supplementary Planning Document for the Church Wharf area and the responses to the consultation are now being reviewed.

Once approved, the document will be used to guide the redevelopment of the site.

It is anticipated that some initial preparation work including site clearance could take place in the coming months.

Muse is aiming to submit a planning application for a scheme by the end of the year.

Equilibrium smashes half year target with £80m net asset wins

Sam Whitear
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Equilibrium Asset Management has surpassed its half year target of £50 million net asset wins – by £30m.

The Wilmslow-based wealth management company landed £80m of net asset wins in six months and is aiming to replicate the feat in the second half of its financial year.

Managing Partner Gaynor Rigby described the milestone – which comes weeks after Equilibrium was named in the top 10 best small companies to work for in the UK by The Sunday Times for the second consecutive year – as ‘phenomenal’.

Equilibrium, which also has an office in Chester, currently manages over £750 million of assets for over 1,000 families.

Gaynor said: “To surpass our half year target of £50m with £80m net asset wins is nothing short of phenomenal and comes down to our exceptional service.

“We continue to see an increase in the number of and size of portfolios that we are asked to look after – in the last six months alone we’ve taken on six clients with over £2 million, and another half dozen with over £1 million.”

Equilibrium now employs 72 staff and turned over more than £7 million at the end of its last fiscal year in 2017.

The company specialises in all areas of wealth management, investment, pensions, tax planning and estate planning and works with high-net-worth individuals, couples and families.

Equilibrium Owner and Founder Colin Lawson said the company’s ethos is to develop long-term, bespoke financial plans for clients that ‘give them confidence for the future’.

He added: “Since the company was founded in 1995 there has always been a vision for sustained growth. We look to constantly evolve and adapt whilst allowing us to deliver the best and most efficient service to our clients.”

NVM Private Equity leads £5m development capital investment in high growth e-commerce business CURRENTBODY to fuel domestic and international expansion

Sam Whitear
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NVM Private Equity (NVM) has led a £5m growth capital minority investment into Manchester based CURRENTBODY, an online retailer for home-use beauty devices. Having achieved exceptional sales growth in the last year, the investment will help support its next phase of expansion, allowing the company to accelerate its strategic initiatives and support working capital requirements.

Co-founded by Laurence Newman and Andrew Showman, CURRENTBODY.com is the only website specialising in beauty devices for home use. Recently named number 22 in the Northern Tech 100 – a rank of the top 100 fastest growing tech companies in the North – this growth is not only a reflection of CURRENTBODY being the pioneers in beauty device e-commerce but also demonstrates the rapid progress of the at-home beauty technology sector.

The global beauty devices market is expected to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.1% during the period 2017 – 2023 according to P&S Market Research, and is estimated to be worth $94.4bn by 2023. Safe, effective devices allow consumers to access the same advanced technology used by professionals in salons, spas, and clinics – but in the comfort of their own home, in their own time and in most cases at a fraction of the price.

Home to the biggest brands, including L’Oreal’s market leading Clarisonic, NuFACE, SmoothSkin, Tria, Wellbox, iluminage, FOREO and more, CURRENTBODY are truly thought leaders in this niche area of beauty. With a live web chat function to give personal expert advice, experienced customer support staff, and a range of ‘how to’ videos and rich content, CURRENTBODY offers the largest selection of clinically proven electrical health and beauty products in the world.

Co-founder and CEO of CURRENTBODY, Laurence Newman, said: “Our partnership with NVM is a significant step in developing our unique product offering internationally whilst continuing UK growth.  The team at NVM shared our vision and most importantly immediately understood the market opportunity of a pure-play beauty technology platform, making them an ideal cultural fit. Working with NVM will accelerate our ambition to provide the largest selection of clinically proven, at-home health and beauty technology in the world.  Exceptional product knowledge in this niche area of beauty and excellent customer care from our team has been so important to our success so far, NVM’s support will further ensure that those high levels remain as we expand.”

Liam May, Investment Manager of NVM Private Equity said: “CURRENTBODY has enjoyed exceptional growth over the past few years, driven by an energetic and ambitious management team with a deep understanding of the beauty market. We are excited to support the company’s next phase of growth, establishing itself as the market leading e-commerce platform for beauty devices in the UK and across the globe.”

Call Collective relaunches its two leading conference call platforms

Sam Whitear
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 Leading Manchester-based telecommunications business, Call Collective has today announced the relaunch of its two conference call platforms – free to use WHYPAY? and HD video and web conferencing service, Call.Group.

The relaunch sees the creation of two fresh conference call interfaces with brand new features and rebranded websites which offer improved functionality and user experience.

WHYPAY? will continue to offer genuinely free conference calls to its customers and has introduced a new free web-conferencing feature. 150,000 users enjoyed the benefits of the platform last year, using over 37 million minutes of conference call time for free.

Call.Group is Call Collective’s new white labelled conference call solution for businesses of all sectors and sizes which offers a premium, fully customisable audio and visual conference call experience. The platform provides advanced conferencing features such as HD video streaming, screen sharing, audio and video recording, automatic text transcription and much more.

Kieron James, Managing Director of Call Collective comments; “We are always looking at new technology and ways to improve the user experience and we felt the time was right to reinvest in both of our platforms.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth in demand for both platforms; amongst companies which want a tailor made, advanced conference call solution for their business and similarly those who are seeking a quick and easy way to generate a genuinely free conference call, without getting stung by the often hidden charge of other providers.

“The updates to Call.Group and WHYPAY? are fully optimised to support and enhance this growth and we’re excited to share two of the most useable and advanced interfaces on the market.”

The news comes as the Manchester-based telephone conference provider WHYPAY? announced it saved UK callers a total of £7.6 million in 2017 and was rated as one of the top 10 telecommunications providers on review site Trustpilot with an average customer feedback score of 97 per cent.

Tecmark appoints new Search Strategy Director

Sam Whitear
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Tecmark, the SEO and content marketing agency in Manchester, has recently appointed Tino Triste as their Search Strategy Director, placing him primarily in charge of the agency’s service delivery and strategy. Tino has 12 valuable years of experience in digital marketing and SEO and has spent the last three years helping The Co-operative Group deliver its SEO strategy and major rebrand.

Since 2014 he has worked within the Co-operative’s digital marketing team as its senior SEO manager, main duties involved being in charge of the Group’s search and content optimisation strategies, as well as overseeing and supporting the change of domains and CMS platforms as a result of the Co-op rebrand. Prior to joining the Co-op’s digital team, he has held senior SEO positions at media agencies such as Carat and McCann Manchester.

Tino plans to bring over his extensive knowledge in his field over to Tecmark, where he will place a strong emphasis on the agency’s delivery processes and support the account management team to continue delivering a first-class, personalised service. Tino will be redefining the content and outreach strategies to help clients increase their topical authority in the industries they operate in.

“Tecmark is renowned for being a digital agency with a creative edge. I’m very excited about the opportunity to work with clients in lead generation sectors; to help build a strong business that is passionate about its clients; and for the chance to set strategies that are search and conversion led.” He adds, highlighting his excitement surrounding joining the agency and for what the future holds.

Tecmark is a multi-award winning SEO and Content Marketing agency based in the centre of one of the UK’s leading cities in marketing, Manchester. The agency celebrates a 10 year strong successful business unit and prides themselves in ‘not doing anything unless they believe they can add genuine value’.

Richard Heyes, Managing Director of Tecmark is also pleased about the latest addition to the team: “we had a really strong end to last year, and growth continued into quarter one, this meant we needed to strengthen at senior level”

“Tino has a wealth of experience both in-house and within agencies, he has a track record for delivering strong organic search results, and he shares my vision of how an agency should service clients. I’m confident our clients and other members of the team will benefit from Tino’s experience and enthusiasm for organic search.”

Tino will report to Richard and will have a large proportion of say in the proceedings of the agency moving forward. The organisation that has travelled from strength to strength in the past decade can only expect more of the same following the successful appointment of their newest Search Strategy Director.

 

APAM agrees strategic partnership and  major investment from Catella

Sam Whitear
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APAM, the leading independent UK real estate asset and investment manager, announces that it is to become part of the Catella group of companies; completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

Catella is a leading European specialist in property investment, fund management and banking, with operations in 14 countries; it is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm in the mid cap segment. Catella and APAM will have combined assets under management of c. £18 billion.

Under the terms of the transaction, Catella AB through Catella Property Fund Management (CPFM) is acquiring 75% of the share capital of APAM for a total consideration of £18 million, on a debt and cash free basis. APAM’s founder shareholders and executive directors, Simon Cooke and William Powell, will own the remainder of APAM’s equity and are committed to the company for at least another five years.

David Russell, on completion, will step down as a non-executive director and sell his stake in APAM to focus on his business interests in Manchester and the North West.

APAM will continue to pursue its successful UK growth strategy and will be independently run by its current management team, led by Simon and William. The co-operation between Catella and APAM will start immediately. Management from both companies anticipate significant opportunities to strengthen their offering to international investors by leveraging the combined pan-European reach the two companies can provide.

Simon Cooke, founding shareholder and executive director, said: “This transaction brings together two great names in property investment management and Catella AB’s strategic investment provides us with an even stronger platform for growth. Will and I will continue to lead and drive the APAM business – it will be very much ‘business as usual’. We have enjoyed building APAM over the last eight years and look forward to working with Catella AB to leverage the new opportunities that this partnership brings.”

William Powell, founding shareholder and executive director, added: “Joining forces with Catella AB, marks the start of an exciting new chapter in APAM’s development, providing our clients with access to best-in-class advisers across 15 countries and an even more extensive range of services. By combining our strengths, this strategic partnership delivers significant potential to grow our business and our international client base, as well as opportunities for our team.”

Knut Pedersen, CEO of Catella AB, commented: “As a leading company within the strategically important UK market, APAM constitutes a key piece in Catella’s ambition to build a pan-European platform within our Property Investment Management business area, which has been our focus for the last four years.” 

Timo Nurminen, Head of Property Investment Management at Catella, said: “Catella Property Investment Management has continuously strengthened its competitive position over the last years. “We are impressed by the strong risk adjusted return APAM generates for its clients and are delighted to expand our offering for our clients in UK. Catella’s clients, in particular our Asian office’s, will be able to expand their pan-European allocation with a significant share allocated to the UK.”

The Real Estate M&A team at PricewaterhouseCoopers led by Simon Hampton and Mark Gunalan acted as financial advisors to APAM Ltd and its shareholders. EY advised Catella AB on the acquisition. Forsters and Reed Smith were legal advisors to the sellers and buyers respectively.

Simon Hampton, Real Estate Deals Leader at PwC, stated: “The acquisition of a majority shareholding in APAM Ltd by Catella AB is of strategic significance to both parties. We (PwC) were able to leverage our network to find Simon Cooke and William Powell, the co-founders and remaining shareholders of APAM a strategic partner in Catella AB to drive the next phase of APAM’s growth priorities. This transaction is an example of the continuing theme of consolidation within the global Real Estate Investment Management industry.”

Local firm becomes founding member of national Police Cyber Security Initiative

Sam Whitear
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North-West based Xcina Ltd. has become one of seven founding members of the UK’s first police-backed digital certification scheme, led by the London Digital Security Centre (LDSC) in partnership with Secured by Design (SBD), the national Police Crime Prevention initiative. The founding members will receive police preferred status if standards and behaviours are met.

The two-part certification scheme, supported by The Metropolitan and City of London Police and The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), will help British businesses navigate the complexity of cyber security. At the heart of the certification is Cyber Essentials, a Government-backed industry-supported scheme to help organisations protect themselves against common online threats.

As part of the London stock exchange listed, digital resilience group, Shearwater Group plc, Xcina Ltd. helps companies protect their critical information assets by preparing them for the increasing legislative and regulatory demands on how data is held and processed and the on-going monitoring, analysis, detection and response to cyber threats.

The certification scheme is divided into two awards. The first award, Secured by Design – Police Preferred Specification, will assess and verify cyber security suppliers to ensure supply chains are resilient.

The second award, Digitally Aware – Secured By Design, is an educational initiative designed to help SBD members improve their protection against cyber crime. Using a risk assessment tool and an award scheme, the LDSC will educate members on implementing basic measures and promoting good security within their organisations.

Kevin Porter, Business Development Director, Xcina, said: “As a provider of digital, operational and regulatory resilience services and solutions, Xcina is delighted to be one of the first to join the Secured By Design (SBD) Police Crime Prevention initiative, as it broadens its focus to include cyber protection and combatting the growing cyber crime threat.

“Xcina was founded with professional behaviours and ethical working practices as core aspects of its values and these values complement those required by the SBD initiative.  We are confident that our participation could benefit customers and the communities and partners we work with in creating greater resilience within the secure environments they use to live and work.

Guy Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer, Secured by Design, commented: “Police Crime Prevention initiatives have always responded to developing and emerging crime patterns with innovation and creativity. We are delighted to be working closely with the London Digital Security Centre to develop new techniques that will better support people and businesses online.”

Chris Diogenous, Chief Commercial Officer at the LDSC, added: “Almost half of small businesses in the UK have been the victims of cyber crime in the past 12 months, yet the overwhelming majority of cyber attacks can be prevented using simple measures.

“For the first time, UK businesses can demonstrate that they have taken the necessary measures to protect the data they hold and reduce their overall vulnerability to cyber crime.”

The London Digital Security Centre is a not for profit organisation founded by the Mayor of London as a joint venture with the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police. The Centre works alongside the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre (ActionFraud) to help prevent businesses being the victims of cyber crime. The London Digital Security Centre provides free impartial advice and support to businesses to help improve their digital security and enable them to work in a secure online environment.

 

WhiteNoise Media Produce Music Video For Manchester Band Yes Lad

Sam Whitear
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Manchester-based, WhiteNoise Media, has been appointed to produce and direct their second music video for Manchester band Yes Lad, as seen on X Factor 2016. Directed by Lee Holdsworth, the video is for the band’s third single, entitled ‘NADA’.

WhiteNoise also directed the music video for Yes Lad’s previous single, ‘Something More’, which has received over 210,000 YouTube views. Nigel Martin-Smith, manager of Yes Lad and former Take That manager, returned to WhiteNoise following the positive reception of ‘Something More’.

The video was filmed in a run-down Victorian mansion-cum-club in Manchester, creating the notion of a huge, fun house party. Footage was also shot on green screen, with visual effects and bright colour backgrounds added in post. Shots were transformed to look like Super 8 camera footage, paying homage to retro videography. The grade was done in Da Vinci Resolve, enhancing the pink and blue neon colour wash for a very stylised look.

Yes Lad wanted to step away from the ‘boyband’ stereotype, and so WhiteNoise were tasked with producing a creative that didn’t adhere to conventional pop videos. The video features everything from drag queens to a 5 year old rapper, with art direction including antique Greek statues, fake plants and animal heads.

Nigel Martin-Smith, manager of Yes Lad, said: “Yes Lad are getting more and more fans with their uplifting electro dance sound and Nada is going down well on the radio. We wanted a video that would stand out from the rest and I think we have achieved that. I am based in Manchester and I always try to use Northern companies where possible. WhiteNoise have done a great job.”

Lee Holdsworth, CEO of WhiteNoise Media said: “This is the second time we have worked with Nigel and the boys from Yes Lad, they have loads of energy and make the process a lot of fun.”

Students hail pioneering Manchester hotel mentoring scheme

Sam Whitear
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Hospitality students have hailed a pioneering scheme that allows them valuable insights into life as a general manager at some of Manchester’s high-profile hotels.

The Manchester Hoteliers’ Association (MHA) and Manchester Metropolitan University (Manchester Met) mentor initiative kicked-off towards the end of 2017 has since seen 12 students paired with bosses of some city’s big hotels.

Talented final year BA (Hons) Hospitality Business Management students have been learning a range of direct general manager skills including forecasting, payroll, overview costs, RevPAR and online digital marketing.

Hospitality Business Management student Rosemary Troop has been shadowing Radisson Edwardian boss Stephen Miles.

She said: “I think the scheme is fantastic due to facilitating the theory learnt in our units into a real-life setting. I have been lucky to have a very pro-active and engaged mentor, that has really been open to discussions topics and has worked hard to introduce me to some of his contacts in the industry to widen my network and further my growth.”

MHA Chair Adrian Ellis and Chris Mitchell, Principal Lecturer at Manchester Met, are behind the initiative which they say has been designed to attract students to careers in the hotel industry – but more importantly retain talent.

Adrian, who is also a mentor in his day-to-day role as The Lowry Hotel General Manager, said: “I’ve had some very engaging meetings with final year Manchester Met student Kenneth Smith who is keen to get as much insight into what goes into managing hotel as possible.

“What’s great about this scheme is that general managers can learn from the students too.

“Manchester is a fantastic city that is full of high calibre hotels and the students are working alongside some great general managers.

“While it is challenging for them as they continue with their dissertations and final year study, we introduced this scheme to gain experience and create a pathway into a fantastic career.”

Principal Lecturer at Manchester Met Chris Mitchell described keeping graduates in the hospitality sector as ‘vital’.

“The feedback so far from all 12 students and general managers has been fantastic. We are trying to develop the best possible graduates we can and retain that talent in the industry. It’s about the providing the right quality and level that the industry is looking for. And we need to make sure the programme reflects that – which we believe it does.

“We are also looking for further discussion about how we continue to take this forward and develop the programme.”

 

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