Caroline Douglas has taken over from Mervyn Stephenson as Manchester’s representative in Kuala Lumpur. Previously with the British Tourist Authority as country manager for Malaysia, she has taken on a two-year contract from April.

Douglas will be building on the growing links between Manchester and Malaysia to secure the greatest economic benefits from the Commonwealth Games coming to Manchester. These include a Manchester Chamber of Commerce & Industry trade mission scheduled for November and other activities which build on last year’s successful Manchester in Malaysia Week

New start for Japan Centre

The Greater Manchester Centre for Japanese Studies is celebrating a new start, with a new name and a move to a prestigious new premises. The Japan Centre officially opened in June at Waterloo Place in Oxford Road. A partnership between the Greater Manchester universities, the Japan Centre’s main activities are teaching Japanese, supporting Japanese students at Manchester’s universities; developing relationships between the North West and Japan and building links with local Japanese communities. They are also agents for the Japanese work placement scheme, Keiken UK.

Funding for the Japan Centre was raised through a campaign supported by the Osaka Chamber of Commerce, Japan Banpaku organisation, BNFL, Manchester University, The Greater Manchester Japan Club (Japanese alumni), Manchester City Council, MIDAS and the Osaka Manchester Forum trade missions and Sharp Electronics For further information, contact Zoe Talks at the Japan Centre on 0161 275 2305/3255, or fax 0161 275 3354 or email: zoe.talks@man.ac.uk.

Manchester champions creative industries at world congress

Manchester City Council took part in the World Bank’s World Competitive Cities Congress in May, held at its Washington headquarters. The City Council presented a case study of innovative work in using information and communications technologies to underpin the City’s economic regeneration. In a paper entitled “Harnessing Multimedia for Economic Development, Public Service Delivery, Education, Cultural Innovation” the City promoted its leading role in the creative and new media industries.

The presentation outlined Manchester’s emerging dynamic supply chain, demonstrated by developments as diverse as the conversion of redundant warehouses by innovative property developers and local architects into accommodation for design, software and multimedia companies; the clubs where many of the UK’s leading music groups have emerged and the cafŽ bars and restaurants fitted out by young designers.

It described Manchester as a “seedbed of youth enterprise and creativity”, citing the presence of strong universities as a major influence and underlining the importance of providing opportunities for students to remain. “Creative industries are important in their own right,” the paper concluded, “but they are also a source of innovative capital investment, of ideas and communication, which is so vital to the future”

North West’s top 100 companies

Manchester TEC has published a guide to the North West’s top 100 companies in 1999, giving a unique insight to the region’s economic base. The guide contains complete profiles of the businesses, including number of employees, trading figures, parent company information and details of web site addresses. In addition, company addresses and contact names can be supplied on disk or labels For further information contact Manchester TEC information department on 0161 237 4000

North West partnership with China

The China Gateway North West Project – approved in December 1995 under a Regional Challenge bid, with a total cost of approximately £3 million – is now approaching a crucial stage in its development. Set up as a partnership with Manchester City Council, Manchester Chamber of Commerce and Business Link, UMIST Ventures/China Technology Link, Chinese Marketing & Communications, Manchester TEC, and Yangtze Enterprises, its remit was to “deliver lasting commercial, cultural, and civic links between the North West of England and China.” The project in its present form has come to an end and agreement has been reached to extend the China Gateway influence and support by closer involvement with the newly-established Regional Development Agency. The model being developed is a North West Trade Company for China, which has as its key objectives:-.
- Maximise trade levels between companies in the North West and China to secure and create local employment.
- Increase the amount and improve the quality of trade support to China available to North West companies. l Attract maximum investment from China to the North West.
- Assist development of Chinese businesses in the region.
- Provide a potent, co-ordinated, and high quality service to businesses.

Leading this initiative is Brian McCann, former chairman of China Gateway North West Advisory Board, – a leading member of the Asia Pacific Advisory Group to the UK Government – and Kath Robinson, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, who has been long associated with Manchester’s special relationship with Wuhan City in Central China. The “new” company will operate across the whole of the North West as a public/private sector agency.

Kath Robinson said the new organisation had the potential to stimulate trade and promote business, cultural, and community to community links with China. “It can become a robust and sustainable organisation with local government support, in the North West, thus strengthening the UK’s overall trading position with China.”

In supporting a new model organisation, the RDA will be building on a secure base. The resident Chinese Community, alongside the endeavours of local authorities, educational institutions and the business community, have given the North West a specific China focus. This unique partnership has already attracted the interest of the UK government and the Local Authorities International Bureau, which is holding a one-day event to promote UK/China links in early September. This will coincide with a China in Britain campaign, to be launched shortly by the Chinese Embassy in London, fitting in with UK National and European Union ventures

Tale of two cities

While Manchester United was winning an historic treble in Barcelona, City leaders were signing an historic agreement signalling the beginning of a strategic alliance between the two cities.

The agreement is the idea of Marketing Manchester, the City’s marketing agency. Professor Bob Boucher, the agency’s chairman, said: “I am delighted we have been able to bring together two great European cities with much in common. Like Manchester, Barcelona is at the heart of a diverse region with great potential.” Indeed, both cities have looked to major sporting events as a route to regeneration. Since the 1992 Olympic Games tourism in Barcelona has doubled, and direct foreign investment increased by 43.7 per cent in 1998.

The two cities will work together in exchanging experiences, encompassing the organisation of key events, public/private sector collaborations, culture, airport management, tourism and city marketing.

A team from Marketing Manchester spent a week in Barcelona’s main tourist information office in May promoting Manchester to both the people of Barcelona and the thousands of people visiting the city for the European Cup Final, the Spanish Motor show and the Formula 1 Grand Prix

Wuhan winners

Manchester City Council led a sport and leisure delegation to Wuhan from this summer to explore cooperation opportunities with Wuhan designers, architects and sport sector companies working on the development of a major sports complex in the city. During the visit, Council representatives met with the Beijing State Sport General Administration Bureau, re-established relationships with the China People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the China Council for Promotion for International Trade. More importantly, the mission provided a first-hand opportunity for British companies to experience the potential and business opportunities of this vast market

The latest development in this growing relationship is a high profile delegation to Osaka, on October 19-24 this year. The Trade Mission is being led by MIDAS, Marketing Manchester and the North West Business Leadership Team.

Tremendous opportunities are to be gained from developing links with Osaka. The Kansai region of Japan has a greater GDP than Canada, and the Osaka Chamber of Commerce is one of the strongest and most active in Japan Ð reflecting the region’s numerous world class businesses.

Sir David Trippier, chairman of OMF: Kansai/North West England Business Forum (OMF’98) said: “Secured commitments from Zeneca, BNFL and British Telecom will provide a formidable assembly of major North West business leaders. The fact that links are already in place gives this year’s trade mission an ideal platform on which to establish tangible business benefits”.

OMF’98 has been arranged to provide North West businesses with the opportunity to present their expertise in innovative and high quality technology, and meet the needs of businesses in the Kansai region. MIDAS is centrally involved in OMF, as part of its role to attract increasing levels of inward investment to Manchester, Salford, Tameside and Trafford.

There are already numerous Japanese businesses in the area, including Brother, Sharp and Kratos Analytical (Shimadzu), and OMF provides an ideal mechanism to present the strengths of the area to potential investors.

Organisations interested in joining the delegation to Japan should contact the OMF project director, Julia Richardson, at MIDAS on 0161 877 3000

Call goes out to call centres

MIDAS and Manchester TEC have teamed up to maximise benefits to the local economy from the many call centre operations based in the Manchester area. Both organisations are looking to involve as many companies in the industry as possible in the launch of the Manchester Call Centre Forum this September.

The first step in the process is a market research programme being carried out among locally-based call centre operations by independent organisation, Questions Answered. By the beginning of June 50 firms had been contacted, but MIDAS and Manchester TEC are keen to ensure that no-one is left out.

The aim of the research programme is to identify needs, opinions and attitudes of call centre managers, in order to tackle issues such as recruitment and retention of staff, and training requirements.

Jackie Wilson of MIDAS said: “This is very much a two-way process. We are examining ways of providing the right assistance to call centre operations. The more this industry thrives, the greater the benefits to the local economy”. MIDAS will launch a major call centre campaign later this year.

If your business has a call centre operation, and you have not yet been contacted, please speak to Jackie Wilson at MIDAS on 0161 877 3000

Investing in local labour

As part of Manchester’s successful ‘Towards 2000 Together’ initiative launched last year, the Council is now encouraging developers to adopt the city’s Local Labour Scheme as part of the development process.

The scheme will, however, be a requirement in cases where land is disposed of to a private developer; the lease contains development obligations and the estimated cost of the development is in excess of £1 million net of land value.

To encourage and manage this process and support other elements of the construction sector, the City Council, Manchestrer Training and Enterprise Council, the Construction Industry Training Board, the Employment Service and local training providers, have established a dedicated partnership. Since January of this year, the partnership has assisted over 100 local people to find work with contractors locally.

For further details of the Local Labour Scheme, the developer should contact: Angie Libman in the City Council’s Economic Initiatives Group on 0161 234 1509

What employers say about the local labour scheme…
“This cheap, quick and effective method of recruitment is the envy of my collegues in other areas of the country.”
Tom Cullen-Area Labour Manager JOHN LAING CONSTRUCTION
“The scheme gives opportunities for local people to both develop their skills and gain meaningful employment with resposible companies that understand their needs and requirements”
Peter Saville-Contracts Labour Manager AMEC CONSTRUCTION

Vision 2000: The North West Japanese Institute
Following its success in the groundbreaking Osaka-Manchester Forum, the Greater Manchester Centre for Japanese Studies has committed itself to creating a permanent and accessible base to support the region’s long term relationship with Japan.

The North West Japanese Institute will be at Waterloo Place, a Grade II listed Georgian building at the entrance to the University of Manchester. The institute will provide a one-stop service for Japan-related information across the region, including Japanese language teaching and exchange programmes. It will also deliver business and commercial services, including first stop and advisory services for Japanese and North West companies and will assist with support mechanisms for SMEs.

The Waterloo Place project has won the 1997 Japanese World Expo’ Foundation Prize from the Japanese government and the Osaka Chamber of Commerce has already donated 7 million Yen. The University of Manchester has given a further £50,000 towards refurbishment costs.

Preliminary work on refurbishment is underway and the main phase should be complete by October 1998 Bursary winner picks up partnership approach Manchester City Council and the Japan Centre recently organised the visit of Miss Nami Kondo, the first winner of an educational bursary designed to strengthen economic links between the two city regions. Miss Kondo won the bursary for her vision of taking the relationship between Manchester and Osaka forward into the next millennium. She used her time here and contacts she made to learn about urban development, local economic activities and the promotion of cities.

During her trip Miss Kondo visited the University with Will Eades, Director of the Development and Alumni Relations Office. She visited Waterloo Place, the future home of the Japan Centre, which is being refurbished with money raised by the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Manchester Science Park, where she was given a guided tour by Dr John Allen.

Commenting on her visit, Miss Kondo said: “What has impressed me most about Manchester is the fact that there is so much partnership in evidence: partnership between public organisations, private business and between the city’s universities”

Virtual business support

A new state of the art network designed to bring specialist business support and advice services to managers of small to medium sized businesses has been launched in Manchester. The Virtual Chamber (TVC) is a collaboration between the University of Salford, Cable & Wireless, Manchester Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Manchester TEC.

Local companies will be able to access the high speed private network directly from their desktop PCs, enabling them to contact other members and search the network for potential customers and suppliers, business, training and financial information. Subscribers will also be able to create their own web-site. Other services including video conferencing, the Internet and online credit card sales are also available.

European funding for the project will enable TVC to offer free connection for up to 450 firms based in Salford, Manchester and Tameside and parts of Trafford. For further information on The Virtual Chamber please contact Steve Carroll, TVC Product manager on 0161 245 4846

Japan Festival Fund Awards 1998

The UK Japan Society has won the Japan Festival Fund Award 1998. The aim of the Festival Fund, established six years ago as a lasting reminder of the Japan Festival 1991, is to reward excellence and promotion of Japanese culture in the UK.

Each year major cash prizes are awarded for recent outstanding achievements in furthering the understanding of Japanese culture in the UK. The UK Japan Society is a non-profit making voluntary organisation which has been established in the North West to promote: – commercial, industrial, social, educational and cultural links between Japan and North West England. – investment in the North West by Japanese companies – mutual understanding of respective customs and attitudes.

A varied programme of events is arranged by the society to appeal to both corporate and individual members. Recent events included an evening with Elgar at the Bridgewater Hall; concert and buffet, sponsored by Brother Industries. Guest of honour was Miss Nami Kando from Osaka Chamber of Commerce, the winner of the two-week educational bursary the City of Manchester presented to the City of Osaka Manchester Forum’97.