North West business briefs: FRC Group; Hilton Manchester Deansgate; B-Compliant; redwigwam; Borough Care

A Liverpool charity whose aim is to ‘end furniture poverty’ has created what it claims is the world’s first high volume bed mattress cleaner which will reduce the use of landfill and provide beds for the needy.

The UltraClean machine involves seven stages to clean used mattresses of odours, stains, bacteria, viruses, mould, mildew and insect life.

Mattresses are restored to extremely high cleanliness levels and good as new. The process can handle up to eight mattresses an hour and every mattress which is reused saves 79.5 kg of CO2, or the equivalent of taking 14 cars off the road for a day.

It is estimated that almost 20 million people are without sufficient income to afford essential items like beds and this means there are in excess of 400,000 children without their own bed in the UK.

As part of its mission to ‘end furniture poverty’, FRC Group had already started a manual mattress cleaning programme to treat unwanted, quality mattresses to distribute to those in need. But the process was very time and labour intensive.

FRC Group chief executive, Shaun Doran, said: “We are delighted to introduce our UltraClean Machine. This is the first of its kind and will make such a huge difference in our mission to end furniture poverty. Those in need will receive high quality mattresses, and at the same time this will have a positive impact on the environment, as disposal or recycling is not needed.”

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Following months of restrictions for the hospitality sector, Hilton Manchester Deansgate is set to feature a light display to salute the much anticipated reopening of hospitality on Monday, May 17.

The initiative, entitled Light Up MCR, will see the Hilton create a giant numerical 10-1 countdown each night across 22 floors of the hotel’s building facade. Using its floor-to-ceiling windows and bedroom lights, the countdown will go live on May 7, from 21:00.

The light display will culminate in the floors lighting up to reveal the shape of a heart, highlighting the community spirit that has kept the Manchester hotel industry afloat throughout the pandemic.

Once hospitality is able to ‘fully’ reopen on May 17, Light Up MCR will open its first night exclusively for members of the Manchester Hoteliers Association (MHA) in the Hilton’s Cloud 23 bar for industry workers and supporters.

The countdown is in collaboration with the MHA, a non-profit organisation of the key hotels within the city centre and the Greater Manchester area, and will serve as a show of solidarity for those in the industry in the city region. Adrian Ellis, MHA chair, said “Light Up MCR is a brilliant opportunity for all who are connected to the hospitality industry to celebrate the reopening of our beloved sector. Over the past 12 months we’ve faced huge challenges, as tight restrictions in our region have resulted in an extended period in which hospitality has been closed. Facing such difficulties would have been insurmountable had it not been for the enduring community spirit which carried the sector through.”

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Annabel Gray, left, and Vicky Pearce

Two financial services experts from Manchester’s B-Compliant have mentored 18 advisers in as many months, helping them fulfil their career goals.

Compliance consultants Vicky Pearce and Annabel Gray give up their free time to help those looking for personal and professional development from as far afield as Mumbai.

Prolific mentor, Annabel, has assisted 13 people, with varying levels of experience, in the past year and a half, via the Chartered Insurance Institute’s (CII) platform, Connect. She has been a training and competence supervisor for many years and uses her knowledge of the financial sector to guide mentees on forging new careers and repositioning their businesses.

She said: “I am a great believer that we can all benefit from having a mentor. I think it is vital that anyone wanting to explore something does so with the help of someone who understands what they are trying to do, and this is certainly true of financial services. I have been mentored myself and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.”

B-Compliant’s founding director, Vicky Pearce, has taken on five mentees through the Connect platform. Two were advisers setting up new firms and following the mentoring, they extended the relationship, engaging Vicky in compliance support. She said: “Mentoring is the perfect way for us to share our skills and experience to enhance the profession we are so passionate about. Annabel and I both enjoy building a rapport with mentees and many of them keep in touch long after the process has ended. It is hugely rewarding to have such a positive influence on someone’s career.”

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Lorna Davidson

Four out of five workers (82%) are keen to learn new skills to give themselves the best chance of job success when the UK emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Liverpool recruitment firm redwigwam.

The upskilling most in demand was digital capability (59%), followed by using excel (49%), entrepreneurialism (45%), CV writing (32%) and rocking a job interview (31%).

Of those surveyed by redwigwam, 43% described themselves as working with no dependents and 20% were working parents. The findings coincide with the launch of the company’s Superpower Up campaign which will see redwigwam partnering some of the UK’s leading business experts to provide upskilling webinars for workers keen to learn new skills.

Subjects will include those that were highlighted in the survey as well as other topics such as digital skills, merchandising and personal branding.

Lorna Davidson, founder and CEO of redwigwam, said: “We believe this is a totally unique campaign in which some of the UK’s foremost experts, in partnership with redwigwam, will pass on their knowledge and skills free of charge. As a business, our purpose is to change work for good and as part of this we believe in the importance of giving back.”

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Dr Mark Ward

Borough Care has become the country’s largest residential care provider to receive a real living wage accreditation from the Real Living Wage Foundation, as part of its commitment to delivering a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work.

This will see employees of the not-for-profit organisation receive a minimum hourly wage of £9.50, compared with the government minimum wage which currently stands at £8.91 per hour.

The care sector is notorious for being underpaid and undervalued, with the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting its significance and importance in society. According to Skills for Care’s annual report on the state of the adult social care workforce, care worker pay has fallen behind that of retail staff and cleaners over the past eight years. The real living wage will see Borough Care paying its staff significantly more than the industry average hourly wage for care workers, at £8.50.

The care provider, which has 12 residential homes in Stockport and Leek and employs more than 600 members of staff, is one of only a handful of North West firms to have achieved the accreditation, with nearly a quarter of all jobs in the region (20%) paying less than the real living wage – around 584,000 jobs.

Dr Mark Ward, Borough Care chief executive, said: “Everyone at Borough Care has worked towards this goal over several years – to give our whole team a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work. I have personally never been prouder of any achievement in my career.”