Media mix: DS.Emotion; Fluid Digital;

THE Manchester office of creative agency DS.Emotion has been appointed by real estate investment and asset management company Catalyst Capital to rebrand and market Arkwright House, a significant Grade II listed office building in Manchester city centre.  

The building, which was once the northern HQ for strategic war meetings by Winston Churchill during the Second World War, is currently undergoing total refurbishment to provide 100,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation.

Originally designed for the English Sewing Cotton Company in 1937, during the Second World War Arkwright House was used extensively for strategic war meetings and Churchill had his own office and sleeping quarters for his disposal while visiting. The buildings war room is ironically located almost directly beneath what is now ‘Revolution’ bar.

Arkwright House only recently became listed because of its special architecture and historical interest and is one of few city central office buildings in Manchester to overlook green space with Parsonage Gardens adjacent.

Following an £11m acquisition in 2014 Catalyst Capital is totally reconfiguring the building to offer large efficient floor-plates to appeal to occupiers from a range of sectors.  The proposed scheme has planning approval to increase the available space to 100,000sq ft over ground and seven upper floors including a new ‘penthouse’ level.

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BURY-based agency Fluid Digital has greeted the first quarter of 2015 with hat-trick of new business wins.
 
The specialist e-commerce agency has been appointed by Public Desire to further develop its existing Magento ecommerce platform to assist with growth.
 
All Stores Clothing – specialising in providing ex chainstore ladies, men’s and children’s wholesale clothing both to trade outlets and to members of the public – has awarded Fluid the remit of developing its ecommerce platform, simplifying the order process and maximise conversions solution so the company can increase their customer base online worldwide
 
And Bury-based estate agents Weale & Hitchen have appointed the business to re-brand the company and develop a new responsive website as the property market starts to boom again.
 
Adam Hindle, managing director of Fluid said: “2015 has started with a bang with new client wins, an award win, new staff – and ambitious growth plans for the rest of the year.

“The past two years has seen us focus primarily on developing our e-commerce expertise and specialise in the Magento platform – something that is really reaping rewards for us.

“Taking the decision to be the master of one specialism rather than meet all the needs in an increasingly crowded digital market is proving a successful one.”