Ricky Hatton RIP

What a week.

It started in such a sad way with the tragic news that Ricky Hatton had died at home in Gee Cross on Sunday. Just over the hill from where I live, the news rippled out when we were on a country walk with friends.

The Hitman wasn’t just an elite sporting hero, but a local champion too. It took a tribute from his local MP Jonny Reynolds, the former Business Secretary, to remind us that he was also a businessman who had re-invest the money he made in boxing to his local area.

On Tuesday I heard with my own ears the claims of Andy Burnham that you don’t need to go south to advance your career. He was speaking as Zopa Bank outlined how they are creating 500 jobs in Manchester as the fintech neo-bank continue their quest to become the “home of money”.

I watched the Starmer - Trump love-in at Chequers yesterday and wondered how Andy Burnham would have handled some of the outrageous things the US President was saying, and the loopy questions his client media were asking to provoke our PM. 

Our Mayor is charming and authentic, and on the occasions when I’ve had my turn at chairing his Mayor’s Question Time he’s faced down hostile questions very effectively. He’s at his best when he’s taking on bullies and using his power to stand up for those that don’t have it. The very opposite of the blustering orange monster. 

But he also has people pleasing tendencies, and it would take a particular skill - to come out with your domestic credibility intact.

The rise of the creative class

There’s been a debate raging amongst city leaders for the last two decades about how to become a city that attracts “the creative class” that propels a city into the global fast lane.

Name drop alert, but it was Tony Wilson who was the first person to tell me to read The Rise of the Creative Class by American urbanist Richard Florida, back in 2003.

Wilson, who sadly passed in 2007, was always a strong advocate for Manchester’s cultural capital being an important plank for the city’s economy.

Florida’s central argument was that civic leaders make their cities as attractive as possible to this so-called creative class. Economic development will naturally flow if they do.

You see evidence of this throughout modern Manchester. The rich Kuwaitis playing Padel, the expansion of global brands like Booking.com and BNY Mellon in the city and this week, a great party to launch iconic Swedish denim brand Nudie Jeans.

The signing of a special relationship between the Mayors of Greater Manchester and Japan’s second city Osaka today is just the latest in a series of high profile relationships that stimulate not just tourism, but hard business investment between city regions.

But some people are left behind by this hipster influx, or priced out, making once cool places one-dimensional and boring. Even Richard Florida has also been rethinking his original idea. More recently he has spoken of “a deep and dark side” to urbanism and regeneration that we are all too familiar with.

It’s important then that any economic vision is inclusive. That’s what has shaped the agenda of our Business of Greater Manchester conference on the 1st of October, where we will plenty of vision, and lots of business, but also a real focus on cultural opportunities. 

There are also some “international” investors you probably don’t want. 

The absolute fiasco at Salford Red Devils Rugby League club looks likely to drag on after legal tactics bought the “owners” some time before HMRC next presents a winding up petition in October. In the meantime, the squad depletes, the debts pile up, and the pipe dream of a sports and entertainment complex at the Salford Community Stadium fades even further into fantasy.

I’ve been feeling bleak recently, watching the unchallenged hate spilling onto our streets, and hearing too many stories of bad guys getting away with it. 

I feel we have a responsibility to balance our news with stories of achievements, as well as to tell it like it is.

On balance there is still much to be optimistic about, I think coming to the events I put on are as good a place as any to plug into that positive energy..

First new column for the Manchester Law Society magazine

August is meant to be silly season. Full of slow news days where news editors fill their pages with editorial landfill.

Not this August we haven’t. I’m going to be writing a monthly column for the Manchester Law Society on what’s been happening in Manchester business over the course of the month, so I’ll run through some highlights you might have missed whether you were on your holidays in the Algarve, Tuscany, or Prestatyn, after a brief introductory hello. 

I’ve been writing about business most of my professional life, I started out interviewing pop stars, artists and models for a music paper in Australia, but even then as a chippy English kid, I only ever gave five star reviews to New Order, Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays.

Through the 90s I was a reporter, then an editor, for the media trade press, covering the rise of satellite TV, Granada Television and the tech revolution in video and film production.

I rocked up in Manchester in 2000 to be the editor of a business magazine based in Minshull Street behind the court house, where I was frequently approached by local ladies to discuss business, but not of the variety I was employed to write about. 

I love the life that I’ve built here and remain that chippy northerner. Though I do cover crooks, liquidations and shady deals, I do so from the position of wanting to police the boundaries of a business community so good people aren’t ripped off. I take being a journalist seriously, something I cherish having been offered the chance to return to the frontline after a period as a political adviser.

This August some big exclusive stories came thick and fast.

We’ll start with the big positive one first. The sale of a stake in cult female fashion brand Adanola, which values the Manchester-based business at £400m (US$530m) is a huge lift for the city.

Further south, Dr Nyla Raja known locally as the "Botox Queen" sold her aesthetics business to an American “consolidator”. I’ll keep an eye on this one. She received a stinging assessment from the Care Quality Commission in 2023 for the hair transplant service and she used to be in business with footballer’s wife Dawn Ward, a star of Real Housewives of Cheshire.

The investment into Leonard Curtis by Pollen Street Capital was also a big deal for the city, as a really well-run, deadly focused business in the flux world of professional services looks to an exciting next phase.

I also attended court to get some more insights into the case of Stockport accountancy firm Bennett Verby and the charges they face for failing to prevent tax evasion.

We also saw the conclusion of the scrap to buy Assura, a North West based healthcare property investment business where Primary Healthcare Properties beat off American private equity firm KKR, three initials that are known to send a chill down the spine of even the toughest business executive.

Finally, it was with a very heavy heart that I pressed send on a breaking news alert on a sunny Wednesday afternoon about the Greater Manchester Chamber filing a notice of intention to appoint administrators. 

There are plenty of people there who I have the utmost respect for. The reason they gave for their financial perils is that its Chamber Space co-working and meeting room rental venture has become “an unsustainable part of the business” since the pandemic. 

I’ll be sure to keep you posted on these stories, and more, on TheBusinessDesk.com.

Unpopular chief executive leaves Blackburn Rovers

I went on BBC Lancashire to talk about Steve Waggott leaving his job as chief executive of Blackburn Rovers Football Club, and my story on TheBusinessDesk.com.

Me and Graham Liver both agreed that the two line statement felt harsh and I said it was "classless".

It simply said: “It has been agreed that Steve Waggott will be leaving Blackburn Rovers.

“We would like to thank Steve for his work over the past seven years and we wish him well for his future endeavours.”

Here is the rest of my story.

Fans groups are furious that the chief executive, although unpopular with them, appears to have been offered up as the fall guy for a series of catastrophic recent decisions, including the withdrawal of funding for the BRFC women’s team earlier this week, and the mid-season departure from the promotion chasing club of manager John Eustace for relegation-threatened Derby County.

The fans consensus is that Waggott is being made a scapegoat, and a statement from fan group,  the Supporters’ Coalition, highlights the owner’s representative Suhail Pasha, who is now also on the board, and who fans feel is not accountable for any of the recent mishaps.

In a statement they said: “It’s clear to the Coalition that Ewood Park is currently rudderless, with knee-jerk reactions, floundering responses and concerning concentration of power around one man – Suhail Pasha Sheikh.”

The statement went on to say that two short paragraphs to announce Waggott’s departure was “not sufficient for a football club facing as many challenges as Blackburn Rovers currently is.”

For his part Waggott may claim that he has been unfairly castigated in what is almost certainly his last big job in football, given he will be 71 in June.

In the latest report and accounts it was revealed that his pay package for the year soared to £592K, mostly bolstered by a rise to £433,028 for his basic salary from £308,888, and increased contributions to his pension of £159,002.

He will claim he has kept the owners sufficiently engaged to keep the lights on, and has played a part in maintaining a strong Championship side on a limited budget.

The former player’s agent, who also worked in leadership roles at Coventry City and Charlton Athletic, will also claim credit for recruiting high calibre managers including Tony Mowbray, who lifted the club out of League One, European Champions League winner Jon Dahl Tomasson, and John Eustace.

He may also argue that his hand hasn’t been helped by pressure on the owners in the Indian courts for their investment in overseas businesses. In early 2024 theBusinessDesk.com reported that the Lancashire club’s financial destiny hung in the balance as the owners had to apply to the High Court in the capital New Delhi for emergency permission to pay an outstanding tax bill. An earlier application to send £26m to Blackburn was turned down when the Indian government’s Economic Directorate refused to issue a ‘No Objection Certificate’ to payments to Rovers.

Venky’s achieved permission to settle the tax bill which they argued would have caused “a huge loss to the reputation.”

However, any assessment of Waggott’s performance will also have to take into account falling attendances, poor fan relations, and a failure to bring in commercial revenues to the club. At way less than 10,000, season ticket sales are almost half the level of neighbours Bolton Wanderers, in a division below. His biggest sponsorship deal was with a local vaping company, which abruptly walked away in the summer of 2024 after the new Labour government committed to outlaw the marketing of vapes.

The annual report pointed towards fresh efforts to raise commercial income streams under a new structure of a Chief Operating Officer and Head of Commercial and the further development of the Business Club, improving match day experience and attendance levels.

Towards the end of the 2024/25 season the Supporters’ Coalition urged Waggott, Pasha and sporting director Rudy Gestede to stay away from the club, which they declined to do.

In an excruciating interview with the club’s media, and the local BBC, the three displayed a marked lack of empathy with the frustrations of fans, with Waggott self-assessing his own engagement with them as excellent.

“For the seven-and-a-half-years I have been at the club, my door has been very open to the fans,” he insisted.

“I attend all the fans’ forums, the Supporters Trust, We Are The Rovers, individual groups, away travel groups, individual people who write emails with constructive criticism. I bring them in and discuss certain points with the club.”

But it has been the decision to withdraw from Championship tier of women’s football that has provoked the latest outpouring of ire at the leadership of the club.

Both the Blackburn Rovers Trust and the Supporters’ Coalition slammed the decision by the club and the Coalition once again called for Venky’s to sell the club and for the removal of their representative Suhail Pasha from the board.

“The Blackburn Rovers Supporters Coalition is devastated and outraged by the decision to remove Blackburn Rovers Women’s Football Club from the Tier 2 Women’s Championship League,” they said.

The feeling now is this latest development appears to be heading towards an inflection point in what has been a bizarre ownership story, even in the context of British football. Despite sinking over £300million into Rovers, the Rao family haven’t attended a game at Ewood Park since Mrs Desai’s husband was hit on the shoulder by a snowball thrown by a protesting fan in January 2013, angered at relegation from the Premiership the previous season and the ensuing chaos at the club.

The Glory Year 30th anniversary podcast - we saw things you'll never see

 

Ah, the 1990s! It was the era of Britpop, Cool Britannia, Loaded and lager.

It was for me anyway, it was also the Blackburn Rovers “glory year” the mid-decade roller coaster that was the title winning season!

We saw things you’ll never see!

I really enjoyed taking part in this nostalgia fuelled trip down memory lane in this special episode of the 4000 Holes Blackburn Rovers podcast series!

If you were around, this is shameless nostalgia, if you weren't, this is what it once was like when a Rovers owner used to "Think Big!".

Join host & producer Ian Herbert as he chats with former PL referee (& Rovers season ticket holder) Tony Leake and fellow Rovers fans Katharine McNamara and Roger Whiteside.

We recall the highs/lows & the tension of that final week...do you have the bottle to listen to the end? ;)

Bruce Springsteen at the Co-op Live arena

 I was there on Wednesday night when a global news event was happening right before my eyes.

At the opening night of his European tour, American heartland rock legend Bruce Springsteen introduced his three hour set at Manchester’s packed Co-op Live arena with a declaration that “The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock’n’roll in dangerous times. The America I love is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.”

Billions of people have now engaged in a viral story at which the venue where it happened is referenced, as is the city where the still sprightly 75-year old legend chose to kick things off.

It seemed inconceivable a year ago when the venue endured such a disastrous opening month that would become so firmly woven into the cultural fabric of the region.

Their economic impact has been valued at over £785.5m. Their General Manager Guy Dunstan will be joining us at our Business of Greater Manchester conference on the 1st of October to talk us through the remarkable story so far.

The biggest corporate news of a very busy week has been the merger of Daisy Group with Virgin Media O2, creating “a major new force” in the UK business communications and IT sector with combined annual revenues of around £1.4 billion.

In time, the new group will have to have a new name. When I spoke to a bleary eyed Daisy founder Matthew Riley on Tuesday it seemed a long way down a to-do list that has had “reduce debt costs” at number one for the last five years.

It may seem a trite point to quibble over something like a name, but these things matter. The UK cable communications industry, out of which this business has emerged, only really took off once it licensed one of the best known UK consumer brands from Richard Branson.

I’m sure the Co-op also have other issues on their mind this week as the impact of last week’s cyber attack lingers on, but they will have taken great cheer from the exposure The Boss has given them.

Hot take on the Observer under new ownership

I thought @theobserveruk was a decent read this weekend, the first under the new owners @tortoise.

It had plenty of the familiar writers that have made it my favourite Sunday paper - Miranda Sawyer, Barbara Ellen, Andrew Rawnsley, Eva Wiseman, Nigel Slater and John Naughton.

Shame there was no Stewart Lee or Carole Cadwalladr.

Sport seemed much reduced but match reports in a Sunday paper are a relic, really.

Getting Robert Harris back to do a piece on the Papal transition was a deft move, but getting Nick Clegg to write three pages felt like landfill.

I’ve been a @tortoise subscriber for a few years and liked how some of the best of their journalism made a strong intro. The @aleximostrous Tate investigation was another smart move.

Pat Nevin at Hebden Bridge Trades Club

Top night listening to Pat Nevin at Hebden Bridge Trades Club - loved his books, but got great bonus stories!

In the 1980s I was a real fan of the “accidental footballer” who stood up to racism and signed an open letter in support of the miners. Even forgave him for mullering Rovers in the 1988 playoffs.

Thanks for sorting our trip to Hebden (nor Las Vegas) Steven Lindsay and great to catch up.