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