‘Behind the Scenes’ are quarterly GM Business Growth Hub Alumni activities which showcase the working practices, innovations, or premises/HQs of leading Greater Manchester organisations.
It’s a unique opportunity for our Hub team to take a small group of guests to a workplace – be it a warehouse/factory/lab/office etc - where they're able to tour the location, hear about the organisation’s excellent business practices and their impact on the business, ask any questions they like (nothing is off the table!) and network with like-minded professionals.
For the their first event in Nov 2024, they visited Thomas Kneale & Co Ltd’s warehouse in Ancoats. One of the UK’s largest B2B providers of bedroom and bathroom textiles, with a wide-ranging customer base. They were able to tour their space and learn about how they approach certain areas to achieve best practice, overcome challenges, and guarantee growth. During the session, their team discussed everything from manufacturing, decarbonisation, Bee Net Zero, growth and innovation, to workforce development, social impact, and health & wellbeing.
On their path of evolution, Thomas Kneale has been supported by GM Business Growth Hub. By offering their professional knowledge and business support services, the Hub helped the organisation overcome different development hurdles.
The Hub's second ‘Behind the Scenes’ took place on 19th February an invitation to visit and take a tour of University of Salford – to learn about their successes in driving innovation.
To kick off this event, they heard from the University’s Business Innovation Services, Data Science and AI Hub, and Centre for Sustainable Innovation teams, who discussed their work and latest exciting developments, and explained how local businesses can get involved and access support.
This was followed by an exclusive chance to look behind the scenes on a campus tour which took in Energy House 2.0, North of England Robotics Innovation Centre (NERIC) and Acoustic Labs.
University of Salford is a key stakeholder in the innovation landscape, driving research, collaborations, and emerging technologies. This goes hand in hand with GM Business Growth Hub’s mission to support local businesses to overcome their challenges, think differently, and find a clear pathway to new commercial opportunities.
About this week's opportunity, Deborah Sullivan, Alumni Network Executive in the Hub's- Strategic Partnerships Team told us:
“As Greater Manchester’s business support organisation, the Hub is always keen to support businesses in accessing all of the support available to them across the city-region. Through partnering with the University of Salford, we aim to improve accessibility to their Energy House 2.0, North of England Robotics Innovation Centre (NERIC) and Acoustic Laboratories whilst highlighting the ground-breaking research on hand through world-leading academics.
We’re delighted to be able to arrange engagement activities such as ‘Behind the Scenes’ for our BGH Alumni. These events provide them with opportunities to build useful connections, broaden their knowledge, continue their GM Business Growth Hub journey, and build a vibrant BGH Alumni community.”
