Marketing Manchester

The UK's Second City?

I thought I would share with you an angry email that dropped into my email box last week:

"Manchester Marketing,

Can you PLEASE stop falsely claiming that manchester is the UK's second city...

The facts are below so i'd be interested to know what criteria you use:

- Bham has a population of circa 1 million - manchester circa 400 000
- the City of Birmingham is bigger geographically than the City of Manchester
- We have a stronger economy
- There are more companies with HQ's in Birmingham than in manchester

- We are a city of a million people with the largest professional services sector outside London.
- In October, the Cushman and Wakefield UK Cities Monitor ranked Birmingham as the best place in the UK to site a business after the capital, above Manchester.

- We were recently named as the European City of the Future, and the international Mercer report, which gauges quality of life, out Birmingham as the 54th best city to live in the world, and the only English city in the UK outside the capital in the top 100.

- Substantiating the Mercer accolade is the recent announcement that Birmingham is the safest Core City in the United Kingdom, recognising that cities are not just bricks and mortar and iconic buildings.

Admittedly, your football teams are better than Blues and Aston Villa...but not better than LFC...

So, perception is not everything... i'm curious, do men in manchester walk around telling everyone they have 9 inch you know what's??? Manchester must be full of ALOT of disappointed women!

Sorry, above said in jest...but PLEASE acknowledge the facts. I visited Manchester for the first time this year for a conference and was impressed with the city centre and the architecture...but just stop ignoring the facts.

thanks!

A brummie"

the response below was swiftly returned . . . and I've heard nothing since.

"Dear A Brummie,

As far as we are aware there is not dataset published by the Office for National Statistics on penile length but if there were, we are of course confident that the men of Manchester would score well above the average. We like to measure up. But as they say, size isn’t everything.

The local authority area covered by the fine people at Birmingham City Council does indeed have more residents than the local authority area covered by Manchester City Council and you’re quite right, according to official figures you did nudge over a million last year in terms of population.
Congratulations on that, by the way.

You’re also correct that Birmingham is a good physical size too. Admittedly 37.5 per cent of it is congested motorway but you can’t have everything, can you? No wonder we had to build that toll road to get around you.

As for Greater Manchester, which for international business, local residents, government and just about everybody else is what springs to mind when they think of Manchester, well we’ve got just over 2.5 million residents (2.56 million to be exact) across the ten local authority areas that cover our ‘city region’ to use a bit of geographer jargon.

Your city region, which Advantage West Midlands cites as Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull and The Black Country, has a population of 2.55 million.  So to be honest, unless you want to steal the headcount from Shropshire, which I doubt would go down too well in Shrewsbury or Oswestry, there’s not a lot in it. We’re ahead by a whisker but who’s counting?

Now to business.
If we start with regions (that way we can compare like with like), we’ve got an economy in the Northwest worth £98 billion. Yours (in the West Midlands) is worth £84 billion.
The lion’s share of that Northwest economic activity is centred around the Manchester city region. We’ve got 40 per cent of the region’s FTSE 500 companies for example. We’ve also got a stronger growth rate, economically, than the UK average at 2.5 per cent per annum versus 2.2 per cent nationally. That stronger growth rate is forecast to continue for the next ten years, at least, which is one reason why we sometimes talk about Manchester being the UK’s second centre for growth.
Comparing Birmingham’s economic performance to national figures, between the ends of 2000 and 2006 the economy expanded by 15.6 per cent in the UK and by an estimated 12 per cent in Birmingham, with much of that lag in growth due to a loss in manufacturing capacity, through closures such as that of MG Rover.

But as you say, there has been strong growth to counter that decline, particularly in the services sector where you’re economic contribution has increased by over 20 per cent.

So in short, you’ve had a bumpy ride but are now turning your economy around. Like Manchester, you offer a real alternative to the London and the South East where growth is becoming a real challenge, particularly in terms of housing and infrastructure.

So once we both recognise that when you talk about Birmingham, you mean the city region and that when we talk about Manchester, we mean our city region, then the statistics show that you haven’t got more jobs or more HQs or bigger willies than us. You’re basically a little behind us in terms of economic recovery and you’re a little different but hey, that’s okay. The UK is the world’s fifth largest economy, so there is rather a lot to play for and there’s more than room for two new global players on this little patch of green.

And ask any Mancunian and they’ll be perfectly straight with you: we don’t want to be the UK’s second city, we want to be its best.

So in short, best of luck and sorry about your football teams.

..."

Road Pricing...

On Monday, I was one of many from across Manchester's tourism industry to be invited by GMPTE to a discussion about the infamous congestion charge scheme.

Plans for a £3bn bid to the government's Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) were presented and details of how this money would be recouped through the congestion charge explained.

Having followed the subject closely over the recent months, I might as well come out and say straight away that I'm in favour of it becoming reality.

The expansion of the Metrolink to Ashton, East Didsbury, Wythenshawe, Manchester Airport, Oldham, Rochdale and the Trafford Centre would give thousands of people who currently use the car, the chance of coming into the city on public transport.

People who know me might say it's not surprising being that I don't drive myself, but it's about more than that.

Great cities depend on world-class public transport infrastructures. The money from the TIF will help build Manchester a network capable of supporting our growing city.

As I said in February, public transport across Greater Manchester isn't exactly the bees. It's got a long way to go before you could call it 21st century. But is congestion charging the only way to get the public transport system we need?

Unfortunately, I think it probably is.

The suggestion to sell off Manchester Airport to a private company, whilst headline grabbing, is not a good idea. The airport is one of the jewels in the crown for Greater Manchester and provides an enormous boost to the region's economy.

At the moment, the dividends paid to Manchester City Council and the nine borough councils (as shareholders of the airport) can be re-invested in the local area, rather than line the pockets of a multi-million pound corporation.

The current set up also allows the councils to have a direct input to the development of the airport. And they can make sure it continues to provide the routes and services that the local area needs for business and leisure.

Look at it this way. If you make the switch to public transport you'll benefit from the billions of pounds of investment and because you're not driving into the city, it won't cost you a penny in congestion charges!

It's up to you!

MIND YOUR MANNERS..!

Whatever your view might be of the recent debates over weekend parking, or the proposals for future roadpricing, surely nobody would dispute the fact that as a society, we really should make it the norm to use public transport wherever possible when commuting to work or going about our daily business.

Yes, you might say, but the trains are late, the trams are overcrowded and the buses are filthy.  Where's the investment into these services that might tempt us into using them more often? Point taken, and the recent hike in the price of rail tickets certainly doesn't provide much incentive to use a public transport system that is generally considered massively inferior to those enjoyed by our continental cousins in France or Germany.  And you know, we are the lucky ones; the transport infrastructure in Greater Manchester is better than many in the UK and we can expect it to be enhanced dramatically over the next few years.  There may well be room for improvement, but we're definitely moving in the right direction.

But, hang on...  is the unpleasantness of commuting solely the fault of the operating companies, transport executives or the increasingly beleaguered government?  Might it not be the case that we, the passengers, the great commuting hordes, are in ourselves a disincentive to using public transport?

Let's admit that people can be annoying - at work, at play, at home - so why not also on the tram from Bury to Altrincham?

A survey of Marketing Manchester staff has revealed the following as being major, real life irritations to the average public transport user.  In no particular order:

1) Refusal to give up a seat (on any day, ever) to an obviously heavily-pregnant woman.  The same applies to the elderly or those hampered by plaster casts etc.

2) When on a crowded train, the insistence on wearing a rucksack, resulting in fellow passengers being regularly bashed in the face by the evil contraption.

3) Noise pollution.  People who listen to music on their mobile phones without headphones!  Or headphones that sound like little mice screaming as their owner insists on having the music on full blast.  A typical journey can involve a combination of mobile phones and four or five little mice screaming different tunes! 

4) Hygiene. People who smell of wee/booze/animals/garlic especially if they are pinned against you on a crowded train/tram/bus.

5) People who do not cover their mouths when coughing, sneezing and would you believe burping!

6) People who force themselves onto an already packed tram/train making it almost impossible for you to breath, let alone move to get off!

7) People who insist on getting onto tram/train before anybody has had a chance to get off.

8) Congregations of people around the doors making it very difficult for people to get on.   Why don't they just move down the aisles?

So, are we our own worst enemy when it comes to using public transport?  Would a little more attention to politeness, courtesy, gentlemanly and ladylike comportment and general good manners render the daily commute more agreeable for all?  Or are we reduced to shamefully ill-mannered behaviour by the daily struggle against a transport system that just doesn't cut the mustard? 

And (be honest, now) do you see yourself in any of the irritations listed above?  If so, why not try to spread a little happiness on your next commute.  You never know, the lady to whom you have offered your seat, might turn out to be chairing the panel at your next job interview - and we all know that first impressions count for a lot!

Where Manchester leads . . . . others follow

It is with all sincerity that I congratulate Birmingham for its recent success in winning the 2008 Tory Conference.

For years political conferences were firmly anchored in resort cities.  Yet it was Manchester that finally broke the mould by convincing the Labour Party to depart from its seaside home to sample the urban conference experience . . . and they loved it!

The Labour Party clearly recognised the potential offered by Manchester's new way of thinking which was represented in the first class venues of our original modern city.  Not only this, but the level of partnership and team working across Manchester served to deliver a fantastic conference.

It was with something of a wry smile that I saw how quickly Birmingham learnt this lesson.

Obviously this is great news for Birmingham, but more importantly this is great news for major political urban conferencing.  What we must all learn from this is that delivery and quality count and this is the challenge for all who harbour the lofty ambitions of hosting political conferences.

Manchester delivered - and delivered well - the Labour Party Conference.  Maybe this is something that other conference towns would do well to remember when lucky enough to host a prestigious political meeting.  Indeed political parties are no longer making decisions on tradition and nostalgic factors but more on quality and delivery.

Blackpool is set to host this year's Tory Party Conference and should use this as a way of proving the town's value as a conference destination, because Manchester and other cities are taking no prisoners in their quest to dominate this area of conferencing.

Let the battle begin . . . .

Welcome

Welcome to Marketing Manchester’s new blog – As chief executive, I would like to start by wishing you all a very happy new year and introduce you to my ongoing commentary, in which I fully intend to bang on about why Manchester is so great.  But, it won't just be issues relating to tourism!

As many of you will be aware, Marketing Manchester has a far broader remit than simply tourism – it is about promoting the city, whenever and wherever the opportunity presents itself.  For example, the Manchester at MIPIM partnership coordinated by Marketing Manchester is not about tourism, it is quite simply about the promotion and development of the city.

Arguably, the winning of Labour Party Annual Conference for the city was great news for business tourism, but we all know it was far more than that.  The winning of political conferences is about profile and opportunity . . . and if we Mancs (by choice or by birth) know anything, it's how to grasp an opportunity.

The new year brings with it a tide of exciting new events, original developments and further recognition for the city-region as a whole. It will be my pleasure to update you on such developments and discuss with you an array of topical issues affecting Manchester’s national and international profile.

Indeed 2007 already looks set to be an exciting year for Manchester, providing plenty of topics for discussion: The Society of American Travel Writers will be holding their 52nd annual conference in Manchester in October 2007. This is a really exciting opportunity to showcase the city-region, to over six hundred delegates, made up of travel writers, photographers, editors and broadcasters from across the US. 

If ever something was to embody the Manchester spirit then of course, the inaugural Manchester International Festival is going to be it.  It will be the world’s first international festival of original new work created by leading artists from across the spectrum of credible popular culture, innovation and the arts. Many of the Festival's productions and events will world premiere in the city before touring to other international destinations, such as Paris, New York and Berlin.

The rebirth in 2007 of a number of fabulous Manchester buildings including the John Ryland’s Library and Gorton Monastery will be eagerly awaited.

I look forward to a successful year for Manchester.

Andrew Stokes,
Chief Executive.