Post by Christopher Maguire

It’s Friday which means it’s my Good News Blog. 1.  After nearly 10 years at Hotel Football, Jessica Southworth has stepped into a wider role as cluster sales and marketing director across both Hotel Football - A Tribute Portfolio Hotel and Stock Exchange Hotel Manchester 2.  Gary Neville’s University Academy 92 (UA92) has named Professor Zainab Khan as its new CEO and principal of UA92. She joins from London South Bank University. Congrats 3.  Mark Booth has been appointed senior partner at KPMG’s Liverpool office, succeeding Jennifer Lee. Well done one and all 4.  Fast-growing environmental consultancy Contollo Group has taken nearly 10,000 sq ft of office space in Manchester’s XYZ Building. Well done to founder and CEO Ruth Percival, who is building something very special 5.  MukAway.com Ltd has appointed Mark Stuart ⚡️🔋 as a non-executive director. He’s the joint managing director of Stuart Energy. Congratulations to him and Fraser L., CEO and founder of MukAway 6.  Blume, the customer acquisition specialist for the legal sector, has appointed Fauzia Stanyard as its new chief operating officer 7.  Eamon O'Hara has been promoted to director at AEW Architects – exactly 20 years after joining the practice as a Part 1 student. Well deserved 8.  Strand Intelligence, a Manchester-based cybersecurity software company, has closed a £1m seed round. Co-founders, William Poole & Oli Fletcher, met as next-door neighbours and developed the idea for Strand while talking over the garden fence 10.               Warrington-based premium meal prep company FuelHub achieved £6.5m turnover for the financial year ending April 2026, which saw it rank 39th in The Sunday Times 100 for this year.  Well done Michelle Laithwaite & James Laithwaite 11.               Freedom Media Group has appointed ex-MediaCom’s Dominic Rebello to the role of head of strategy. It’s another big signing for founder Danny Thompson 12.               Good luck to Amy Huddleston on her new role as chief of staff to the COO at Grant Thornton UK after spending 6 years in the firm’s North West CFA team 13.               Big news in Burnley after manufacturer BCW Group acquired  Lupton and Place, which was founded in 1894 and is one of Europe’s most established aluminium die-casting businesses. Well one Claire Whelan, CEO of BCW 14.               Finally, congratulations to Heather Gray (ex Bruntwood and Clockwise Offices) on her appointment as head of sales at Unify Energy. She’s back from mat leave after the arrival of her 17-month-old son Hector