Business

Manchester agency Banks Digital launches pre-built online store for sports and fashion brands

Banks Ecom is packed with best-in-class features which are normally out of reach of smaller companies.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 8th December 2020
Banks Digital

A Manchester-based independent digital agency has launched its own pre-built online store aimed at sports and fashion brands.

Banks Ecom is the brainchild of Banks Digital – which is based in co-working space WeWork Dalton Place in Manchester city centre – and is built on the agency’s years of experience providing one-of-a-kind digital retail solutions for companies and brands such adidas, The Couture Club, and Rangers FC.

Banks has packed its online store with best-in-class features which are normally out of reach of smaller companies.

The initiative was born out of the desire to help small retailers survive the pandemic.

But to be viable, the platform had to be affordable, powerful and deployable within a few days, which are all prerequisites the company is proud to have met.

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A public demo is now available to access via the Banks Ecom website here.

Banks Ecom

The concept of Banks Digital was first created by identical twin brothers, Alex and Paul Banks, when they were just 15 years old after quickly discovering a passion for creating websites and designing various types of marketing material.

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After graduating in May 2012, the brothers founded Banks Digital with no investment.

To this day, the company is still running as an independent digital agency and has flourished through working with global sports giants and many local clients across diverse business sectors over the past nine years.

Speaking on the launch of Banks Ecom, Paul Banks – Director at Banks Digital – said: “We’ve packed our online store with the kinds of features you could only afford with budgets of £15,000 and we’re selling it at a fraction of that cost.

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“What we’ve built over nine months is something that can be adapted to suit the needs of any sports and fashion brand and launched within only 5 days.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIEFwx7ANJq/

You can find more information via the Banks Ecom website here.

Make sure to follow Banks Digital for all the latest updates on the new online store and more via Instagram, and LinkedIn too.

Business

Stage and Radio issue defiant statement in response to concerning development plans

Danny Jones Danny Jones Stage and Radio petition and statement against new flats redevelopment Manchester

Manchester centre bar, music venue, and nightlife institution, Stage and Radio, has shared an impassioned and defiant statement in the face of proposed plans to be built next to the venue.

And when we say next to, we mean next door – and by that we mean practically on their doorstep, not to mention that of other local businesses.

Situated within one of the city’s most important creative and cultural hubs, in the form of the Northern Quarter, the gig space, club and popular meeting place finds itself under serious threat.

Here’s their statement in full:

Speaking in the accompanying caption, they said: “Comment below and we’ll DM you a link to take action (It’s also in our bio!).”

They go on to say, “We’re urgently asking for the public to support Stage & Radio by voicing concerns by 10th June 2026 about a future development going up within a few meters of the venue.”

Unsurprisingly, the post has been met with an outpouring of not only shared rage, frustration and confusion, but more importantly, they’ve received a huge amount of support in the comments, too.

Fellow Manc favourite nighttime venue, Hidden, added, “Sit tight @stageandradiomcr you’re not going anywhere; meanwhile, several people across multiple sites have simply written, ‘Stage and Radio 4 Life.”

New developments and residential ventures continue to pop up all over the city and surrounding regions, as they always will, and Manchester City Council has stressed that this latest development – an eight-storey residential block by This City – will not be under threat.

Leader of the Council Bev Craig said: “Music and arts venues like Stage and Radio are the soul of our Northern Quarter. Music is woven into the very fabric of Manchester, it’s part of what makes our city so great. It is not under threat on my watch.

“Across the country we are seeing too many venues close down, in Manchester we want to protect and nurture them. That’s why we have worked in partnership with the Music Venues Trust in recent months to provide almost £250,000 in grant funding to support small venues and operators in an increasingly difficult economic climate.

“This is a vital lifeline for many smaller grassroots businesses, and we know that without them there won’t be the next big star.

“Cities are always changing, especially when new affordable homes are being built, but let me be unequivocal – Stage and Radio is not under threat. They were here first, and our Agent of Change principle defends that.

“Any new development nearby will have the top level of sound proofing and the onus is on the council as the builder not the music venue. We are also working with the venue to consider what investment our This City housing company can make to the venue building to limit sound escaping.

“I’ve offered to meet with the venue operators personally to give my commitment that venues like theirs help create the artists of the future and make our music scene what it is today.”

As for Stage and Radio, we’ve had the pleasure of spending a fair few late nights there (not to mention well into the early hours of the next morning) over the years.

Besides being a great place to watch up-and-coming live acts, DJ sets, and more, it’s also one of the best places to go before and after a gig in Manchester city centre.

Releasing a direct statement to The Manc and Audio North, they told us: “We are deeply concerned about whether residential flats positioned directly beside an established grassroots music venue can realistically provide appropriate residential amenity and conditions suitable for long-term human
habitation, while also protecting an existing venue from future conflict.”

S&R also noted these circumstances are not entirely unlike those that have jeopardised the future of fellow NQ neighbours and live music venue, Night and Day Cafe, in recent times.

The countdown is now ticking away for Stage and Radio – quite literally, as you can see by the banner now showing on the homepage of their website.

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If you want to help save not just this venue but the culture, community and artistic scene it stands for, you can sign the protest petition and get involved in the fight right HERE.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Audio North

Business

Demolition and regeneration plans for former Manchester shopping centre to begin next month

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Plans to demolish and regenerate a former shopping centre in a Manchester suburb are set to kick off from next month.

Following planning approval at the end of 2025, major plans to transform the former Chorlton Cross Shopping Centre into a ‘thriving’ new destination to live and shop are set to commence with demolition in the next couple of weeks.

If you’re unfamiliar with the plans for the new Chorlton neighbourhood, they include 262 one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, all with access to outdoor space through balconies and gardens, 53 affordable homes – with 49 of them being available for social rent – and around 3,500 sq metres of public open space with fully walkable routes and outdoor seating areas.

A mix of flexible retail spaces, including a new ‘Makers Yard’ suitable for smaller start-up businesses will also be included, alongside new tree planting.

Phase one of the project will involve the dismantling the former shopping centre and neighbouring Graeme House buildings.

According to developers, the first step will be to close the precinct car park at the end of this month, before new hoardings are installed around the site to close the area off to pedestrians and vehicles for safety reasons.

The demolition work is expected to begin in mid-June, and be completed by August.

Where possible, materials from the existing buildings will be reused during construction of the new neighbourhood in a bid to help reduce the number of vehicles needed to remove materials from the site.

“Demolition marks another major milestone for the project, which will completely transform the former shopping centre,” commented Georgina Lynch, who is the managing director at Manchester-based developers, PJ Livesey.

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“Our demolition contractor will carefully manage any issues throughout the work, and we will continue to stay in regular contact with local residents and businesses as the demolition progresses.”

Featured Image – Supplied

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