Manchester International Festival (MIF) has announced its latest Factory Academy programme for the 2021/22 academic year to provide skills and training programmes in creative industries for people across the region.
First launched by MIF back in 2018, in partnership with a number of other cultural organisations in the city, the award-winning Factory Academy is known to be a key part of the vision to put skills and training opportunities at the heart of The Factory – Manchester’s new landmark arts complex.
Over the next five years, the scheme is aiming to deliver around 1,400 fully-funded training opportunities and create accessible pathways to work in an increasingly-important sector, while supporting the region’s economic recovery.
In 2021/22, the Factory Academy will offer places to 250 people across a range of programmes including bespoke pre-employment academies on subjects from construction to broadcast and film production, industry traineeships designed to immerse students in the creative and cultural industries, and opportunities to manage creative projects to develop key skills.
Alongside this, The Factory Academy will offer ‘Kickstart Wraparound Support’.
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This support will combine students’ on-the-job learning and unique opportunities for personal development in a workplace setting.
The latest opportunity is a new 15-day training academy developed in partnership with Laing O’Rourke, Ryder Architecture, and other companies who are working to bring The Factory to life, and students will be given the chance discover what goes on behind the scenes at an innovative construction project, receive first-hand guidance from industry experts, and develop new skills for working in construction.
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The course is fully-funded with no cost to participants, and is open to anyone in Greater Manchester aged 19-24 and on Universal Credit.
On completion of their training at The Factory Academy, students will have the chance to apply for a six-month paid Kickstart role with organisations working on the design and construction of The Factory.
Over 150 Greater Manchester residents benefited from the Factory Academy last year alone – its first year as an independent training provider – and despite the challenges of the COVID pandemic, an average of 50% of students have progressed into work or further study within three months of completing the course.
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The Factory Academy provides skills and training programmes in creative industries for people across the region / Credit: MIF / Chris Payne
Gary Briggs – Acting Head of Skills and Training at MIF – said: “The Factory Academy creates unique opportunities that aren’t offered elsewhere through the partnerships we’ve developed with employers and the support we offer to help open their doors to trainees.
“Our courses are bespoke, not off the shelf, developed with industry experts with specialist knowledge and experience from a range of sectors, from illustrators to military trainers, sustainability experts to musicians and arts technicians.
“Our aim is to reach people that wouldn’t usually consider a career in the cultural industries and to remove some of the traditional barriers, including offering open recruitment days instead of written application forms, giving the highest quality experience with a focus on experiential learning and self-development.
“All the skills and knowledge you’ll acquire at a Factory Futures training programme align to employment within the creative industries and beyond and are transferable across the sector.”
Sir Richard Leese – Leader of Manchester City Council – added: “By providing new and innovative training and development opportunities for local people in the cultural and creative industries, the Factory Academy has a key part to play in helping us grow our own highly skilled workforce here in the city and in supporting the continued growth of the sector.”
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Over 150 Greater Manchester residents benefited from the Factory Academy last year alone / Credit: MIF / Chris Payne
Applications for the 2021/22 programme open from September, and you can find more information on the MIF The Factory Academy website here.
Featured Image – MIF
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Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
1st October 2021 
