Money pies, condoms and cherry-pickers: The mad marketing of Manchester startup Caroo
Caroo isn’t your run-of-the-mill jobs platform. In fact, to call the brand ‘different’ would be to do them a disservice. This company is changing everything.
‘Businesses do some pretty weird stuff to market themselves. But we’ll bet you a tenner they’re not as weird as the stuff we do.‘
You don’t get many companies publishing a statement like this on their website. Particularly in the hiring sector.
But Caroo isn’t your run-of-the-mill recruitment company. In fact, to call them ‘different’ would be to do them a disservice.
Between money-stuffed pies and sham parking tickets, some of the PR stunts they’ve pulled in Manchester have been some of the most inventive and peculiar in recent memory.
Led by Managing Director Gareth Peterson, Caroo has packed pastries with £50 notes, distributed fake penalty notes to Manc drivers, and even given away branded condoms.
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Gareth himself even scaled a cherry-picker and held signs up to office windows that read: ‘Fed up of working here? Search Caroo.’
He also drove an ad van around the city that had ‘Download our app for a BJ* – *better job’ plastered to the side.
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So, why the weirdness?
Simple.
Caroo wants to align a disruptive product with disruptive marketing campaigns.
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As a technology business aiming to transform the hiring experience, Caroo is completely reimagining recruitment; offering features that make the process less painful than ever.
The brand has built a recruitment experience that people actually want – using feedback from companies and applicants to steer development.
Features include full anonymity for candidate profiles (meaning your current boss and colleagues can’t snoop on your hunt for a new role) and a newsfeed platform that enables employers to create bespoke content and target it only to relevant professionals.
Caroo has proven a big hit with big brands, too – striking partnerships with Co-Op, Missguided, On the Beach, Gymshark and Adidas.
Caroo MD Gareth and his team have been plotting their next eye-popping stunt as we speak, which remains top secret but is expected to land mid-September.
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“We believe a disruptive start-up needs a disruptive approach to marketing – so I’m more than happy to lead the charge and embarrass myself,” says Gareth.
“Employers have been getting a raw deal for way too long when it comes to hiring talent – so we created Caroo.
“We understood all the bug bears employers and candidates face during the recruitment process, and built a platform that makes that process much smoother.”
Learn more about the ways in which Caroo have been causing chaos by visiting their website.
You can also discover more by downloading the app here.
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Claire’s is closing down stores in the UK and Ireland with more than 1,300 jobs set to be lost
Danny Jones
In another hit to domestic shoppers, Claire’s Accessories is closing down en masse across the UK and Ireland after entering into administration once again.
Falling into an unfortunate financial status for the second time in less than a year, Claire’s will be shutting down all of their standalone stores across Britain, along with their IE branches.
A total of 154 stores will soon disappear, with more than a thousand people set to be put out of work.
Once a mainstay of British high streets up and down the country, the accessory shop known for all things jewellery, piercings and more has ceased trading effective immediately.
Announced at the start of the week and the end of the first full month of Q2, it was confirmed that Claire’s closed their final locations on Monday, 27 April.
With administrators, Kroll, appointed to wrap up business proceedings, an estimated 1,300 English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh workers have now lost their jobs.
Founded way back in 1961 over in the United States, Claire’s has operated across the Atlantic for more than three decades.
However, with various other contemporaries and cheaper online options having appeared over the years, they’ve struggled not just to remain profitable but to compete full stop.
They most recently filed for bankruptcy in the US this past August (2025), with their Belgian, Spanish, and Dutch divisions having already called it quits.
Manchester location(s) have changed a lot over time, but now they’re on the way out (Credit: Arndale)
For many, the outcome isn’t all that surprising, but it will nevertheless be a sad loss for many who have seen multiple generations visit these venues over the years.
All-girl K-pop powerhouse aespa book MASSIVE Manchester arena show
Danny Jones
All-girl K-pop group, ‘aespa’, are coming to Manchester for some of their largest performances to date as part of a new global tour.
If you know anything about the K-pop scene, you’ll know that most acts are even bigger than you could ever imagine.
Manchester has gained a steady supply of gigs from artists within the genre over the past year or so, and now aespa are the latest to book the AO Arena for a headline show.
Rest assured, these tickets will fly…
aespa SYNK : COMPLæXITY
Catch the LIVE TOUR in Manchester at @AOArena on Thu 14th January 2027!
Register by [Wed 29 Apr at 6AM PT / 8PM CT / 9AM ET] for access to the artist presale: https://t.co/JuWFFMCE8Q
Dubbed the ‘SYNK : Complæxity World Tour’, this follows on from their last live iteration, ‘æXIS LINE’ shows, which began back in August 2025 and, technically, have only just ended this April.
As per an official press release, “Produced by Live Nation, the tour will bring aespa’s acclaimed live production and immersive performance experience to arenas across Asia, North America, Latin America, the UK, and Europe.”
There are actually just two shows in the entirety of Britain (the other being down in the capital), and Manchester has the good fortune of kicking off not only being the first of both, but the inaugural date of the entire European leg.
Consider us honoured.
Made up of a talented quartet – Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning, the rising South Korean stars – this female-led phenomenon is arguably one of the fastest rising acts in the world of K-pop.
Having now been to a couple of these shows for ourselves, we’re starting to understand that these artists might have some of the most passionate followings on the planet.
Kicking off the latest run of performances back in their home country’s capital of Seoul, they’ll hit multiple continents before wrapping things up in Paris.
aespa EU tour dates 2027
14 January – AO Arena, Manchester
16 Jan – London
19 Jan – Amsterdam
22 Jan – Stockholm
24 Jan – Copenhagen
26 Jan – Berlin
29 Jan – Milan
31 Jan – Barcelona
2 February – Paris
If you’re a fan or are interested in throwing your hat in the ring for a first K-pop gig experience, you can register by signing up for their exclusive pre-sale window.
As for general admission, tickets to see aespa at the AO Arena in Manchester will go live at 3pm on Wednesday, 6 May; you can get ready to grab yours HERE.