A campaign has been launched by some of Manchester’s leading business owners and public figures to drive footfall back into the city centre post-lockdown.
Bury-born ex Manchester United star and pundit/commentator Gary Neville has joined forces with other prominent figures – with the backing of Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese, and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham – to create United City.
The collective of business leaders want to encourage people to return safely to towns and the city centre.
United City says increasing footfall is “critical to the success” of the entire region, and will campaign to get Greater Manchester on the road to economic recovery, fix its “broken ecosystem”, and also commission independent research to back up its messages, with hard data and use findings to negotiate with central government.
The founders of United City are Gary Neville of Relentless Group, Chris Oglesby of Bruntwood, Lisa Morton of Roland Dransfield PR, Will Lewis of OBI and Frank McKenna of Downtown in Business.
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The group hopes to get the region “back on its feet” and back to supporting retail, leisure, culture, and sports businesses, as well as provide support and advice for business owners to make sure workforces are welcomed back safely.
Raising funds for vulnerable citizens is also included in the plans.
United City‘s strategy plans – which looks to creating COVID-secure environments – include input from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Manchester City Council, and its privately-funded research will help to bridge the gap by providing clear data to manage safety in workplaces, hospitality venues and on transport.
The research will also allow Greater Manchester leaders to negotiate with the government on local lockdown restrictions and navigate their own way out of them.
Gary Neville – Founder and Director of Relentless Group – said: “Manchester is built on community and entrepreneurial spirit [and] it’s imperative that this crisis doesn’t remove that from our DNA [so] United City will create a clear path forward for the region and will help to effect genuine change for the people and businesses that are based here.
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“To make this happen, we need as much support from the business community as possible.
“We are looking for business leaders to step up and lead the change to our working habits, to get our teams back into the office, and back together again.”
I’m delighted to be part of the launch of @UnitedCity. We are a collection of businesses coming together to get GM going again. We will fund independent research to support our messages with data to encourage people to return safely to our towns and cities in a Covid secure way
Chris Oglesby – CEO at Bruntwood – commented: “It goes without saying that the region’s ecosystem is broken without a confident and collective return to a more normal life, and that an economic recovery for the city – and millions of people who rely on that ecosystem – is impossible without a shared impetus to get things moving again.
“Within the UnitedCity steering group, we have professionals who can support and advise business leaders to ensure that they are able to practically and emotionally support their returning workforces.
“The city centre in particular needs life breathed back into it; it’s nothing without its people, and the culture, hospitality, retail and leisure businesses within it have helped create Manchester’s reputation as a hotbed of innovation and dynamism.
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“We’ll be looking to build a broad coalition with other business organisations and political leaders, with the long-term aim of ensuring Greater Manchester can recover in a way which is sustainable and healthy.”
'What we need is a balanced approach… Rather than the ups and downs that've existed and create anxiety.'
Will Lewis of OBI added: “A lot of people still haven’t even been back to the city centre since March.
“We’re so concerned for all sorts of different sectors, so we hope that this organisation will encourage and help Manchester and encourage people to get back to the city – not in a cavalier way, in a COVID-secure way.
“It’s got to be done safely.”
You can find out more about the United City campaign and objectives here.
Business
Aldi announces ‘special’ 62-hour closure of all its 1,000+ stores across UK – this is why
Emily Sergeant
Aldi has announced that it’ll be closing the doors of all of its stores across the UK for 62 hours next month for a ‘special’ reason.
Christmas is always known to be one of the busiest periods of the year for the retail industry, and Boxing Day has a reputation for being the ultimate day for shopping deals and discounts in the UK – but this year, just like it has done on several years in the past, Aldi has made the decision to close all of its stores nationwide on this bank holiday.
The supermarket retailer says it wants to thank its colleagues ‘for all their hard work’ throughout the year by giving them some extra time to spend with their families.
This means that all Aldi stores will be closed on both 25 and 26 December.
That’s not all though, as stores will also be closed on New Year’s Day, and will reopen once again on Friday 2 January 2026.
Aldi has announced a ‘special’ 62-hour closure of all its UK stores / Credit: Aldi UK
Opening hours at different Aldi stores across the UK will vary in the lead-up to Christmas, so it’s important to check the times for your local store, but the retailer has confirmed that most branches will be operating extended hours to ‘ensure customers can stock up ahead of the big day’
In the interim period between Christmas and New Year, stores will reopen as usual on Saturday 27 through to Tuesday 30 December, with reduced hours also likely on New Year’s Eve.
Speaking on the decision to shut up shop for a full 62-hour period this festive season, Rebecca Heley, who is the Communications Director at Aldi UK, said: “Christmas is a special time, and we want to ensure all of our colleagues have the opportunity to relax and enjoy it with their loved ones.
“That’s why all Aldi stores will be closed on Boxing Day this year.
“We know how hard colleagues work to deliver an amazing Christmas for our customers, and this is one small way of saying thank you.”
Featured Image – Aldi UK
Business
UK’s best and worst parcel delivery companies named following new research
Emily Sergeant
Some eye-opening new research has revealed the best and worst parcel delivery companies in the UK ahead of Christmas.
With the festive season fast approaching and many already in the process of Christmas shopping, Citizens Advice has released its annual parcel league tables, ranking the UK’s five major delivery companies in order from best to worst based on their overall performance.
From chasing missing parcels, and battling arduous complaints systems, to even having accessibility requests ignored, Citizens Advice found through its latest research that more than a third (37%) faced issues with their most recent delivery – which works out to roughly around 15 million people, a new record.
The research – which was carried out in a ‘snapshot’ one-month period – reveals that the rate of parcel problems remains at the highest levels seen in half a decade.
Now in its fifth year, the charity’s league table looks at the top five delivery companies by parcel volume and measures their performance against criteria to determine who is the best.
The criteria each company is measured against includes customer service, delivery problems, and how well they meet accessibility needs, such as people needing louder knocking or longer to answer the door.
This year’s parcel league table shows Royal Mail scored the highest with 3.25 out of five stars overall, while Yodel slips to the bottom with just two out of five stars.
UK’s top 5 parcel delivery companies
Royal Mail – 3.25 out of 5 stars
Amazon Logistics – 3 out of 5 stars
DPD – 2.5 out of 5 stars
Evri – 2.5 out of 5 stars
Yodel – 2 out of 5 stars
Citizens Advice found through its new research that accessibility was the worst performing area overall, and this is despite Ofcom’s new condition requiring firms to give disabled consumers the opportunity to report their accessibility needs.
There was also customer service failures, with almost half (47%) of the people who had a problem with their initial delivery going on to have further issues trying to resolve the problem.
Research found that the most common problems customers faced with their last delivery include the driver leaving before they had time to get to the door (29%), their parcel being left in an insecure location (24%), and parcels arriving late (24%).
The UK’s best and worst parcel delivery companies have been named / Credit: Evri (Press Picture)
“Ofcom has passed the parcel of responsibility for long enough,” commented Dame Clare Moriarty, who is the Chief Executive of Citizens Advice.
“We’ve been doing the work of the regulator for five years now by holding parcel companies to account and speaking up for consumers who are bearing the brunt of persistently poor service.
“Our league table has tracked parcel problems from warehouse to doorstep. We continue to see millions of people chasing lost parcels, having their accessibility needs ignored and hitting a brick wall when they try to complain.
Emily Sergeant -
23rd November 2020 
