HAD & Co: The female-led architecture business building a better Manchester
Launched by school friends Saira Hussein and Nixie Edwards in Burnley, HAD & Co is one of the most successful female-led industry firms in Britain - branching out to Manchester in 2018 after a decade which saw them scoop over 40 award nominations.
Construction is a man’s world. Or so the old cliche goes.
The arena of hard hats, hi-vis and heavy lifting has historically been recognised as a no-fly zone for females – with men accounting for over 89% of people working in the industry today.
But as it turns out, Mancs don’t have to look far to find an example of a firm that’s bucking the trend.
HAD & Co Property Consultants is a proud member of the 11%; a female-led construction industry business sat right on the doorstep of the city centre.
Launched by school friends Saira Hussain and Nixie Edwards, originally from Burnley, HAD & Co has morphed into one of Britain’s most successful women-steered consultancies – opening up in Manchester in 2018 after an enormously successful first decade of experience which saw the duo scoop 40 + award nominations.
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Manchester certainly likes its innovators – and HAD & Co fits that description in more ways than one.
“Things move so much faster here,” Saira tells us.
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“In a small town like Burnley, the work is very different. In Manchester there’s more projects, more development, more investment, more funding and more support from councils.
“It’s been an incredible experience for us.”
It didn’t take long for HAD & Co to became a sought-after name in the local scene for advice and guidance surrounding interior design, planning and architecture.
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But just 18 months after they’d settled in, the doors to the office were hastily locked due to the onset of the pandemic.
The world of construction has, in many people’s eyes, been ‘one of the lucky ones’ during the pandemic.
For the most part, the maze of towering cranes that permanently populate Manchester have largely stayed put as work continued through lockdown.
But even in this industry, the constantly-changing rules have proven troublesome.
The closure of local restaurants and cafes under Tier 3 has kicked off a domino effect that’s rippled through to the building sector – pausing development work and leading to cancelled deals with suppliers.
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The damage to hospitality has penetrated so deep it has hurt the wider economy – and HAD has felt the impact.
“We’d just got things moving, then COVID hits,” Saira tells us.
“It’s been an enormous challenge for us and we’ve faced some difficulties – but we’ve found a way to navigate it.”
According to Saira, the secret to HAD’s survival has been cementing strong relationships in the city and securing lengthy contracts.
In the two years since moving to Manchester, HAD & Co has commenced work on heritage projects for historic venues like the Royal Exchange and signed long-term deals that have given the company the necessary robustness to stand firm in the face of COVID.
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HAD & Co has also enjoyed huge success in HMO planning applications – securing as many as seven during the pandemic alone.
But whilst 70% of HAD & Co’s work is commercial, the rest is focused on residential development and interior design – one of the few markets that enjoyed high spending in COVID.
2020 was a year where most of us spent more time indoors than ever before – making us intimately familiar with every single surface, corner, nook and cranny in the building – and it proved to be a waking realisation.
After weeks looking at the same four walls for 24 hours a day, homeowners came to the conclusion that there was a lot about their properties and workplaces they wanted to change.
Demand for loft conversions and extensions went through the roof. Literally in some instances.
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“We’ve had such high demand for designing people’s houses,” Saira explains.
“One side of being a female-led practice is that clients are more comfortable with you when it comes to interior design work.
“They feel like you have a better understanding and are open to dealing with you.
“On the residential side of things, that’s definitely a benefit.”
In their spare time, Saira and Nixies are ambassadors for women in construction, encouraging young women to follow in the footsteps of firms like HAD & Co whilst endorsing sustainable design and clean technology.
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But her day job is all about keeping the momentum of the business going .
“We’ve got around 30 projects on the go right now,” Saira tells us.
“Some of them are long-term, others are faster turnarounds.
“It’s a real mix and it’s all really exciting.”
It’s true that the future remains uncertain for businesses for as long as coronavirus is around.
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But if we can rely on one thing, it’s that the city skyline will continue to change.
There’s simply no stopping construction in Manchester. And HAD & Co’s fingerprints will be all over it. Right the way through 2021.
Learn more about the great work HAD & Co are doing in Manchester by visiting the company website.
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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…