Thriving Manchester gaming and tech publishing house By Gamers For Gamers (BGFG) has secured over £1 million in angel funding – embarking on a major recruitment drive as a result.
The local firm captured the imagination of several high-net-worth individuals during an investment round in 2020 – acquiring a seven-figure sum that’s funding significant expansion.
BGFG is now looking to attract a bigger team of talented people to its Manchester-based HQ – creating 35 multimedia and digital content roles in the process.
The firm specialises in PC tech, gaming and Esports news as well as reviews and tech advice – attracting millions of readers every month.
Founded in April 2019 by brothers Andrew and Craig Kirkcaldy and Will Blears, BGFG quickly turned the heads of some noteworthy entrepreneurs including Bill Holroyd – one of the original investors in appliances firm AO.com.
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Founder of Usespace David Walter has also put money into the firm – with institutional investment coming from GC Angels.
According to BGFG owners, the funding will fast-track the firm’s growth and support its mission to enhance Manchester’s reputation as an economic powerhouse in digital and creative industries.
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Co-founder Craig Kirkcaldy said: “Securing the angel investment is a massive step forward for BGFG as we approach the second anniversary of the business.
“Our growth trajectory has been incredible since we launched and that has enabled us to recruit some of the best people in the UK gaming marketplace.”
By Gamers For Gamers offices
BGFG currently employs 20 people but despite reporting a £545K turnover during 2020, growth so far has been self-funded.
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Craig stated: “Pitching to investors is a challenge at the best of times but the landscape is very different under the various lockdown restrictions we have seen over the last few months.
“We found a specialist broker who was able to make the right introductions, which was very important to our success, and then most of our pitches were over Zoom.
“Pitching can be nerve-wracking but it’s all about preparing well, knowing your numbers and your business plan and sticking to the script.
“You’ve probably only got 15 minutes and you have to be concise and to the point and you have to stand out. You have to understand that the investor may be listening to 15 pitches a day so yours needs to be memorable – for all the right reasons.”
The BGFG pitches indeed proved to be a huge success – and an exciting future lies ahead for the company as a result.
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“We have some exciting and ambitious plans for how to develop,” Craig explained.
“We have found some great investors who share our vision and see the potential in where we can take this business.”
To view the roles currently available at BGFG, head over to the company website.
Business
Manchester rent is now ‘41% more expensive than five years ago, according to a recent study
Danny Jones
Yes, that’s right, as per some of the latest data on leased housing in central Manchester, it’s now approximately 41% more expensive to rent here than it was half a decade ago.
If you’ve lived in and around the city centre for long enough, chances are that you’ve already been feeling that difference, especially of late.
The ongoing cost-of-living crisis roughly began in 2021, following the economy and the world essentially opening back up after multiple lockdowns, so it’s little surprise that new research has shown affordability when it comes to renting has been on a slump ever since, too.
As well as the price of seemingly most things in everyday life going up post-pandemic, the average rental rate for even just a one-bedroom flat/apartment has jumped up significantly between 2020 and 2025.
Even some ‘available’ housing in town is being hampered by claddin (Credit: Valienne via WikiCommons)
That’s according to the numbers crunched by credit card experts, Zable, anyway.
Not only did their recent report cite the rent prices going up even before the cost of living crisis – essentially following the outset of the Covid-19 outbreak – but if their figures, the rate of inflation and the unwaveringly high demand for housing are anything to go by, this trajectory is likely to continue in 2026.
As of February this year, around one in three UK households is now a single-person occupancy, which already comes with its challenges (the Manchester City Council tax discount being a thin lifeline for countless), not to mention energy bills and the cost of groceries continuing on an upwards trend.
Put in the simplest and most reductive terms, it’s now almost £300 dearer for most people to live on their own than it was back in 2020, and besides Liverpool clocking in as second on the list of increasingly expensive cities to live (a 42.12% increase), Manchester came in third.
You can see the full table down below:
Rank
City
% increase – 2020-2025
Difference from 2020 to 2025 in £
Average rental cost for a 1 bed 2025
1
Newport
47.39%
£2,611
£8,121
2
Liverpool
42.12%
£2,290
£7,727
3
Manchester
41.00%
£3,364
£11,569
4
Edinburgh
40.28%
£4,620
£16,090
5
Leicester
39.93%
£2,391
£8,379
6
Wolverhampton
39.22%
£2,049
£7,273
7
Nottingham
39.07%
£2,400
£8,543
8
Glasgow
38.02%
£2,679
£9,725
9
Colchester
37.63%
£2,617
£9,572
10
Cardiff
37.06%
£2,828
Average rental cost for a 1-bed 2025
Another fear is that with lots of people finding it hard to manage living in other major cities like London, even those moving to Manchester are also having an impact on how available affordable housing is here.
That’s why schemes such as the new ‘social rent’ development over in Wythenshawe are so important to the current generations of renters, with the possibility of owning your own property in the future becoming increasingly difficult for so many.
It’s also worth noting that Manchester ranked fourth among the British locations where the cost of living is said to have increased the most over the past five years, with the average difference in annual spend growing by an estimated 22.84%.
Millions of UK workers to get pay rises from today as National Living and Minimum Wage increases
Emily Sergeant
Millions of workers across the UK are set to begin receiving substantial pay rises from today.
After the Government announced back in November that it would take the recommendations made by the Low Pay Commission, and increase both the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage, those changes have now come into force in a bid to ensure people on lower incomes are ‘properly rewarded’ for their work.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Low Pay Commission, it’s an independent body made up of employers, trade unions, and experts whose role is to advise the Government on the minimum wage.
As mentioned, the rate recommendations introduced today were agreed unanimously by the Commission.
This means that the living wage, for eligible workers who are aged 21 and over, has now risen by 4.1% from today to £12.71 an hour.
For a full-time worker, that means a pay increase of £900 a year.
Millions of workers in the UK are getting pay rises from today / Credit: John Kakuk (via Unsplash) | Pexels
The National Minimum Wage rate for workers aged 18 to 20-year-olds has also increased today by 8.5% to £10.85 an hour, and then for 16 to 17-year-olds, and those on apprenticeships, the rate has increased by 6% to £8 an hour.
“The recommendations we made last autumn sought to balance the need to protect the economy and labour market, whilst providing a real-terms increase for the lowest-paid members of society,” commented Baroness Philippa Stroud, who is Chair of the Low Pay Commission.
“A lot has changed since we gave our advice to the Government last autumn, and we are now beginning to gather evidence for recommendations later this year.
“The current economic uncertainty makes it essential that the Commission hears from those affected by the minimum wage and builds consensus for evidence-based recommendations.
Workers aged 21 and over are now legally entitled to the National Living Wage after the age threshold for the highest rate was lowered from 23 in 2024.
National Minimum Wage rates are available to workers aged 16 upwards.
The Manc -
12th March 2021 
