North West events specialists Scene My Event rebrand as Exceed Events – seeing high booking demands through to 2023
The team behind North West events specialists Scene My Event have revealed a major rebrand and reposition as Exceed Events and Concepts - with bookings being made right up until 2023.
The team behind North West events specialists ‘Scene My Event’ have embarked on a major rebrand following the pandemic – repositioning the organisation as ‘Exceed Events and Concepts’.
Using the time in lockdown to evolve their offering for a changing marketplace, Bolton-based founders Chris Warbrick and Martyn Stuttard announced they’d be taking the business into a “new era” from August 12 – responding to the crisis of the events industry through innovation.
Despite the long-term restrictions imposed on mass gatherings, Chris and Martyn believe consumer confidence is now returning – with a huge number of events already being booked for the next three years.
Development has also been completed on their new website – exceedevents.co.uk – which is being used to showcase the organisation’s market-leading events technology to offer new virtual events and socially-distanced live experiences.
The domain will also house a ‘client area’ – where customers can easily manage their event, booking details and music requirements at any time.
ADVERTISEMENT
Exceed
Director Chris said: “We’ve used the time in lockdown to look at who we are as a business, our identity, our image and what our clients want, and felt that Exceed Events is a more fitting representation of who we are.
“With where we see the company growing over the next five years we wanted the brand to reflect this journey and long term position.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“The meaning of Exceed is all about going above and beyond, being better than your previous self and your competition and of course, exceeding expectations! That has always been at the core of how we operate and really fitted with who we are and can span over all of our sectors, from weddings and corporate events to event technology and bars and clubs.”
According to Chris, adapting to the “new normal” has been key to developing the new Exceed brand.
He added: “During lockdown we had the time to look at a rebrand, and we’ve been doing virtual events with live streaming and moved all of our face to face consultations to zoom consultations.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It’s certainly made us think differently and reimagine how events will go moving forward. Even after lockdown, the events scene will look different for some time and there will be a blend of physical and virtual events which has made us think differently and innovate in how we do that.
“We’ve invested in more technology to bring that to the client. We believe we can accommodate both sides and we’re working with our partners on things like virtual show rounds, providing as much upfront content to our clients as possible and actual virtual parties.
“At the start of August we were approached to bring our previously indoor interactive Bedlam Bingo, to the outdoor drive in Park N Party held at Event City, Trafford Park. Due to the amazing success we are now in conversations to run this continuously over the coming months.”
Exceed
Chris and Martyn said the gradual easing of restrictions saw future booking enquires pick back up in June with a surge in July and August of private and corporate clients now making reservations through to 2023.
“Our bookings are now strong again,” said Martyn.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Consumer confidence is picking back up with people wanting to get events booked back in for something to look forward to after these challenging times. We therefore believed mid August was a good time to launch our new brand – with the further easing of restrictions from August 15th onwards very much in mind.”
Founded by entrepreneurs Chris Warbrick and Martyn Stuttard in 2017, the company has become known for its industry innovations, premium entertainment offerings and investment in hi-tech events solutions.
That includes their 360 Xperience platform, used to great effect at the PFA Awards in May 2019 with the ensuing videos of football stars using the platform reaching over 5m people on social media.
Partner venues across the North West include Manchester Hall, Mitton Hall, Holmes Mill, Larkspur Lodge, Victoria Warehouse, while clients have included AO.com, Panini, Fifa, In the Style, BLVD and Manchester Airport.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CD9bnl5hHfl/
Exceed has also been the events company of choice for a host of high profile celebrities, brands and influencers.
ADVERTISEMENT
This has includeed the engagement party of Love Island star Olivia Buckland and Bradley Dack at Cloud 23 bar in Manchester, and the launch of Jacqueline Jossa’s fashion launch at In the Style in Salford.
The company has also helped to organise the wedding of TOWIE star Maria Fowler at Nunsmere Hall in Cheshire and the engagement party of Geordie Shores Holly Hagan and Jacob Blyth at Victoria Warehouse.
After winning Theo Paphitis’ Small Business Sunday award in July 2018, the events company were then brought in by the former Dragons Den star to showcase their 360 Xperience at the 10th anniversary of his SBS Awards in Birmingham in early 2020.
Find out more about how Exceed are taking events into the new normal by visiting their 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 -
21st August 2020 
