The tech company keeping Manchester in Sync for nearly 30 years
Over three decades, Sync has played a crucial role in nourishing a restlessly creative city - helping to cement Manchester’s reputation as an artistic hub.
‘Silver linings’ has become a popular topic since the pandemic swept Britain.
It’s human nature to find positives even in the most disastrous of situations. The ability to look on the bright side keeps people going even when times are tough… and few of us have experienced anything as tricky as the past 10 months.
The biggest silver lining for many during this period has been tech.
If a government-imposed stay at home order had to happen, at least it was in 2020 – an age where tech is so powerful and accessible, we’ve been able to stay in touch with loved ones, earn a wage from home, and fill any furlough time by streaming box sets.
Even 10 years ago, things would have been very different.
Tech has been deemed so valuable, in fact, that some shops have been classified as ‘essential’; meaning they’ve been permitted to remain open through lockdowns to keep the country running.
One of those is right here in Manchester: Sync.
Based on Deansgate in the city centre, Sync was born of GBM Digital, who themselves were part of a design and print house set up in Ardwick all the way back in 1992.
Over the subsequent three decades, the company has played a crucial role in nourishing a restlessly creative city – helping to cement Manchester’s reputation as an artistic hub.
Sync has been so impactful over the years, in fact, that the company has acquired ‘partnership status’ with the quartet of software juggernauts: Apple, Google, Microsoft and Adobe.
The business has teams across Britain, but the physical three-level Deansgate venue is considered something of a HQ – containing a tech shop, Apple service & repair centre, and a training and conference centre.
Throughout lockdown, Sync Deansgate remained a place where customers could get their Macs, iPads, iPhones, Watches and Beats under Apple warranty fixed – tracking the repairs every step of the way.
Booking slots are posted online – with customers sent specially-designed totes via a courier. People simply pop their device in the tote and the courier whisks it back – before delivering the fully-repaired product.
Sync has served as the city’s digital support network during this difficult period. But instead of simply providing emergency-style patch and fix work, the brand has also continued to raise the bar.
For example, Klarna 0% finance has been made available for all Apple products from Sync (where baskets are under £1,000) – an offer unavailable anywhere else in the UK, let alone Manchester.
Sync is also the only company of its kind to provide full Mac configurators for schools and businesses – giving organisations the incredible power to build their own Mac for their own needs.
Staff are different, too – weighing with next-level aftercare for individuals and organisations.
Scott Bordoni, Head of Operations at Sync, described the company as a “tech business with heart”.
“Our goal is to inform and educate,” he explains.
“Our teams practice a consultancy-first approach, utilising their technical expertise and industry knowledge to address key challenges for our customers.”
Adil Ladha, Digital Marketing Specialist, says it’s this very ideology that has set Sync apart from its competitors.
So often, a business-customer relationship barely stretches beyond the point of sale. But at Sync, they see the transaction as just the beginning.
“For us it’s about the development of long-term relationships,” Adil states.
“We put time, effort and energy into supporting our customers – giving them the opportunity to upgrade and futureproof quickly and easily whenever they desire.”
Alongside repairs, one of the most valuable services Sync continued to provide during lockdown was training sessions – which were shifted online.
Scott says: “Prior to the pandemic, our teams were working at national scale, running and supporting over 280 days of face-to-face training and informational events per annum – all at zero-cost, in order to support businesses and schools.
“As key workers, our national teams remained in operation throughout the first lockdown, supporting businesses, public sector organisations (including the NHS), and schools – helping to ensure that other businesses, organisations and key workers were able to continue through the crisis.”
Sync delivered an astonishing 110 free skills-based training sessions to businesses and key workers during the first portion of the pandemic – all-the-while remaining on hand to keep IT systems fully functional.
Siding with the big boys has helped, of course.
Sync’s direct line to Apple means that customers get the creme-de-la-creme of tech services, supported by the kind of insight and knowledge that you’d find at the Genius Bar.
Being closely allied with Apple on this many fronts looks impressive on paper. But it’s even more applause-worthy when you realise what’s required to get on the team.
Getting accredited by Apple doesn’t just involve firing off a charming email or launching a savvy piece of modern marketing that turns heads at Silicon Valley. Sync is tasked with repeatedly demonstrating the highest standards in knowledge and expertise – as well as frequently providing evidence of capability and performance.
It’s tough stuff, hitting such high standards day in, day out. But Sync staff appear to revel in the challenge.
The brand boasts around 70 employees nationwide today – and some of them were at GBM when it launched 28 years ago.
The team have grown up together to build something quite special – and their reputation is spreading.
Scott adds: “Whilst the technology and deployment practices have updated through the years, our mission statement has continued to stay the same: Delivering customer-centric solutions via a consultancy-lead approach.”
The typically hectic stretch of tarmac on Deansgate has quietened down again in recent weeks due to Lockdown 2.0. But Sync is still operating.
The Barton Arcade site remains open for repairs by appointment only – with ‘collect and repair’ services available to anyone who can’t visit the store.
Almost every single person in Manchester has relied on tech in some capacity to carry us through the toughest few months many of us can remember.
Teachers. Nurses. Office workers. Joe Public. We’ve managed to bear up and power through via laptop and phone screens.
Take tech out of the pandemic, and you’re left with a totally different picture – probably one with fewer businesses, isolated communities, and significantly lower morale.
Being in a digital era has at least offered something of a silver lining.
And it’s Sync that’s helped to keep that silver lining intact.
Business
The incredible plans to build floating walkways over Manchester’s waterways
Daisy Jackson
A major project that will deliver a 100-mile-plus network connecting Manchester’s parks, squares and waterways has been unveiled – and it includes impressive floating walkways.
The first steps for the CyanLines mega project have been unveiled today, including the first four routes which will link the likes of Mayfield Park, New Islington Marina, Castlefield Viaduct and Kampus.
The ambitious plans will also link lesser-known pocket parks, canal tow paths, and pedestrianised walkways, and will incorporate new planned outdoor spaces such as the Science Museum courtyard and the former Central Retail Park.
One particularly eye-catching proposal will be a new floating walkway across the middle of the River Irwell, complete with a canoe dock and storage area.
The plans will adapt to Manchester’s ever-expanding cityscape and will link up new and existing developments, providing green walking and cycling routes around town.
Manchester and Salford City Councils have already worked together and secured funding from the National Trust, Natural England, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Nature Towns and Cities programme.
There are four CyanLines pilot routes – the first being a 5km ‘Irk Valley Explorer’ that will link Chethams Library and the Glade of Light memorial, Angel Meadows, the under-development City River Park, and the Barney’s Steps made famous by LS Lowry, ending with a view of the city skyline.
Then there’s the Mayfield, New Islington and Ancoats Loop, which will connect together Mayfield Park, the Ashton Canal, the Central Retail Park which is being transformed into a campus for the UK Government, New Islington Marina, Ancoats Green, and all the way down to leafy Kampus.
How the River Irwell could look with the CyanLines routes in placeHow the River Irwell looks currently
CL3, otherwise known as the ‘Walking the knowledge corridor’, incorporates significant landmarks like the Emmeline Pankhurst statue, our historic canal network, the Palace Theatre, Symphony Gardens, the universities, Manchester Museum, and Whitworth Art Gallery.
And the final of the four pilot routes is the CL4, focused around the almighty Castlefield Viaduct but also joining the Bridgewater Canal into Salford and the Irwell River Park, as well as the gardens around Chapel Street, Greengate Park, and the River Irwell itself.
Councillor Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Manchester is on a mission to make our city greener, investing in new parks and green spaces including the likes of Mayfield, Ancoats Green and the Castlefield Viaduct, in addition to our work to celebrate and open up our rivers and canals. We are a city with exciting, and transformational plans for the future. .
“But there’s more that we can do together. CyanLines is a bold new initiative over the next decade to imagine and create over 100 miles of connected parks, green spaces and waterfronts.
“This is just the start of CyanLines and I urge residents, business owners, community groups and leaders to join us on this very exciting journey to truly transform our city.”
Tom Bloxham MBE CBE, CyanLines project co-founder and chair, Urban Splash and founding Chair Manchester International Festival (MIF) and Factory International said that the same ambition that grew MIF will be applied to CyanLines.
More before-and-after images of the CyanLines pilot plans
He said: “We want to bring the whole city along with us, to help us plan, fund and deliver CyanLines. No idea is too big, too ambitious, too audacious or too small or too straightforward.
“Everyone wants more green space. Everyone wants to be able to walk to the end of Castlefield Viaduct. Everyone wants to be healthier and happier.
“Imagine more species and drifts of plants and wildflowers and allotments in the city centre and being able to walk one or 100 miles of continuous paths linking all our amazing spaces. Together we can make it happen!”
Pete Swift, CyanLines project co-founder and CEO of Planit said: “The first four CyanLines provide so much more than walkable and wheelable connections linking the existing and planned excellent green and blue spaces across the city, to bring us all closer to nature and nature closer to us.
“The routes will be the starting point, or spring board, for a whole plethora of CyanLines projects which will bring new opportunities for nature to thrive and to be enjoyed.
“The ambition for CyanLines does not stop at Manchester and Salford city centres. It will ultimately link up all Greater Manchester’s boroughs to bring our citizens and communities closer to nature and help drive a greener, healthier, and inclusive future. From Dunham Massey in the south, to Northern Roots in Oldham; from Leigh via RHS Bridgewater, Media City on to the foot of the Pennines.”
Mike Innerdale, regional director North of England, National Trust said: “National Trust are firm supporters of CyanLines, not least because its core aim mirrors our own of ensuring more people have access to nature particularly in our towns and cities, and to bring nature to people’s doorsteps wherever they live.
“We recently announced we have secured the majority of the £3 million of funding for the Castlefield Viaduct which will allow us to bring Phase 2 of this iconic sky park project to life, enabling us to create a through route at the heart of the city. We look forward to working with the CyanLines team and other partners as both our projects advance, connecting Castlefield viaduct with the other wonderful spaces in Manchester and Salford city centres.”
Asda is being praised for its revolutionary and affordable new ‘adaptive’ clothing range
Danny Jones
UK supermarket ASDA and its in-house clothing brand, George, are being praised for their affordable new ‘adaptive’ clothing range, which could prove revolutionary for countless Brits.
The new 28-piece collection is aimed at people with additional and complex needs, providing comfortable and carefully designed clothes to suit disabled individuals.
Announced on Monday, 8 September, the new accessibility-driven line of fashion is set to be made available to order online next week.
Speaking via an official press release, qualified medical professional Sarah Phillips (who has been directly involved in the initial adaptive trial herself) has dubbed the upcoming range as nothing short of “a game-changer.”
Phillips, who lives with a neuromuscular disease that requires a feeding tube, catheter, and extensive scans, says ASDA’s adaptive range is “not just designed for people who need it – it’s designed by people who need it, and that’s what sets it apart.”
Noting that the impressive amount of first-hand knowledge pulled from those living with various disabilities is what makes “it far better than anything else available” on the market right now, the revolutionary adaptive range is crucially costed up at a price point in keeping with ASDA‘s values.
For example, the cheapest item starts at just £11 and the most expensive is still only £24.
Most importantly, all of the designs include key features to create as much ease in the wearer’s life as possible, such as hospital-friendly plastic zips, openings for feeding tubes, discreet pockets for stoma bags and more.
This comes after Alex Newman – the husband of late breast cancer campaigner, Nicky Newman, whose story inspired this particular adaptive range – said that struggling to get in and out of clothes was not only a frustrating part of her battle, but that she “found it undignified”.
“She looked for adapted clothing she could wear”, he adds, “but there wasn’t much choice. She bought a jumper from one brand and, while it really helped her, it cost £90 – a huge expense at a time when our finances were already impacted by her leaving her job due to the effects of cancer on her health.”
Nicky sadly passed away on 17 September 2023.
Karl Doyle, Vice President of George Clothing, said in an official statement:“We have worked closely with Nicky, Alex and their network of friends to create this bold adaptive range that we hope has fulfilled Nicky’s wishes.
“We have taken time and passion to really understand the specific needs of each item produced – how we can make them more comfortable, fashionable, affordable and dignified. Today is such a proud moment to see the range launch; we hope it’ll benefit many more people with specific treatment needs.”
The entire ASDA adaptive clothing range drops online-only in full on Monday, 15 September; for now, you can see the full list of all 28 items, find out more information on each, and read more touching tributes about Nicky and the journey behind this disability-friendly clothing revolution HERE.
Congratulations to everyone involved with this inspirational and heartwarming project – you’ve done yourselves, Nicky and countless people living with disabilities SO proud.
The Manc -
23rd November 2020 
