BGFG creates more jobs, Manchester expands to challenge as UK’s gaming capital
By Gamers for Gamers, a Manchester gaming and tech company, has announced its intent to create another 30 jobs in the city, following significant fundraising.
In the Premier League era of English football, Manchester has been the dominant force, with United and City making the Greater Manchester metropolis famous for the sport.
Now, however, there’s a relatively new scene emerging across the UK, which Manchester looks to position itself at the forefront of.
The gaming industry has been around for decades, but it’s only over the last ten to 15 years that it has become a true goliath. It’s now the most valuable entertainment medium globally, connecting to people via computers, consoles, and smartphones, with more and more companies piling into the action each year. Manchester’s gaming scene has been bustling for a long time, and it too continues to expand.
Most recently, By Gamers for Gamers, a Manchester gaming and tech company, announced its intent to create another 30 jobs in the city, following significant fundraising.
Looking to bring the top talents of the UK to the northern city, BGFC will be further contributing to Manchester’s momentum, continually growing into a digital hub of the UK. Already, it seems, as far as gaming hubs in the UK go, there’s certainly a lot about Manchester which suggests that ‘Cottonopolis’ is already a national leader for everything gaming.
Going out to enjoy the gaming culture of Manchester
The city boasts a diverse gaming community which goes much further than there just being a console or gaming PC in several homes. Thanks to the incredibly high demand, Manchester has become a hot spot for gaming bars and games venues, used as the centrepiece of a night out. The retro games-laden Hold Fast, NQ64, and secret 80s arcade bar 17 Below offer game-centric ways to socialise at the bar. It’s not just the more classic titles and arcade machines that have been introduced to Manchester, though, with the less-night out experience venue of Virtual Hideout making its mark. Standing as the city’s virtual reality gaming centre, there is a website with mobile slots free spins, over 100 games to experience as a single player or in a team of up to four people.
Manchester is becoming increasingly tied to perhaps the most famous gaming destination in the world: Las Vegas. Most recently, one of the city’s start-up companies, Gamer Wager, signed into a joint venture with SCCG Management of Nevada, who will utilise their peer-to-peer game wagering tech in the United States. Coming the other way, of course, the games that Las Vegas is famous for have found a vibrant audience in Manchester. While not in the form of a towering themed casino, the online library at VegasSlotsOnline contains all of the top slots from Sin City. The likes of 50 Lions, Triple Diamond, and Bier Haus continue to be the most popular of the Vegas selection. With these games available online, gaming in-person in a Vegas-like setting is also available, with Manchester235 being a part of the Caesars Rewards programme.
Giving a grand stage to gaming in Manchester
In the United States, annual conventions have become incredibly popular across entertainment mediums that were once considered niche. Comic-Con, for example, is a major driver of the comic industry and have morphed into a geek national holiday of sorts. Manchester has long sought to give gaming such a stage, with efforts proving to be very popular. In 2019, the Manchester Gaming Market presented attendees and collectors with a huge range of retro video games and consoles to snap up. On a much larger, more modern scale, there’s also the epic Play Expo event. The city’s crown jewel of annual gaming events shall return on 8 and 9 May in 2021, with over 1000 gaming hardware units set to be available across the show floor.
The gaming business of Manchester
For anywhere in the UK to truly be hailed as a gaming hub, it needs to corral the nation’s creative force to the area. BGFG, the business behind WePC, PC Guide, Esports Verdict, and Gaming Verdict, continues to expand and offer more reasons for savvy gaming professionals to come up north. Aiming to facilitate such moves is Gameopolis, whose sole purpose is to network and promote links between the video games industry and Manchester. On the development side of the industry, the city is also home to mobile-facing devs Smashmouth Games, as well as the indie creators of The Lost Bear and The Persistence, Fabrik Games. Then, there’re the steps to further promote the ever-growing eSports scene, with Manchester United and City having eSports teams set-up, and Manchester University running several programmes and events.
Manchester has a tremendous amount of momentum right now, from the population’s overall interest in gaming to businesses looking to establish the city in the industry at large. As more companies like BGFG make positive moves to increase the allure of Manchester in gaming, it’ll grow further as the nation’s games hub.
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Trafford Centre launches school uniform drive to help disadvantaged Manchester families
Emily Sergeant
A school uniform drive has been launched at the Trafford Centre to support local families ahead of the new school year.
With schools across Greater Manchester soon set to be out for the summer holidays, many parents, guardians, and carers in the region may be looking ahead to the new school year in September, concerned about how they may be able to provide their children with the necessary uniform items needed.
According to a 2020 survey by The Children’s Society, 23% of parents reported that the cost of school uniforms led to their children wearing ‘ill-fitting, unclean, or incorrect’ items.
It’s these statistic that highlight the ongoing pressure faced by families.
This is why the Trafford Centre has partnered with both Manchester South Central Foodbank and local charity, Bridging the Gap, to launch a school uniform donation drive aimed at supporting more than 700 children across Manchester this summer.
The Trafford Centre launches a school uniform drive to help disadvantaged Manchester families / Credit: Trafford Centre
From now up until the 15 August, anyone heading to the region’s largest shopping centre is encouraged to donate new or pre-loved school uniforms.
“The cost of living crisis has deeply impacted our community, with more and more families unable to afford the essentials,” commented Emily Jeremy, who is the Assistant Project Manager at Manchester South Central Foodbank.
“As an anti-poverty charity, we recognised the need for school uniform support years ago. Though costs vary between schools, a full set of branded secondary school uniform can total around £150, which is a significant burden for many households.”
All items can be donated at the shopping centre’s Guest Services point / Credit: Darren Robinson Photography | Trafford Centre (Supplied)
Simon Layton, Centre Director at the Trafford Centre, added: “We’re proud to be working alongside Bridging the Gap and Manchester South Central Foodbank to support local families during these challenging times.
“School uniforms shouldn’t be a barrier to education, and we hope this initiative will ease some of the pressure many parents face as the new school year approaches.”
The school uniform donation drive is running up until 15 August.
All items can be taken to the Trafford Centre’s Guest Services Lounge, which is located on Lower Regent Crescent next to M&S, and they must be clean and free from stains or damage.
The first new tenant of the old Debenhams department store on Market Street has been confirmed
Danny Jones
The first new resident of the Rylands Building on Market Street in central Manchester has been revealed, and it’s a foodie one.
Set to be the maiden opening inside the old Debenhams department store, which closed after more than three decades back in 2021, Rylands’ debut won’t be for another year or so, but it will soon welcome Mancs with an increasingly popular food hall operator making its way up north.
Simply called Market Place, the ever-growing brand is fast becoming a well-established name, with four venues in the capital already and a fifth coming soon.
Rylands will be their first location outside of London, and with 1,300 sqm of space at their disposal, Market Place Manchester is set to make a significant splash on the high street.
A look at Market Place Peckham.A rough idea of what the Manchester branch could look like.
Developers managed to green-light plans for the Grade II-listed building last November, sharing the first details and glimpses of their vision for the instantly recognisable city centre spot, including a whole new rooftop terrace.
Currently earmarked for a late 2026 launch, the former department store (previously Paulden’s) consisted of seven floors but is now set for a four-storey extension that promises to be a massive and varied retail, leisure and business destination that makes the most of the expansive structure.
Not to be confused with the famous John Rylands Library – a much older, more gothic, historic and hallowed hall over on Deansgate – this task of ‘revitalising a Manchester icon’, to quote property firm AM ALPHA, is a huge undertaking.
In charge of the redevelopment since 2023, the group have been outlining a pretty complete overhaul, with plans to convert the upper floors into premium office space, and the creation of a retail arcade at ground level, on which Market Place Manchester will sit.
This particular Manc corner was a bustling food, drink and shopping complex for the longest time, but has been derelict and covered up by boards for what feels like forever, with urban explorers even roaming the large, abandoned building.
Credit: Supplied
Now, though, the new long-term 15-year lease agreement will see the latest food hall kick off a new era for Rylands, delivering socially focused venues and the range of flavourful, vibrant choices of scran that Market Place have become known for.
With sites in St Paul’s, Vauxhall, Peckham, Harrow and soon Baker Street – as well as their eventual Manchester outpost, of course – the chain is getting bigger and better, meaning its arrival in the North West is an exciting one.
AM ALPHA manager Paul Hodgkiss said in an official statement: “Manchester is a city with a vibrant cultural scene – the perfect environment for forward-thinking concepts like Market Place Food Hall…
“The early commitment to Rylands is no coincidence: it reflects the strength of our strategic and forward-looking approach to development. We are not just creating high-quality space – we are setting new standards for urban mixed-use concepts. Interest from further prospective tenants is strong.”
It was only last week that Greater Manchester’s latest market hall, Campfield Studios, said hello to the general public and with House of Social also opening this summer, among several other similar projects, soon you won’t be able to move for more social hospitality scenes like this:
The Manc -
18th February 2021 
