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.
News
Hundreds of new homes in Mayfield Park given green light
Daisy Jackson
The chance to live in Manchester city centre’s newest park (and one of its only green spaces) has taken a step closer, with plans for new Mayfield Park homes given the green light.
879 apartments have been approved this week, which will have ‘the ultimate front garden’.
The Mayfield district has been undergoing major changes in the last few years, including the redevelopment of Depot Mayfield (into Freight Island, plus a music venue for events like Warehouse Project) and the opening of the beautiful Mayfield Park.
And now hundreds of new one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes will be added to the area, as well as a 40% increase in the size of the park.
The plans for the first homes at Mayfield Park were met with unanimous approval by the City Council’s Planning Committee.
The residences will span across four buildings, with low-rise elements peppered in amongst the taller blocks, and will also be home to restaurants, cafes, and health and wellness facilities.
A new tree-lined road through the development will enhance walking and cycling connectivity from east Manchester into the city centre.
More than 880 jobs will be generated during the construction phase, plus 120 full-time jobs when operational.
Hundreds of new homes in Mayfield Park given green light. Credit: Assembly Studios
The proposals suggest that the apartments will contribute £2 million annually in Council Tax and a major £10 million boost to local businesses through increased spending.
The high-quality homes are designed by Studio Egret West and shedkm, designed to reflect the industrial heritage of the area, including distinctive arches.
20% of the first phase of homes are intended to be classed as affordable housing and will be prioritised for key workers in Manchester.
Henrietta Nowne, Development Director at Landsec, representing The Mayfield Partnership, said: “For the first time, Mancunians will have the ultimate back garden within the award-winning Mayfield Park.
“An opportunity like this hasn’t existed before in Manchester. Since starting on site earlier this month, there’s real momentum building as we continue to grow a green, healthy and connected district in the heart of Manchester.”
The approval marks the next chapter of the continued transformation of the Mayfield district near Piccadilly Station, led by Manchester City Council, TfGM, London Continental Railways (LCR), and Landsec.
Revenue from Manchester’s ‘big gigs’ to go towards supporting local grassroots music venues
Emily Sergeant
Manchester City Council is set to earmark almost £250,000 to support grassroots music venues in the city.
Following on from the success of the city’s huge summer of music, which in recent weeks has seen hundreds of thousands of fans converge in the city to see massive names like Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Charlie XCX, Elbow, and Robbie Williams, as well as other talents like Fontaines D.C. and Sam Fender still yet to come.
Oh yeah, and there was also that small matter of Oasis reuniting for five nostalgia-drenched gigs in Manchester’s Heaton Park earlier last month.
Over the course of the summer, it has been estimated that Manchester will have attracted a whopping 1.3 million music tourists, which is being described as a ‘tremendous’ boost for the city’s economy as a whole, especially the hospitality industry.
Revenue made from Manchester’s ‘big gigs’ this summer is to go towards supporting local grassroots music venues / Credit: Eldhose Kuriyan | Joshua Hanson (via Unsplash)
These huge events are also generating income for the Council too, either by being hosted in the city’s largest parks with commercial arrangements for their use, or through the business rates paid by major venues – and it’s this income that has been earmarked to go towards supporting grassroots music venues throughout the city.
As well as reinvesting part of this revenue into parks and greenspaces, the Council is planning to set aside £245,000 to be made available in financial support for Manchester’s grassroots venues.
While exact details are in the process of being finalised, the intention is that the scheme will be administered by the Music Venue Trust to ensure that the money gets to where it is needed as ‘quickly and effectively’ as possible.
It’s estimated that Manchester will have welcomed 1.3 million music tourists before summer’s out / Credit: Nathan Mullet (via Unsplash)
“Manchester is a big noise in the music world,” commented Councillor Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council, “and this summer, all eyes have been on the city as we’ve hosted some huge concerts and seen unprecedented success in our large venues.
“But while the biggest gigs might dominate the headlines, we know they are only possible because they are part of a wider ecosystem, with grassroots venues providing the launchpads for acts to develop and grow.
It's been a BIG summer of music in Manchester.
We've got pioneering plans to use money raised by some of the biggest gigs to support our grassroots venues – a vital ingredient of the city's amazing music scene: https://t.co/8ekQN7AmGBpic.twitter.com/MpVWpeHqbk
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) July 31, 2025
“We know that across the country, grassroots venues are struggling. That’s why we want to ensure that our grassroots venues can share some of the benefit from the success of those big events.
“We’re blessed in Manchester with an array of great smaller venues.
The Manc -
18th February 2021 
