We've put the spotlight back on Manchester Central!Having spent 12-months as an NHS Nightingale Hospital, supporting the UK’s fight against COVID-19, Manchester Central is now in the process of being transformed back to a world-class events venue.The venue’s facilities management team have been working tirelessly over the last few months to restore the iconic Manchester Central spaces to their original state; working with contractors to remove the hospital infrastructure and ensuring that all venue facilities are fully reinstated, ready to welcome the return of events.  Digital Communications Executive and Central Chat host, Samantha Pike-Devlin, returned to Manchester Central earlier this month to speak to some of the team onsite to find out what they’ve been working on, how they feel about being back and what they’re most looking forward to about the venue re-opening next month. Follow Manchester Central: Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn Find out more about the venue on our website If you have an interesting story to tell about how you or your business have shifted focus or if you have any views on hot topics in the event industry at the moment then get in touch with podcast host, Samantha Pike-Devlin on [email protected].

Welcome to the next of our special 'guest host' feature episodes!Our CEO Shaun takes the mic to chat to Holly Moore – CEO and Founder of local live events and brand communications agency, Make Events. The Make Events team have worked with big name clients including Puma, Vimto, Twitter, Autotrader, Booking.com, ITV, BetFred and Kellogg’s and since the start of the pandemic, they have pivoted to provide for even more clients.Holly chats to Shaun about how the pandemic led to an expansion of the business beyond just events, how they recently hosted their own ‘Make Events Show’ to showcase their virtual event offering and how they’re managing business in 2021. Find out more about Make Events: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn Find out more about Holly Moore: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn Follow Manchester Central: Twitter | Instagram Find out more about the venue on our website If you have an interesting story to tell about how you or your business have shifted focus or if you have any views on hot topics in the event industry at the moment then get in touch with podcast host, Samantha Pike-Devlin on [email protected].

 In this new series, we put the spotlight on guests as they share their personal and professional experiences of doing business during a global pandemic. Hosted by Digital Communications Executive, Samantha Pike-Devlin, episode five features Sabrina Meyers, Social Media Strategist & Consultant, MICE vlogger and global event planner. Sabrina has more than 16 years’ experience working in the events and hospitality industry having worked in hospitality sales to venue-finding to freelance event planning and management roles. In 2018, Sabrina founded her own company – Hot Hospitality Exchange – with the aim of creating online content for hotels, venues, destinations, and events worldwide across a variety of social media platforms. In this episode, Sabrina explains how the pandemic and the surge of online and digital content has affected her professionally, how she has stayed visible online and what event professionals and businesses can do to improve their own online content.  Find out more about Sabrina: Website | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn  Follow Manchester Central: Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn  Find out more about the venue on our website If you have an interesting story to tell about how you or your business have shifted focus or if you have any views on hot topics in the event industry at the moment then get in touch with podcast host, Samantha Pike-Devlin on [email protected].

Welcome to the next of our special 'guest host' feature episodes!Taking over on hosting duties once again is our CEO, Shaun Hinds, who chats to Liz Taylor – CEO and Creative Director of the Taylor-Lynn Corporation (TLC) - a corporate events company based in Manchester renowned for bespoke celebrity and corporate events across the world.A leader in events management for 30 years, Liz is renowned for producing bespoke events for a clientele that includes celebrities, royalty and top corporate names, so pulling from experience, she chats to Shaun about how she sees the events industry returning.The episode also gives an insight into how Liz and her team responded to the pandemic and how circumstances led to the launch of an exciting new business venture.  Find out more about Taylor-Lynn Corporation: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn Find out more about Liz Taylor Consultancy: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn Follow Manchester Central: Twitter | Instagram Find out more about the venue on our website If you have an interesting story to tell about how you or your business have shifted focus or if you have any views on hot topics in the event industry at the moment then get in touch with podcast host, Samantha Pike-Devlin on [email protected].

In this new series, we put the spotlight on guests as they share their personal and professional experiences of doing business during a global pandemic. Hosted by Digital Communications Executive, Samantha Pike-Devlin, episode six features Scott Brown – Cluster Director of Sales at Meliá Hotels International – Scott’s focus is on the north of the UK and he’s based just a few minutes down the road from the venue at INNSIDE Manchester.  Scott chats to Manchester Central about how he and his team at INNSIDE Manchester have adapted over the last 12-months and why Manchester is a destination of choice for his guests and such a key part of the international brand’s portfolio.   Find out more about INNSIDE: Website | Twitter | Instagram  Find out more about Scott: Twitter | LinkedIn  Follow Manchester Central: Twitter | Instagram  Find out more about the venue on our website If you have an interesting story to tell about how you or your business have shifted focus or if you have any views on hot topics in the event industry at the moment then get in touch with podcast host, Samantha Pike-Devlin on [email protected].

In this new series, we put the spotlight on guests as they share their personal and professional experiences of doing business during a global pandemic.Hosted by Digital Communications Executive, Samantha Pike-Devlin, episode five features Sarah Netherway - Head of Strategic Partnerships at EventWell - the event industry's charitable social enterprise, dedicated to educating, campaigning and supporting better mental health and wellbeing in events.At a time when mental health has become a major focus for people across the industry and the world, the work that EventWell do has never been more important. Sarah chats to us about the services that EventWell offer and how the pandemic has affected the ways in which they continue to support event professionals across the UK.  Find out more about EventWell: Website | Twitter | Instagram Follow Manchester Central: Twitter | Instagram Find out more about the venue on our website If you have an interesting story to tell about how you or your business have shifted focus or if you have any views on hot topics in the event industry at the moment then get in touch with podcast host, Samantha Pike-Devlin on [email protected].

Welcome to the first of our special 'guest host' feature episodes!Taking over on hosting duties is our CEO, Shaun Hinds, who chats to Sarah Payling – Group Event Director (Housing) at Ocean Media Group – a market-leading event services company.Sarah leads the multi award-winning housing event portfolio for Ocean Media including their flagship event HOUSING – the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) annual Conference and Exhibition – which has called Manchester Central home for over a decade.As event director for Europe’s largest housing festival, an event that usually attracts more than 8,000 delegates to the venue and the city, Sarah chats to Shaun about she and her team moved their 2020 event online and their big ambitions for their upcoming September 2021 event. Find out more about Ocean Media: Website | LinkedIn  Follow Manchester Central: Twitter | Instagram Find out more about the venue on our website If you have an interesting story to tell about how you or your business have shifted focus or if you have any views on hot topics in the event industry at the moment then get in touch with podcast host, Samantha Pike-Devlin on [email protected].

In this new series, we put the spotlight on guests as they share their personal and professional experiences of doing business during a global pandemic.Hosted by Digital Communications Executive, Samantha Pike-Devlin, episode three features Mark Lippmann - CEO of Scruff of the Neck - an award-winning Manchester based music group renowned for its UK live promotions, record label, publishing company and creative services businesses.As a company that manages up and coming music artists, a huge majority of the work Scruff of the Neck do is centred on live events, gigs, concerts and performances so, when the pandemic took over the world last year, Mark and his team had to put their heads together and come up with innovative ideas to ensure the business survived ‘the new normal’.The artists that Scruff of the Neck represent have appeared on stages across the world, including SXSW festival in Texas and New Colossus in New York, so the episode also highlights how Manchester is viewed by people across the world and what makes it so special.  Find out more about Scruff of the Neck: Website | Twitter | Instagram Follow Manchester Central: Twitter | Instagram Find out more about the venue on our website If you have an interesting story to tell about how you or your business have shifted focus or if you have any views on hot topics in the event industry at the moment then get in touch with podcast host, Samantha Pike-Devlin on [email protected].

 We're back with our brand new spin-off series  ‘Central Chat’ – Spotlight On! 2020 was a year of swift change as we all had to quickly learn to adapt to the ‘new normal’. In this new series, we put the spotlight on guests as they share their personal and professional experiences of doing business during a global pandemic. Join host Samantha Pike-Devlin, Digital Communications Executive at Manchester Central, for episode two of the series as she chats to Sam Booth - CEO of pro-manchester - a business development organisation that represents more than 280 businesses from more than 50 sectors across the north west of England.  Find out more about pro-manchester: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn Follow Manchester Central: Twitter | Instagram Find out more about the venue on our website If you have an interesting story to tell about how you or your business have shifted focus or if you have any views on hot topics in the event industry at the moment then get in touch with podcast host, Samantha Pike-Devlin on [email protected].

 We're back with our brand new spin-off series  ‘Central Chat’ – Spotlight On! 2020 was a year of swift change as we all had to quickly learn to adapt to the ‘new normal’. In this new series, we put the spotlight on guests as they share their personal and professional experiences of doing business during a global pandemic. Join host Samantha Pike-Devlin, Digital Communications Executive at Manchester Central, for episode one of the series as she chats to Dan Laurence and Chris Hobson - founders of Unite and Create - about launching their new business during a global pandemic and their unique approach to the traditional agency model. Find out more about Unite and Create: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn Follow Manchester Central: Twitter | Instagram Find out more about the venue on our website If you have an interesting story to tell about how you or your business have shifted focus or if you have any views on hot topics in the event industry at the moment then get in touch with podcast host, Samantha Pike-Devlin on [email protected].