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Steve Purdham
Debbie Pierce
Richard O'Sullivan
Brian Hay
Gary Jacobson
Jeremy Roberts
Tony Caldeira
David Pollock
Ian Morris

Bernstein to address Downtown Manchester launch

Downtown in Business, the private sector lobby group and business networking club best known for the Downtown Liverpool brand developed by its charismatic chairman Frank McKenna, is to launch officially into Manchester on 11 March.

The launch event will take place at the Cloud 23 bar at the city’s Hilton Hotel, with the chief executive of Manchester City Council, Sir Howard Bernstein, the guest speaker for the evening.

Downtown chairman Frank McKenna said, “We are delighted at the response we have had from the Manchester business community since we set up shop in Portland Tower in January. We have already attracted a massive amount of interest from businesses from all sectors, many of whom will be represented at our launch event.

“I am also grateful to Sir Howard for taking time out of his busy schedule to join us for what I am sure will be a great evening.”

The club is currently recruiting members and sponsors in Manchester – with three of the latter (landlord Bruntwood, insurance broker CBG and marketing agency MC2) signed up so far.

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Five Minutes With

Frank McKenna has never exactly been shy about being the public face of the Downtown in Business brand, which he founded in Liverpool in 2004 and now boasts operations in Preston and Manchester (the latter launched earlier this year). His weekly, “Thank Frank it’s Friday” email missives, “Frankie Says” blog and Tarantino-inspired advertisements are cases in point.

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