Member Article

Weber Shandwick supporting Airport City Manchester in China

Airport City Manchester has appointed international PR specialists Weber Shandwick to support its media and investor relations in China as it prepares for its first international road show.

The development around Manchester Airport is aiming to become an international business destination in its own right.

ACM has commissioned Weber Shandwick’s offices in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, to help raise its profile and provide media briefings before the presentations in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen next month.

Two recent key announcements have flagged the importance of ACM forging links with China.

Firstly, Manchester Airports Group secured investment from the Beijing Construction and Engineering Group for its £800m Airport City programme. BCEG has become an equity partner in the project, while property firm Argent has been named development partner. Airport City aims to create thousands of jobs by luring businesses in a number of key sectors to the region for the first time.

It sits at the heart of the Greater Manchester Enterprise Zone, on land surrounding the airport’s main terminals. It is hoped that the scheme will attract companies operating in the advanced manufacturing and logistics sectors, as well as hotel operators.

Secondly, airline Cathay Pacific recently announced it will launch direct flights to Hong Kong from December. That means MAG has achieved its goal of securing a direct service to China, seen as key to boosting the region’s trade links with the Far East.

Angela Fielding, senior project director at Argent, said: “We are looking forward to taking Airport City Manchester out to China to showcase its strong proposition amongst a key audience for the development.

“We feel having the right PR partners in place will enable us to maximise on the strong media awareness that exists already in China and to take this to the next level through a targeted, insight-led approach.

“As well as having the on the ground support, the Press Office at Manchester Airports Group (MAG) will continue to drive UK awareness for Airport City Manchester and the road show.”

The delegation heading to China will be led by Manchester Airport Group boss, Charlie Cornish, who’ll be joined by Argent managing partner, David Partridge.

There will also be representatives from MIDAS, Manchester China Forum and Marketing Manchester.

Airport City Manchester, which plans further roadshow ventures to the Middle East and the USA, is a joint venture project with MAG (50%), Carillion PLC (20%), Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) (20%) and Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) (10%). Argent is the development manager for the project.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .