All About Manchester

In women we trust

To celebrate International Women's Day, we present seven Mancunian role models for our times. Compiled by Evie Lucas and Sophia Cruz.

The artist

Michelle Brand is a Stockport-based eco-designer, whose ground-breaking work is making a splash in the USA.

Born in London, Brand moved to Manchester with her family when she was seven. She studied Product Design and Development at the University of Salford and Bioclimatic Design at Manchester Metropolitan University, and she is currently designer in residence at Emerge Recycling.

Since 2003, the artist has been working with used plastic drinks bottles to create stunning chandeliers, window screens and room dividers out of their flower-shaped bases.

"I was always fascinated about materials - they made the product interesting to me," she says. "So I started looking at materials in the waste stream. Paper and aluminium had been done, but plastic was an unknown entity at the time. So I started collecting plastic bottles, which you see everywhere. I found this material fascinating. So much energy, time and money are spent to produce, market and sell it, and it's just a vessel to hold liquids - when it's empty, we throw it away. I wanted to extend its life."

Last December, one of Brand's pieces, the Cascade Lancashire Chandelier, was featured in the Christmas Book of prestigious US department store Neiman Marcus. The entry read: "There's something hypnotic about the way individual sparks reflect back and forth from the clear floral petals that cascade to the floor. And something fascinating about the whole creative process. British artist Michelle Brand's work invites us to reset our expectations about what it means to recycle, as she takes sustainable design into the realm of fine art."

The chandelier, which sold for $12,000, was built using 366 plastic bottles the artist rescued from the landfill. Each bottle was washed, dried, hand trimmed and hand sanded to create a five-foot long waterfall of light-catching flowers.

Brand says she was over the moon to get the vote of confidence from Neiman Marcus. "It's really rare to see a product that is made from found objects featured in such a high-profile catalogue.

"When people ask me what I do and I tell them I make chandeliers from plastic bottles, they think it's something dirty. I wanted to prove to them that waste management can be sexy and inspiring."

Although her work seems to be more appreciated abroad than it is in her own city (she doesn't even have a retail outlet in Manchester), she is keen to stay put and continue to challenge today's throwaway culture with her sensible eco-designs.

The soprano

Manchester was a very different place when Pat Carver first joined the Halle choir. When she performed her first Messiah at the King's Hall in Belle Vue as a 20-year-old soprano, she remembers singing against the sound of elephants and giraffes in the zoo next door.

Fifty years later, she is still going strong, making her possibly the choir's longest serving female soprano - an achievement for which she was honoured with a gold brooch by the Halle's director, Sir Mark Elder, last December.

Carver has fond memories of her time with the choir, including having her photo taken with legendary conductor John Barbirolli during the Halle's 100th anniversary concert in 1958.

Her personal life has been just as full. She went to college, got married and raised three children. And if you ask her about the youthful spark in her eye, she will say that the Halle choir makes her feel like an 18-year-old in a 70-year-old's body.

The physicist

Sadly physics is not an area populated by many women, but Professor Helen Gleeson is an exception to the rule.

Born in Stockport, she graduated from the University of Manchester in 1983 with a first class honours degree in Maths and Physics. She went on to gain a PhD and conduct research involving experimental studies of liquid crystals. She then joined the university's academic staff and climbed to the top of the hierarchy to become the head of the School of Physics and Astronomy.

Last year, she was awarded an OBE for services to science in the Queen's Birthday Honours and praised for being a key figure in making science more attractive to girls.

The actress

Anna Friel is one Mancunian actress whose career keeps getting better and better.

Born in Rochdale, Friel first rose to fame as Beth Jordache in Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, where she raised eyebrows with the first-ever lesbian kiss on prime time British television.

She went on to star in big-budget Hollywood films like Timeline and Land of the Lost, as well as various TV series, including the award-winning Pushing Daisies.

Last year, Friel became the toast of the West End when she played in Breakfast at Tiffany's at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Her sublime portrayal of Holly Golightly (pictured) received glowing reviews, proving once again that the lady is a star.

The business coach

Marilyn Comrie is the founder and CEO of LeaderGen, a consultancy agency that provides professional development services.

She has worked with a wide range of clients, including governments, large public sector organisations and private businesses. But her abiding passion has been equipping women and ethnic minorities with the confidence and skills to make a difference, and her aim is to help develop a new generation of emotionally intelligent leaders.

A former TV series producer, Comrie was awarded an OBE for services to women's enterprise in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List. Look out for her forthcoming book, Leaderene - Feminine Principled Leadership, which is being published by President Bill Clinton's former diarist, Janis Kearney.

The restaurateur

Manchester-born Lisa Tse is the CEO and head chef at the award-winning Sweet Mandarin, in the city's Northern Quarter, which she set up with her two sisters, Helen and Janet.

A third generation restaurateur, Tse has been cooking since she was 11. She champions home-style cooking based on recipes passed down from her mother and grandmother, and her menu features offerings like Lily Kwok's Chicken Curry and Mabel's Claypot Chicken. She also runs a cookery school at the restaurant on weekends, teaching local people the secrets of the wok.

Sweet Mandarin made headlines at the end of last year, when it won Britain's Best Local Chinese Restaurant on Gordon Ramsay's F Word.

The model

Kirstie Bennett is a Boss model to watch. Although she has only been modelling for 12 months, she is already a familiar face in glossy magazines, having recently appeared in adverts for Boo Hoo Clothing, 2 True Make-up, Andrew Collinge and Reuben Wood among others.

The 20-year-old beauty from Northenden is also in high demand for magazine shoots and fashion shows, and her agency says her impressive work looks set to continue.

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