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This month's hottest stories. Read on to find out who won the Les Dawson comedy award, why a leading Manchester retailer has changed its name and where to see the Britsih Art Show.
Ready, set, write
Manchester's leading producing theatre company has just announced a major new playwriting competition.
Over the past 30 years, The Royal Exchange has produced some of the country's finest new pieces of work by playwrights including Ronald Harwood, Iain Heggie, Brad Fraser, Debbie Horsfield, Chloe Moss and Simon Stephens.
With this pedigree and the backing of Manchester-based property company Bruntwood, the theatre has launched a national playwriting competition, open to writers of all ages and experience from throughout the UK and Ireland.
This is set to become one of the most important competitions in British Theatre with major cash prizes and full-scale productions of winning entries. Win it and your play will be presented at The Royal Exchange as one of the highlights of the inaugural Manchester International Festival in 2007. Plus you will get your share of a total of £45,000 in cash prizes.
The deadline for entry is April 30, 2006 and a shortlist of between ten and 15 plays will be drawn up by July 2006, with the winner to be announced in September 2006. Interested? Call 0161 615 6765 or visit www.royalexchange.co.uk/playwriting for an application pack.
City of laughs
Johnny Vegas was the toast of the town as he scooped the Les Dawson Award for Services to Comedy at the North West Comedy Awards this year.
The St Helen's funny-man took centre stage at the Jarvis Piccadilly Hotel where stars of the comedy world descended to honour the region's top comics on October 29. The sell-out event was without doubt the highlight of the Manchester Smile Comedy Festival, which was packed with must-see shows from local and international comedy stars.
Vegas was presented with his award by Les Dawson's 13-year-old daughter Charlotte, who was a baby when her father died. Graciously receiving his trophy, Vegas said: "Les is the only comic I've been compared with and been happy with the comparison, so it's a real compliment."
The other winners were: Keith Carter (Best Breakthrough in Comedy), Alan Carr (Best Stand Up on the North West Circuit), Rob Brydon (Best Touring Comedy Production, Early Doors (Best Comedic Performance on Film and TV), Craig Cast & Phil Mealey (Best Comedic Writing), XS Malarkey (Best Comedy Club), Lee Mack (Best Comedy Content in a Radio Show) and Alex Carter (Best Comedic Performance in Soap). Carter, who plays Lee Hunter in Hollyoaks, won the award for the second year running.
Record filming activity for Manchester
Manchester's dramatic Gothic backdrops and striking modern architecture, combined with the city's friendly people have helped to make it an ideal filming location, with 2005 being the busiest filming year to date.
According to North West Vision, the region's film and TV development agency, Manchester Film Office has already exceeded last year's record tally of 840 filming days.
Last year, the filming frenzy generated over £30 million of inward investment for the local economy and created hundreds of jobs. This year the figures are expected to be even higher.
ITV dramas Vincent (starring Ray Winstone), Cold Blood (starring John Hannah and Matthew Kelly) and Eleventh Hour (starring Patrick Steward) are just some of the productions that have been shot on location in Manchester over the last 18 months.
Alice Morrison, chief executive of North West Vision, attributes the filming boom on several factors, including: "The BBC's announcement to move a significant amount of production to Manchester, filming restrictions in London (including congestion charges), Manchester's film friendly attitude and North West Vision's Regional Attraction Fund (RAF)."
The RAF is a £1 million annual initiative that aims to strengthen the independent sector in Manchester and the North West. For more information go to www.northwestvision.co.uk/funding.
British Art Show date for Manchester
Fresh from its success at Baltic in Gateshead, where it was seen by over 42,000 visitors in its first month, the most ambitious survey of recent British art arrives in Manchester in January.
The British Art Show will take over every major art gallery in Manchester from Jan 28, 2005 until April 2, 2006 and feature new work by 50 artists and artists' groups, including some Mancunian talent.
A new large-scale wall painting by Toby Paterson, looking at architecture and how the places we live in are shaped, has been commissioned specially for the exhibition and will be displayed at Urbis. A number of works will be shown exclusively in Manchester, including Phil Collins's film El Mundo no Escuchara, Nathan Coley's new video installation Jerusalem Syndrome and Saskia Olde Wolbers' film Placebo.
In developing the shortlist for the British Art Show, curators Andrea Schlieker and Alex Farquharson travelled extensively throughout the UK and considered the work of over 500 artists. They said: "It is a particularly exciting moment for us to assemble this exhibition, as the art scene in Britain is now broader in outlook, more vibrant and internationally oriented than at any other time in the British Art Show's 26-year history."
What's in a name?
Manchester's landmark department store Kendals has just had its name changed to House of Fraser, following a multi-million pound refurbishment.
Founded in 1833, Kendals is an institution in Manchester and one of the oldest store groups in the world. In its heyday, it was regarded as the place to shop and anyone who was anyone wouldn't be caught dead shopping anywhere else. But it now faces stiff competition from newcomers Harvey Nichols and Selfridges.
There was much speculation about the store's famous name being dropped after its parent company, House of Fraser, announced a major makeover back in spring. The refurbishment was completed in October and the store has been relaunched as House of Fraser, much to the disappointment of many customers.
The change in name takes the total number of stores trading under the House of Fraser name to 22 out of a portfolio of 64 stores in the UK and Dublin.
John Coleman, House of Fraser chief executive, said: "While the store has traded very successfully to date, we have taken a move to position the business for the future and our customers are becoming increasingly style conscious and loyal to the House of Fraser brand. The transformation of the store can be seen with the top brands we have on sale now, including Kenzo, Karen Millen, La Perla, Longchamp, Gieves & Hawkes, Missoni and Alessi."
urbansplashUrban Splash announces £5 million profit
It has been another good year for Manchester-based property developer Urban Splash.
The company has announced pre-tax profits of £5 million and a revaluation of its property portfolio from £30.4 million to £41.2 million, reflecting a total return of £10.8 million for the full year to March 31.
A number of high-profile schemes put Urban Splash in the spotlight this year, including residential developments in Plymouth, Cheshire and Manchester; a commercial office and retail scheme in Liverpool; and, of course, the mammoth urban regeneration scheme that is New Islington, Manchester's Millennium Community.
In the same period, Urban Splash added another 20 awards to its already huge stash and jumped into 12th place in the Sunday Times ÔBest Small Companies to Work for' list.
The future continues to look bright for the property developer, who has recently opened new regional offices in Bradford, Bristol, Plymouth and Birmingham. Two of its most exciting new projects are the restoration of the art deco Midland Hotel in Morecambe and the reshaping of 349 Victorian terrace houses in Salford into new homes.