8th October 2025 – by Dan Sheridan, Managing Director, Duo Consulting.
This week, I had the privilege of speaking at an energised event (‘Manchester Connect: Australia-UK Business Landscape Panel Discussion‘) all about the UK growth opportunity in Manchester for Australian businesses.
The big takeaway – “London is not the UK.”
The esteemed set of speakers convened by the Australia-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce included the Australian High Commissioner to the UK the Hon Stephen Smith, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, Councillor Bev Craig (Leader of Manchester City Council), David Camerlengo (Australian Trade and Investment Commission – aka Austrade), Elizabeth Vega OBE (Group CEO, Informed Solutions) and Matt Jackson (Head of High Growth Markets, KPMG).
With Duo Consulting being a member of both the Australia-UK Chamber and the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce it was a room full of friends and new friends with common purpose.
The event provided a platform to talk about the work Duo is doing as a new breed of Manchester PR agency and communications consultancy. We support internationally-headquartered clients entering and scaling in the UK market to build their profile here, as well as ambitious UK businesses looking to grow nationally and internationally, exporting to markets like Australia.
I championed the example of our client SafetyCulture, which has chosen Manchester to base its European headquarters and has never looked back. Equally, our Manchester tech client Vypr, now making inroads into the Australian market with its globally innovative approach to providing brands and retailers with consumer insight.
We invited Alistair Houghton, Editor of BusinessLive to join the event and he’s written an excellent report. If you’re interested in Manchester’s increasing prominence in the UK and on the international stage – an opportunity highlighted by our Australian friends – then it’s a must read: https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/london-not-uk-manchester-could-32631169
Commenting on Duo’s support for the Australia-UK Chamber’s Manchester event, Richard Basil-Jones said:
“Your advice and guidance leading up to this event was highly appreciated, as was your contribution to the business panel – the Chamber loves members like Duo Consulting that are so engaged.”
Pictured above from left to right: Chris Stott, senior partner and KPMG Manchester office leader; Richard Basil-Jones, CEO, Australia-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce; Dan Sheridan, Managing Director, Duo Consulting; Matt Jackson, Head of High Growth Markets, KPMG; Elizabeth Vega OBE, Group CEO, Informed Solutions; David Camerlengo, Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner, Austrade; the Hon Stephen Smith, Australian High Commissioner to the UK; Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council; Tim Dillon, Agent General to United Kingdom, State Government of Victoria; Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
