Episodes

Friday Oct 07, 2022
Friday Oct 07, 2022
How does a shy lad from the small town of Berwick-Upon-Tweed end up becoming one of the most successful footballers of his generation?
In the first Downtown Den podcast of the new series, DIB chief executive and Group Chairman Frank McKenna is in conversation with Trevor Steven.
Through the Eighties and Nineties Trevor played for Burnley, Everton, Glasgow Rangers, and Marseille. He also represented England, winning 36 full caps, and competing in the 1986 and 1990 World Cup Finals.
In his club career he won two English League Championships, an FA Cup and a European Cup Winners Cup; seven Scottish Premier League titles, and three Scottish League Cups; and a French Ligue 1 championship.
He is now a mental health ambassador for Causeway Technologies.
In this fascinating discussion, Trevor talks:
- Berwick Rangers
- Burnley and cleaning Martin Dobson’s boots
- Scoring the winner at the Stretford End at the age of 16
- Everton, Howard Kendall, and resilience
- Turning down Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United
- Glasgow Rangers and moving abroad
- Mental health
To find out more about the Causeway/DIB mental health campaign go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s73qRXrtwbQ
https://causeway.com/mentalhealth
Trevor’s Instagram is @trevorsteven7
Trevor’s Twitter account is trevorsteven63
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This episode was sponsored by Moore Media

Thursday May 13, 2021
Hospitality Special - Thom Hetherington
Thursday May 13, 2021
Thursday May 13, 2021
As we get set to return to ‘live’ events, we could think of no better guest to launch our new podcast series than Thom Hetherington, the chief executive of Holden Media and a huge influencer and advocate for the Hospitality and events industry.
In this fascinating discussion, Thom talks about his career journey, which has included two redundancies, two economic crashes and a near death experience. Despite these challenges, his business is in good shape and his passion for live events, bars, restaurants, Manchester, and the North shines through in his contribution here.
For an optimistic view of the future, for some key business lessons, and for some great stories, A Frank Conversation with Thom Hetherington is well worth a listen.

Friday Mar 26, 2021
Series 2 - Ep. 7 - Tom Smyth
Friday Mar 26, 2021
Friday Mar 26, 2021
From the 10 year old starting work in a fish and chip shop in Belfast to the successful entrepreneur and author of ‘Fear Less’, in this weeks Downtown Podcast we hear from Founder of International apartment buildings, Dream Apartments, Tom Smyth.
Tom joined Downtown in Business CEO, Frank McKenna to discuss all things business from struggling to start out to the international success Dream Apartments is today.

Friday Mar 12, 2021
Series 2 - Ep.6 - Rob Binns
Friday Mar 12, 2021
Friday Mar 12, 2021
Downtown in Business CEO, Frank McKenna caught up with Lancashire based entrepreneur and owner of Cotton Court Business Centre in Preston.
Frank & Rob discussed the progression from Rob spending 17 years at a previous company, building up from starting out as an apprentice, to today as the owner of a successful business in Lancashire and widely known entrepreneur across the region.

Friday Mar 05, 2021
Series 2 - Ep. 5 - Lisa Morton
Friday Mar 05, 2021
Friday Mar 05, 2021
Downtown CEO, Frank McKenna speaks to Founder & Managing Director of Manchester based Marketing & PR Company, Roland Dransfield, Lisa Morton.
Frank and Lisa discuss Lisa's progression from starting work (at just 8 years old) to their joint works with UnitedCity, the newly created group of business leaders from across Manchester, working together to help get the city back on its feet post-Covid.

Friday Feb 26, 2021
Series 2 - Ep.4 - Karina Jadhav
Friday Feb 26, 2021
Friday Feb 26, 2021
In the new episode of The Downtown Podcast, Downtown CEO, Frank McKenna spoke with Founder & Owner of Salford Restaurant and Bar Menagerie, Karina Jadhav. Frank and Karina discuss Karina's journey from hospitality worker, to the stepping stones in becoming the owner of the venue visited by international superstars from Justin Timberlake, Drake & even Beyonce's dance troupe, but also how the pandemic has impacted the venue and building back up to success from their reopening on 17th May.

Thursday Feb 04, 2021
Series 2 - Ep. 3 - Richard Angell
Thursday Feb 04, 2021
Thursday Feb 04, 2021
Richard Angell, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the Terence Higgins Trust and the former chief executive of Labour pressure group Progress, was the latest podcast guest to have a ‘Frank Conversation’ with DIB boss Frank Mckenna. In a wide ranging and fascinating discussion, Richard explains the positive impact the drama series ‘It’s a Sin’ has had on raising awareness of HIV/AIDS and the progress that has been made in combatting the pandemic of the 80’s. he also gives his candid assessment on the performance of government and opposition, offering some thoughts on how the Labour Party might win the next General Election. Richard’s selection of his ideal government cabinet is female formidable – we’ll leave it to you to judge weather his top team would outperform Boris & co.

Monday Jan 25, 2021
Series 2 - Ep. 2 - Mike Emmerich
Monday Jan 25, 2021
Monday Jan 25, 2021
Downtown CEO, Frank McKenna spoke to Founding Director of Metro Dynamics, Mike Emmerich. Frank and Mike discussed Mikes roles pre-Metro Dynamics, the impacts of the pandemic on business, Brexit and so much more.

Tuesday Jan 12, 2021
Ep.119 - Downtown Den: UK Night Time Economy Leaders in the Downtown Den
Tuesday Jan 12, 2021
Tuesday Jan 12, 2021
Downtown in Business was joined by a number of the UK's leading Night-Time economy personalities for an in-depth discussion on the nightlife industry and how it has been affected by the pandemic, the 10pm curfew and other restrictions.
Thanks to Rich McGinnis, Founder of Chibuku Liverpool; Sacha Lord, Night Time Economy Advisor for Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Co Founder of Warehouse Project and Parklife Festival; Naomi Aly, Marketing Manager for Aluna Birmingham and John James, Managing Director of Soho Estates London for joining us for this fascinating discussion.

Monday Jan 11, 2021
Series 2 - Ep. 1 - Holly Moore
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Downtown CEO, Frank McKenna and Managing Director of Make Events, Holly Moore discuss how the events sector has dealt with the impacts of Covid and how this has impacted peoples mental health. Plus, Frank & Holly discuss how they're looking to the future beyond covid and how the events industry will begin to thrive once again.

