Author: darren

Had some time off recently so decided to visit Rome and Florence in Italy. Beautiful country.

All photography shot on a Nikon D810 and 24mm f1.4

Rome is the capital city and a special comune of Italy (named Comune di Roma Capitale). Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region. With 2,872,800 residents in 1,285 km² (496.1 sq mi), it is also the country’s most populated comune. It is the fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4,355,725 residents, thus making it the most populous metropolitan city in Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber. The Vatican City (the smallest country in the world) is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city: for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states.

Rome has the status of a global city. In 2016, Rome ranked as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The famous Vatican Museums are among the world’s most visited museums while the Colosseum was the most popular tourist attraction in world with 7.4 million visitors in 2018. Host city for the 1960 Summer Olympics, Rome is the seat of several specialized agencies of the United Nations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The city also hosts the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean as well as the headquarters of many international business companies such as Eni, Enel, TIM, Leonardo S.p.A., and national and international banks such as Unicredit and BNL. Its business district, called EUR, is the base of many companies involved in the oil industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and financial services. Rome is also an important fashion and design centre thanks to renowned international brands centered in the city. Rome’s Cinecittà Studios have been the set of many Academy Award–winning movies.

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,084 inhabitants in 2013, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.

Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called “the Athens of the Middle Ages”. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Florentine dialect forms the base of Standard Italian and it became the language of culture throughout Italy due to the prestige of the masterpieces by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini.

The city attracts millions of tourists each year, and the Historic Centre of Florence was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florence’s artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

A NEW LOOK AT LAS IGUANAS DEANSGATE

Latin American restaurant favourite Las Iguanas is sporting a new look on Deansgate in Manchester this spring.

Celebrating in style, they showed off their recent makeover while guests mingled with carnival dancers and enjoyed dinner and cocktail masterclasses showcasing Las Iguanas’s own cachaça, the Brazilian spirit used to make the famous Caipirinha cocktail.

The restaurant has been transformed with a larger bar, wall graphics inspired by the team’s travels in Brazil and Argentina, a plant wall with flashes of neon and festoon lighting looping across the rafters. The menu includes the best of Latin American food cooked from scratch by the skilled team of chefs with treats such as peanut and prawn maracanã, Havana Club and jerk BBQ glazed pork rib and Fiesta enchilada, or guests could enjoy delicious vegetarian, vegan or gluten free options, alongside classic and quirky cocktails created using premium spirits. And it’s Happy Days at Las Iguanas with 2 for 1 cocktails all day every day.

Las Iguanas’ new spring menu launches on 2nd April.

‘We live for food, and to bring food alive – with an irresistible bolt of Latin American energy. We rise at the crack of dawn to unload boxes of top-quality, fresh British produce. Then our chefs add carefully sourced ingredients from around the world, to conjure delicious, authentic South American food, made with passion, love and lots of Latin magic. Our food pulses with its exotic 16th Century roots – a mouth-watering confusion of native Latin American Indian, Spanish, Portuguese and African influences. Las Iguanas is an adventure. You’ll discover new tastes, and fall in love with new favourites – and feel the warmth and welcome of South America’.

Our ethos is refreshingly simple. We want to bring authentic South America to every table, every day – in a place that lives and breathes Latin. We use the freshest food, and the highest quality ingredients. We source from the best possible places – and try to be GM free. We’ve been with some of our suppliers for many years, and proudly support native South American businesses, like our coffee supplier, Daterra (who are Rainforest Alliance certified), and our cachaça partners, Magnifica, who grow our very own organic sugar cane – mixed only with local spring water during distillation.

I recently photographed some of the staff at JW Lees brewery in Middleton near Manchester.

JW Lees is a family brewery company, founded in 1828 by retired cotton manufacturer John Lees. They are based in Middleton in the North West of Manchester and own JW Lees Brewery, JW Lees Pubs, The Alderley Edge Hotel, The Trearddur Bay Hotel and Willoughby’s Wine Merchants. They’re a sixth-generation family business which employs just over 1,100 people, 141 at the brewery and site in Middleton Junction and 1000 in their 36 managed pubs, inns and hotels, as well as letting a further 107 pubs to their Pub Partners.

Some of my favourite work from 2018.

Thanks to all my clients and hope to work with you all again in 2019.

Trumpy and Pumpy Squeezepocket, Cinderella’s Ugly Sisters in this year’s pantomime at Oldham Coliseum Theatre, had a great day out at Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre looking for an outfit to wear to Prince Charming’s ball, surprising shoppers and causing mischief and mayhem wherever they went.

Played by Simeon Truby and Fine Time Fontayne, the flatulent ‘Uglies’ drooled over diamonds in Ernest Jones, fought over stilettos that look remarkably like Cinderella’s crystal slippers in Debenhams and found their gowns in River Island.

The sisters were also fortunate enough to meet staff in the Debenhams cosmetic and beauty departments, who invited them along to their VIP event on Thursday 6 December, where they’ll be able to take part in master classes and get glammed up with 15% off skincare, beauty and fragrance.

Shoppers in the centre were thrilled to see the pantomime stars as they strolled around the stores, taking selfies and saying hello to panto fans young and old.

Mike Flanagan, Centre Manager at Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre, commented: “It’s great to see the two Dames from the Coliseum Theatre pantomime appearing in the centre today. It goes to show the close relationship the two organisations have and shows the town centre working in partnership together.”

Each year the Coliseum serves up the perfect panto recipe – excellent actors, singers and dancers dishing out the very best in traditional fun that’s great for kids and not-so-grown-up grown-ups. Add some music, songs and slapstick, plus a sprinkling of fairy dust for the perfect Christmas celebration.

This year, Prince Charming is throwing a ball and everyone is invited! But it looks like poor Cinderella will be staying home alone, thanks to her Wicked Stepmother and two Ugly Sisters, Trumpy and Pumpy. With the help of her best friend Buttons and a magical Fairy Godmother can Cinderella make it to the party on time?

Cinderella is sponsored by George Hill Timber and N Brown Group. The pantomime’s Educational Partner is Oldham Hulme Grammar School.

Greater Manchester Asian Business Leaders Dinner & Awards were held last Friday at Vermilion in Manchester.

Organised by Muzahid Khan and Kashif Ashraf, five awards were presented to Khalid Ahmed (UK Pharmacy), Asad Shamim (Furniture In Fashion), Nilesh M Bhatt (Gartside Street Dental Lounge), Dr Zubair Ahmed (Arlington British Medical Academy), Dr Zahid Chauhan (Homeless Friendly) plus a special honorary award to Aneel Mussarat (MCR Property Group) for his contribution to business and philanthropy.

North West Business Insider magazine used my photographs of Zen Internet founder Richard Tang.

The December issue of Insider is out now and hears from Richard Tang on standing up to the IP giants and why he’d never sell to private equity.

https://www.insidermedia.com/publications/north-west-business-insider/north-west-business-insider-december-2018

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at MediaCityUK……

Last night saw the MediaCityUK Christmas lights switch-on by The Snowman and Pudsey.

The night was hosted by BBC’s Mike Bushell and saw some great entertainment including Eccles Community Choir, Salford Steel and Salford Dance Troupe.

Russell Jones from last year’s X-Factor then lit up the stage with a great performance for the enthusiastic and excited crowd.

During the evening people were following the Snowman trail which is organised by Wild in Art in collaboration with Penguin Ventures. The Walking with The Snowman sculptures will be exhibited across MediaCityUK and The Quays for six weeks.

@MediaCityUK

BOLTON Town Hall was illuminated in a dazzling display of light this evening.

A kaleidoscope of colour was projected on to the landmark as part of Bolton Light Festival, a set of events taking place across the town over the last month.