Andrew Spinoza
Writer and communications consultant
Hear the compelling and entertaining story behind ‘Manchesterism’ from a veteran journalist and chronicler of the city.
Book Andrew
Biography
Veteran Manchester commentator Andy Spinoza arrived in the fading, de-industrialised city in 1979 to study, founded City Life magazine in 1983 and sent dispatches on the Madchester music scene for NME, The Face and Manchester Evening News, where he was the Diary Editor for ten years. He then enjoyed a 25-year career in PR promoting the city, working with businesses, politicians and celebrities during its world-recognised reinvention. In 2023 he published Manchester Unspun, an acclaimed account of how the city got high on music, culture and spectacle.
What I Currently Do
Publications
Manchester Unspun
At the end of the 1970s, Manchester seemed to be sliding into the dustbin of history. Today the city is an international destination for culture and sport, and one of the fastest-growing urban regions in Europe. This book offers a first-hand account of what happened in between. Arriving in Manchester as a wide-eyed student in 1979, Andy Spinoza went on to establish the arts magazine City Life before working for the Manchester Evening News and creating his own PR firm. In a forty-year career he has encountered a who's who of Manchester personalities, from cultural icons such as Tony Wilson to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and influential council leaders Sir Richard Leese and Sir Howard Bernstein. His remarkable account traces Manchester's gradual emergence from its post-industrial malaise, centering on the legendary nightclub the Haçienda and the cultural renaissance it inspired.
Speaking Topics
Manchester, place branding, regeneration, urbanism, cultural impact.
The Manchester experience told from the inside
Media Appearances
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