Mentioned in this episode:

Thanks to our partners for this episode of We Built This City, Car Finance 247. You can visit CarFinance247.co.uk or follow Car Finance 247 on LinkedIn to find out more about them.


“I've never been arsed about money. When I get out of bed in the morning, I just want to make sure we do our absolute best."

From selling Mars Bars at school to negotiating multi-million pound property deals, this week Lisa sits down with Will Lewis, Director of OBI. 

Will started OBI 10 years ago, in the middle of the debris of the banking crisis. Since then, he’s grown his business to manage nearly half of all property deals in Manchester. In this podcast, find out more about why he’s referred to as a disruptor, and his mission to do things differently. 

We Built This City is a series of conversations with some of the amazing Mancunians - born, bred or adopted – who put the heart into modern Manchester. A celebration of the human grit, determination and love found throughout the city, these episodes will lift you up, make you laugh and inspire you to leave our city in a better place.

_ _ _ _ _

Your host, Lisa Morton, started PR company Roland Dransfield in 1996, one month after the fateful IRA bomb that tore apart the city centre. From that point, the business, and its team members, have been involved in helping to support the creation of Modern Manchester – across regeneration, business, charity, leisure and hospitality, sport and culture. 

To celebrate the 24 years that Roland Dransfield has spent creating these bonds, Lisa is gathering together some of her Greater Mancunian ‘family’ and will be exploring how they have created their own purposeful relationships with the best place in the world.

Connect with Lisa and Roland Dransfield:

Via Phone: 01612361122

Via our website

On Instagram

On Twitter 

On Spotify 

Connect with Will Lewis:

Via LinkedIn

Via OBI’s website 

Mentioned in this episode:

Thanks to our partners for this episode of We Built This City, Car Finance 247. You can visit CarFinance247.co.uk or follow Car Finance 247 on LinkedIn to find out more about them.


Mentioned in this episode:

Thanks to our partners for this episode of We Built This City, Car Finance 247. You can visit CarFinance247.co.uk or follow Car Finance 247 on LinkedIn to find out more about them.


“Creating a world where people are free to love who they want.”

Mark Fletcher, CEO of Manchester Pride, brought Ariana Grande to the Pride stage in 2019, cementing it as an event that attracts global attention. Closer to home, Lisa Morton discovers how his fight for a more inclusive world is helping to break down barriers for Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community

We Built This City is a series of conversations with some of the amazing Mancunians - born, bred or adopted – who put the heart into modern Manchester. A celebration of the human grit, determination and love found throughout the city, these episodes will lift you up, make you laugh and inspire you to leave our city in a better place.

Your host, Lisa Morton, started PR company Roland Dransfield in 1996, one month after the fateful IRA bomb that tore apart the city centre. From that point, the business, and its team members, have been involved in helping to support the creation of Modern Manchester – across regeneration, business, charity, leisure and hospitality, sport and culture. 

To celebrate the 24 years that Roland Dransfield has spent creating these bonds, Lisa is gathering together some of her Greater Mancunian ‘family’ and will be exploring how they have created their own purposeful relationships with the best place in the world.

Connect with Lisa and Roland Dransfield:

Via Phone: 01612361122

Via their website

On Instagram

On Twitter 

On Spotify 

Connect with Mark Fletcher:

On Twitter

Via Manchester Pride

Mentioned in this episode:

Thanks to our partners for this episode of We Built This City, Car Finance 247. You can visit CarFinance247.co.uk or follow Car Finance 247 on LinkedIn to find out more about them.


Mentioned in this episode:

Thanks to our partners for this episode of We Built This City, Car Finance 247. You can visit CarFinance247.co.uk or follow Car Finance 247 on LinkedIn to find out more about them.


What does it take to make history? Find out from Joanne Roney OBE. 

Desperate to earn a wage to buy her first ever new coat, Joanne left school at 16 and got a job at Birmingham Council’s Housing Department. On day one, she had a dead rat thrown at her. 

Find out how she overcame the obstacles (and rats), to become Manchester Council’s first ever female Chief Executive.

We Built This City is a series of conversations with some of the amazing Mancunians - born, bred or adopted – who put the heart into modern Manchester. A celebration of the human grit, determination and love found throughout the city, these episodes will lift you up, make you laugh and inspire you to leave our city in a better place.

Your host, Lisa Morton, started PR company Roland Dransfield in 1996, one month after the fateful IRA bomb that tore apart the city centre. From that point, the business, and its team members, have been involved in helping to support the creation of Modern Manchester – across regeneration, business, charity, leisure and hospitality, sport and culture. 

To celebrate the 24 years that Roland Dransfield has spent creating these bonds, Lisa is gathering together some of her Greater Mancunian ‘family’ and will be exploring how they have created their own purposeful relationships with the best place in the world.

Connect with Lisa and Roland Dransfield:

Via Phone: 01612361122

Via their website

On Instagram

On Twitter 

On Spotify 

Connect with Joanne Roney:

On Twitter

Mentioned in this episode:

Thanks to our partners for this episode of We Built This City, Car Finance 247. You can visit CarFinance247.co.uk or follow Car Finance 247 on LinkedIn to find out more about them.


Mentioned in this episode:

Thanks to our partners for this episode of We Built This City, Car Finance 247. You can visit CarFinance247.co.uk or follow Car Finance 247 on LinkedIn to find out more about them.


What values drive a CEO with integrity like Sir Howard Bernstein? 

As the Chief Executive of Manchester City Council for nearly 20 years, Sir Howard got the city back on its feet after the IRA bomb in 1996. He then carried on his regeneration mission for almost two decades, galvanising public and private partnerships, changing the skyline and creating new communities in addition to bringing The Commonwealth Games to Manchester.

Lisa Morton finds out how you rebuild a city, the values that drove Sir Howard to grow the community, and the legacy he wants to leave. Sir Howard also has some warm words of advice and support for Greater Manchester as we rebuild out of a pandemic.

We Built This City is a series of conversations with some of the amazing Mancunians - born, bred or adopted – who put the heart into modern Manchester. A celebration of the human grit, determination and love found throughout the city, these episodes will lift you up, make you laugh and inspire you to leave our city in a better place.

Your host, Lisa Morton, started PR company Roland Dransfield in 1996, one month after the fateful IRA bomb that tore apart the city centre. From that point, the business, and its team members, have been involved in helping to support the creation of Modern Manchester – across regeneration, business, charity, leisure and hospitality, sport and culture. 

To celebrate the 24 years that Roland Dransfield has spent creating these bonds, Lisa is gathering together some of her Greater Mancunian ‘family’ and will be exploring how they have created their own purposeful relationships with the best place in the world.

Connect with Lisa and Roland Dransfield:

Via Phone: 01612361122

Via their website

On Instagram

On Twitter 

On Spotify 

Connect with Howard:

Via Deloitte

Mentioned in this episode:

Thanks to our partners for this episode of We Built This City, Car Finance 247. You can visit CarFinance247.co.uk or follow Car Finance 247 on LinkedIn to find out more about them.


Mentioned in this episode:

Thanks to our partners for this episode of We Built This City, Car Finance 247. You can visit CarFinance247.co.uk or follow Car Finance 247 on LinkedIn to find out more about them.


“Plant trees you’ll never see” means that we should all leave a legacy out of respect for those who follow us.

This is one of the most important values of The Roland Dransfield Way – 15 values by which we try to hold ourselves accountable personally and professionally.

Each of our We Built This City guests has shown that their personal journeys have at their heart a determination to leave Greater Manchester in a better place.

To celebrate Roland Dransfield’s 24th anniversary, we wanted to dedicate our 24th episode to the importance of ‘planting trees’ and to share some of the vital legacy work that our guests are doing, not out of self-interest, but for the benefit of Mancunian generations to come.

We Built This City is a series of conversations with some of the amazing Mancunians - born, bred or adopted – who put the heart into modern Manchester. A celebration of the human grit, determination and love found throughout the city, these episodes will lift you up, make you laugh and inspire you to leave our city in a better place.

_ _ _ _ _ 

Your host, Lisa Morton, started PR company Roland Dransfield in 1996, one month after the fateful IRA bomb that tore apart the city centre. From that point, the business, and its team members, have been involved in helping to support the creation of Modern Manchester – across regeneration, business, charity, leisure and hospitality, sport and culture. 

To celebrate the 24 years that Roland Dransfield has spent creating these bonds, Lisa is gathering together some of her Greater Mancunian ‘family’ and will be exploring how they have created their own purposeful relationships with the best place in the world.  

Connect with Lisa and Roland Dransfield:

Via Phone: 01612361122

Via their website

On Instagram

On Twitter 

On Spotify 

Mentioned in this episode:

Thanks to our partners for this episode of We Built This City, Car Finance 247. You can visit CarFinance247.co.uk or follow Car Finance 247 on LinkedIn to find out more about them.