Funny isn't it how it sometimes takes an "outsider" to make you realise something great about your home town.

A couple of days ago - a friend of a friend had some family from outside of the UK come and visit them.

So they did what you do. They took them on the "tourist" places are where they live. And they were amazed at how beautiful their town and the surrounding countryside really were.

This happens more than we think - and I believe that this same process (which I am sure has a clever psychological name) is what drives us to miss out on local opportunities and the potential of our young people (not just in this country but in the world...) i.e. we see them everyday and we take them for granted.

It's why we don't just book a taxi and go to a local hotel or tourist spot every weekend. However, "oustiders" not having this mental fatigue (which might be the term) they can see the opportunity and the brilliance that we miss every day.

The local dingy pub with weirdos in it, you always walk past, for someone from abroad might be an amazing cultural experience mixing with people telling stories and living the real British lives they read about in books.

Anyhoo, the point of this is not about cultures per se, it is more that a Swedish company (and I am rather proud that it is a Swedish company as I am genetically half Swede) has some to Manchester as, as their CEO puts is

"Manchester is a fast-growing, forward-looking city that has invested in developing its reputation as a global digital and creative hub."

This company  PlaygroundSquad, has come to Manchester and The Sharp Project, as "The UK is the centre of game development in Europe so moving our model over here is a natural step for us..... Manchester is
an exciting place to be and we are delighted to bring our specialist training to the city and reach out to the talented young people who live here. We want to mirror our success in Sweden and create jobs and employment in this growth sector here in the UK."

So the Swedes want to bring growth to the UK through teaching our young people how to make computer games isn't it amazing how it takes someone else to support the next generation of UK gaming creation.

By the by the gaming sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world, something that could help the UK economy and something I am rather passionate about.... so this is said for a reason.

All this is possible due to The Sharp Project director Sue Woodward OBE who is rather wonderful herself.

She is quoted in said: "It's fantastic to have persuaded Magnus to make Manchester the first overseas home for PlaygroundSquad. They were targeted as they are world leaders in gaming training. This is the final part of The Sharp Project jigsaw.

"Five years ago we planned to introduce a games facility to the building. It was always part of the plan, so it’s great to see it come to fruition. The Sharp Project is fast becoming a hub for gaming and skills associated with all kinds of creative digital content from network drama to forensics.

"Our talented tenants are producing material for a multi-platform world, a world that once was so fragmented but one we have created under one roof. That was the whole point of The Sharp Project - to shift the north from analogue content to converged media. Job done."

Job done indeed Sue, job done. It doesn't take an outsider to see that.

I wonder if they will be making mobile games? Now that is something Manchester needs to realise the potential of.... see a lovely blog about when I met Ian Livingston with Dojit games a year ago.

And perhaps more importantly what he is now doing since then.... spoiler alert he is starting a school.