Each year we recognise and celebrate the exceptional achievements of Old Mancunians around the world. Congratulations to the alumni who have been nominated for an alumni award in 2024 by The Old Mancunian Advisory Committee. The nominees embody the spirit of the Old Mancunian community across the generations. Our Old Mancunian Alumni Awards honour the exceptional achievements of our alumni, from those who are established in their careers to those who are just getting started. Recipients embody the spirit of the Old Mancunian community across the generations.
In 2024, the award winners were as follows:
• Brian Groom (66-73)
He published his new history of Manchester in May 2024. Having originally been called Mancunians, the title was changed to Made in Manchester: A People’s History of the City That Shaped the Modern World. The book follows the success of Groom’s previous book, Northerners, published in 2023. A former newspaper editor, Groom is used to prolific output and working to tight deadlines, and is now working on a third volume for publication in May 2025, called These Isles: A History of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
• Ben Shalom (05-12)
Ben received extraordinary high praise in March 2024 from the American magazine Sports Illustrated for his impact on the world of professional boxing through his agency BOXXER, which he founded in 2018. “Shalom’s imprint on the sport is undeniable,” the magazine said, reporting on how Shalom has made an “electrifying start” to 2024. “At just 29 years old, Shalom’s disruptive approach has shattered the glass ceiling, earning a niche for BOXXER in a landscape dominated by established titans.” Six years ago, when Shalom established what was then called Ultimate BOXXER, at the age of 23, he claimed to be the youngest-ever boxing promoter, and the first to break into the sport since the 1970s. Shalom aimed to clean up the sport, yet sought advice from anyone who would give it. BOXXER is now the exclusive boxing promoter for Sky Sports in the UK, and also for the TV network NBC in America. Shalom’s clients include Hughie Fury (the cousin of Tyson Fury), Chris Eubank junior, and world champion Natasha Jonas. Shalom was a childhood fan of boxing, and while studying law at Nottingham University he found part-time work helping boxers and promoters.
• Derek Wax (73-80)
His production company Wild Mercury Productions won two Bafta awards in May 2024 for their highly acclaimed TV mini-series The Sixth Commandment, broadcast on BBC1 in the summer of 2023. Much of the drama covered the horrific death of former MGS English master Peter Farquhar, who was murdered by his lover Ben Field in 2015. The series won three Royal Television Society awards in March 2024 for Best Limited Series, with Sarah Phelps winning Best Writer and Eanna Hardwicke winning Best Supporting Actor.
Is this really the best you can do?
I left MGS in 1959 and know of large numbers of Old Mancunians more worthy than these “achievers”.
Time to stop this nonsense methinks.