Luke Andrew Manning (born 3 January 1978) is a British businessman, journalist and musician. He is the co-founder of the independent record label Mostar Records, is the founder of the branding and communications house Rolling Thunder[1] and established the online magazine The Smoke Room. He has been a freelance journalist for publications across the world, including The Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times and the Moscow News and has also had work published in The Daily Telegraph, The Belfast Telegraph and The Scotsman.
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Born in Toronto, Canada, Manning was brought up near London. After attending Caterham School in Surrey, he went on to study biochemistry at the University of Warwick[2]. He currently lives in Surrey with his wife Anita and children Annabel and Finley.
In January 2011 Manning established the multi-genre record label Mostar Records,featuring artists and genres including electronica, indie rock, drum and bass and funk.
Bands on the label have included the emerging Irish newcomers The Riot Tapes (who reached #5 in the iTunes Ireland Alternative Chart [3] and #48 on the Ireland Overall Music Chart with their debut single Photograph), cult British alternative outfit LickSpittle (who reached #1 with their second single Lush Hound in the 975 Play FM Top 20 Countdown in Palembang, Indonesia in August 2011[4]), US band Dangerous Idiots and former Queens of the Stone Age, Stewart Copeland, Martina Topley-Bird and Tricky collaborators The Future Shape of Sound.
In 2006 he wrote a series of articles on George Galloway, former MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, culminating in a feature on the London local elections where Galloway's Respect Party was involved in the hotly contested Tower Hamlets seat. Allegations of vote rigging before the ballot and Galloway's high profile after his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother pushed the article to prominence in The Guardian.[5]
Having written promotional material for BBC Presenter René Carayol and conducted interviews with then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, broadcaster Marcel Theroux, businessman Duncan Bannatyne,[6] and Pulitzer prize-winning author William Taubman, Manning started up an online magazine and discussion forum called The Smoke Room with Ben Wilding, designed to provide a platform for underground talent in writing, music and photography.
The Smoke Room closed a year later in 2007 after he went on to work full time as Creative Director for René Carayol, across his Carayol and Inspired Leaders Network (ILN) businesses. Manning's connection with George Galloway MP was again evident when the politician became the first guest speaker of the 2007 agenda for ILN.[7]
In 2009/2010 he worked with West Ham chairman David Gold on the re-write of his autobiography Pure Gold, whilst also contributing to the upcoming book on the history of BP by award-winning Houston Chronicle reporter Loren Steffy - Drowning in Oil:BP & the Reckless Pursuit of Profit.[8]
In the same period Manning developed the concept of Corporate Insurgency[9] with Professor David James of Henley Business School and Paul Kearney, former Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal Marines, during a series of live events across the UK [10] and articles in the Financial Times[11] and The Economist[12]
Manning established the branding and communications house Rolling Thunder in August 2011.[13].
ILN 's former speakers and current members include the Leader of the House Of Lords Rt Hon Baroness Amos[14], former Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton[15], BBC's The Apprentice winner Timothy Campbell[16], MOBO founder Kanya King[17], Aquascutum CEO Kim Winser[18] and actor Colin Salmon.
As a publicist Manning has worked for BBC newsreader Kate Silverton, former chairman of Ofsted Zenna Atkins, British light-welterweight boxing champion Ashley Theophane[19] and celebrity chef Patrick Williams. He has also worked with former boxer Mark Prince, after being part of the mentoring team put together by the Sky1 programme Noel's HQto support the Kiyan Prince Foundation.
In October 2008 he co-presented the "Aspirational Non Celebrity" award with 400m Gold Medallist Christine Ohuruogu to author Sandy Lewis at the Inspiration Awards For Women. The awards, held at Cadogan Hall in central London, were organised by the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer.[20]
Manning also acted as the public speaking agent for Sir Richard Branson's former right-hand man Brad Rosser [21] and former chairman of Ofsted Zenna Atkins.
Manning appeared in an interview on 'First Issues' on Botswana TV (BTV) in March 2010 to promote a pan-African ILN leadership initiative, followed by a live radio broadcast on 88.7 Sunny FM in Accra, Ghana.
In 2009 Manning launched a series of audiobooks on iTunes with producer and consultant Michelle Loughney, under the Reinvent Yourself and Business Builders brands.
Both series featured a mixture of celebrity and expert presenters across different areas of business and personal development. The launch titles included audiobooks by former newsreader Martyn Lewis, fashion stylist Nicky Hambleton-Jones[22] and ex-footballer Rodney Marsh.