Member Spotlight: Atif Mahmood, Co-founder, Livaty

Introduce yourself: 

Hi, I’m Atif Mahmood, Co-founder of Livaty. We set up the business to support SMEs and non-profits with their grant requirements, making high-quality support accessible and affordable for the organisations that need it most. To do this, we developed a flexible subscription model that provides the right level of support at the right time. Alongside this, we also offer R&D Tax Relief and HMRC compliance support, areas in which we’ve built up years of experience through our previous roles.

Career highlight:

The highlight of my career is setting up this business. I’ve been a non-exec director before, which I was proud of at the time and another highlight was my master’s dissertation, but this is by far the most challenging and rewarding. Setting up a business at an extremely difficult time for businesses across the UK could be seen as a risk, but I have no regrets and I’m confident we’ll continue going from strength to strength.

Name three words that describe your personality:

Driven, funny, and ambitious.

What’s the best thing about pro-manchester?

My favourite thing is that they bring together organisations across Manchester and the surrounding areas. They put people who wouldn’t usually have the opportunity to speak to one another in the same room. Collaborating and working with other local businesses is essential, so the work done by pro-manchester is really important.

What are your priorities for 2025?

It’s still early days for the business, so the goal is to slowly improve our service offerings one day at a time. We know how difficult it is, so we’re in no rush to scale until we know we’re ready. We’ve already started working with some great organisations, and we want to continue that momentum throughout the rest of 2025 and into 2026.

What do you think are the most important things going on in Manchester at the moment?

Manchester is fast becoming the most popular city in the UK for both business and pleasure, but the most important thing for me is the togetherness of the business community. Businesses are working together and supporting one another to ensure everyone is not only surviving but thriving. That’s the Manchester spirit.

Favourite meeting place in Manchester?

I’ve been making a conscious effort to support more and more independent local businesses, so Idle Hands in the Northern Quarter is always great. The coffee is good and the sweet pies are amazing! I’ve got a sweet tooth, so trust me when I say they’re worth it.

Are there any particular types of businesses that you would like to meet?

Startups, not-for-profits, and companies in the manufacturing sector are our ideal clients.