A newly-conducted study has revealed that Manchester is ranked among the student towns and cities which have experienced some of the most significant cost losses due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
University towns and cities have also experienced a loss of income when students were forced to move off campus.
There’s no hiding the fact that the extended lockdown period has been financially challenging for all areas of the country, but for places that have a large student population – due to one or more major universities situated there – the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been economically catastrophic.
High streets up and down the UK also saw an 18.8% drop of non-food purchases in the three months leading to August, demonstrating the true cost that COVID-19 had.
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Remove a huge proportion of a town’s student population, and the financial impact was even worse.
Now, this latest research – as released by educational consultant Studee – is highlighting the true cost of the pandemic for university cities and towns over the last six months.
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As a whole, the UK lost £3.5 billion during lockdown, but how much has Manchester been affected?
Pixabay
The study has revealed that the city of Manchester will have sadly lost a staggering £106 million+ in income in total over the past six months of lockdown.
This figure can also be broken down to show the different causes of income loss in the city.
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£3.3 million not spent on gifts and charity.
£5.5 million lost in the Health & Wellbeing sector.
£15 million lost at Manchester takeaways.
£16 million was lost through a lack of socialising.
£17 million wasn’t spent on public transport, or other transportation services.
£13 million not spent on clothes (or in the retail sector).
£35.6 million wasn’t spent on food and non-essential groceries.
When looked at nationally, it’s estimated that over £1 billion will have been lost in student towns and cities from grocery stores alone, £418 million may have been lost out on takeaways, £574 million lost from the transport industry over the last six months, £347 million lost from students not revamping their wardrobes, £172 million is likely to have been withheld from the health and wellbeing sector, and over £156 million is predicted to have been lost from students not giving to charities and buying gifts across the UK.
The largest overall loss nationally lies in the lack of socialising / social activities.
With nightclubs still closed and bars recently being told to restrict their opening hours, a night out on the town hasn’t been an option for students and freshers weeks this year have looked different indeed, meaning that a huge £577 million will have been lost in the UK from students not going out over the last six months.
So, how do the university towns and cities in the UK rank overall?
Biggest Overall Losses
According to the summarised research by Studee, the following towns and cities will have lost the biggest amount of money in total due to the number of students who live there.
When it comes to the towns and cities which will have felt the greatest impact from their losses, the city of Manchester doesn’t feature, nor do any towns with universities located within any of Greater Manchester’s 10 boroughs.
The top 10 list in this instance has been worked out by the percentage of the population likely to be lost when students leave, and how much money they would have spent.
Egham in Surrey – home to Royal Holloway University – comes in at the top spot on this particular list of most impacted towns.
It’s then followed by Warwick, Farnham, Hatfield and Bangor rounding out the top five.
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The closest place to Manchester on the list is the town of Ormskirk – situated in West Lancashire and bordering Merseyside with around a 30-minute journey to Liverpool – which is home to Edge Hill University and could have lost income of over £15.5 million during the last six months.
That’s nearly £2.5 million every month.
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If you would like to read the full study and research methodology to find out more information, you can do so via the Studee website here.
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Carl Froch slams ‘pathetic’ John Fury after bust-up at Darren Till press conference
Danny Jones
Former fighter Carl Froch has branded boxing patriarch John Fury “pathetic” following the chaotic scenes at the recent Darren Till press conference.
‘Big’ John was at the centre of some pre-bout bedlam earlier this week after tempers flared during the presser between his son Tommy Fury and his next opponent, Darren Till.
For anyone who didn’t see it, a reaction from the Fury father following a lengthy foul-mouthed exchange sparked a massive on-stage brawl, requiring both parties to be separated and the face-off cut short.
Offering his thoughts on the incident, the ex-middleweight and multi-time champion called out the 59-year-old for what he now says is just the “usual pathetic childish behaviour from a grown man.”
Carl Froch back in 2010, four years before his retirement.‘Big’ John seeing red at the Fury vs Till press conference.Credit: Pasi (via Wikimedia Commons)/Fight Hub TV (via YouTube screenshot)
Speaking to sports media and betting company, Action Network, Froch said: “Darren Till did have a lot to say and he was very vocal but at the end of the day it’s not about him, it’s about Darren Till and Tommy Fury so why is Big John Fury, the fighting man, getting involved?…
“Has he been sacked by Tyson Fury? Did Tyson tell him to f*****g do one and now he’s with Tommy Fury trying to get some of the limelight? I don’t know but same old s***. Darren Till totally wrote him off.
Froch went on to say of Fury junior – who has flirted with the idea of an exhibition match with the retired British, Super Middleweight, Commonwealth and WBC champ in the past – “For me, I don’t give it any credibility but when he mentions my name and puts my name in the mix, I’m obligated to respond.
“It’s like Jake Paul. He doesn’t like the way I give Jake Paul stick because I’m honest. He’s not a fighter or a pro boxer, he’s a YouTuber, TikTok dancer and content creator […] All of these guys like Jake Paul and ‘Big’ John Fury – when they start talking bull***t, I just tell it how it is, give my honest opinion and sit back to watch the parade go by because they all get upset.”
The 47-year-old also speculated that there is a serious possibility that older brother Tyson has dismissed his dad from his current entourage, at least during media events, noting that he isn’t helping promote fights by “headbutting children at press conferences” as we saw before the Fury vs Usyk fight.
“That kid he headbutted didn’t even look like he could have a shave”, added Froch. “He might’ve been a young man, but he picked on the smallest person there and dropped the headbutt on him. It’s not the kind of behaviour you want to see, it’s bad for boxing.
Offering his final thoughts on the ever-controversial John Fury, Froch signed off by saying: “At the end of the day, he is a guy who wants some attention. He’s a man who has never achieved anything. His son Tyson Fury is obviously very good, he’s a top fighter and we know what he’s all about.”
As for 25-year-old Tommy, he takes on fellow North West fighter Darren Till at the Co-op Live arena early next year. You can find out more HERE.
Tommy Fury vs Darren Till press conference descends into foul-mouthed chaos
Danny Jones
The first press conference ahead of Tommy Fury vs Darren Till was held on Tuesday evening and it didn’t take long for the whole thing to descend into absolute bedlam.
Having only been confirmed on Sunday, Fury vs Till will be a homecoming bout for the Wythenshawe-born fighter who is set to headline the first-ever boxing match at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena.
With the date set for 18 January, the pre-fight build-up and media frenzy are growing fast and things have already come to ahead in just the first meeting between the two fighters in London this week.
Clearly sharing plenty of bad blood already, while Tommy and Till were engaging in the usual fighting talk, the family patriarch, John Fury, decided to interject and it was at this point that things boiled over.
‼️ Tommy Fury vs Darren Till press conference descends into chaos as Till tells John Fury: "Shut up, you haven't been seen since Oleksandr Usyk battered Tyson."
As you can see, amidst the various insults being thrown around regarding intelligence, boxing ability, Tommy’s older brother Tyson being “battered by [Oleksandr] Usyk”, ‘Big John’ then launches a bottle of water across the table at Till, sparking a hot-tempered on-stage skirmish.
The lengthy exchange features as many expletives as you could imagine, with 31-year-old Darren Till also threatening that he will “bladder” both Tommy and his more established heavyweight sibling Tyson, labelling the entire Fury family “shithouses” as they walk out of the London press conference.
A mixed martial artist by trade who has competed at both welterweight and middleweight in the UFC, Till assured that even if the boxing match isn’t going his way on the night, he will kick [him] square in [the] face”, adding that he’s a “proper fighter” and that Tommy, on the other hand, has no power.
YouTube turned musician and occasional boxer, KSI – the founder of the Misfits promotion who is putting on the event and who Fury beat back in October last year – can also be heard whooping from centre stage and shouting, “Get your tickets!”
Even after the mini-brawl is separated, the foul-mouthed back and forth continues for some time. You can see another angle here:
Press conference aftermath 🤯@darrentill2 was going IN on the Fury’s 😳
This isn’t the first time things have boiled over at a Fury press conference; in fact, it’s not even the first time John Fury, 59, has found himself in the very eye of the storm.
Meanwhile, the youngest Fury son is preparing first his first fight in over a year, having nearly joined this year’s I’m a Celeb lineup instead.
Tickets for the now highly-anticipated boxing match at Co-op Live, just the second combat sports event to have been held at the arena, are on sale now – you can grab yours HERE. It’s going to be a feisty one.
Emily Sergeant -
8th October 2020 
