A Manchester health food eatery has announced it will be helping to feed the region’s most vulnerable through meal donations.
KBK – based in Ancoats – is planning to donate 3,000 children’s meals to food poverty relief charity and foodbank provider FareShare GM, which will be distributed over these next two weeks and during February half term to families in need across Greater Manchester.
The first 500 meals will be dropped off this Saturday to FareShare GM’s HQ in New Smithfield Market, and the delivery will include dishes such as Italian Meatballs and Spaghetti, and Chicken Tikka with Basmati Rice.
The popular brand and restaurant – which specialises in health food, and also provides meal prep, and juice and soup cleanse services from its Great Ancoats street site – has made the decision decided to lend a hand following “a turbulent few weeks in parliament”, with various U-turns from the government around feeding children both in and out of school.
KBK said it is “more important than ever for us to look after each other and offer the support we can to families who are struggling during this time”.
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The restaurant took to social media last week to seek out a charity to partner with.
“We’ve seen the news this week and we want to do our bit to help,” KBK said, “if you know of a charity who we can contact, please [let us know].”
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After deliberating upon the best charity to provide the donations to, KBK decided that the Marcus Rashford-endorsed charity FareShare – which has been operating for over 25 years – would be the most suitable, as the initiative has been working around the clock and around the nation to distribute food to families who need it most.
As many Mancunians will know, Wythenshawe-born Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford has been working with the charity since 2020.
He has so far raised enough money to enable FareShare to distribute 12.3 million meals to UK families.
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“Given what has taken place this year, FareShare seemed the perfect organisation [for us] to get behind.” KBK admitted.
Speaking more on the decision to make the meal donations, James Anderson – Operations Director at KBK- said: “We feel incredibly fortunate that we are in a position to contribute, in even a small way, to supporting Manchester’s families during what is a very difficult time.
“No child should go hungry and it is our job as a community to ensure this does not happen.”
KBK
KBK has been operating in Manchester for over 5 years now, and having started out with just one store in Ancoats, the business has grown with the city and the team has said they can think of no better time than now to show its appreciation to the people of the community.
The Peaky Blinders bar in Manchester has closed down
Daisy Jackson
The Peaky Blinders-themed bar in Manchester city centre has shut for good.
The Peter Street nightlife favourite announced this afternoon that the venue has closed, with immediate effect.
Peaky Blinders opened back in 2018 in the former Sakana site, with plenty of nods to the popular Netflix series – including oil paintings of the main characters on the wall.
Over the years, its offering has expanded to include bottomless brunches and Sunday roasts, plus drinks all the way into the early hours.
But the Peaky Blinders bar has announced with ‘an extremely heavy heart’ that its days on Peter Street are over.
Peaky Blinders said in a statement: “It is with an extremely heavy heart that we unfortunately have to announce the closure of Peaky Blinders Manchester with immediate effect.
“On behalf of our entire team, we are truly thankful to every guest who has stepped through our doors since opening in 2018.
“We are devastated it has had to end this way, but grateful for the journey.
Brewdog’s beer hotel in Manchester has closed with immediate effect
Daisy Jackson
The ‘beer hotel’ operated by Brewdog in Manchester has closed with immediate effect, as part of the Scottish brewery’s £33m sale.
A whopping 38 Brewdog bars around the UK have closed, resulting in hundreds of job losses.
As well as the beer hotel known as DogHouse in Manchester, which was home to a large bar and rooftop terrace, the Oxford Road brewpub known as the OutPost has also closed.
The DogHouse Hotel on Fountain Street had a range of boutique bedrooms, fitted with features like beer fridges in the shower, beer taps in the room, guitars, record players, and pet beds.
Just 11 pubs have been retained in the rescue deal, including the Brewdog bar on Peter Street in Manchester city centre.
The brewery has been bought by US beverage and medical cannabis company Tilray for £33m, a sale which includes its UK brewery operations, brand, and a handful of pubs.
Yesterday, Brewdog announced all of its bars would be closed for the day to enable staff to attend staff meetings.
Administrators confirmed yesterday that 484 jobs had been lost in the sale, with 38 bars closing.
Unite, the union which represents thousands of hospitality workers, said it is ‘appalled’ at how Brewdog staff have been treated during the sale.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is a devastating day for Brewdog workers. Nearly 500 lost livelihoods while yet another corporate deal is stitched together behind closed doors.
“Brewdog workers built this brand. They deserved respect. Instead, they were treated as disposable pawns. Unite will not rest until our members have legal and financial justice.”
Unite national lead for hospitality Bryan Simpson said: “The way in which senior management have conducted themselves throughout this sales process has been nothing short of a national disgrace – with workers being given no information about the company’s plans or their futures.
“For the CEO to tell workers that they were redundant with immediate effect, on a conference call with only 25 minutes notice, has echoes of P&O and is deplorable. Unite will be ensuring that our members receive everything they are legally entitled to.”
Brewdog was founded in 2007 by friends James Watt and Martin Dickie.
Emily Sergeant -
21st January 2021 
