The teams behind Mackie Mayor, Altrincham Marketand Tender Cow have revealed plans to expand into the world of pubs, letting slip that they’ve just bought a boozer in Cheshire.
Sharing the news on Tuesday morning, the team ecstatically told their followers: “We’ve finally gone and done it. We’ve bought a pub and a rather spectacular one at that.”
They’ll be taking over the Nags Head, they revealed, a stunning, characterful Tudor-style pub in the pretty Cheshire hamlet of Houghton Moss, just outside of Tarporley.
Image: Facebook
Bosses will be joining forces with chefs behind fellow experienced market eateries including Honest Crust pizza, Picos Tacos and Altrincham’s Little Window to help put together this ‘proper, British pub’.
As part of the move, The Nag’s Head team will be rearing their own animals, creating their own charcuterie and moving closer to offering nose-to-tail dining by incorporating whole animal butchery on site.
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It’s one step beyond what the Tender Cow team already does to highlight lesser-known cuts of beef from some of the best producers and farms in Britain at both its Altrincham and Mackie Mayor’s food halls.
Tender Cow is a popular market stall in both the Altrincham and Manchester site dedicated to serving lesser-known cuts of beef from some of the best producers and farms in Britain. / Image: Tender Cow
Grilled leeks and new season asparagus vinaigrette topped with Red Bank organic eggs, crispy capers and Cambridge sauce. / Image: Little Window
Altrincham’s Little Window team – Beth, Ashley, Kate and E – pictured at their stall at the Altrincham Market House for International Women’s Day. / Image: Little Window
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As for local produce, they’ll be working with some of the area’s very best farmers and butchers – including Cinderwood Market Garden, Jane’s Farm Shop, Littlewoods Butchers, Swaledale Butchers, Wholly Cow Beef and Red House Farm.
There’s a strong focus on sustainability, and teams have said it will be ‘a proper British pub tying together everything we’ve been learning and building towards over the last few years.’
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The news of the purchase of the historic boozer follows a two-year appeal led by Cheshire locals to save their historic pub from demolition, after various planning applications were submitted to convert the site into residential dwellings.
Image: Tender Cow
The Grade-II listed building has already survived two world wars and innumerable economic crashes, and now – thanks to the Mackie Mayor and Tender Cow teams – it will hopefully continue to operate as a local community pub for many more years to come.
The new opening will be headed up by Head Chef Alex Coppenhall, who’s been running the Tender Cow kitchen in Macclesfield and is described as being ‘at the forefront of moving us along as a business.’
With an opening date currently set for 9 June 2022, the team is now on a tight recruitment drive to find new team members to help them build their vision of a ‘local, sustainable and honest’ pub.
If you would like to apply for a position, email [email protected] with your CV and cover letter.
Feature image – The Nag’s Head Facebook
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Manchester Airport issues update for anyone flying today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has issued an update for anyone catching a flight today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday.
In case you hadn’t heard, hundreds of flights at several major UK airports – including Manchester Airport – were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) yesterday (8 September 2026), with the incident grounding planes and resulting in numerous cancellations.
According to Flightradar24, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled nationwide, and many passengers were told to expect disruption for the rest of the day.
One of the worst-affected airlines was said to be Ryanair, with around 65,000 passengers affected by the cancellations and delays.
Manchester Airport issued its first statement addressing the matter at 3:15pm yesterday, stating: “We are aware of an issue affecting NATS’ air traffic control service at UK airports, which may result in delays to some departing flights from Manchester Airport today.
“Passengers due to travel are advised to check the latest status of their flight with their airline. We will continue to monitor the situation and share further updates as more information becomes available.”
Now, although the issue has been resolved, Manchester Airport has issued further statements informing anyone travelling today what they can expect.
The airport started off by saying that it is ‘operating as normal’ today, but that passengers are advised to ‘check with their airline for the latest information’.
“A full flight schedule is expected to operate [today] but the airport may be busier due to rescheduled flights,” it added.
Passengers were then thanked for their ‘patience and understanding’ over the past 24 hours.
Featured Image – Ivan Shimko (via Unsplash)
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Hundreds of staff at four Greater Manchester hospitals to strike AGAIN next week
Emily Sergeant
Another round of strikes has been called at a handful of major Greater Manchester hospitals.
Amid ongoing disputes following the first set of strikes at the end of last month, it has now been announced that more than 350 Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust (NCA) employees – including nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers – who are members of the union UNISON will once again walk out for three days next week.
According to the union, the dispute centres on the NCA’s use of an outside agency called NHS Professionals (NHSP) to manage overtime.
When covering staff shortages, workers are entitled to time-and-a-half pay – however in some cases, staff earn less than they would on a normal shift, and some have even been missing out on more than £80 per shift, the union added.
Operating theatre staff were previously on picket lines in June, and although an option to resolve the row was initially tabled by NCA bosses, this has now fallen through.
Hundreds of staff at four of Greater Manchester’s hospitals are set to strike next week / Credit: Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
This means that staff at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary, and Fairfield Hospital in Bury are walking out next week on Monday 14, Tuesday 15, and Thursday 17 September.
The union’s North West regional organiser, Kevin Dolan, said the trust had given ‘no indication’ that it’s willing to re-enter negotiations, adding that operating theatre services were ‘chronically under-staffed’ and staff were choosing to work extra shifts to cover shortages.
Ahead of the August strikes, the trust declared a critical incident to help it secure extra support and keep urgent surgery running, while also announcing that some procedures would have to be postponed.
Understandably, some disruption is expected at each of the hospitals on strike days.
But Gertie Nic Philib, who is the chief people and strategy officer at the Northern Care Alliance, said that the trust will do ‘everything we can to minimise the impact on patients’ and ‘maintain high standards of care and quality at all times.’
“We also have contingency plans in place for emergency situations,” they concluded.
Georgina Pellant -
19th April 2022 
