Man who baked for NHS to fundraise in lockdown opens Salford cafe
In less than two years, Loaf Mcr has supplied Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Pretty Little Thing, and has now opened their first site in Affinity Living Riverview, Salford.
A Manchester man who first started baking during lockdown to help raise funds for the NHS has opened his first cafe.
Called Loaf, in a nod to the sweet and biscuit-loaded NHS loaf cakes for which founder Aiden Ryan first became known, the new cafe opens its doors at Affinity Place in Salford this weekend.
As the name suggests, it will be serving up Aiden’s famous loaf cakes, alongside loafnuts, pastries and freshly brewed cups of coffee.
Those heading down can find Loaf favourites topped with Jammie Dodgers, Biscoff, Bourbon Biscuits and Custard Creams, alongside a special Pink Panther cake that is – you guessed it – very, very pink.
The Pink Panther loaf cake, topped with pink wafer biscuits, handmade macarons from @_bisousbisous, white chocolate and raspberry flakes. / Image: Loaf Manchester
Alongside this classic collection of nostalgic cakes, you’ll also find the Loaf Au Choc, croissant loaves and brioche loave fresh on the counter every day, all served by the slice.
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Elsewhere, there’ll be artisanal sandwiches and bagels provided by Sndwch Mcr, salads and smoothies from Bondi Bowls, and naturally made soft drinks from Steep Soda Co.
It’s been quite a journey for owner Aiden Ryan, who first started baking in 2020 to raise money for the NHS to tackle PPE shortages and a lack of staff food on-site after being furloughed from his fashion retail job.
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Image: Loaf Manchester
Within a month, he’d raised £1,000 selling just 120 sweetie and chocolate-loaded loaf cakes and carried on baking until restrictions were lifted – at which point he was ready to hang up his apron strings and return to his day job as a manager at Belstaff.
Life, however, had other plans – with Ezra and Gil getting in touch to ask if he might consider baking cakes for their cafes after seeing them on Instagram.
In the past year and then some, he’s not just supplied Ezra but also Feel Good Club, Hampton and Vouis, Propeller Coffee, Makers Quarter and many more – with his loaded loaf cakes going down a storm.
Image: Loaf Manchester
Image: Loaf Manchester
The brioche loaf, topped with berry and Granola with crème fraiche, strawberry and honey drizzle. / Image: Loaf Manchester
In less than two years, Loaf Mcr has supplied Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Pretty Little Thing, and has now opened their first site in Affinity Living Riverview, Salford.
Now, Aiden’s opened his own cafe for fans to get stuck into the cakes, which come covered in all manner of sweet treats including Lotus Biscoff, Jammy Dodgers, Kinder Buenos, figs, creme eggs and Bourbon biscuits.
He is also working towards opening a store on Oxford Road this summer.
Speaking on the new opening, owner Aiden Ryan said: “Loaf Manchester began in May 2020 through community and the support we’ve had from both customers and local business has been absolutely incredible!
“We are so proud of where the brand is now and the connections we’ve made. This weekend is not just the launch of our first site, it’s the celebration of our partnership with Affinity Living, a community-driven place to live, as well as the creatives and small businesses that have helped elevate Loaf to where it is now.”
Feature image – Loaf Manchester
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Oasis finally confirm ‘private ballot’ ticket information for reunion tour
Daisy Jackson
Oasis have just announced more information about how tickets will be sold through a ‘private ballot’ for their extra reunion tour dates.
The group added two additional shows at Wembley Stadium after their initial 17 gigs across London, Manchester, Dublin, Edinburgh and Cardiff generated huge demand and sold out in a day.
Oasis and Ticketmaster came under fire though for the use of dynamic pricing, which saw ticket prices shoot up by hundreds of pounds by the time people made it through the online queues.
For these additional reunion tour dates at Wembley, ticket sales will look a little different.
They’ll be using a ‘private ballot’, which will give first dibs to those who missed out on the first ticket sale.
You’ll only be invited to register for the sale if you signed into your Ticketmaster account on Saturday 31 August, and joined a queue for a specific show.
And you’ll only receive an invitation if you DIDN’T manage to bag tickets the first time round.
THEN you’ll be able to register for the actual ballot, which still doesn’t guarantee you a ticket but does at least get you into a (hopefully less lengthy) queue.
“Invitations to enter the private ballot will be sent overnight tonight (Saturday) to eligible fans we have been able to identify.
“If you signed into your Ticketmaster UK account on Saturday, 31st August, and were able to join a queue for a specific show, but didn’t get a ticket-then you may be eligible to take part and will receive an email on how to register for the ballot.
“Keep an eye on the inbox associated with your Ticketmaster account, and don’t forget to check your junkmail.
“Once successfully registered, you will be entered into the ballot for a code for access to the final Wembley on sale.
“Due to the demand for the shows and to avoid last week’s long queues, codes will be strictly limited. Entry to the ballot does not guarantee you will receive a code.
“The ballot is only open to invited fans. You must register with the email to which your invitation was sent and which is registered with your Ticketmaster account.
“All other entries will be discounted. If you do not receive an email then unfortunately you will not be eligible for the ballot.
“You will be automatically discounted from the ballot, even if you go through the registration process.”
Featured image: Simon Emmett
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Manchester Airport named UK’s worst in annual Which? survey for third year running
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has officially been declared the worst airport in the UK, according to a new survey by Which?… yet again.
The summer travel season may be drawing to a close now, with hundreds of flights having taken off and landed in our region over the last couple of months, but for any Greater Manchester holidaymakers who are still yet to jet off, an annual ranking by consumer choice group Which? has proved to be pretty grim reading.
That’s because several terminals at the UK’s third largest airport have found themselves at the bottom of the list in Which? latest findings.
Manchester Airport has hit back at the survey and defended itself, saying its own passenger surveys suggest people are “much more positive” about the airport, adding that it was “proud to give people in all parts of the North easy and affordable access to nearly 200 different destinations across the world”.
For its annual survey, Which? spoke to nearly 7,000 passengers to gather feedback about their experiences of flying from UK airports over the last 12 months, and asked them to score the airports across 11 categories.
Manchester Airport has been named the worst in the UK for the third year running / Credit: The Manc Group
Some of these categories including seating, staff, toilets, and of course, the queues we all dread at check in, bag drop, passport control, and security.
And just like in both 2022 and again in 2023, it was Manchester Airport Terminal 3 that ranked right at the bottom, receiving the lowest customer satisfaction score of 37%.
Manchester Terminal 1 ranked one place above that with a score of 40%, while Manchester Terminal 2 was a little further up the the list with a score of 51%, and just saw Luton Airport, London Stansted, and Belfast International Airport sandwiched in between it.
According to Which?, some of the complaints it received about Manchester Airport from passengers who responded to the survey this year was that older people struggled with long walks due to travelators being broken since 2021, difficulties with finding a seat, and “horrendous” queues with people apparently being “corralled like cattle”.
As mentioned though, Manchester Airport has slammed Which?’s findings in a formal statement.
The UK’s third largest airport has hit back at the survey results and defended itself / Credit:
Describing the survey as “disappointing to see”, Manchester Airport’s statement reads: “We understand not every experience is perfect and want all passengers to feel able to raise their concerns directly with us. That is why we speak to them on a daily basis, surveying hundreds of people a month to get in-the-moment feedback from a full range of perspectives.
“That is in stark contrast to Which?, which conducted a tiny and unrepresentative survey of its members six months ago, asking them to recollect airport experiences that could have been as far back in time as April 2023.
“Which? fully understands that its readers form a narrow group of passengers whose views cannot in any way be taken to represent those of the travelling public at large, but chooses to promote its survey findings as if they do.”
Manchester Airport says it’s disappointing see Which? “chase cheap headlines” with its “sensational and over-simplified characterisation of airports” and the different roles they play, adding: “To make matters worse, it has printed inaccurate statements about our facilities and security waiting times that paint a more negative picture than reality.