A popular Manchester city centre gaming bar has suffered a devastating burglary just six months after opening its doors in the city, leaving its owners financially and emotionally bereft.
Thieves broke into Pixel Bar in the Northern Quarter in the early hours of the weekend, getting away with nine high-spec gaming PCs worth an estimated £25,000.
The burglary occurred on Friday morning around 5am, just half an hour after Pixel Bar’s staff had left the premises.
Footage shared by the bar’s co-owner Craig Ryan with The Manc shows three masked men helping themselves to the high-tech gaming computer equipment, which is kept on the basement level of the bar.
The men’s faces are only partially covered and may be recognisable to some.
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Image: Supplied
Pixel Bar is now working with the police and is appealing for anyone who has any information to come forward.
Posting the heartbreaking news to social media, co-owner Craig Ryan wrote on LinkedIn: “This weekend our Manchester bar was burgled. The thieves got away with 9 of our PCs from our PC Gaming Arena.
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“We’re devastated, financially and emotionally this has really hit us and I don’t know what to say.
“We’re working with the police. If anybody has any information please contact us or the police.
“Needless to say, until we find a way to replace the hardware there will be no PC gaming or tournaments happening at the bar. We’ve no idea how long this will take. Personally this hurts so much. We’d just hosted a great university esports event and had a lot of events lined up.
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The downstairs PC gaming area as it looked before the burglary / Image: Supplied
“The rest of the bar is open as normal thankfully.
“We’ll be dramatically increasing the level of security throughout our venues so that this doesn’t happen again.
“Please understand that we’ll not be answering any questions about the event at this time.”
The gaming bar, originally launched in Leeds, moved across the Pennines to Manchester in November last year and quickly became a popular haunt amongst gaming enthusiasts.
The burglars only partially covered their faces. / Image: Supplied
Pixel Bar is appealing for anyone with any information to come forward. / Image: Supplied
It also caught the eye of Manchester’s cocktail lovers with its quirky gaming-themed menu, which features choices like ‘Jigglypuff’, ‘Princess Perch’ and the ‘Yoshi’s Island Iced Tea’, plus a selection of ‘magic potion’ shots – promising do deliver ‘full health’ and ‘stamina’ to the drinker.
Co-owner Craig told The Manc that, following the burglary, the downstairs part of the bar is currently off-limits, but he added that the upstairs section with its bar, arcade games and consoles remains open and that anyone wanting to come down, buy a cocktail and support them is very welcome.
The street-level bar and its console booths remain open, with Pokemon cocktails and more. / Image: Supplied
He said: “[Downstairs is] off-limits for now, we’re working with our sponsor to try and replace the PCs at cost, hopefully, but until we’ve got all the security in place and fire compliance with the new security measures we can’t open up, even if we had the hardware, so it could be a while yet.”
He added that they are still waiting to find out whether the custom-built gaming computers can now be bought back on insurance, as they were gifted as part of a sponsorship deal with bespoke computer company PC Specialist when Pixel Bar opened.
Pixel Bar is now appealing for anyone who has any information to come forward to them or to Greater Manchester Police.
Feature image – Supplied
News
Kevin De Bruyne confirms he is leaving Manchester City
Danny Jones
One of the Premier League’s best-ever players and a true Manchester City legend, Kevin De Bruyne, has confirmed he will soon be leaving the club.
Announced in a series of emotional social media posts on Friday, 4 April, the brilliant Belgian footballer will be calling time on his career at the Etihad Stadium come the end of this season.
Having spent a decade in the iconic blue of Man City, De Bruyne will undoubtedly go down as one of their all-time greats, having helped them to their first Champions League trophy during the Treble-winning year and a record four consecutive Premier League titles – of which he’s won six in total.
As you can see in the lengthy message shared on his social media, ‘King Kev’ informed City supporters that this current campaign will be his last in their colours, writing: “Every story comes to an end, but this has definitely been the best chapter.”
The 33-year-old, who has suffered from increasing injury problems over the last couple of years, goes on to say that “Nothing about this is easy to write, but as football players we all know this day eventually come. That day is here – and you deserve to hear it from me first.”
In what is clearly a heartfelt and just as difficult a post for him to write as it is for fans to hear, he added: Football led me to all of you – and this city […] This will always be our HOME.”
Blues all over Greater Manchester and beyond will be heartbroken, but many won’t be completely shocked given his in-and-out
It’s a sad day to be a Cityzen, no doubt.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Manchester derby, manager Pep Guardiola said: “In the Premier League, he is one of the greatest midfielders in this country and top of the Club. Great, if not the greatest.
Manchester City will bid an emotional farewell to Kevin De Bruyne this summer when his contract expires, bringing an end to a glittering 10-year period at the Club 🩵
Although his talent will never come into question, it’s no secret that he’s struggled to stay fit and be as prolific a creator in Guardiola‘s side – though this is largely in contrast to his ridiculously high levels and just how much of a talisman he has been over the past 10 years.
Starting just 19 matches this season, he’s still managed to score four goals and register seven assists, but a recurring hamstring problem has seen game time limited.
Regardless, when he’s at his best, there’s no question about it: he’s the best player in the Premier League, and the club have promised to pay fitting tributes to their generational number 17.
With 106 goals to his name in 413 appearances – the first midfielder since Colin Bell to reach over a century – across all competitions for City, not to mention 118 assists in the Premier League alone, he’s been one of the most creative and, frankly, ingenious players on the planet for more than a decade.
Whether you’re a Blue, a Red or otherwise, no one can deny the joy of watching him play football. Thanks for the memories, KdB.
Featured Images — Brad Tutterow (via Flickr)/soccer.ru (via WikiCommons) Kevin De Bruyne (via X)
News
Prestwich’s regeneration plans take another step forward
Danny Jones
The regeneration plans being put forward for Prestwich have taken another step forward as a construction company has new been appointed to bring the vision of a new village centre to life.
With full planning permission for phase one of the redevelopment granted back in July 2024, it’s been pretty much full speed ahead on lining up one of Greater Manchester’s latest regeneration projects and adding more to what is already one of its best up-and-coming suburbs.
Prestwich Village Regeneration LLP are pumping over £100 million into developing the main square, and with Chroma Consulting having now passed on the baton to those erecting this new-look town centre, the joint venture between Bury Council and national ‘place maker’ Muse, work can soon begin.
You can see one of the first early renders down below:
CGIs of the new space around the Longfield Centre. (Credit: Supplied)
VINCI Building were officially appointed as construction partners last month, and with enabling works (surveys, ground investigations and so forth) now complete, the contractors are expected to get underway soon.
Additions to the vibrant new village centre will include a multi-storey Travel Hub, which will also see 301 new parking spaces, along with electric vehicle charging points, cycle storage and a car club. This will replace the Fairfax Road car park, which closed when the early stage began last December.
Beyond this, the Prestwich regeneration plans are set to include a community hub, library and flexible community space for arts and cultural events, a new Prestwich Health Centre; a fresh village square with ‘family-friendly social places’ and room for open-air markets, festivals and more.
A dedicated Prestwich Village Market hall will be the perfect place to house local retailers as well as food and drink vendors, not to mention a much better entry point into the village courtesy of plans to transform the “arrival experience from the tram” by integrating with surrounding green spaces.
Speaking of which, there will also be extensive landscaping in and around the village centre, with the existing fountain set to be removed and new public art installations created in its place.
A glimpse at the new Prestwich Village Market.An overview of all three phases.Credit: Supplied
Beyond the public spaces, over 200 new homes – which made up a big part of the initial application – are also included in the wider vision, with a mix of affordable housing and FTB (first-time buyers) properties.
Leader of Bury Council, Eamonn O’Brien, said of the latest developments: “We are thrilled to announce the next stage in this multi-million pound transformational regeneration scheme, which marks a significant step towards revitalising the heart of Prestwich Village and creating a vibrant, sustainable future for all.
“As well as enhancing local infrastructure, our ambitious plans will foster economic growth and improve the quality of life for the whole community.” A final completion date is yet to be confirmed, but work on the Travel Hub specifically is set to carry over into next year.
Exciting times are ahead for Prestwich. It’s not the only borough making plans for the next chapter and set for a bit of TLC.
Georgina Pellant -
16th May 2022 
