It’s an end of an era for the undisputed trailblazers of Manchester’s dirty burger scene.
Almost Famous has confirmed it is closing down its original Northern Quarter site a full decade after it first opened its doors on High Street in 2012.
Back then, the ‘secret’ burger bar offered something distinctly different to diners – an intentional lack of signage, no reservations, and ‘off menu’-only vegetarian items leading only the most committed of burger enthusiasts to venture up those dark stairwells in search of the best buns in town.
Mac and cheese balls, Molotov cocktails, ‘bacon bacon’ and ‘winning’ fries, not to mention those famous loaded burgers drenched in a variety of house-made sauces, all set the tone for a dirty food obsession that would prevail for years to come.
Image: Almost Famous
Trends have moved on, but Almost Famous is still a stalwart on the Manchester burger scene. In that time, it survived a fire, opened a second site in Manchester, and expanded its meaty, cheesy goodness into other cities like Leeds and Liverpool.
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Now, after ten years on the scene, the team has revealed it is gearing up to move out of its original Northern Quarter location to a brand new home – leaving behind the site where it all began for good.
Sharing the news on social media this week, the restaurant said: “ANNOUNCEMENT: I’m like a sherbet dibdab of emotion telling this… AlmostFamousNQ is closing forever at the end of next week.
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Image: Almost Famous
“The legendary hang out where it all began is moving home – thank you all for making it what it was – come say hey, party all week, last one Saturday.”
The restaurant is yet to reveal where it will be moving to, leaving fans to guess as to where the new location could be.
The news has caused an outpouring of love on social media, with one person commenting: “Thanks for the memories! Feels like a lifetime ago”
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Another said: “A part of my heart goes with it”
A third added: “I’m forever grateful for the legends I got to meet working here, especially my best friend and godmother to my daughter, @em_hull I love you babes, may we forever slag off the nutcases we called colleagues xxx”
Image: Almost Famous
Image: Almost Famous
Image: Almost Famous
The news marks a change for the brand, which has also just revealed it will be teaming up with Bowling Alley chain Lane7 to offer its famous burgers at their Bristol and Leicester sites.
However, The Manc has had confirmation that Almost Famous will not be moving into the Lane7 site at Great Northern Warehouse.
Jenn Quinn, Marketing at Almost Famous, said in a statement: “Manchester burger lovers, fear not, as Almost Famous will continue to serve your favourite, super juicy dripping, no nonsense burgers from our venue at Great Northern Warehouse.
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“Almost Famous is also proud to now operate from within Lane7 in Leicester and Bristol.
The announcement also follows news shared last week that Beautiful Drinks, the company behind Almost Famous, will also be permanently closing down its Home Sweet Home restaurant on Edge Street.
Almost Famous NQ will close its doors this Saturday 23 July after one final service.
Feature image – Google
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Body of woman found in River Mersey last year finally identified after ‘extensive’ investigation
Emily Sergeant
The body of woman who was found in the River Mersey last year has finally been identified.
Following what has been described as an ‘extensive investigation’ by Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Major Incident Team to determine the identity of the body, which was sadly discovered in the river adjacent to Chorlton Water Park on 21 March 2024, the family of the victim has now been informed and supported by specialist officers.
The victim has been formally named as 38-year-old Laura Stanley, who was originally from Derbyshire but was living in Stockport.
After the body was discovered, and ‘exhaustive and determined’ investigation by GMP officers began to identify here, including detailed checks of both national and international databases.
The Major Incident Team (MIT) also closely worked in collaboration with specialist forensic service providers to create an anthropological profile, which eventually culminated in the creation of a facial reconstruction image.
Following several media appeals, a relative of Laura contacted officers and then a DNA match was confirmed through a familial link.
“Laura was a kind and gentle person with a great sense of fun and adventure,” Laura’s family said in a heartbreaking tribute to her.
“She was generous, thoughtful, caring and always keen to volunteer within the community. Laura was a proud and loving mum and she will be greatly missed by her girls and all of her friends and family who loved her dearly.”
The River Mersey, across from Chorlton Water Park, where Laura’s body was discovered / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
While Laura has now been identified, police say further investigations will take place to understand her last movements, the events that led to her death, and her discovery in the river.
Additionally, as is standard practice, GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate is also reviewing a previous missing report relating to Laura in the time before the discovery of her body, which will determine prior contact relating to Laura, and whether the appropriate measures were enacted.
#UPDATE | A woman who was discovered in the River Mersey last year has been identified following an extensive investigation by officers in GMP’s Major Incident Team.
Thank you to those of you who have shared our appeals over the last year.
Anyone who knew Laura and thinks they may be able to assist with the investigation is asked to contact police by calling 101, or by using the Live Chat Service at gmp.police.uk, quoting log number 1191 of 21 March 2024.
Alternatively, you can contact the Major Incident Team Syndicate 3 directly on 0161 856 9479, or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
It is currently believed that Laura was last seen around January 2024.
Featured Image – GMP
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More than 70,000 home buyers set to pay thousands after missing stamp duty relief deadline
Emily Sergeant
More than 70,000 home buyers across England are estimated to have missed the stamp duty relief deadline.
This sadly means they’ll be required to fork out thousands of pounds extra.
In case you hadn’t heard, up until yesterday (31 March 2025), anyone who was moving and had bought a home in the past was not required to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax, better-known as just stamp duty, on the portion of the property price up to £250,000.
But from today (1 April), this threshold has now fallen back to £125,000, which unfortunately means that property purchasers are facing an extra £2,500 in moving costs, on average.
While the end of the stamp duty relief will mostly affect those Greater Manchester buyers who had already previously purchased properties, first time buyers are sadly not exempt from the deadline changes too, as their current stamp duty threshold of £425,000 has now fallen back to £300,000 as of today.
Person holding the keys to a new house in their hand / Credit: Maria Ziegler (via Unsplash)
Given that the average property price for a first time buyer-type home is currently around £227,965, according to Rightmove, the new £300,000 threshold may hit those purchasing properties in more expensive areas – particularly the South East.
A third of those estimated 70,000 home buyers who have missed the deadline are thought to be first time buyers.
Leading property platform Rightmove published an analysis in February into just how much of an impact the end of the stamp duty relief would have on home buyers, all while calling on the UK Government to announce a short extension to the deadline to help people in the middle of the property purchasing process avoid potentially thousands of pounds in extra moving costs.
But despite these calls from industry leaders, there was no extension to the deadline announced in the last week’s latest Spring Statement.
“It’s extremely disappointing that the Government has not used the Spring Statement as an opportunity to extend the impending stamp duty deadline for those currently going through the home-moving process,” commented Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock.
“We estimate over 70,000 people are going to miss the deadline and complete in April instead, and a third of those are first time buyers.”
Georgina Pellant -
18th July 2022 
