Federal Cafe & Bar is opening a third restaurant in Manchester city centre
Speaking exclusively to The Manc, Claudio Ribeiro, founder of the popular Kiwi and Aussi-inspired brunch spot, shared details of plans to open a third site on Oxford Road later this year.
Federal Cafe & Bar is opening a third restaurant in Manchester city centre, its owner has revealed in an exclusive with The Manc.
Not content with stretching huge queues of eager brunchers down High Street and Deansgate, Federal owner Claudio Ribeiro has now got plans to bring his famous Antipodean brunch commotion to studentland too.
Moving into a unit at the new Circle Square development next door to Hatch (and just down the road from innumerable blocks of student halls), he tells us his third Manchester site will look and feel the same as the other cafes, but with the addition of ‘something a bit different’.
The new Federal Cafe Bar, the third in Manchester, will move into an end unit at Circle Square next to Hatch. / Image: Google Maps
Menu-wise, diners can expect to find everything they would want from the existing cafes, as well as a few new surprises.
Plans are still in development, but there has been some experimentation with new, ‘healthier’ dishes (when we meet, Claudio happens to be tucking into a prototype seeded crab and avocado bagel).
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He also confides that he’s been putting some thought into introducing a new French toast menu over there, although that is not a guarantee as of yet.
With seating both inside and out, Federal 3.0 will also feature a dedicated retail space so that brunchers can pop in and do a bit of shopping when it opens in a few weeks time.
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A quick hop onto the cafe’s Instagram will leave you in doubt as to its popularity. The pictures of its long queues snaking down the pavement say it all.
Everyone knows it is the most hyped brunch restaurant in the city, but less is known about the man behind it – even though, to this day, you’ll still find him working alongside his teams in the cafes.
Having grown up in restaurants (his mum has her own in Palma, and his brother now has another in New York), he has hospitality in his blood and definitely caught the bug early.
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Moving over to the UK from Portugal in the early 2010s, he grafted his way up from the bottom: first starting off as a KP in Lincolnshire before eventually managing a hotel in Manchester – a job he continued to hold on to for two years after opening Federal.
Having bought the cafe on a whim, he says he didn’t tell anyone until the sale had gone through. Not even his fiance, even though he used their wedding fund to pay for it and so had to organise and cater their wedding himself. (As we understand it, she’s forgiven him now).
Whilst his situation has changed a lot since 2014 – he’s been on the side of a bus and appeared on TV as part of a programme shot with the BBC – his early passion for the business is still incredibly strong.
Asked what he would let it go for, he doesn’t give a figure. He merely says ‘time’, time to travel, time to be with his daughter. Yet, we get the feeling that that won’t happen for a while. He’s too invested.
It’s rare to hear an owner talk about handling customer complaints at all, let alone with heartfelt sincerity, but that’s what happens.
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It’s a joy to hear how important the experience of every single table is to him.
Claudio clearly cares more than most. We wonder if, perhaps, this is the key to Federal’s success.
Read more:The natural wine and small plates bar in a picturesque town 30 mins from Manchester
With a later license allowing it to stay open longer and serve cocktails, beers and natural wines into the night, Federal Cafe & Bar will look to host occassional events at its new home
Plans for the new site include a new cafe set up, the addition of a corner shop, as well as a late alcohol license.
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Federal currently has two sites in Manchester in the Northern Quarter and on Deansgate, and maintains its reputation as one of the city’s best brunch spots nearly a decade on from its first opening.
The new Federal Cafe at Circle Square will open from 7am to 11.30pm, Monday to Sunday, at Circle Square this autumn.
Feature image – Federal Cafe & Bar
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Trafford Centre announces opening hours for 2025/26 festive season – including Boxing Day
Emily Sergeant
Trafford Centre has published its full list of opening hours for this current festive season.
We all know that the Christmas period is one of the busiest times of the year for the retail industry, with people flocking to the shops in their millions to snap up festive gifts for their loved ones, and it only gets busier from Boxing Day onwards too when all the sales launch, offering shoppers some unmissable deals and bargains.
And nowhere in Greater Manchester gets busier during the festive season than the Trafford Centre. After all, with more than 200 stores all under one room, it’s not hard to see why.
This year, shoppers can make the most of extended opening hours at the Trafford Centre right through to New Year’s Day – with late night shopping until 11pm on selected dates in December leading up to the big day.
Alongside being a one-stop-shop for gifts, there’s also dozens of festive events and new Christmas lights to enjoy at the Trafford Centre too, so visitors can tick everything off their list and have a great day out while they’re at it.
The shopping centre will be open from 9am – 5pm on Christmas Eve, so you can whip round and grab any last-minute presents, before it’s closed fully on Christmas Day, and then opens again bright and early at 8am on Boxing Day.
Trafford Centre Christmas Opening Hours 2025/26
18 and 19 December: 10am – 11pm
20 December: 10am – 10pm
21 December: 12pm – 6pm
22 and 23 December: 10am – 11pm
Christmas: 9am – 5pm
Christmas Day: Closed
26 December: 8am – 8pm (some stores may be closed, please check with individual brands)
27 December: 10am – 9pm
28 December: 12pm – 6pm
29 and 30 December: 10pm – 10pm
New Year’s Eve: 9am – 5pm
New Year’s Day: 12pm – 6pm
It’s also worth noting, however, that not every store inside the Trafford Centre will be open on Boxing Day, so you’ll need to check with individual brands ahead of time.
For the restaurants, stores, and leisure venues that are open, you can check their specific trading hours on the Trafford Centre website here.
When it comes to festive event, The Grotto is open until Christmas Eve for pre-bookings only, and the Christmas fairground and ice rink, Big Wheel, and Gandeys Snowstorm Firebird show are all open until 4 January (closed Christmas Day).
Featured Image – Trafford Centre (Supplied)
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Greater Manchester’s ‘clean taxi’ plans backed by government funding
Danny Jones
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA) ‘clean taxi’ initiative has been officially backed by the UK government, with an extra boost coming from a leading electric vehicle brand.
Millions of pounds are set to be pumped into the scheme over the coming years as the North West at large strives to become greener.
The Mayor himself, Andy Burnham, has made environmentally conscious travel a core part of his plans for the city region ever since he took up the post back in 2017; now he and his team are helping link up with connections in the capital to secure further investment.
With the new £8 million Hackney Support Fund being put into action as we speak, a further £2m is now set to go towards Manchester city centre and its surrounding boroughs via LEVC.
LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) have done away with classic petrol and diesel engines in their particular corner of the automotive industry, setting a more eco-friendly example for metropolitan cities up and down Great Britain.
As a result, Manchester City Council and the GMCA as a whole are looking to take a leaf out of their book as part of their wider carbon reduction targets, with local authorities having recently reaffirmed their five-year ‘climate change action plan’.
For context, the Hackney Support Fund in question is a series of government-backed grants aimed at helping taxi drivers replace older black cabs with more modern, zero-emission capable vehicles.
Not only that, but LEVC will also be offering licensed carriage drivers extended warranties on new and used TX cabs – like their new ‘eCity powetrain’ pictured above – as well as taxi scrappage allowance on other models.
Like any part of the country, our region itself has its own clean air goals, and with the continued expansion of the Bee Network continuing to advance that progress, we’re heading in the right direction.
It goes without saying that adding a fully-fledged fleet of cleaner, more energy-efficient EV taxis into that mix could help benefit these greener pursuits.
Managing Director at LEVC, Chris Allen, noted that the company has “helped the capital achieve legal air quality targets for the first time” and strongly believes that they can do the same up North.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Our taxi trade is a vital part of Greater Manchester’s transport network and supports the local economy.
“That’s why we’re working hard to secure funding and practical support to help drivers upgrade to cleaner, greener vehicles – improving air quality for everyone, while protecting livelihoods. By backing our taxi trade, we’re building a fairer, healthier city-region for all.”
Georgina Pellant -
24th August 2022 
