After several years of heady anticipation, London celeb haunt Sexy Fish has finally confirmed it will be opening in Manchester this autumn.
The glitzy restaurant will move into Spinningfields’ old Armani store later this year, transforming the fashion house’s former flagship into a swanky eatery and bar as it opens its first northern outpost.
It will open above longstanding sushi favourite Australasia and is likely to offer a bit of competition considering that menus at Sexy Fish also take inspiration from Asia, with a focus on Japanese faovurites including sushi, sashimi, tempura, and robata.
Whilst the menus for Manchester are not currently available, Sexy Fish’s current Mayfair menus are extensive – spanning a large a la carte, a special late night menu served Thursday to Sunday, a Kuikki set menu where you can enjoy four dishes for £38, plus dedicated menus for cocktails, dessert, wine, whiskey and whiskey tasting.
Kimchi fried rice at Sexy Fish. / Image: Sexy Fish
You can never have too much sushi. / Image: Sexy Fish
But as popular as the food is likely to be, It is sure to draw in plenty of fans for its design, too, with visitors to the current London site comparing it to a museum or art gallery such is the attention to detail in its expensive fit out.
ADVERTISEMENT
Incorporating the unique artistry of Frank Gehry. Michael Roberts and Damien Hirst, customers at the original Berkley Square restaurant can marvel at a 13ft mirrored crocodile on its main dining room wall and bronze mermaids designed by Hirst, as well as an esmerelda onyx floor, raspberry leather benches, and a fabric-panelled ceiling mural.
Although no details of the Manchester venue’s interiors have yet been released, given how famous Sexy Fish is for its extravagant decor it is expected that similar attention to detail will be paid here.
ADVERTISEMENT
Image: Sexy Fish
Image: Sexy Fish
The confirmation of the opening has been a long time coming, with Sexy Fish launching its official Manchester Instagram on Tuesday night.
News of the restaurant’s plans to open a second site in the north of England first broke in August 2021, leaving fans of its glamorous settings and cuisine to wait nearly two years for more details.
Sexy Fish – which first opened up in London’s prestigious Mayfair district in 2015, and is led by Michelin Star chef Bjoern Weissgerber – made headlines a few years ago when singer Jess Glynne claimed she was “discriminated against” after being denied entry for wearing joggers.
Sexy Fish is part of the Caprice group of restaurants owned by Richard Caring, who also owns The Ivy chain of eateries, so presumably, Sexy Fish will hope to follow the success of The Ivy Spinningfields, which opened in 2019.
Featured image – Sexy Fish
News
Derelict Manchester office block to become ‘vital’ accommodation for homeless families
Emily Sergeant
A derelict former office block in Manchester is set to become vital accommodation for homeless families in the region.
Manchester City Council has announced that, subject to planning approval, new temporary accommodation for dozens of homeless families will be created on the site of a derelict former office block in south Manchester, off Nell Lane in Chorlton.
The Council acquired the 1.1 acre site last month with the support of the Government’s Local Authority Housing Fund.
The initiative – which is part of wider plans to boost the city’s stock of quality temporary accommodation – will see self-contained two-bedroom accommodation created for around 55 homeless families built where former NHS offices, Mauldeth House, currently stand.
Mauldeth House has been empty for several years now at this point, and had become somewhat of a ‘blight’ on the neighbourhood, attracting anti-social behaviour along the way and being targeted by squatters – but with the plans for the new accommodation, this could change for the better.
The site, and therefore the new accommodation, is said to be ‘ideally located’ for families, as it’s close to shops, schools, public transport, leisure facilities, and Chorlton Park.
The new accommodation will see families supported by a specialist team based on site to help them move on as quickly as possible into permanent settled tenancies, which is, of course, the long-term goal for many.
The Mauldeth House initiative is cited as being one example of the Council’s drive to increase its temporary accommodation stock across the city to reduce the number of out-of-area placements.
Other successful examples of this initiative include Mariana House in Whalley Range, and The Poplars in Rusholme.
It also comes after it was announced last month that homeless children in Greater Manchester, particularly those who are placed in temporary accommodation out of area for their school, will now get free bus travel to and from school.
“Mauldeth House is a great example of how we can put derelict properties to good use to benefit those experiencing homelessness, as well as making our neighbourhood look better,” explained Deputy Council Leader, Cllr Joanna Midgley.
“We are tackling homelessness on many fronts, the most important one being prevention, but we also need an increased supply of good quality temporary accommodation within the city so that if people do become homeless they are not uprooted from their social support networks.
“One of the ways we are doing this is through the innovative use of existing sites whether they are council owned or we are able to acquire them, as in the case of Mauldeth House.”
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
News
Bolton woman who falsely accused 10 men of raping her has been jailed
Emily Sergeant
A woman from Bolton who falsely accused 10 different men of raping her over a six-year period has now been jailed.
Stacey Sharples, 31 from Farnworth in Bolton, pleaded guilty of 10 counts of perverting the course of justice in relation to reports against 10 separate men at Bolton Crown Court earlier last month (2 February 2026), before appearing in court again this week to be sentenced.
The investigation into Sharples was launched after the arrests and questioning of almost all these men, and following the pursuing of all relevant lines of enquiry, which consistently revealed evidence contrary to what had been disclosed by Sharples.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) says investigations of this nature are ‘extremely rare’ and the decision to pursue Sharples as a suspect was ‘not one taken lightly’.
“However, it is our duty to act in the public interest and on the evidence and information we uncover and receive, which in this case demonstrated a continuous, wilful making of false allegations, knowing full well the consequences for each of the men involved,” GMP said in a statement following Sharples’ sentencing.
Of the allegations Sharples pleaded guilty to – of which were made over a six-year period between 2013 and 2019 – most of the men were arrested and spent time in custody, with some also undertaking intimate examinations, and almost all spending periods of time on police bail or released under investigation.
Statements from the men accused by Stacey Sharples / Credit: GMP
GMP says there’s ‘no doubt’ the reports and arrests have had an impact on these men, their sense of self and relationships, their wider networks, and how they move forward with their lives.
False accounts also undermine those who have genuinely experienced sexual violence.
Police say it also affects the confidence in the criminal justice system, and that the time spent investigating Sharples’ reports could have been put towards investigating ‘genuine reports of sexual offences’ instead.
Sharples has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison this week after pleading guilty to making false rape allegations.
Speaking following Sharples’ sentencing this week, Detective Sergeant Steven Gilliland, who investigated this case, said: “We took the allegations made by Stacey Sharples seriously, explored all lines of enquiry and swiftly made arrests or interviewed of all the men she accused.
“We gave her multiple opportunities to provide further explanation or information to us, after interviews with the men and subsequent evidence uncovered didn’t align with her first recollection, as we understand that trauma can impact how victims and survivors recount their experiences.
“Ultimately, as the evidence continued to demonstrate that the reports were untrue, coupled with the desire for justice from some of the men who had been falsely accused, it was right that we followed the evidence and pursued the individual who had actually committed a criminal offence.”
Georgina Pellant -
21st June 2023 
