One of Manchester’s oldest and most iconic pubs has been listed for sale at a cool £1.4 million, leaving some wondering whether developers might swoop in and take one of our favourite city centre boozers away.
However, operators have confirmed they are not going anywhere – and even hinted at plans for a second site opening later this year.
The Grade II-listed Crown and Kettle pub in Ancoats has been a boozer since the early 19th century, but the building itself dates back to 1734 – having operated as a courthouse prior.
Famous for its historic ceiling, It was fully refurbished in 2020 after it cut its old brewery ties and came under the management of Alex Daw, also behind Sheffield arts venue Sidney & Matilda.
His company, Crown & Kettle Ltd, has occupied the building for about three years and has a long-term lease on the site with 20 years remaining.
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A spokesperson for the business confirmed to The Manc that the sale would not affect the pub, which continues to do a roaring trade from its Ancoats perch.
In fact, they revealed that the team has spent the past year and a half working behind the scenes to expand The Crown and Kettle – and will soon be submitting planning permission to extend the pub’s customer seating after purchasing the building next door.
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Image: The Crown and Kettle
Image: The Crown and Kettle
Edwards & Co Surveyors is marketing the sale of the business for the building’s owner, but the pub itself will continue to trade as normal.
Speaking to The Manc, a spokesperson for the pub revealed that operators were in the advanced phases of planning guest accommodation upstairs after purchasing the site next door.
They also revealed that Crown & Kettle Ltd has taken on a 20-year lease of a second historical pub site in Manchester city centre.
A Crown & Kettle spokesman said: “We have bought outright the building that’s immediately next door, and we’re going to expand the pub so the customer area will be larger.”
They added that the process had taken a year and a half due to the listed status of the building, but they were now ‘just about ready’ to put in planning permission and, all being well, start renovations.
If successful, the application would see the pub add two floors of guest rooms upstairs in order to future proof the business.
Team behind award-winning cocktail bar Stray to open second Manchester bar
Daisy Jackson
The team behind Manchester’s award-winning cocktail bar Stray have announced a second bar is on the way.
Bar Dos will be an all-new neighbourhood bar, promising to be the ‘tearaway younger sibling’ of Stray.
You can expect everything from pints of Stella to refined cocktails, plus DJs all weekend long.
Set to open very soon, with a September launch pencilled into our diaries already, Bar Dos will be joining a couple of other big names in a new building on Great Ancoats Street.
They’ll count Proloco and Osma as neighbours once all three ventures are up and running this year.
Stray first opened at Mackie Mayor back in 2023, and shot into the UK’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars just over a year later.
Bar Dos will open in Manchester in SeptemberBar Dos is the second site for Stray
There, it occupies a beautiful corner unit with huge windows, and an outside terrace, perfect for sipping on their best-selling cocktails like their tomato vine margarita and their Fanta Limon (a boozy version of everyone’s favourite balcony tipple).
Now ready to launch a second site, the team will soon open Bar Dos, which will be a late-night, music-focused neighbourhood bar.
DJs already announced, along with renowned artists who have curated playlists, include Space Afrika, Chunky, Private Joy, Konnie Kon of Children of Zeus, and Stray residents Rhod Parry and Stu Richards.
Bar Dos will open on Great Ancoats Street this September.
Family behind Salvi’s launch new concept, weeks after iconic restaurant closure
Daisy Jackson
Just weeks after the closure of its iconic, 16-year-old Italian restaurant in the Corn Exchange, the family behind Salvi’s have revealed a brand-new concept.
And this time, the reins are being handed over to the next generation.
Salvi’s founder Maurizio Cecco has helped to shape Amò, but it’s all the brainchild of his daughter, Sienna.
Sienna will run the business out of a unit up on Deansgate Mews, serving fresh pasta dishes, pizza sandwiches, tubs of tiramisu, and two-for-£10 spritzes.
The deli aspect of the original Salvi’s has been carried over to Amò too – you’ll find shelves almost to the ceiling filled with Italian pasta, wine, olive oils, pistachio spreads, and more.
Sienna has grown up in restaurants, with her parents launching Salvi’s when she was just two years old.
She said she wants the space to be a livelier, fresher version of the Italian restaurant that has been so loved by Mancs for so many years.
Sienna outside AmòFresh pasta dishesInside Amò by Salvi’sTheir viral frozen crema di caffeLemon granitaInside Amò by Salvi’sTiramisu pots
Amò, which is Neapolitan slang for ‘my love’, will have loads of fresh Italian dishes, including arancini, gnocchi, and hearty pasta plates.
At lunchtimes, guests can order from a £10 lunch menu, with dishes changing daily depending on the best produce the kitchen can get – it could be a pizza sandwich with proscuitto and tomato, a spicy pasta, or a gnocchi bake, always served with your choice of soft drink.
With its position on Deansgate Mews, Amò basks in the sunshine at lunchtimes.
And while it’s definitely a different concept to the original Salvi’s, Amò looks set to carry the family’s Italian food legacy into its next generation.
Georgina Pellant -
19th July 2023 
