Earlier this month, thousands of people descended on Manchester to do just one thing – celebrate food and drink.
Members of the hospitality industry buzzed around Manchester Central like giddy bees around a hive and over two days, the city really felt like the centre of the universe.
They were brought here by one man and his small but mighty team of events experts – and that man is Thom Hetherington, our Manc of the Month for March.
Thom is the CEO of Holden Media, the team behind the massive Northern Restaurant & Bar event that draws so many here every year.
NRB itself was a celebration of hospitality in all its forms – of all the new businesses that took the leap in lockdown and all the others who made it through to the other side against the odds.
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Thom Hetherington winning an Outstanding Achievement Award at the MFDF Awards 2019. Credit: Carl Sukonik, The Vain Photography
Some of the world’s best chefs shared their wealth of knowledge to attendees, with further chats from the likes of Simon Rogan and Soho House founder Nick Jones.
It was a celebration of collaboration, innovation and sheer talent, and it all happened right here in Manchester.
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As Thom said: “The North’s operators have demonstrated incredible tenacity, resilience and creativity to come through so strongly. I’m delighted to see the region’s leading restaurants, bars and pubs looking to the future with plans for new sites, new launches and new concepts, and it’s no surprise to see the recent industry data showing that new openings in Northern cities are running at twice the level of London.”
Thom’s company is also responsible for the Manchester Art Fair, which has a similar pull for those in the art world.
Above everything, Thom is a die-hard advocate for the north of England.
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Thom Hetherington at NRB this year.
Us Mancs know how amazing our city is – after all, that’s why we’re all here – but Thom has a knack for thrusting that message onto a global platform.
He has helped to grab the spotlight that’s been shining on London for generations with both hands, and forced its gaze northwards to Manchester.
Whether it’s through the events put on by Holden Media or through his never-ending tweets about local food and drink businesses, Thom is a loud champion for our brilliant corner of the world.
He supports and celebrates hospitality in all its shapes, sizes and price-points.
1/2 My highpoint of @NRBManchester 2022? It's hard to pick one thing, but my #NRBDebate with Soho House founder Nick Jones would be up there. What a week, with *so* much positivity and love. Team NRB smashed it – The biggest and best one ever with records broken across the board. pic.twitter.com/DhbPA4g8vy
Thom will wax lyrical about more high-brow establishments like Mana and Hawksmoor in one breath before raving about the naan breads and £4 curries in Cafe Marhaba (on Back Piccadilly) in the next.
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Many of those national reviews of local gems – like Jay Rayner’s trip to Pho Cue for the Guardian – came from Thom tips.
In fact, Jay himself described him as a ‘terrific cheerleader’ for Manchester at the time.
It’s not just Manchester, of course – as anyone who has ever met him, or followed him on social media, will know, Thom is from Glossop, and he’s pretty proud of his charming Peak District hometown.
He’s drawn the big city’s attentions to everything from Hyssop to the Howard Town Brewery, Shepley’s to Harvey Leonard’s, and on to the rolling hills that surround the town.
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Whatever he happens to be turning his hand to, the underlying message is this – Manchester is a top-tier city, and we think Thom is a pretty top-tier Manc.
About Manc of the Month
We all know that Manchester is home to some special people, some born here and others drawn here, and after a bumpy two years that effectively amounted to one big lockdown, it’s these special people that have inspired and led us through the tough times – so we decided to start a series that shines a light on those who should be celebrated.
Following on from our ‘The Mancs of the Year’ feature towards the end of 2020, Manc of the Month officially kicked off in July 2021, with Marcus Rashford MBE, Manchester’s mural king Akse P-19, the local chef feeding the region’s vulnerable families Mary-Ellen McTague, and Manchester’s groundbreaking new Council leader Bev Craig among previous honourees.
Featured image: Thom Hetherington
Art & Culture
A first look into the highly-anticipated TV soap crossover ‘Corriedale’ has just dropped
Thomas Melia
The wait is nearly over for TV soap fans, as producers behind the highly-anticipated ‘Corriedale’ crossover have just dropped an exclusive first look.
Whether you’re team Coronation Streetor team Emmerdale, this show has all areas covered as it merges both the iconic TV soaps into an hour-long special.
Now, it feels like Christmas has come early as pictures of two very distinctive cast members smiling next to each other while filming the crossover episode have been released.
In the newly-released images we can see Vicky Myers, known for playing the assertive and dedicated DS Lisa Swain, representing the Manchester-based production Coronation Street.
Vicky Myers (DS Lisa Swain) and Danny Miller (Aaron Dingle) pictured together ahead of upcoming TV soap crossover Corriedale / Credit: ITV Press Centre (Supplied)
Stood by her side is Danny Miller known for his role as the complex and vulnerable Aaron Dingle in Leeds-based hit soap Emmerdale.
Both can be seen on-set and are pictured in front of a white trailer filming for the upcoming Corriedale special.
Although the shows are set just a one hour’s drive away from each other, separated by The Pennines, this soap special marks the first time that characters from each drama will have ever crossed paths.
Most details for this soap crossover are being kept very tight-lipped although filming kicked off in September with this latest update marking the first-ever major cast announcement for Corriedale.
ITV Executive Producer for Continuing Drama Iain Macleod said: “It’s beyond exciting that filming is under way on Corriedale.
“There is a massive buzz around both the Leeds and Manchester sites and the images coming out of the shoot are utterly spectacular. And that’s before we’ve even got to all the brilliant transpennine interactions between characters from the different shows!
“As a soap fan myself, I think my head is going to explode when the episode airs next year. It will be mind-blowing, historical and unmissable.”
Corriedale is coming to our TV screens in early 2026 and heralds the start of a new soap power hour with 30 minute episodes of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale to air every weekday.
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman to step down from Strictly Come Dancing
Danny Jones
Long-serving Strictly Come Dancing presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have announced that they will be stepping down from the beloved reality TV competition after more than three decades between them.
The Strictly team will, of course, ‘keep dancing’, but this still feels like the end of an era.
While Claudia Winkleman only became a joint co-anchor back in 2010 in preparation for the legendary Sir Bruce Forsyth’s eventual retirement in 2014, Tess Daly has been one of the two lead presenters since the hit smash-hit UK show first started way back in 2004.
Boasting a cumulative and incredible 31 years as the respective lead faces on one of the nation’s favourite IPs, Daly and Winkleman released a joint video on their social media pages confirming the bittersweet news.
Writing in the caption on Instagram, the pair said: “We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream. We were always going to leave together, and now feels like the right time.
“We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series, and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show.
“They’re the most brilliant team, and we’ll miss them every day. We will cry when we say the last ‘keep dancing’, but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza.”
Although Winkleman, 53, began as the presenter of the spin-off programme ‘It Takes Two’, it now seems hard to imagine the main show without either of them.
Confirming that they will be departing the British telly favourite at the end of the current series, which is around a month into its 23rd series.
Daly, 56, went on to share a further statement addressing the decision to quit the Strictly lineup after such a lengthy stay on BBC One.
It goes without saying that, much like when ‘Brucey’ left 11 years ago now, the show just won’t be the same without them.
For now, all we can say is thanks for all the memories, and we’d better see them back in the ballroom or popping up for special cameos in Blackpool again one day soon.
What do you make of the announcement, Strictly fans – and who do you think should replace them?
Daisy Jackson -
25th March 2022 
