Bury FC’s Gigg Lane put up for sale by administrators
The 12,500 capacity venue - which is one of the oldest professional football stadiums in the world - has been put on the market six months after the club entered administration.
Bury FC’s 136-year-old stadium Gigg Lane is officially up for sale.
The 12,500 capacity venue – which is one of the oldest professional football stadiums in the world – has been put on the market six months after the club entered administration.
No competitive Bury FC fixtures have been played at the ground for two years – with the club being expelled from the football league in 2019 after falling into financial ruin.
Owner Steve Dale remained in possession of the club and Gigg Lane itself following the club’s ejection from the pyramid, whilst a group of supporters splintered off to form a new side: Bury AFC.
Pressure is now being placed on Bury Council to purchase the stadium for themselves.
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Not surprised the Administrator has put Gigg Lane up for sale. Council can have a big part to play now either in buying it themselves or making it as difficult as possible for anyone else to do something other than football with it.
Administrator Steven Wiseglass, of Inquesta Corporate Recovery and Insolvency, has appointed agent Fleurets to make the sale.
The 6.4 acre site includes the stadium itself along with the ticket office and club shop.
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Mr Wiseglass said: “As part of the administration process, I have been liaising with the secured charge-holder over the stadium and have now appointed Fleurets to actively market the stadium for sale.
“My role is to secure the best possible outcome for all stakeholders of The Bury Football Club Company Ltd.
“Bury FC is a club with a rich history and a loyal and enthusiastic fan base, and I do hope that a suitable buyer will be forthcoming to secure the future of football at Gigg Lane.
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“All expressions of interest should be submitted directly to Fleurets.”
Graeme Bunn, managing director of Fleurets, said: ““Fleurets is delighted to have been appointed by Inquesta to bring to the market the stadium at Gigg Lane.
“This is a unique opportunity to purchase a freehold stadium, with an all-seating capacity of over 12,000.
“The marketing of the stadium presents a variety of buyers and occupiers with the prospect of securing the landmark property.
“Offers will be invited on an unconditional basis. We encourage all interested parties to contact Fleurets as soon as possible, as we anticipate significant local and national interest.”
Bury
Bakery chain Gail’s is attempting to win over Prestwich after spelling mishap
Daisy Jackson
Gail’s has announced a plan to try and make amends with Prestwich after spelling the village’s name wrong on the new bakery’s signs.
The massive bakery chain finally confirmed that it would be moving into the suburb on the fringes of Bury and Manchester, but made a fatal flaw at the first step.
The huge posters are missing the letter ‘T’, instead saying ‘Hello Preswich’.
More than a few eyebrows were raised locally, with people saying it’s ‘not a great first impression for the locals…’.
And now Gail’s is attempting to put things right by offering free tea to Prestwich residents.
In new material released today, they wrote: “Oops… people of Prestwich, we owe you a ‘T’.
“You may have seen how we missed out a ‘t’ in our new bakery signage.
“We’re sorry for the mistake, and to make up for it we’d like to brew you a tea when we open.”
The new advertising has a QR code which people can scan to claim their free cuppa.
Gail’s has also passed its thanks on to ‘local resident Clair’, who actually came up with the suggestion on The Manc’s LinkedIn post here.
With this development, Gail’s has now confirmed it’ll be opening in Prestwich – directly opposite the new Rudy’s – in early 2025, with free tea served then to those who scan the QR code.
Gail’s will hand out free tea in Prestwich to apologise for spelling the village’s name wrongHuge bakery chain Gail’s confirms move to Prestwich – but spells village’s name wrong in signage
Huge bakery chain Gail’s confirms move to Prestwich – but spells village’s name wrong in signs
Daisy Jackson
After months of swirling rumours, bakery group Gail’s has finally confirmed it’s moving to Prestwich – but locals have spotted a glaring error at the first hurdle.
The popular artisan bakery will be moving onto Bury New Road, right in the heart of the suburb and directly opposite the new Rudy’s pizzeria.
Prestwich locals have been hearing whispers of a Gail’s arriving for a few months, and finally the London-founded cafe has stuck up signs to confirm it’s on the way.
But the sign contains one crucial mistake – it’s spelled Prestwich wrong.
The red window displays now read ‘Hello Preswich. We’ll be baking here soon’.
One local messaged Gail’s to point out the error and to say it’s ‘not a great first impression for the locals…’.
Gail’s has since confirmed it’s in the process of fixing the signs.
The arrival of both Gail’s and Rudy’s has already caused a stir in Prestwich, which has always been fiercely independent and has only a handful of chains within it (Greggs and Costa are perched by the tram stop).
In fact, one local business-owner shared a moving statement about his concerns for the future of local businesses just a few weeks ago.
Gail’s has confirmed it’s opening a bakery in Prestwich. Credit: The Manc Group
First formed in the early 1990s as a wholesale-only operation, Gail’s opened its first cafe on Hampstead High Street in 2005.
Today the brand has more than 100 sites spread across London, Oxford, Brighton and further afield, and is known more as a customer-facing cafe and bakery.
It’s famed for its freshly-baked loaves, cinnamon buns, ham and cheese croissants and coffees, and is likely to go down a storm in Prestwich.
But the signs have been causing a bit of a stir in the wrong way this weekend – in a local Facebook group, one person commented: “Not locals who own it then.”
Another described it as an ‘epic fail’.
And one person said: “Oh the DRAMA of it all.”
Someone else joked: “I cannot wait for Gais to come to Preswich.”
The Manc -
11th May 2021 
