Plans have been submitted to turn a decades-old garage in the heart of Ancoats into a thriving market place, prioritising affordable retail space for small businesses.
If it all goes ahead, Blossom Market will be a beacon of local retail, with eight units that can home everything from bakeries to greengrocers to art spaces to bars.
The plans have been put forward by Blossom Motor Co, which has occupied the site on Gun Street for generations but is now ‘hanging up its spanners’.
After 80 years serving Ancoats, current owners (and brothers) Sean and Paul are heading to retirement and want to support this bustling neighbourhood in a completely new way.
This is a proposal with its heart in exactly the right place.
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As Manchester city centre continues to grow outwards and upwards, the team proposing Blossom Market feel that rising rents are pushing local businesses out.
This is especially true in newly redeveloped neighbourhoods like Ancoats, where luxury apartments and large food halls are commonplace.
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Blossom Motor Co is ‘hanging up its spanners’ and planning a new life as Blossom MarketBlossom Motor Co could be turned into Blossom Market. Credit: Instagram, @aterliermbarchitects
Blossom Market’s aspiration is to protect the area’s independent spirit, keeping the business within the family whilst continuing to serve the local community by offering flexible, affordable spaces for emerging businesses.
Inspired by similar businesses like Brixton Village in London, Box Park, and Queens Arcade in Leeds, the plan will be to develop something ‘the community truly needs’.
Blossom Motor Co has now lodged planning permission to turn their beloved garage into this retail market, hoping to provide a space for ‘young local businesses to grow and thrive’.
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The garage itself has been in the same family since 1948, with fathers and sons working alongside each other every since. Sean and Paul have been running the business since 1994.
If planning permission is granted, the 4,036 sq m space will be totally rebuilt internally to create a mixed-use market space filled with different local businesses.
How Blossom Market could look. Credit: Supplied
Blossom Market says: “More recently it has been a challenge for fledging businesses to develop a physical presence due to rising city centre costs.
“Often resorting to weekend markets and pop up events we aim to create a more permanent platform to enable small business to grow whilst providing local residents a hub of high quality produce, products and experiences.
“Open seven days a week and with a mixture of small to medium sized units with flexible leasing terms, it will provide the perfect space for businesses looking for their first physical space.
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“Our goal is to create a desirable destination that local residents want to visit regularly and small businesses want to be a part of – building a beacon of commerce in one of Manchesters most exciting central locations.”
Aldi announces ‘special’ 62-hour closure of all its 1,000+ stores across UK – this is why
Emily Sergeant
Aldi has announced that it’ll be closing the doors of all of its stores across the UK for 62 hours next month for a ‘special’ reason.
Christmas is always known to be one of the busiest periods of the year for the retail industry, and Boxing Day has a reputation for being the ultimate day for shopping deals and discounts in the UK – but this year, just like it has done on several years in the past, Aldi has made the decision to close all of its stores nationwide on this bank holiday.
The supermarket retailer says it wants to thank its colleagues ‘for all their hard work’ throughout the year by giving them some extra time to spend with their families.
This means that all Aldi stores will be closed on both 25 and 26 December.
That’s not all though, as stores will also be closed on New Year’s Day, and will reopen once again on Friday 2 January 2026.
Aldi has announced a ‘special’ 62-hour closure of all its UK stores / Credit: Aldi UK
Opening hours at different Aldi stores across the UK will vary in the lead-up to Christmas, so it’s important to check the times for your local store, but the retailer has confirmed that most branches will be operating extended hours to ‘ensure customers can stock up ahead of the big day’
In the interim period between Christmas and New Year, stores will reopen as usual on Saturday 27 through to Tuesday 30 December, with reduced hours also likely on New Year’s Eve.
Speaking on the decision to shut up shop for a full 62-hour period this festive season, Rebecca Heley, who is the Communications Director at Aldi UK, said: “Christmas is a special time, and we want to ensure all of our colleagues have the opportunity to relax and enjoy it with their loved ones.
“That’s why all Aldi stores will be closed on Boxing Day this year.
“We know how hard colleagues work to deliver an amazing Christmas for our customers, and this is one small way of saying thank you.”
Featured Image – Aldi UK
Business
UK’s best and worst parcel delivery companies named following new research
Emily Sergeant
Some eye-opening new research has revealed the best and worst parcel delivery companies in the UK ahead of Christmas.
With the festive season fast approaching and many already in the process of Christmas shopping, Citizens Advice has released its annual parcel league tables, ranking the UK’s five major delivery companies in order from best to worst based on their overall performance.
From chasing missing parcels, and battling arduous complaints systems, to even having accessibility requests ignored, Citizens Advice found through its latest research that more than a third (37%) faced issues with their most recent delivery – which works out to roughly around 15 million people, a new record.
The research – which was carried out in a ‘snapshot’ one-month period – reveals that the rate of parcel problems remains at the highest levels seen in half a decade.
Now in its fifth year, the charity’s league table looks at the top five delivery companies by parcel volume and measures their performance against criteria to determine who is the best.
The criteria each company is measured against includes customer service, delivery problems, and how well they meet accessibility needs, such as people needing louder knocking or longer to answer the door.
This year’s parcel league table shows Royal Mail scored the highest with 3.25 out of five stars overall, while Yodel slips to the bottom with just two out of five stars.
UK’s top 5 parcel delivery companies
Royal Mail – 3.25 out of 5 stars
Amazon Logistics – 3 out of 5 stars
DPD – 2.5 out of 5 stars
Evri – 2.5 out of 5 stars
Yodel – 2 out of 5 stars
Citizens Advice found through its new research that accessibility was the worst performing area overall, and this is despite Ofcom’s new condition requiring firms to give disabled consumers the opportunity to report their accessibility needs.
There was also customer service failures, with almost half (47%) of the people who had a problem with their initial delivery going on to have further issues trying to resolve the problem.
Research found that the most common problems customers faced with their last delivery include the driver leaving before they had time to get to the door (29%), their parcel being left in an insecure location (24%), and parcels arriving late (24%).
The UK’s best and worst parcel delivery companies have been named / Credit: Evri (Press Picture)
“Ofcom has passed the parcel of responsibility for long enough,” commented Dame Clare Moriarty, who is the Chief Executive of Citizens Advice.
“We’ve been doing the work of the regulator for five years now by holding parcel companies to account and speaking up for consumers who are bearing the brunt of persistently poor service.
“Our league table has tracked parcel problems from warehouse to doorstep. We continue to see millions of people chasing lost parcels, having their accessibility needs ignored and hitting a brick wall when they try to complain.
Daisy Jackson -
20th February 2025 
