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.”
The plans to build 107 new homes in Manchester city centre – including affordable housing
Daisy Jackson
A new community of homes – including affordable housing – is on the way to Manchester city centre.
Fresh new images have been unveiled of Ferrous, a brand-new 107-home rental scheme that will be built in Piccadilly East later this year.
The new development from Capital&Centric will include 15% affordable housing, as well as a new pocket park.
The new scheme is partly thanks to a £1.6m investment from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which will see a previously underused brownfield site regenerated.
The site near Manchester Piccadilly was previously owned by Transport for Greater Manchester.
Although the planning consent didn’t require an affordable housing, Capital&Centric has committed to delivering around 15% of the new homes as affordable.
Alongside the pocket park, there’ll be a small kiosk designed as a launchpad for an independent food or drink operator.
Piccadilly East was named by The Sunday Times as one of the UK’s most up-and-coming places to live, thanks to developments like Crusader Mill and Neptune Mill, plus the landmark ‘Jenga’ Leonardo Hotel.
Tom Wilmot, Joint Managing Director at Capital&Centric, said: “The GMCA funding is helping unlock new homes on a challenging city centre site while allowing us to deliver affordable homes as part of the scheme.
“We’ve also carved out space for greenery and an independent operator because small pockets of public space make a massive difference. In a post-industrial city you have to go big on planting. Kampus showed that and we want to create a mini version here.”
Construction on Ferrous is expected to start later this year with completion anticipated in 2028.
New state-of-the-art modern wellness and recovery destination opens in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Manchester’s wellness landscape has just changed… for the better.
Brysk has arrived in our city, unveiling a premium, design led studio dedicated to recovery, performance, and preventative health.
Opening its doors just off St Ann’s Square, offering what it calls a ‘technology-led approach’ to everyday health, Brysk is all about helping people stay ahead of stress, poor sleep, inflammation, skin concerns, and low energy.
Designed as a wellness studio rather than a spa or clinic, Brysk aims to bridge the gap between premium comfort and clinical level care, and is currently the only place in Manchester to provide a full suite of modern recovery and wellness services under one roof – including the city centre’s only hard-shelled hyperbaric oxygen chamber delivering 1.8 ATA sessions.
Whole body and localised cryotherapy treatments are also available, alongside red light therapy and compression therapy.
Manchester was chosen for Brysk’s launch due to the city’s strong wellness and fitness culture.
Tailored for everyday people, not just amateur and elite athletes, Brysk supports busy professionals, parents, and shift workers, as well as those managing menopause symptoms, skin concerns, chronic inflammation, or recovering from injury.
The studio is also set to host a weekly run club, wellness events, and group recovery sessions now that it’s open to the public, while corporate wellness mornings and private group bookings are also available in Thursdays and Saturdays, supported by Proflex Therapy – the studio’s physiotherapy partner.
Brysk is a new modern wellness and recovery destination in Manchester / Credit: Supplied
Brysk owners, father and son team Chris and Nathan, say their aiming to become Manchester’s go-to destination for cryotherapy and modern wellness, building a culture where recovery and preventative health are viewed not as a luxury, but as essential to everyday life.
All services on offer are delivered through structured safety-led protocols, backed by sports science and nutrition knowledge.
Single sessions, tailored service packages, and flexible credit-based memberships are all on offer, meaning clients are able to integrate recovery and preventative health into their routines in a way that suits their lifestyle.
Daisy Jackson -
20th February 2025 
