Factory International, the new £210m cultural space tipped by Time Out magazine to be one of the best places to visit in 2023, has revealed details of its upcoming food offering – and there’s a lot to get excited about.
With plans to introduce a ground floor foyer café and public bar, as well as two auditorium bars when it opens later this year, the team has been busy looking for hospitality partners to come on board.
Today, bosses have confirmed that two of the north west’s best-loved operators – one of which is behind YES in Manchester and Ox Club in Leeds – will come together to service the new multi-million-pound arts venue.
Set to be known as Super Serve Manchester, the new hospitality collaboration will see operators Solitaire Restaurants Ltd and Square One join forces in a new partnership.
Together, they will look after all the permanent food and beverage services on site when it opens at the heart of the city’s new St. John’s neighbourhood, formerly home to Granada TV and next to the Science and Industry Museum, later this year.
With menus changing seasonally, the inaugural offer at Factory International will include brunch, grab-and-go options and a late-night street-style offering when it launches this summer.
Super Serve, alongside other local traders, will also provide catering for the much-loved Festival Square which this year relocates to the venues’ new river-side public spaces for the first time.
Solitaire Restaurants Ltd has a twenty-year proven track record of successful independent food and drink establishments and is well known locally for the busy bar and venue YES, which first burst onto the Manchester scene in 2018.
Solitaire is a well-known operator across the north west, with its team also responsible for favourites such as Ox Club, Belgrave Music Hall and Headrow House (Leeds) and Nightcrawler Pizza (Liverpool).
Square One, meanwhile, is an independent north west operator which provides infrastructure for events of all sizes, specialising in directing large-scale bar operations.
The team brings experience delivering support at scale in the north for the likes of Highest Point Festival, The Depot at Mayfield, Creamfields, Parklife and the Garden Party.
Speaking on the new opening, Super Serve Manchester Managing Director Stevie Mulgrave said: “With many of the team starting their hospitality careers right here in Manchester before going on to work with some of the best independent operators throughout the North West, it’s an honour now to be chosen as the Food & Beverage partner for Factory International.
“Already billed by Time Out magazine as one of the best things to visit in 2023, we can’t wait to be a part of this amazing project in the heart of our city.”
Solitaire Director of Operations Gemma Hampton-Stone added: “We’ll be taking our inspiration from dining tables across Manchester.
“We’re interested in working with the local community to deliver a diverse and accessible offer; working alongside suppliers who have the highest regard for sustainability and animal welfare and engaging in non-intensive and traditional techniques to create some of the best tasting and highest quality products around.
“We’re looking forward to presenting a seasonally changing menu that reflects the vibrancy the area has to offer.”
Sheena Wrigley, Venue Director, Factory International, said: “We are thrilled to be working with the newly formed Super Serve as our food and beverage partner.
“That two companies at the top of their game have come together to collaborate and created something new just for Factory International couldn’t be more fitting.
“Not only does the team bring a wealth of expertise as Soltaire and Square One and understanding of the Manchester and North West hospitality scene, but they also showed a real commitment to supporting our values including sustainability, community engagement, and accessible pricing.
“We are excited to be working together establishing a creative, eclectic, welcoming new social space and in a unique part of the city.”
Programmed and operated by Factory International, the team behind the world-renowned Manchester International Festival, the new venue will host a year-round programme of original creative work, music and special events – from intimate concerts to immersive installations. Outside, pop-up performances, events and markets will create a buzzing riverside destination for all to enjoy.
Audiences will be invited to preview the trailblazing new cultural space during this year’s Manchester International Festival which returns across the city from 29 June to 16 July.
The venue’s official opening will be in October with the production Free Your Mind, a large-scale immersive performance based on The Matrix films created by Danny Boyle, Es Devlin and the co-founders of Olivier Award-winning Boy Blue.
Featured image – Supplied
City Centre
The bizarre explanation behind Manchester’s new mini ‘green space’ – that’s completely closed off
Danny Jones
One thing you always hear people who live in central Manchester calling out for is green space, but when a new patch of grass does arrive, you don’t exactly expect it to be completely inaccessible.
Just a quick FYI to those of you passionate about supporting what little nature there is left in our city centre: brace yourselves, as this one is rather annoying…
For anyone who’s walked down Whitworth Street West past the once lively Locks, or even got off at Deansgate–Castlefield tram stop and come down the glass stairs closest to the Albion Bridge, you may have noticed a rogue patch of grass surrounded by black fencing next to the City Road Inn pub.
It could be considered a nice little lawn were it not completely fenced off, but the question is, why has it popped up there? Well, local lad Curtis Rothwell has recently debunked the whole frustrating mess for us in a helpful video.
Yes, as explained by the Pre-Construction Manager who works for local utilities contractor Zenit Infrastructure Solutions Limited, the somewhat laughable but disheartening gated green space on Whitworth Street is essentially a feeble attempt at adhering to permission laws.
As detailed by Rothwell, the plot bought for a sizeable sum last year (only the original developers didn’t have the funding to actually pull off their initial plans) is now set to become student accommodation.
Currently, real estate firm Tri7 – which has now been fully folded into the parent group known as Fusion, as previous part-owners already – still has a hold on the land for now.
However, after being ordered by Manchester City Council to tidy up the area in the meantime, as they await planning permission to be fully approved, they decided to lay these new rolls of turf there.
Ok, so while the notion of the Council ordering a property company to make urban spaces look pretty and the idea of introducing more grassy zones into the city sound good on paper, as you can see, the real-life result doesn’t quite match up.
Not only does this feel like a bare minimum effort to appease the local authorities ahead of erecting yet another skyscraper, but more importantly, it feels like sheer nonchalant neglect and/or plain dismissal of those Manc residents crying out for more grass, nature and a break from the concrete jungle.
The fact that the rare green space is totally blocked by tall, almost authoritarian-feeling fences and sealed off by a big, black gate comes across like a casual two fingers to both the Council and those living in the city centre.
Speaking to The Manc, Curt commented: “It’s positive the council can take charge of how our empty spaces look after demolitions. In this case, maybe the demolition was carried out too early, which happens, but when it does, greenery is the best look they can give to local people.”
You can see the latest update on the planning permission HERE, and for now, if you’re looking for green spaces in Manchester, you’ll find them more frequently beyond the outskirts and heading into the boroughs; this one is strictly off limits. Find a whole bunch of ones that aren’t down below:
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Curtis Rothwell (via LinkedIn)
City Centre
A huge Hot Wheels monster truck event is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
A massive Hot Wheels-themed monster truck event is coming to Manchester city centre as part of a brand new UK tour.
You can file this under one for the kids and for the big kids.
Following the success of the brand’s award-winning ‘Glow-N-Fire’ event earlier this year, Hot Wheels is hitting the road once again and bringing the explosive show to yet more domestic audiences.
Whether you’re a monster truck enthusiast, part of the wider motorhead masses, or simply looking for something fun to do with the little ones, you should be all over this.
Credit: Pres shots (supplied)
What is Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow-N-Fire?
Produced by Family Entertainment Live, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live™ sees versions of the genuine collectable toys brought to life on the biggest scale possible.
Remember that old miniature car you had that looked like a shark? Yep, they’ve even got that.
But there’s much more than just colossally large vehicles; as well as the debut of an all-new truck called the ‘Rhinomite’ – the dynamite Rhino-themed truck which charges horn-first into challenges and looks to destroy the competition – the new and improved experience will feature never-before-seen stunts.
Performed not only by the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks drivers, but also by a talented roster of FMX (freestyle motocross), you can expect the likes of no-handed front flips and much more by these impressive professionals.
Returning not only to the capital but now Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Leeds too, more and more Brits are going to be able to see the action for themselves.
Credit: Supplied
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live – UK tour dates
Saturday to Sunday, 3-4 January 2026: AO Arena, Manchester
Sat-Sun, 10-11 January: The O2 Arena, London
Sat-Sun, 28-29 March: First Direct Bank Arena, Leeds
Sat-Sun, 4-5 April: M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
Sat-Sun, 11-12 April: Utilita Arena, Birmingham
With special children’s pricing, VIP packages and even the chance to participate in the official pre-show party, held two and a half hours prior to every performance, there really is so much value-for-money to be soaked up from this high-octane piece of live entertainment at the AO Arena.
The pre-show party, specifically, gives fans a unique opportunity to access the arena floor where they can get up close and personal with the outrageous Hot Wheels designs and the truly epic size of a minster struck, as well as grab autographs and selfies with their favourites.
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks – Manchester tickets
Glow-N-Fire won the most recent Pollstar ‘Family Show of the Year’ award and has sold thousands of tickets this year alone, so it goes without saying that you have every reason to give this one a go.
Tickets for next year’s Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live show at the AO Arena in Manchester go on sale this Friday, 5 September at 10am.
Georgina Pellant -
16th May 2023 
