Sky-high energy prices are now the main reason for hospitality closures, according to Manchester’s night time tsar Sacha Lord.
The Warehouse Project founder and night time economy adviser has recently taken to Twitter to call on the government to do more to support businesses – stating that the energy companies are ‘cashing in on hospitality’s demise’.
Adding that the big energy companies ‘are bankrupting businesses and forcing people into unemployment’, he pointed to numerous business closures in Greater Manchester before adding that energy regulator Ofgem has ‘a lot to answer for’.
It has undoubtedly been a hard few years for the city’s hospitality operators, with large numbers closing their doors for good in 2022 and more following suit this year already.
Between rocketing energy bills and food costs, record inflation and the largest squeeze on living standards in 40 years, many operators have found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.
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Recent notable hospitality closures have included vegan junk food pioneers Zad’s and V Rev, Vertigo, Chorlton neighbourhood favourite The Creameries, city centre institution Cafe Metro, decades-old pizza restaurant Croma and cheap cocktail favourite Font, but sadly the list goes on and on.
Energy is now the main reason for Hospitality closures.
The Government need to step in and make the energy giants release operators from untenable contracts, because it’s clear @ofgem won’t.
Yet, whilst Manchester’s bars and restaurants are closing at pace, energy companies are announcing record profits with Shell reporting record earnings of £32.2bn in 2022 – double the previous year’s total and the highest in the company’s 115 year history.
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This has led for many to call for the increase in the energy price cap due in April to be scrapped, with opposition parties claiming that the government is letting firms ‘off the hook’.
Meanwhile, many local restaurants are directly citing the energy crisis as their reason for closing their doors.
Announcing its closure last year, popular vegan eatery Vertigo shared on social media that it had been forced to permanently shut all three of its sites: laying the blame at the door of ‘significantly increased costs’ that have made it difficult for the business to continue to operate.
Specifically referring to an increase in utility bills, the team said it was with ‘a heavy heart’ they had to announce that ‘Vertigo is no more’.
Elsewhere, last summer The Lowry theatre warned of a ‘major challenge’ over fears energy costs could triple to £1m this winter, stating that: “The government needs to extend the energy cap to business as well as households.”
Meanwhile, The Old Siege House Bar and Brasserie in Colchester revealed that it “had no choice but to sign a new contract in October in order to access government help”, adding that its bills went up “from 2p a unit on gas to 12p and 12p electric to 44p ! Now tied in for 4 years! Not sure how long we can sustain these prices!”
According to analysis by Shakespeare Martineau, the food and drink industry accounted for 6% of administrations in 2022 – the sixth-highest sector in the UK.
A total of 1,340 businesses – 87 of which came from the food and drink industry, which included several breweries and restaurant chains – filed for administration last year, marking a 56% increase compared to 2021.
Recession fears and the financial pressure on households and businesses mean the worst is still yet to come, an insolvency and restructuring expert has warned.
Andy Taylor, partner and head of restructuring at Shakespeare Martineau, said: “The latest statistics show that the true costs of living and doing business are beginning to bite.
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“Numerous headwinds – such as the cost of borrowing, and increasing energy, fuel and raw material costs – have become a new normal at this point and businesses are being pulled from every direction. Furthermore, while supportive in the main, pressure from lenders is increasing and HMRC is taking a firmer stance, seeking to cap levels of liability for non-payment of tax.
Adding that the UK is ‘perilously close to recessional phase,’ he continued: “If things continue as they are, we expect to see an increase in businesses failures as they battle tough trading conditions.”
Feature image –The Manc Group
Eats
Brewch is getting bigger: Cereal milk stars open new café in Chorlton
Danny Jones
Anyone who lives in or around Gatley will undoubtedly have heard of Brewch Coffee, but now this cult favourite café has just opened up a new location in central Manchester.
Making their way over from the suburban edges of Stockport, Brewch’s second site has just launched in the centre of Chorlton.
So, what’s different about this one? Well, a few things…
For starters, the menu has expanded ever further, and they’re already becoming one of the busiest spots on Manchester Road.
@the.manc You can now get iced coffee AND matcha topped with Frosties-flavoured cereal milk and my god it’s good. It’s all thanks to the wizards @Brewch 🧙 Choose between coffee or matcha as your base, a huge pour of that delectable milk, all topped off with a handful of crispy Frosties straight from the box. This sweet treat is only available at their Chorlton site – go, go, go. 📍 97 Manchester Road, Chorlton, M21 9GA #themanc#cerealmilkcoffee#chorlton#viralcoffee#chorltoncafe♬ original sound – The Manc
The well-known stretch of the leafy Manc neighbourhood isn’t short of brunch spots and coffee shops, of course, but we will say that this latest one also arrives with a great reputation built over a few years.
Most notably, this most recent addition is more of a grab-and-go style concept compared to the original digs and some others in the area.
For example, as well as some proper good brews, they’ve also got a strong selection of hot sandwiches freshly toasted with everything from classic toasties to the steakhouse melt and siracha tuna.
Then we turn our attention to a pretty insane bakery counter, where you’ll find the GOATed hot honey toast, white chocolate rainbow sprinkle cookies and their increasingly popular trademark and well worth the hype cookie/croissant hybrids.
Call them what you want, all we know is they’re bloody delicious.
As for the hot drinks themselves, it’s not just the usual selection you’ll see on most menus these days; they’ve got creative – including with one of their signature ingredients.
One of their specialities is their Spanish lattes, but just this week, they’ve now introduced new cereal milk lattes and iced matchas. Served over ice, using milk steeped with Frosties and decorated with a final sprinkling of cereal, these aren’t like anything else on the market in Greater Manchester right now, really.
They soak the sugary goodness overnight, and if you’ve ever heard of Christina Tosi’s famous Milk Bar flavoured drinks and desserts like the legendary ‘crack pie’ (just Google it), then you’ll know how tasty these can be.
Already laying plans to hopefully open a third venue here in Manchester city centre sooner rather than later, we’re fully locked into Brewch’s expansion. They’ll have some stuff competition, of course, but we reckon they’re well-equipped to go toe-to-toe with even the biggest names.
A massive street food festival is set to return to Rochdale this month
Lydia Mastrolonardo
A popular street food festival will be returning to Greater Manchester this month, filling a historic square with food traders and live entertainment.
That’s right, Street Eat is coming to Rochdale once again, to supply us foodies with our fix of mouth-watering food and thirst-quenching drinks, all held within the magnificent Rochdale Town Hall Square.
Year upon year, this flavourful festival has shown up and impressed us, guaranteeing itself a spot in our annual diaries as a staple spring-time event.
It truly does deserve all of the praise it gets, with more than 3,000 people showing up last year, all with one common interest – proper good food.
Street Eat is a true celebration of the town’s rich history, diverse arts scene, creativity, talent, variety of cultures and of course – food. Boasting a range of local favourites and stalls including Italian, Spanish, Thai, Indian, English, American cuisines and more, it successfully captures what Rochdale is all about.
This year, Street Eat is pulling out all of the stops, with stalls like the prosecco bar Sip and Sparkle and multi-award winning independent brewery Wakey Wakey, as well as tapas from La Mancha, pizza from Vicolo del Vino, Indian inspired street food from Bombay Brew, Thai street food dishes from Issan Friends and many more. Whether you’re feeling adventurous and want to try something new, or are there to support your favourite local restaurant, there’s something for everyone.
Street Eat will take place in the Rochdale Town Hall squareThere’ll be food and drink aplenty from local tradersStreet Eat returns to Rochdale in May
If it’s a sweet treat that you’re after, there will also be cookies from Mason’s Creations, waffles and crepes to be found at Brew Box, and sugary classics from The Traditional Tuck Shop, as well as many other dessert stalls to satisfy those sugar cravings.
Why not check out which of The Manc’s favourites from our Rochdale guide made it onto the festival menu?
The excitement doesn’t just stop with our tastebuds though – Street Eat also hosts lots of free entertainment across a variety of bars and live music stages, which all draw in the crowds and give it a proper festival feel.
This year you can expect a variety of music genres, catering to all ages with everything from singalong classics and pop hits, to Rochdale Music Service’s very own rock bands, brass band and choirs. Not to mention a performance from Turners Dance School to get everyone in the mood for getting their groove on as the music takes us into the evening.
Street Eat welcomes people of all ages, with lots of free activities to keep the kids entertained too including rides, Punch and Judy shows, face painting and even a caricaturist sketching free portraits.
One thing is for certain – Rochdale Business Improvement District (BID) can put on a good party.
Organiser and BID manager Paul Ambrose said: “Street Eat showcases the vibrant and high-quality food and drink the town has to offer, as well as being a great day out.
“It’s a fantastic event, giving us the opportunity to champion the very best local food and drink. Street Eat brings friends and families together, celebrating our vibrant town centre eateries and showing what a foodie hotspot the town is. We do all we can to make the event as affordable as possible and entry is free.”
Councillor Sue Smith, cabinet member for communities and co-operation at Rochdale Borough Council said: “This is always such a great day out and Rochdale Town Hall Square is a wonderful setting. Street Eat is a great celebration of the incredible food and drink offer we have here in our town.”
Great food, drinks, community, music and freeentertainment in the sunshine – sounds like the perfect Saturday to us.
Admission is free and Street Eat will run from 11am to 7pm on Saturday 30 May.
For more on the line-up, head HERE and search #StreetEatRoch on social media.
Georgina Pellant -
23rd February 2023 
