The Piccadilly Gardens Wall comes down this week – sending 20ft of cold, curved, concrete tumbling to the floor of Manchester’s main square.
In practice, it’s just another piece of demolition work in an architecturally fluid city. But there’s more to it than that.
This is a symbolic new beginning for Manchester.
Once the concrete curtain has fallen, the plan is to spruce up the tattered stage that lies behind it: Piccadilly Gardens.
£2 million is being ploughed into the regeneration project – with the destruction of the Wall instigating a flurry of permanent improvements to the city centre’s disfigured bulls-eye.
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The much-needed makeover is likely to take many weeks to arrange and complete. But some local business owners in the area are worried Manchester simply cannot wait that long.
Companies sitting on the border of Piccadilly Gardens and Northern Quarter are being plagued by problems on their doorsteps – including antisocial behaviour, loud noise and drug dealing.
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Many local firms are currently closed for Lockdown 2.0, but one business owner has expressed concern that nothing is being done to rectify the situation in time for their reopening.
“I don’t feel safe when I leave work and lock up,” one business owner told The Manc.
“There’s so much drug abuse going on in the area right now and some of the culprits have been so aggressive – I even know people who’ve been physically harassed.
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“The corner of Newton Street is awful and Back Piccadilly is also particularly bad.
“Before lockdown, people were walking past holding pepper spray because they were afraid.”
The business owner also said they were concerned how the state of the area was influencing Manchester’s reputation nationwide.
“For anyone coming in on the train to Manchester… Piccadilly is the first thing they see,” the owner told us.
“How can you be proud of your city if that’s the first thing on show?
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“It’s very sad.”
According to some locals, lockdown has exacerbated the problem.
Closed shops and lower foot traffic subsequently have meant fewer police patrols in Piccadilly Gardens – allowing bigger antisocial groups to congregate on corners undisturbed for longer periods.
“It’s been getting gradually worse,” one local tells us.
“There’s a lot more drug abuse going on.
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“I’ve reported it several times to the council, and I’ve had a couple of phone calls where they’ve told me: ‘We can’t send someone out every time you call.’ But the police have told me to report it more often because more budget goes towards it and then they can take action.
“In residential areas there’s Neighbourhood Watches to help – but in Piccadilly it’s mostly businesses so we don’t have those.
“We need the council’s help. Why are they ignoring it?”
The last thing Manchester needs is for its most beloved businesses to flee the area; swapping the Gardens for somewhere that feels safer. And business owners are urging the council to take action now before that happens.
“It hasn’t got any better since March,” one business owner told us.
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“In fact, it’s gotten worse.”
Councillor Nigel Murphy, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said the council was looking to work closely with police to fix the “well documented” problems in Piccadilly.
He commented: “As a council we are committed to ensuring the city is safe for every one of our residents.
“The issues in Piccadilly are well documented and we will continue to work with our partners in GMP to prevent anti-social behaviour and crime in our public spaces.”
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Hard-hats and hi-vis will move into the area as the removal of the Wall begins this week; an emblematic act representing a new chapter for the city.
For business owners in Piccadilly, it can’t come soon enough.
Feature
Coffee Rules: The Greek-born cafe that’s gone on to become a beloved Greater Manchester brand
Danny Jones
It’s rare that you find a place in an already saturated food and drink scene like Greater Manchester’s that genuinely comes across like a local community cornerstone, but that’s exactly what we got when we visited Coffee Rules in Salford.
We went for a brew, one of those viral iced coffee we’ve seen on socials, and maybe a nice bite to eat – but we left with much more and the impression that these lot are onto something big.
Opened in Arta back in their home country (also up in the northwest, by the way), they’ve never struggled to get queues out the door, and it’s no different here. This one is run by two siblings, 23-year-old Thomas and his younger brother Marios, 30, who have been smashing it since 2023.
Since launching their growing UK brand in the likes of The Meadows neighbourhood – one of two they have in the city of Salford alone, the other being Swinton – they’ve brought the lines with them. With authentic Greek food and drink like this, it’s not hard to see why.
They’ve now expanded to more than eight sites total, including one still keeping their own local reputation alive over in Athens, and this looks to be just the beginning.
Having not only spread across the ten boroughs but further out into the region with their Liverpool locations as well as a Yorkshire stronghold up in Sheffield, there’s more to come from Coffee Rules, both in terms of premises and their plans to take on the rest of the brunch game and beyond.
Suburban Mancs may have already seen the regular midday and weekend crowds that pack out their Chorlton venue, the Rusholme one is often filled with fresh-faced uni students in need of their caffeine fix, and it’s an increasingly similar story for those based in Bolton.
Or maybe you’re one of the many people based in Manchester city centre, who nip to their quiet, tucked-away corner of Ancoats for a fresh bake or even to have your eye caught by some of their merch with that modern mythological-inspired logo.
Whichever one happens to be closest to you, you’ll have the same satisfying experience, from sipping on speciality coffee and the scran, to the service and all-around atmosphere.
They’re also about to start hosting board game nights over at their Salford site, where they’ll be making the most of their large terrace with plenty of seating, which also has the added bonus of a retracted pergola – perfect for sunny days or simply sheltering from the Manc rain.
One thing we also noticed was just how many locals not only popped in throughout our time there, but the sheer number that had chosen to start their day at this particular spot.
There’s a regular Greek crowd, of course, but there’s also the native Salfordian and those currently residing in and around the up-and-coming area, who were pulling up in the large car park and taking a pew, or even those just looking for quick and top-quality grab-and-go stuff.
In fact, it’s one of the quickest venues we’ve seen fill up that fast in a hot, Med minute.
Speaking of, whether it be one of their superb Spanish lattes, or the equally sweet, sultry and viral ‘Freddo Cappuccino’, or their traditional spanakopita, not to mention their many Mediterranean pastry variations, there’s a big call for pretty much everything on the menu.
We could go on at length in listing what impressed us about just this one Coffee Rules branch, and we’ve made many trips to their Chorlton one in the past already, but it’s probably best that we just urge you to give it a try sometime soon. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed.
This is one of the fastest-growing franchises in the UK, and it’s no wonder they keep pulling in plaudits and invites to bigger and better industry within the industry as time goes on events over the past few years.
Oh, and one more thing, there’s plenty of savoury stuff that you’ll likely fall in love with, but we highly reccommend ordering the red velvet. Wow…
One of the biggest and best new beer gardens in Manchester drops just in time for the World Cup
Danny Jones
You heard us right: what could very well be Manchester’s favourite new beer garden has just landed over in St John’s, and all can envision is non-stop sun, suds and sporting action all summer long.
This, my friends, is ‘The Green’.
Capturing a kind of mix between the simple combo of wide open space, booze and hopefully sun on the Stevenson Square we all know and love, with a bit of the Boxpark fanfare that will make it perfect come World Cup, we’re big fans of what they’ve put together here.
It’s also worth noting that this place is significantly bigger than you’ll find in most corners of central Manchester, complete with plenty of room to perch, from the rows of deckchairs to even tiered step seating that runs along the edge.
There’s new artificial turf laid down, complete with fresh wooden borders, lamp lighting, big benches perfect for squeezing plenty of mates on each side, as well as a decent number of small parasols. There are even QR codes to save time ordering at the bar.
Speaking of, the bar is already full up and running with a very solid lineup of summery drinks, for beers and fruity ciders to Aperol and plenty more. You are paying the expected St John’s prices, but when the rays hit just right, the footy’s on and you’re with your mates, you won’t hear us complaining.
Not just batch stuff being proud from the tap either – they’ve got cocktails, creative twists on frozen margs and lots of other stuff still in the pipeline.
But understandably, the instant start of the show is that large screen, which has already got us dreaming of the World Cup and tournament season year in year out, for that matter. And when we say large, we really mean it…
Just picture the scenes…
The lawn itself is plenty long, and the massive monitor is high up enough on the old studio wall that not a single soul will be missing a second of that action.
Be it the footy, Wimbledon, F1, rugby – whatever the discipline happens to be, we can’t wait to find any excuse to watch it all here (weather permitting). Only a short distance from Deansgate, Spinningfields, Castlefield and more, we feel like this spot is about to blow up.
You’ll also be glad to know that while you can’t take food and drink from other venues around the beer garden itself, they’ve got a food lineup all of their own coming very soon, centring around Manchester locals and regional indies. That’s what we like to hear.
It’s just what that Grape Street area needed, and regardless of whatever potential seasonal shifts it might need to make, we hope it stays here for a very long time. Good vibes all-round.
The Manc -
18th November 2020 
