Living on top of the city: How Manctopia’s Sarah Lomas sees Manchester differently from above
The BBC's 'Manctopia' documentary covered every kind of character and story in modern Manchester - but it was Sarah’s rise from below the poverty line up to a penthouse that struck the biggest chord.
Dazzled interior designer Sarah Whatmore is stood on top of Manchester, gawping at the city below her feet.
She’s been tasked with kitting out a luxury penthouse in West Tower – one of Britain’s tallest skyscrapers outside the big smoke – but the view is distracting her.
During a conversation with the building’s general manager, she gazes through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the concrete labyrinth wriggling away into the sunset.
The two women look out at Manchester and share a moment of silent awe.
“… great place to live,” Sarah eventually mutters, still in half a trance.
Even after days spent dedicated to this building, they’re still taken aback.
This scene plays out during BBC’s Manctopia – a property boom documentary that dedicates much of its final episode to teasing the arrival of a new penthouse owner in the Deansgate Square development.
For almost an hour, the episode keeps its cards close to its chest. All we’re told is that the new buyer is an international businesswoman who’d spent so much on fittings that the designers won’t even reveal the numbers on screen.
“Very expensive,” is all they’d give away.
Then, around the 50 minute-mark, the owner appears.
It turns out to be Sarah Lomas, a born-and-bred northerner who’d spent her early twenties just a few miles away in Denton – completely broke and living on inflatable furniture.
Now the CEO of global health brand REVIV, Sarah recites a truncated version of her rags-to-riches story in Manctopia, calling it an “incredible feeling” to be standing in the best apartment in Manchester after her upbringing on a council estate.
It’s only a forty-second cameo. But after the credits rolled, Sarah’s social media inbox was almost set ablaze.
More 3,000 messages poured in from viewers who wanted to know how she’d done it.
Manctopia covered every kind of character and story in modern Manchester – but it was Sarah’s rise from below the poverty line up to a penthouse that struck the biggest chord.
Nonetheless, Sarah isn’t convinced her tale is worth talking about too much.
“There’s not a really interesting story there,” Sarah tells The Manc.
“Other than the fact it was bloody hard work.”
In Sarah’s eyes, there’s a much bigger narrative in play here: The one that’s shaping Manchester’s future.
According to the REVIV owner, Manc still isn’t being taken seriously as it should – despite all these brand new glistening buildings bumping their heads against clouds.
Relentless urban development aside, Sarah believes that London still sees Manchester as being behind the pace.
But it’s not so much the wealth divide. Apparently, it’s the way we talk.
According to Sarah, there’s been no bigger hindrance to her corporate career than her northern twang.
“I was working as a single mum in a male-dominated environment, but the largest obstacle wasn’t being a parent or even a female – it was my northern accent,” she explains.
“To get further up the ladder, I was actually told to go for elocution lessons.”
Imagine that.
You’re a single mother with no qualifications. You sell all your furniture to pay your bills. You work night shifts to put food on the table. You spend years upskilling and studying in your spare time. You earn a long-term deal with one of the world’s biggest banks. You rapidly rise through the ranks and enjoy an enormously successful two decades in finance.
But then… you’re told that none of that really matters.
What’s really important is that you speak proper.
“In the end, I went to work in countries where my accent didn’t matter,” Sarah admits.
“I was the only British person in an international group; so nobody detected the Manc. They just thought I was from the UK.”
Whilst Sarah accepts the corporate scene has changed a lot since the nineties, she believes accent discrimination remains rife and is holding fellow businesspeople back as we speak.
“It still exists, 100%,” she asserts.
“I can see it’s still out there by the sheer volume of people coming to me.
“Most of the messages I get are from people feeling held back by their accent. And interestingly, about 65% of them are men.
“Perhaps you could say I took the easy way out – I left the country.
“But others are still having problems with it right now – and I think that’s something we need to address.”
Despite its archaic, prejudicial nature, accent discrimination did lead to Sarah opting to go her own way and build a company on her own terms.
It’s the business that ended up buying her the flat in West Tower: REVIV (a health organisation that offers intravenous (IV) vitamin hydration and wellness therapy).
The company’s global hub and flagship clinic is operating right here in Sarah’s hometown – with the service being rolled out to a staggering 41 countries around the world.
Big names like Hap Klopp – the founder of Northface – are on the company board, and the service has proven unsurprisingly popular with the cultural elite – from pro athletes to actors and actresses.
But what’s intriguing about REVIV is that services are also accessible for the everyman.
Product prices start at just £25 – and their IV Therapy has now been commissioned for public use for the very first time.
But most amazingly of all, REVIV can offer customers a personalised diet and supplement plan based on their own genetics that ensures the best possible levels of health; with an app in development that lets users scan an item and reveal how beneficial it is for their body.
Sarah says she wants to change ideas and understanding of wellbeing in Britain – whilst making these treatments – typically considered exotic – available for all.
“The reality is, everyone is different,” Sarah states.
“Coffee is good for some people, bad for others. A glass of red wine is beneficial for some, but can do real damage in some cases.
“It’s all down to the individual.
“There are millions of variables and you need to be able to understand your own blueprint to stay healthy.”
REVIV has also weighed in to provide support with COVID testing services since the pandemic took hold – and Sarah believes that the emergence of coronavirus has forced people to reevaluate the way they look at their own health.
“We’ve got work to do; but this situation [COVID] is a brilliant opportunity to make something positive out of negative,” she says.
“The World Health Organisation is starting to make this connection of nutrition being key to our ability to fight off viruses such as this.
“We’ve heard a lot about how people without underlying conditions are being even affected by the virus. But having no underlying conditions is very different to actually being healthy.”
Sarah’s in her West Tower penthouse when we talk – and as she scans the city from thirty flights above, she’s conflicted.
“Whichever side of this house you go to, you get an incredible view,” Sarah muses.
“I can see everything in the city. I find that quite inspiring.”
But something is eating away at her. An itch no skyline could scratch.
“I’m worried about Manchester,” Sarah admits.
“I’ve got concerns about the economics of the city. I’ve got concerns for small businesses that aren’t able to recover.
“I’m also aware that many people still aren’t recognising us for the city we truly are.
“I want to play my part in helping wherever I can.
“I want to work on that.”
Sarah has already inspired hundreds of Mancs and now runs a company that’s dedicated to creating a healthier city for tomorrow.
It’s safe to say that ‘work’ has already started.
Feature
Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | June 2025
Danny Jones
Hello there. That greeting may be giving Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars vibes, and we can’t lie, we have listened to some cantina music while working this month… but not as much as we’ve been immersing ourselves in more new Manchester artists.
You should know the drill by now, and it is very much a what-it-says-on-the-tin scenario, but every few weeks, we round up some of the music – all crucially hailing from the Greater Manchester area – that we’ve been listening to of late.
We don’t discriminate when it comes to genre either. There’s only one simple rule: if it’s good, then we listen to it and then, hopefully, so do you.
Get your playlists at the ready.
Five Manc music artists we’ve been listening to recently
1. Arkayla
First up for June are relative newcomers Arkayla, whose name is inspired by “a terrible Oasis demo” from 1991 (their words, not ours – thought it is…) of the same name, a.k.a. ‘I Will Show You’, in which describe Liam Gallagher’s now legendary as once sounding “like a dodgy Ian Brown impressionist.”
However, there’s nothing dodgy about these lot and, thankfully, they’re in an era when you don’t have to hand out tapes recorded in the Boardwalk basement on the street to be heard. The Manchester band, which only formed in 2020, may be Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, but they’ve already got a sound.
There’s an unmistakable British indie element to them and hints at everything from The Kooks to The Lathums, but most notably, there are ’60s guitar notes and some real maturity already. Standouts include ‘Ella Malone’, the acoustic version of ‘Lost In a Valentine’, where the lead singer, Cal Blakebrough, really shines, and ‘Rita’ is such an addictive track.
They don’t get more unknown, undiscovered, but sure to be up-and-coming than iNNAFIELD, who are a female-fronted psychedelia-forward five-piece with roots in Brighton but building a career in 0161. Having recently shone at The Deaf Institute playing a support slot at Academy 1, they have our interest.
If a glimpse of lead singer Jessie Amy Leask’s curly hair, 70s belts and long, flowing skirts plants Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac in your mind, you’d be right in thinking so; a listen to their other live tracks scattered across their socials confirms there’s plenty of other influences going on too, though.
Now, they’ve only got one proper recording out on Spotify called ‘Tell Me What’s On Your Mind’, but we’ve had it popping up on our algorithms everywhere, and we can see why: there’s soft, twinkly strumming, soft almost sleepy vocals before a nice big breakout at the end. Glorious stuff.
No, not that one, the Princess of Monaco isn’t back from the dead, but ‘r Grace Kelly, who is based right here in Greater Manchester, is playing her part in the ongoing country revival taking place across the music world, offering her soulful voice and faux American-folk vibes to our ears.
She may not be a Mancunian by birth, having moved from New Zealand to our shores back in 2022, and although the weather change might have been a big sea change for her, there’s no culture shock to be found in her style; from the audio to the aesthetic, it still somehow feels pretty authentic.
Uplifting acoustic guitars, drum brush strokes, solos, Southern-twang harmonies – you name it, all the ingredients are there. The thing is, if you spend enough time immersing yourself in a genre, you can still pull off tracks like ‘Carry On’, ‘San Jose’ and the intimate ‘For Us To Change’.
We’re really lane switching when it comes to genre this month; maybe it’s because festival season is in full swing and we’re just being exposed to so much different stuff in a short space of time, all we know is we’re not complaining about it.
And neither should you, especially when you’ve got names like hip-hop, grime, soul and flag-flying Afrobeats rising star, Prido, being platformed. Blending all the above with R’n’B and a sprinkling of not just Northern but easily detectable Manc slant, it makes his music stand out in the ever-thriving space.
‘Free Ur Mind’ was the first track we ever heard, so we’ve struggled to shake that as our favourite, but ‘DND’ is a supremely dancey but chill example of laid-back of the genre that you need in your mixes this summer, and we also have a soft spot for his verse on the sensual ‘Lifeboat’ by Prima.
Last but not least on our list of new Manchester artists for this June, we’ve got local DJ Josh Baker, whose name you might recognise from the headlines surrounding Parklife 2025, as his set was unfortunately cancelled due to problems out of his control.
Festival-goers flocked to The Matinee Stage for a highly anticipated back-to-back bill of Baker followed by Dutch counterpart Chris Stussy, both of whom have thrilled some of the biggest club crowds in the country – sadly, he didn’t get to do so this time. That being said, we thought we’d give him a shout-out.
We’ll confess to only having got around to his discography following this news, but ‘Back It Up’, ‘Something To Me’, and ‘You Don’t Own Me’ with Prospa and RAHH are all bangers. We’re looking forward to listening to more.
And that should just about do you; there are five artists and, at the very least, 15 new tracks for you to give a go – there should be at least of few of them you like.
But, let’s be honest: be it unheard, new, current, old or anything in between, Manchester music very rarely ends up being filed in the skippable category.
Then again, you can always check out last month’s list of Manc artists from last month and see if you get a better hit ratio.
Featured Images — Prido (via Facebook)/Arkayla (via X)/Grace Kelly (via Facebook)
Feature
You can sleep in a luxury train carriage at an old railway station in Greater Manchester
Thomas Melia
There’s an Airbnb listing in Delph where you can stay in a classic converted train carriage, and it’s even situated in an old train station, so someone buy my ticket ASAP.
Get ready to have the best train experience of your life, as the only cancellation you have to worry about is booking the day off work.
The Carriage at The Old Station is a two-person character property in Delph, Saddleworth that offers you the chance to live out your vintage fantasy by stepping back in time on a luxury static train coach.
It may be situated at an old station, but the interior is refreshing and light with mint blue beams, fuchsia cushions and a royal red carpet and curtains.
As well as a majestic interior, this carriage has an equally impressive amount of amenities, including a Bluetooth sound system, board games and its own indoor fireplace.
This Airbnb is fairly new too, with only 44 reviews to its name – the first only dating back to September of last year; don’t say we don’t find you some absolute gems.
Inside the Airbnb that’s an old converted train carriage.The interior of this Airbnb listing is bold and impressive.
One user even stated, “We regularly stay in five-star locations and this surpassed five-star easily! We highly recommend a stay here.”
While another opened her review with three simple adjectives that we also feel perfectly sum up this train carriage property perfectly: “Opulent, indulgent, extravagant”.
It should come as no surprise that this place is beautiful inside and out, as in the description, host of the property Nigel states he’s a retired designer.
The train carriage stay is also close to a proper country pub, The Old Bell Inn, as well as the Diggle canal walk if you fancy a stroll and a pint before tucking into bed in your old train carriage for the night.
Even the bathroom has pops of colour throughout.You could stay in this train carriage at an old train station.
If you’re after boarding The Carriage at The Old Station and having a fabulous overnight stay or mini holiday of your own, you can find the Airbnb listing and everything you need to know HERE.
The Manc -
15th October 2020 
