40-year-old Chinatown restaurant warns ‘we won’t last another decade’ in defiant statement

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson 40-year-old Chinatown restaurant warns 'we won't last another decade' in defiant statement

There are some businesses that feel so much a part of the fabric of Manchester, it’s hard to imagine the city without them.

But a defiant statement from Happy Seasons, a decades-old family-run restaurant in Chinatown, has said that it’s ‘not sure how businesses like ours will survive in this new world’.

They wrote that is ‘feels like everything is stacked against small businesses’ and said ‘we won’t last another 5-10 years’.

Happy Seasons has been a cornerstone of Chinatown for more than 40 years, famed for its roast meats (proudly hung in the windows) and traditional Cantonese dishes.

Everyone who works in the restaurant has been in the trade for more than 20 years, they wrote, adding ‘it’s all they’ve ever known’.

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Happy Seasons has said that their type of business – where everything is made fresh, from scratch, daily – is ‘slowly fading’.

They wrote: “Younger generations are slowly stepping away from hospitality. The government continues to increase costs on our industry, while bills, rent, and even basic stock keep rising. Sometimes it feels like everything is stacked against small businesses.”

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Roast meats in the windows of Happy Seasons
Roast meats in the windows of Happy Seasons
Happy Seasons has been in Chinatown for more than 40 years
Happy Seasons has been in Chinatown for more than 40 years

The restaurant added: “We don’t think places like ours will last another decade if things continue the way they are.”

But in their defiant video shared to customers, the Chinese restaurant said: “We’re not going to let that stop us.

“We’re still going to put the hours in. We’re still going to make everything fresh. We’re still not going to cut corners.

“From our sauces and roasted meats to our soy sauce and sweet and sour sauce, so much of what we serve is made from scratch. The time, effort, and cost that go into these everyday dishes are much higher than they used to be.

“Even though it’s costing us more and more to operate, we’re going to do our best to stick around for as long as we can. Because there may come a day when traditional Chinese food, made the old fashioned way, becomes much harder to find here in the UK.

“So let’s make this one hell of a decade. Thank you for all the support over the years. It truly means the world to us.”

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Count Binface says he’ll put a £2 price cap on Wigan kebabs if he wins the Makerfield by-election

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Count Binface is officially running in the Makerfield by-election and has now shared his hilarious manifesto with the public.

Price-capped Wigan kebabs and 99p ice creams, cyclists being forced to ride unicycles if they break the Highway Code, and the renaming of HS2 to ‘FFS1’ are just some of the declarations being made by Makerfield by-election candidate, Count Binface.

In case you’re not up-to-speed on the Makerfield by-election coming up on 18 June – which was called after Labour’s Josh Simons announced he was standing down – there are now a total of 14 hopefuls set to contest the parliamentary seat.

Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, is by far the most well-known candidate in the running, alongside other names like Conservative’s Michael Winstanley, Liberal Democrats’ Jake Austin, the Green Party’s Sarah Wakefield, and Reform UK’s Michael Kenyon.

But Burnham is not the only big name… there’s also Count Binface too, of course.

Count Binface – previously known as Lord Buckethead – is the alias of comedian and perennial candidate, Jonathan David Harvey.

He announced his intentions to run for the Makerfield seat last month, before officially publishing his manifesto today (3 June), which includes 20 pledges – some serious, others less so… we presume.

On a more local level to the Makerfield area, if Count Binface wins the by-election, he has pledged to re-phase the traffic lights on Liverpool Road to ease congestion, increase the free parking limit at the Gerard Centre to three hours, and to make Galloways’ Full Monty Bin Lid breakfast the country’s new national dish.

And then on a more comical level – yes, even more comical than a new national dish – this is where you’ll find pledges like making sure there’s WiFi on trains that works and also ‘trains that work’ too, as well as the bringing back of Ceefax teletext for all Greater Manchester residents, and the increasing of points for tries in Rugby League from four to five ‘in line with inflation’.

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Oh yeah, and there’s the promise that Count Binface will be the UK’s entrant to Eurovision in 2027, let’s not forget that.

Anyway, like we said, the Makerfield by-election is coming up on 18 June, and you can find out more information about all the candidates on the Wigan Council website here.

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