With a significant number of social media savvy millennials having kids – there are a rising number of parents venturing into the world of influencing.
But how are dad influencers matching up to their mummy counterparts? New research from gifts and gadgets retailer Menkind explores the untapped potential of the dad influencers by revealing a ranking of the UK’s top InstaDad content hotspots.
New ranking reveals top locations where dad life Instagram content gets shared most
Greater Manchester ranks fifth in the chart, based on number of posts
Town of Wigan ranked in top 10 cities for most active InstaDads
Greater Manchester ranks fifth in the top InstaDads chart
The new study analysed publicly available Instagram posts based on their geo-location tags, and crunched the numbers on the top UK regions, counties and cities where dads share fatherhood related content the most.
Greater Manchester ranks fifth amongst the top counties where InstaDads are most active, posting the most about dad life or being featured on their families’ feeds. At a city level, two locations in the county were shortlisted as hosts for some of the most social-media savvy dads, who clearly love snapping their proudest family moments – Wigan, ranking fifth in the top cities for InstaDads, and Bolton, ranking 12th in the chart based on number of Instagram posts.
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Relative to the size of the population, however, Greater Manchester dads come third in 14th our ranking of dad life content per 1000 county residents, with Northumberland and Southampton dads splitting the podium. Nevertheless, Essex dads still share over two times more family content on Instagram than Londoners.
North West ranks third among regions with most InstaDads
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Overall, InstaDads in the North West are the third most active on Instagram in the UK, whilst the North East and Northern Ireland are home to the least active Instagrammer dads, according to the regional data. When it comes to the most popular Instagram posts, North Western dads rank seventh in the top, with over 5,000 likes for geo-located posts.
At a county level, Milton Keynes, Stirling, Hartlepool, Monmouthshire, Caithness, Peterborough, South Gloucestershire, Wrexham, Thurrock and Falkirk all split the last position in the ranking, with the lowest amount of fatherhood related content shared.
Top five proudest InstaDads revealed
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The social media study also crunched the numbers on the profiles with the most liked public Instagram posts which used dad related hashtags in the last three months, and shortlisted the top dads that get most recognition on the platform for their heart-warming family life content.
Top InstaDads
InstaDad
Number of likes
Location
@ed_stafford
11167
Leicestershire, East Midlands
@daddiesonamission
3686
Blyth, Northumberland, North East
@jj.chalmers
2353
Scotland
@the_running_dan
1085
Chester, North West England
@harvey_and_adam
1068
Doncaster, Yorkshire and the Humber
*Top five InstaDads based on most liked dad-life Instagram content in the UK
Keely Hodgkinson and Sarah Lancashire among famous Greater Manchester names on 2025’s New Year Honours list
Emily Sergeant
Keely Hodgkinson and Sarah Lancashire are among famous Greater Manchester names on 2025’s New Year Honours list.
A new year is here, and that means 2025’s New Year Honours list is out.
This year’s coveted list of names – which is published annually ahead of New Year’s Day, and is used to recognise a person’s merit in terms of achievement and service – has everything from community champions and impressive young people, to sporting stars, acting greats, and major public figures being a part of it.
More than 1,200 recipients are receiving honours this year across all sectors, and two of those famous recipients are two of Greater Manchester‘s most impressive talents from 2024 – Olympian Keely Hodginkson and actor Sarah Lancashire.
Hodgkinson appears for the first time on an Honours list this year, being awarded an MBE for services to Athletics.
Congratulations to everyone recognised in HM the King's New Years Honours 2025! 🎉
The Atherton-born middle-distance runner was already an Olympic medallist prior to heading into Paris 2024, having taken home a silver in the 800m in Tokyo back in 2020, but it was last year’s competition that saw her become an Olympic champion – bagging the gold in that same event.
While 2023 may have been the year that Sarah Lancashire was at the forefront of the public’s praise, most-notably during the final season of ITV’s Happy Valley which got the whole nation talking, it’s hard to deny that she deserves an Honour this year.
Sarah Lancashire as Sergeant Catherine Cawood in ITV’s Happy Valley / Credit: ITV
Lancashire – who was born in Urmston, before spending the majority of her upbringing in Oldham – has been named an CBE in 2025.
In releasing this year’s recipients, the Government in a statement: “The Government is committed to ensuring that honours are awarded to outstanding people from across the whole of the UK and the system reflects the best of society.
“The list ensures that people from underrepresented communities and a wide variety of types of work are rewarded, to celebrate the fantastic contribution of people throughout the country.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer added: “[Those honoured] represent the very best of the UK and that core value of service which I put at the centre of everything this Government does.”
Featured Image – British Athletics (via Twitter) / Keely Hodgkinson (via Instagram)
Manchester
Popular Manchester city centre club forced to close on New Year’s Eve due to flooding
Daisy Jackson
The heavy rain that hit Manchester on New Year’s Eve has caused flooding across the region, including the city centre.
One city centre venue had to close early on one of the biggest nights out of the year as water rushed into its basement.
In a statement shared today, Joshua Brooks shared that it had to close its New Year’s Eve party prematurely ‘to ensure everyone’s wellbeing’.
The popular city centre club had moved revellers upstairs to its clubhouse, rather than its basement, but ultimately feared the ‘unknowns regarding electrical safety’ and shut down early.
Luckily, party-goers were able to ring in the new year before the venue shut at around 2am.
Joshua Brooks shared: “Unfortunately, in the early hours of New Year’s Eve, we had to make the difficult decision to close the club prematurely due to unexpected flooding in our basement. The heavy rainfall in the Pennine mountains caused the River Medlock and several tributaries to overflow, impacting multiple venues along the riverbank, including ours.
“Our top priorities are always the safety of our ravers and the preservation of our equipment. As water levels continued to rise, we considered moving the party to the clubhouse upstairs. However, there were too many unknowns regarding electrical safety, so we ultimately decided to shut down the event around 2 AM, just under two hours before the end of the night, to ensure everyone’s well-being.
“We understand the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused you and sincerely apologise for disrupting your New Year’s Eve celebrations.
“Our warm-up DJs were absolutely smashing it, and Alan Fitzpatrick was playing great until the moment we had to close.
“While this type of incident is rare and hasn’t happened in years, there is always a risk due to our location. We want to assure you that we are taking this matter seriously and exploring all options to minimise the chances of this happening again.
“Thank you for your understanding and continued support.”
Luckily, Joshua Brooks hasn’t been left with any lasting damage to its main bar area, and is set to go ahead with its New Year’s Day party this evening.
The Manc -
6th August 2021 
