Celebrity nightlife favourite Panacea used to be one of the hottest clubs in town, first opening its doors on John Dalton Street in 2005.
After over a decade of hosting sweaty, drunken footballers, wags, soap stars, and other members of the city’s glitterati at some of Manchester’s most in-demand parties, Panacea closed its doors during the covid pandemic alongside upstairs eatery The Restaurant Bar and Grill.
But now, two years after the site’s permanent closure – which also saw owners shutter its Piccolino sites in Clitheroe and York, as well as the Alderley Bar and Grill in Cheshire – it appears that the famous 00s nightclub club is plotting a return to the scene.
Even more surprising is the fact that, according to planning documents filed with Manchester City Council, Panacea is moving back into its original premises.
An application for a Panacea premises license in the Deansgate ward shows that operators are looking to serve alcohol in the basement of Ridgefield House, 14 John Dalton Street.
ADVERTISEMENT
Image: The Manc Group
With opening hours listed from 11-4am Monday to Saturday, and 11-2am on Sundays, the application also asks for the provision of regulated entertainment (live music, recorded music, performances of dance), and late night refreshments.
The application then adds that the provision of late night refreshments will take place indoors and the supply of alcohol is for consumption on the premises only.
Speaking on the original closure of the John Dalton site two years, Karen Forrester – Executive Chairperson of Individual Restaurants Company – said: “The closure of these sites is part of a long-term investment and development plan for the future of Individual Restaurants.
“Our main priority is to keep our people within our Individual Restaurants family by offering opportunities to relocate to other Individual Restaurants’ locations, we will be supporting them throughout this process.”
The application can be viewed online and is open for consultation until 16 May 2023.
Featured image – Individual Restaurants Company
Manchester
Strictly Come Dancing Live to return to Manchester as part of 2027 UK tour
Emily Sergeant
Strictly Come Dancing Live is set to return in 2027 for a spectacular new UK arena tour.
Hot on the heels of last weekend’s dazzling launch show for the 2026 BBC series, audiences are invited to get their dancing shoes on and their ’10’ paddles at the ready, as a new lineup of celebrities and professionals will be taking to the dancefloor for 29 shows across the country – including three shows in Manchester.
Head judge Shirley Ballas will be hitting the road, alongside fellow judges Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood, with Janette Manrara also presenting.
Directed by Craig Revel Horwood himself, Strictly Come Dancing Live takes the magic of the BBC TV show and turns it up to another level.
Expect jaw-dropping group dances, breathtaking routines, stunning costumes, and live music from the legendary Strictly band and singers, all brought together in a first-class arena production.
As always with the Strictly Live Tour, there is one very important decision to be made at every show – which couple will lift the Glitterball Trophy?
And that decision is not in the hands of the judges. The judges are there to critique and provide their invaluable opinions on each dance routine, but they do not hold the power, as this lies with the audience instead, who can vote using their mobile phones to decide who is the winner.
Strictly Come Dancing Live is returning to Manchester as part of its 2027 UK tour / Credit: Supplied
The tour kicks off at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on 22 January for the first of five shows, and will then cha-cha-cha its way across the UK, visiting other major northern cities like Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Leeds, before arriving in Manchester at the start of February.
Strictly Come Dancing Live will take to the AO Arena stage on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 February 2027, with two shows happening on the Saturday.
Tickets officially go on sale this week, with venue pre-sales beginning at 10am on Thursday 24 September, before general sale starts on Friday (25 September), also at 10am.
Manchester to host G20 Summit in 2027 with more than a dozen world leaders descending on the city
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been confirmed as the host city for the G20 Summit next year.
It was already announced back in November last year that the G20 Summit would be coming to the UK in 2027, and plans were apparently already being discussed to host it in Manchester even before Andy Burnham became Prime Minister and Number 10 North was set up.
But now, ahead of this year’s leaders’ summit being held in Miami in December, it has been confirmed that the G20 Summit will arrive in Manchester in November 2027.
Manchester is said to have been picked to host the leaders’ summit because of its ‘cultural heritage’.
Bringing together 19 of the world’s largest economies and two major multilateral bodies – the European Union and the African union – G20 members who will be invited to attend the summit next year make up 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population as a whole.
Manchester has been confirmed to host the G20 Summit in 2027 / Credit: 10 Downing Street | Paul Kagame (Flickr)
G20 members are also some of the UK’s closest economic partners, the Government insists.
17 of the UK’s top 20 global export markets attend the summit, as do 18 of the UK’s top 20 sources of foreign direct investment.
The presidency of the G20 is currently held by the US but will pass to the UK after the leaders’ summit hosted by the president at his Trump National Doral Miami golf resort in December.
The 2027 summit will be held at Manchester Central, it has been confirmed, and other locations across the UK will also host other G20 events as part of the year-long presidency, but these are yet to be announced.
The Manc -
27th April 2023 
