It’s no accident that Manchester is chock-a-block with beloved local brands. In a city where the civic pride is as loud and pronounced as you’ll find anywhere in Britain, ‘choosing local’ has always been the preferred option for residents.
Local corner shops. Local butchers. Local taxi firms. Manchester is inundated with familiar family firms which have stood the test of time because they understand what the community is all about – and what it needs.
For a model example – see Street Cars.
Anyone who’s ever spent five minutes in Manchester will have likely heard about the city’s leading cab company.
Not only does the firm have a huge presence right across the region, it’s also partnered with Manchester Airport, The Trafford Centre, Manchester United, Manchester City, railway stations, BBC, and a wide range of hospitality venues.
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Street Cars’ taxis are everywhere. 900 vehicles are out on the roads right now.
Originally launched back in 2002, the taxi firm is preparing to celebrate two decades in Manchester next year – a feat that’s all-the-more impressive considering the troublesome past 14 months.
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The pandemic piled intense pressure on homegrown businesses, but Street Cars survived – rapidly adapting their vehicles for COVID safety and becoming an essential service for local key workers when public transport was trimmed.
When Street Cars’ staff weren’t carting doctors and nurses to and from the Manchester Royal Infirmary, they were dropping food and drink parcels to keep frontline staff fuelled up, as well as providing packages for care homes and helping vulnerable people who couldn’t travel to the shops themselves.
The firm even chose to reflect on this challenging period with a published poem – a moving meditation on how Manchester had ground to a halt during lockdown.
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Street Cars has sought to support the city’s bravest people in numerous ways. But the company director believes there’s another reason why the firm has stood the test of time.
“It’s professionalism,” Naveed Arshad explains.
“All our drivers wear shirts and ties. We use clean, new, corporate cars.
“We have shields in our vehicles and they’re sprayed with antibacterial Electroclean (electrostatic sanitisation technology) to ensure people’s safety.
“We care about the customers.”
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The values of the firm have remained intact, but the travel industry itself has changed considerably since that first Street Cars trip nearly twenty years ago. Nowadays, passengers use mobile apps to book trips rather than call HQ – and Street Cars have dedicated time and resources to launching their very own car-booking tech system in order to adapt.
“We’re proud of it – it’s a really good app,” Naveed explains.
“You can pay by card, it provides driver details when you book, it gives you an ETA – all the info you need.”
Simplicity and ease are the two obvious reasons to book Street Cars cabs by mobile app. But perhaps the biggest incentive of all is the fact that customers can save 20% on prices all year round.
A tempting travel bargain now that the world is opening up.
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After a hugely successful two decades on the roads, Manchester’s popular family firm has modernised and mobilised ready for a new era. It could have another twenty years in the tank just yet.
As the narrator so aptly puts in the Street Cars poem: “Our public service never stops.”
Manchester
Fred Again and Caribou to play intimate gig at Amber’s in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Fred Again, arguably the world’s most in-demand DJ and producer, has announced a super intimate gig in Manchester this week.
He’ll be joined by equally massive name Caribou for a very special night at Amber’s nightclub in the city centre.
Also performing with Fred Again will be Zuri, a resident DJ at the club.
Fred Again teased the news to his mailing list last night, saying he was ‘so happy’ to be playing in a ‘really important independent venue’.
That was dubbed the ‘best Warehouse Project there has ever been’ by people in the room – so the chance to see him at Amber’s is going to be pretty wild.
Fred Again sent a ticket link to fans registered in Manchester, which appear to have sold out immediately.
He wrote in his mailer: “cos it’s a very small venue i really wanna make sure the tickets go to the people who are more likely to be from Manchester based on what the team see when you’ve signed up for things before. so yeah, that’s why you’re getting this first :)”
Sharing the news on his Instagram stories today, he added: “i am playing a small show at @ambers.club in Manchester this thursday with @cariboumusic and @zuri_fernandez. a handful of tickets have been sent to the ppl we know are in manny, we did it this way jus to try and stop resellers and stuff ykno”
Fred Again added: “massive love to amber’s for making it possible. another really important independent venue i’m so happy i get to play in.”
Amber’s is a no-phones nightclub that’s famed for its sound system.
Fred Again and Caribou will take to the stage at Amber’s on Thursday 18 September.
A ‘saucy’ new Korean fried chicken restaurant is opening in the Gay Village
Daisy Jackson
A brand-new Korean fried chicken restaurant and cocktail bar is set to open on Canal Street this week.
CLUK is promising some big deals and amazing giveaways to celebrate its launch in Manchester, including free food and prize draws.
The newcomer in the heart of the city will specialise in Korean-style crispy fried chicken, but also warming ramen bowls, and salt & pepper classics.
Signature dishes will include Korean cheese-powder fried chicken, and Cheese Volcano Chicken.
CLUK will also serve dishes like kimchi cheese loaded fries, salt & pepper chicken, and huge sharing platters.
You can customise your Korean fried chicken order by size, choosing between wings and boneless and picking a flavour out of honey garlic, sweet and spicy, honey mustard, and honey and sour.
They promise it’ll all be ‘saucy, crunchy, and seriously addictive’.
That’s all washed down with ice-cold beers and creative cocktails, like martinis, spritzes and sours.
CLUK is now open in the Gay Village in ManchesterA spread of CLUK dishesInside CLUK ManchesterFried chicken with Korean cheese powderInside CLUK Manchester
The CLUK team are hoping to create a fun late-night dining option for this buzzing corner of the city centre.
To celebrate its launch on Thursday 18 September, CLUK have announced a whole heap of promotions.
This includes free chicken bao for the first 50 guests to visit during the first five days.
Over the two week launch period, visitors can spin the wheel whenever you spend £12 – spend £24 and spin twice.
And there are big prizes available – the top prize is a £100 gift card or £50 cash, with other prizes including free drinks, food and a £3 voucher as a consolation prize.
Plus, anyone who buys a gift card and tops it up with £100 will receive a free beer or cider.
When those two weeks are up, CLUK will run a £1,000 prize draw.