Famed for their incredible sweet treat pastries and fresh bread offerings, Half Dozen Other are preparing to open a brand new cafe and bakery in December.
Founded by ex-Rugby players Jon Wilkin and Mark Flanagan, who’ve both competed for the St. Helens team alongside a whole host of different clubs throughout their astonishing careers.
The pair also own Manchester coffee shop Pot Kettle Black, an establishment which has earned its stripes as a frontrunner in the city centre cafe scene.
Half Dozen Other opened a new bakery last summer, painting the Green Quarter landscape with a splash of coral pink thanks to their brightly coloured warehouse plot – and now they’re expanding again.
This bakery is opening their second site at Circle Square, the new Bruntwood Scitech development which is also home to Onda and Federal.
The esteemed bakery will also be accompanied by a whole host of foodie favourites like Detroit Slims and Hello Oriental who all currently reside in the same neighbourhood.
Some of the incredible bakes and creations by the team over at Half Dozen Other.The bright coral pink site that started it all for these Manchester-based bakers.The lovely food and drink options by Half Dozen Other to feed your appetite.Credit: The Manc Group
Not too long ago, Half Dozen Other collaborated with Indian restaurant Dishoom to launch their tasty ‘Chai custard tart’ creation.
The sweet treat specialists supply their delicious bites to many Manchester famous eateries including some of the city’s favourites like San Carlo and Tast Catala.
At the new site, they’ll be serving baked-fresh-daily ‘classic bakes, modern takes’.
November has been a very busy month for the Half Dozen Other team as they’re halfway through running their specials of the month including a Pistachio Croissant, PBJ Cookie and a vegan Tarte Tatin Croissant.
With so much going on including ever-changing new products and its brand new Oxford Road development, the bakery is teaming up with speciality coffee brand Ozone to offer £1 coffees every day in December.
Jon Wilkin said: “We’re obsessed with creating things that didn’t exist yesterday.
“Our bakers are already working their magic while Manchester’s bars are still thumping, committing to a mind-bending graft against the clock to ensure your morning toast is worth getting out of bed for.
“Some people count sheep to fall asleep, we count pastries to stay awake. It’s our obsession, an obsession that’s growing. Speaking of growth, we’re pretty chuffed to be opening a bakery shop in Circle Square on Oxford Road. Come at us!”
Charlotte Wild, Head of Retail & Leisure at Bruntwood SciTech commented: “We’re thrilled to be welcoming Half Dozen Other to the Circle Square community.
“This is a brand founded on passion, craft and innovation and one we know will thrive within our vibrant neighbourhood, which is fast becoming a city centre hot spot for hospitality innovators.
“As well as freshly baked artisan treats we are excited to be bringing a new artisan bakery to Circle Square and we can’t wait to see what the team create at their new home.
“Half Dozen Other will be joining the likes of Onda, Detroit Slims by Ramona, Firehouse & Diecast, Federal and North Taproom and will complement this exciting mix perfectly.”
Sweet tooth lovers and bread aficionados can count themselves lucky as by next month, they can add a stop at Half Dozen Other at Circle Square on Oxford Road to their morning commute serving pastries, bakes and coffees from 7am.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Manchester
Honorary Manc Ariana Grande announces huge world tour – but skips Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Ariana Grande has announced details of a huge world tour, but the honorary Mancunian will be skipping Manchester again.
The 32-year-old, Grammy Award-winning star has instead booked five nights at The O2 in London for her only UK stop on the tour.
Ariana Grande was made an honorary Mancunian back in 2017, in recognition of her work following the Manchester Arena terror attack.
She is the first person to have ever received this honour.
Since the atrocity in the city, which took the lives of 22 people, Ariana has only performed here twice more – once at the One Love concert she organised as a fundraiser for the victims and their families, and once as a headliner of Manchester Pride.
It’s been six years since her last tour, but Ariana Grande is now back, sharing details of her hotly-anticipated The Eternal Sunshine Tour next summer.
As well as her five-night residency in London, she’ll play four nights in LA and Brooklyn, as well as cities right across North America.
Ariana Grande has announced The Eternal Sunshine Tour
Her London dates will be her only European shows on The Eternal Sunshine Tour.
Eternal Sunshine was released in 2024 and was her seventh studio album, spawning singles ‘Yes, And?’, ‘We Can’t Be Friends’, and ‘The Boy Is Mine’.
Ariana Grande is now also an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated actress thanks to her starring role in Wicked as Glinda the Good Witch.
Tickets for her tour will go on sale from Tuesday 16 September with an artist presale as well as an O2 Priority Presale. Remaining tickets will be available during the general ons-ale beginning Thursday 18 September at 10am.
Ariana Grande – The Eternal Sunshine Tour Dates 2026
New ‘postboxes of the future’ are being rolled out across the UK
Danny Jones
The Royal Mail is starting to roll out its line of so-called “postboxes of the future” across the UK this year, including right here in Greater Manchester.
It has been dubbed the most important and noticeable transformation to the classic British postbox in its entire 175-year history.
The national postal service teased the modern-day upgrade earlier this year, but the revolutionary new upgrade was officially announced this week, with Royal Mail ushering in a new era of digitally-driven units that should make many lives a lot easier – at least in theory.
Although they might look pretty identical to the iconic red boxes since before the turn of the 19th century have used up and down the country, there are marked differences between the new and the old ones.
Credit: Royal Mail
The biggest change made to the Royal Mail’s soon-to-be standard design is a digitally activated drop-down drawer, which will be able to fit parcels as big as a shoebox, hopefully saving us Brits on a fair few trips to the post office.
You will be able to scan a barcode via the updated Royal Mail app to activate the drawer for larger items; meanwhile, there will be a separate slot for letters and smaller packages.
Additionally, the new range of high-tech postboxes will also be solar-powered, helping the public limited company chase its ‘green’ targets.
Now owned by parent firm International Distribution Services (IDS) – who also oversee Parcelforce Worldwide – following the UK government’s approval of its historic sale to Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský at the end of 2024, the group as a whole is undergoing a significant overhaul.
Britain’s new solar postboxes were first trialled back in April in four towns located throughout the Hertfordshire region: Letchworth Garden City, Ware and Hertford. A fifth was later installed in Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire, too.
Despite being quickly considered a success on the whole, the initial design featured an entirely black top, with polls of civilians and Royal Mail themselves agreeing that keeping them red all over was more in keeping with the brand.
It’s like the old school phone box, isn’t it? We can’t picture it any other way.
📮Attention Postbox Lovers 📮
Royal Mail is upgrading postboxes to accept parcels. They'll gaining a new slot and a solar panel on top
Speaking in a statement, the Royal Mail‘s managing director of ‘out-of-home and commercial excellence’, Jack Clarkson, said: “We are all sending and returning more parcels than ever before.
“This trend will only continue as online shopping shows no signs of slowing, particularly with the boom of second-hand marketplaces. There are 115,000 postboxes in the UK located within half a mile of 98% of addresses, making them by far the most convenient network of parcel drop-off points in the UK.
“Our message is clear – if you have a Royal Mail label on your parcel, and it fits, put it in a postbox and we’ll do the rest.”
The new generation postboxes are now being made permanent in the same locations, with Edinburgh, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester next.
Keep your eyes peeled on the streets as they’ll soon be making a debut in your area.
Thomas Melia -
12th November 2024 
