Liverpool’s dim sum and roasted meats kitchen Yum Cha has revealed plans to open a new restaurant here in Manchester.
Known for its richly lacquered roasted meats, dainty dim sum and Chinese small plates, the restaurant will move into the Kampus garden neighbourhood later this spring.
Already well established on Liverpool’s Lark Lane, the move marks owners Adam and Neil Wan’s first move out of their hometown.
Set up by the brothers 11 years ago, Yuma Cha has built an enviable reputation in its home city for its bold dishes and delicate Chinese teas.
Pushing the burgeoning modern Chinese food trend, chefs here are known for taking traditional dishes and dragging them, boldly, into the 21st century.
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The menu features a dedicated roast meats section, with choices like crispy belly pork, char sui, duck and chicken – all roasted for 24 hours in Yum Cha’s custom-made roasting oven on site.
Served from 2pm with a choice of steamed rice or noodles and curry, soy or bbq sauce, it’s affordable too – priced at just £9.50 a plate.
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The dim sum list is pretty extensive, with a good choice of steamed dumplings and bao buns, as well as a crispy section featuring classics like spring rolls and bbq ribs, alongside more adventurous options such as crisp fried cuttlefish cake.
Image: Yum Cha
Image: Yum Cha
Image: Yum Cha
Elsewhere, you’ll find a decent selection of large plates spanning a range of different curry and noodle dishes, and another section dedicated entirely to noodle soup. There’s plenty for vegans, too, with a good selection of plant-based alternatives on offer.
Yum Cha at Kampus will be open seven days a week, with a relaxed atmosphere. Think industrial chic with polished concrete, softened with lanterns, wood carvings from China and neon lighting.
Adam Wan, Yum Cha Co-founder, said: “People can expect honest, authentic Chinese food, packed with flavour and made for sharing with friends and family.
“More than ever, people are craving spending quality time with loved ones. Yum Cha is the tradition, passed down over centuries, of gathering to swap stories over tea and food.
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“We’re bringing a piece of that ancient culture, to a laid back but stylish space in the heart of Manchester.
“We’ve always had big dreams to expand Yum Cha and bring our delicious, home-cooked Dim Sum to new communities and Kampus couldn’t be more perfect. We’ll be among a family of foodies in one of the most amazing places in the city.”
Yum Cha is the latest in a long line of new and expanding independents joining the community, including recently announced Madre, The Beeswing, Cloudwater Brewery and Great North Pie, alongside Nell’s, Pollen and General Store.
Adam Brady at HBD said: “Not only is Kampus shaping up to be one of the best collections of indie operators in Manchester, but it’s a really eclectic offering that’ll keep people visiting time and time again.
“Yum Cha are exactly what we’re all about – delicious food, an effortlessly stylish venue and spaces custom built for people coming together as a community. We’re chuffed to be adding another business, born in the North West, to the neighbourhood.”
Image: Yum ChaImage: Yum Cha
The Kampus collection of old and new buildings offers a melting pot of architectural styles and builds on a rich cultural heritage, making use of historic buildings that lay derelict for years, right next to the famous Canal Street in Manchester’s Gay Village and just minutes from Piccadilly Station.
The Kampus gardens and Bungalow are the central feature of the community and are permanently open to the public, with the Bungalow operating as a village hall for pop-up events and community groups.
The neighbourhood is alive with events and will be home to local independent bars, restaurants, cafés and retail from brands.
Feature image – Yum Cha
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Derelict Manchester office block to become ‘vital’ accommodation for homeless families
Emily Sergeant
A derelict former office block in Manchester is set to become vital accommodation for homeless families in the region.
Manchester City Council has announced that, subject to planning approval, new temporary accommodation for dozens of homeless families will be created on the site of a derelict former office block in south Manchester, off Nell Lane in Chorlton.
The Council acquired the 1.1 acre site last month with the support of the Government’s Local Authority Housing Fund.
The initiative – which is part of wider plans to boost the city’s stock of quality temporary accommodation – will see self-contained two-bedroom accommodation created for around 55 homeless families built where former NHS offices, Mauldeth House, currently stand.
Mauldeth House has been empty for several years now at this point, and had become somewhat of a ‘blight’ on the neighbourhood, attracting anti-social behaviour along the way and being targeted by squatters – but with the plans for the new accommodation, this could change for the better.
The site, and therefore the new accommodation, is said to be ‘ideally located’ for families, as it’s close to shops, schools, public transport, leisure facilities, and Chorlton Park.
The new accommodation will see families supported by a specialist team based on site to help them move on as quickly as possible into permanent settled tenancies, which is, of course, the long-term goal for many.
The Mauldeth House initiative is cited as being one example of the Council’s drive to increase its temporary accommodation stock across the city to reduce the number of out-of-area placements.
Other successful examples of this initiative include Mariana House in Whalley Range, and The Poplars in Rusholme.
It also comes after it was announced last month that homeless children in Greater Manchester, particularly those who are placed in temporary accommodation out of area for their school, will now get free bus travel to and from school.
“Mauldeth House is a great example of how we can put derelict properties to good use to benefit those experiencing homelessness, as well as making our neighbourhood look better,” explained Deputy Council Leader, Cllr Joanna Midgley.
“We are tackling homelessness on many fronts, the most important one being prevention, but we also need an increased supply of good quality temporary accommodation within the city so that if people do become homeless they are not uprooted from their social support networks.
“One of the ways we are doing this is through the innovative use of existing sites whether they are council owned or we are able to acquire them, as in the case of Mauldeth House.”
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
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Bolton woman who falsely accused 10 men of raping her has been jailed
Emily Sergeant
A woman from Bolton who falsely accused 10 different men of raping her over a six-year period has now been jailed.
Stacey Sharples, 31 from Farnworth in Bolton, pleaded guilty of 10 counts of perverting the course of justice in relation to reports against 10 separate men at Bolton Crown Court earlier last month (2 February 2026), before appearing in court again this week to be sentenced.
The investigation into Sharples was launched after the arrests and questioning of almost all these men, and following the pursuing of all relevant lines of enquiry, which consistently revealed evidence contrary to what had been disclosed by Sharples.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) says investigations of this nature are ‘extremely rare’ and the decision to pursue Sharples as a suspect was ‘not one taken lightly’.
“However, it is our duty to act in the public interest and on the evidence and information we uncover and receive, which in this case demonstrated a continuous, wilful making of false allegations, knowing full well the consequences for each of the men involved,” GMP said in a statement following Sharples’ sentencing.
Of the allegations Sharples pleaded guilty to – of which were made over a six-year period between 2013 and 2019 – most of the men were arrested and spent time in custody, with some also undertaking intimate examinations, and almost all spending periods of time on police bail or released under investigation.
Statements from the men accused by Stacey Sharples / Credit: GMP
GMP says there’s ‘no doubt’ the reports and arrests have had an impact on these men, their sense of self and relationships, their wider networks, and how they move forward with their lives.
False accounts also undermine those who have genuinely experienced sexual violence.
Police say it also affects the confidence in the criminal justice system, and that the time spent investigating Sharples’ reports could have been put towards investigating ‘genuine reports of sexual offences’ instead.
Sharples has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison this week after pleading guilty to making false rape allegations.
Speaking following Sharples’ sentencing this week, Detective Sergeant Steven Gilliland, who investigated this case, said: “We took the allegations made by Stacey Sharples seriously, explored all lines of enquiry and swiftly made arrests or interviewed of all the men she accused.
“We gave her multiple opportunities to provide further explanation or information to us, after interviews with the men and subsequent evidence uncovered didn’t align with her first recollection, as we understand that trauma can impact how victims and survivors recount their experiences.
“Ultimately, as the evidence continued to demonstrate that the reports were untrue, coupled with the desire for justice from some of the men who had been falsely accused, it was right that we followed the evidence and pursued the individual who had actually committed a criminal offence.”
Georgina Pellant -
24th March 2022 
