A tiny bakery is opening a new shop on an Ancoats backstreet selling specialist treats and classic pastries with a Brazilian-inspired twist.
Serving out of a small hatch on Radium Street, The Flat Baker’s new shop will move into the same building as takeaway slab shack favourite Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria at the start of next month.
Opening on Saturdays only, here pastry and bread lovers will find a multitude of croissants and cruffins, pastel de natas, cinnamon swirls and faviours breads, including focaccia, cornbread, Pão de Queijo (cheese bread) and boozy brioche.
Image: The Flat Baker
Elsewhere, there’ll be more specialist Brazilian treats for sale too, like carrot cake topped and filled with creamy chocolate truffle (brigadeiro), guava polenta cake, tonka bean brownies, and passion fruit and lime meringue tarts.
The new shop opens in the same neighbourhood where it all began for the self-taught baking duo, who started churning out their Brazilian goodies from their Ancoats flat during lockdown two years prior.
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A family business, self-taught baker Matt and his partner Deb have previously collaborated with former Masterchef contestant Caroline Martins, creating calabresa sausage brioche balls for her Brazilian fine dining experience the Sao Paulo Project, and took over the cafe at Deansgate Square’s General Store last year.
Brioche from The Flat Baker. / Image: The Flat Baker
A selection of different breads. / Image: The Flat Baker
The Flat Baker collaborated with Caroline Martins to create these giant brioche balls for her dish of bread-wrapped baked Tunworth cheese, guava paste, mixed nuts, rosemary and thyme. / Image: The Flat Baker
The pair have built up a number of wholesale clients across Manchester, getting their name out there by taking part in a number of the city’s different artisan foodie markets.
They are also the organisers behind Manchester’s new Brazilian Festa Junina Festival, designed to bring together Brazilian chefs, bakers and others in a celebration of their country’s culture and cuisine.
Having spent the past few weeks wrestling their Instagram account back from hackers, the couple is now gearing up to open their new baking studio on Saturday 2 July.
To keep up with their progress ahead of the opening, give The Flat Baker a follow here.
Manchester United, GMP, and the Council is clamping down on ‘illegal’ matchday parking at Old Trafford
Emily Sergeant
Manchester United has joined forces with police and the local Council to take action on a number of offences outside Old Trafford on match days.
This includes “illegal” parking, street trading, and so much more.
The football club teamed up with its partners, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Trafford Council, for another day of action to clampdown on a wide range of offences taking place outside its home stadium ahead of the team’s hotly-anticipated Premier League match against fierce local rivals, Liverpool, on Sunday 7 April.
Police and officers from the Council’s Regulatory Services Team tackled a number of issues on the day of action.
These included what was described as ‘rogue trading’ and ‘illegal street trading’, taxis illegally plying for hire or causing obstructions, and illegal parking, as well as the monitoring of food hygiene at food stands outside the stadium.
⛔ Old Trafford crackdown: illegal traders shown a red card
Working with @GMPstretford and @ManUtd, we took action last weekend ahead of United’s game versus Liverpool to stop:
❌ rogue street traders ❌ illegal taxis ❌ illegal parking
As part of this particular day of action – which followed a similar event outside Old Trafford on 24 February, ahead of United’s game against Fulham – Council officers and GMP staff spoke to more than 100 licensed taxis and hackney carriage drivers about illegal parking and illegally plying for hire, and 19 Fixed Penalty Notices were handed out to vehicles parked illegally on a clearway outside the ground.
Licensing and trading standards officers, along with Manchester United’s brand protection team, also spoke with all of the licensed pitches and street traders/peddlers outside the stadium, and a total of 73 products were removed for breaking rules under the Trade Marks Act.
Further legal action is set to be taken against some traders who were committing offences and were obstructive towards Council officers who were trying to carry out their tasks, according to Trafford Council.
Manchester United, GMP, and Council to clampdown on ‘illegal’ matchday parking at Old Trafford / Credit: GMP Stretford
“Our partnership work with Trafford Council is vital in being able to tackle illegal street trading and parking issues,” a spokesperson for GMP said in a statement following the day of action.
“We will continue to work with our partners to ensure a safe matchday experience, both inside and out of the stadium, for all those attending the ground.”
Jim Liggett, who is the Director of Operations at Manchester United, also explained that the club was “pleased” to have been able to join forces with Trafford Council and GMP on their day of action to clampdown on “illegal behaviour” outside Old Trafford.
He added: “We remain committed to supporting the local authorities as we seek to collectively reduce any impact matches at Old Trafford may have on the community around the stadium.”
Featured Image – Trafford Council
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Hundreds of Manchester Arena attack survivors are suing MI5
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of survivors injured during the Manchester Arena attack and their relatives are suing MI5, it has been revealed.
More than 250 people have submitted their claim to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) to take legal action against the country’s security service, it is being widely reported by multiple national news outlets this morning, including BBC News, Sky News, ITV News, and more.
The IPT investigates complaints about the alleged conduct of public bodies.
Their claim comes after an inquiry back in March 2023 concluded that MI5 missed a “significant opportunity” to prevent the attack, in which 22 people tragically lost their lives, and thousands more were left injured and affected, during and following a bombing at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena on 22 May 2017.
According to the inquiry’s findings, a number of communication breakdowns between MI5 and Counter Terrorism Police North West officers meant that intelligence was not shared.
On top of this, the inquiry also found that two pieces of information about bomber Salman Abedi had been assessed by the security service at the time and concluded to not relate to terrorism.
Hundreds of injured Manchester Arena attack survivors are suing MI5 / Credit: pdjohnson (via Flickr) | David Dixon (via Geograph)
Hudgell Solicitors, Slater and Gordon, and Broudie Jackson Canter are the three solicitor firms representing the group of 250 survivors and relatives.
“Legal teams representing injured survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 can confirm that they have collectively submitted a group claim on behalf of more than 250 clients to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT),” a statement on behalf of the three solicitors reads.
“As it is an ongoing legal matter, we are unable or provide any further details, or comment further, at this stage.”
MI5 will also not be providing comment, due to ongoing legal proceedings.
More than 250 people have submitted their claim to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) / Credit: BBC Sounds
Following the conclusion of the injury last March, MI5’s Director General, Ken McCallum, made a rare public statement saying he was “profoundly sorry that MI5 did not prevent the attack”.
His statement at the time read: “Having examined all the evidence, the chair of the inquiry has found that ‘there was a realistic possibility that actionable intelligence could have been obtained which might have led to actions preventing the attack.
Georgina Pellant -
27th June 2022 
