Manchester’s pubs, bars and hospitality professionals will be celebrated in a huge awards ceremony later this month.
Now in its fourth year, the Manchester Bar Awards picks out the very best operators in the city – with 2022’s categories championing the city’s Best Restaurant Bar, Best Speciality Bar, Best New Bar, Best Food Offering, and Bartender of the Year.
Further categories pay homage to professionals within the industry, with awards given to the best bar backs, front of house staff and rising stars.
Run by a group of Manchester bartenders and hospitality professionals, the awards were set up by the admins of a local Facebook group in 2018 to champion local people working in the industry.
First created in 2012 to help fundraise for Movember, today the Facebook group is a decade old and one of the country’s leading hospitality-focused groups – boasting over 17,000 members.
The shortlist for the 2022 awards has just been revealed, with members of the city’s bar community now being encouraged to vote for their favourites.
ADVERTISEMENT
Hawksmoor, Cottonopolis, 10 Tib Lane, CBRB and newcomers Namii are all shortlisted for the Best Restaurant Bar category, whilst the Best New Bar award shortlist features Schofield’s, Junior Jackson’s, 10 Tib Lane, Ramona and Lost Cat.
Image: Lost Cat
Image: !0 Tib Lane
Image: 10 Tib Lane
In a nod to the quirkiness of the city’s bar scene, this year’s Best Speciality Bar Award names wine bars Flawd and Salut, The Briton’s Protection (for its epic whiskey collection), brewery-owned bar Northern Monk and gaming bar NQ64.
Shortlisted food offerings, meanwhile, include three businesses launched by local bartenders during lockdown – Bada Bing, Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria and Kong’s Chicken Shop – alongside Wolf At The Door and Parmogeddon.
ADVERTISEMENT
Elsewhere, rising stars and MVPS have their own categories, whilst an outstanding achievement award highlights those who’ve done good for the community – picking out a Manchester bartender who hosts a yearly ‘Orphans Christmas’ for staff with nowhere to go, alongside others including mental-health focused organisation So Let’s Talk.
Image: Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria
Image: Bada Bing
Image: So Let’s Talk
This year’s event ceremony will be held on 15 March at First Street dive bar Bunny Jackson’s, an industry favourite amongst many of Manchester’s bartenders, and promises to be a raucous, fun-filled affair.
Speaking on the upcoming awards, Manchester Bars admin and organiser Nate Booker said: “We’ve waited a long time for this moment, but the shortlist is finally here. This list was built by the crowd-sourced thoughts of over 100 hospitality professionals from Manchester (and a smattering of the rest of the UK)! We believe this is quite possibly the best shortlist we’ve published, representing a diverse cross-section of the industry.
“We have new faces and venues hitting the list amongst some old favourites, which show how dynamic and tenacious our industry is. Now we’ve just got to wait for the people of the group to vote on their winners!
ADVERTISEMENT
“With the Northern Restaurant & Bar Show in the city, every year Manchester is full to the brim with our hospitality peers from across the country. Hosting an awards ceremony on the first night seemed serendipitous, rewarding the hard work and passion so prevalent in the city (when our friends can join us!).
“The awards have become incredibly important to the community and we are proud to organise it, but ultimately it’s an event based embodiment of what Manchester does best, and that is have a whole lot of fun.
“We want to say a massive congratulations to all the nominees, and a huge thank you to the panel, the sponsors and of course Bunny Jackson’s. “
The full shortlist for this year’s Manchester Bar Awards ceremony:
ADVERTISEMENT
Best Restaurant Bar sponsored by Crystal Head
Hawksmoor
Cottonopolis
10 Tib Lane
CBRB
ADVERTISEMENT
Namii
Outstanding Achievement Award! Sponsored by White Claw
So Let’s Talk
Dom Gold, (Orphan’s Xmas)
Kiera & Amie, Feel Good CLub
ADVERTISEMENT
Mike Ramsden (Too Many Owners)
Abbie Dunn, 86 People
Best New Bar Sponsored by Portobello Gin
Schofield’s
Junior Jackson’s
ADVERTISEMENT
10 Tib Lane
Ramona
Lost Cat
Manchester’s Best Speciality Bar Sponsored by Maison Ferrand
Briton’s Protection, Whisky
ADVERTISEMENT
Northern Monk, Beer
Flawd, Wine
Salut, Wine
NQ64, Gaming
Food Offering of the Year Sponsored by Ten Locks
ADVERTISEMENT
Kong’s
Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria
Parmogeddon
Wolf at the Door
Bada Bing
ADVERTISEMENT
Bartender of the Year – Sponsored by Slane
Conor Knowles, Schofield’s
Rachel Orange. Schofield’s
Connan Henry-Madden, Speak in Code
Jack Sleaford, Sandinista
ADVERTISEMENT
Jake Nicholl’s, Junior Jackson’s
Manchester’s Best Bar Back – Sponsored by Sairen & O’Hara’s
Calem Ocram, Smithfield Social
Sid Curry, Sherlock’s
Karis Bleakley, Washhouse
ADVERTISEMENT
Ethan, Behind Closed Dorrs
Tom Fastiggi, Schofield’s
Manchester’s Rising Star – Sponsored by WSET & Horse With No Name
Aidan Tibbins, Schofield’s
Dom Cleaver, 10 Tib Lane
ADVERTISEMENT
Reah Owen, Clubhouse
Konstantinos Koutis, Rosso
Amanda Lane, Lost Cat
Front of House Star – Sponsored by The MANC
Georgi May, Science & Industry
Leighton Russell, Seven Oaks
Lachlan Meany, Tairff & Dale
Charlotte Felton, Impossible
Meg Williams, Flawd
Feature image – Schofield’s Bar
News
Fans are preparing to pay tribute to Mani from The Stone Roses ahead of his funeral service
Danny Jones
Stone Roses fans and Greater Manchester locals alike are getting ready to pay their respects to the late, great, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, following his tragic passing last month.
As well as details surrounding his funeral being announced earlier this week, the iconic Manc musician’s cause of death has also finally been revealed.
While Hatton’s service featured a high-profile cortège which started all the way from his hometown of Hyde, past multiple landmarks and ending at the Etihad Stadium, those local to Mani’s family home on the edge of Stockport are also being welcomed to help send him off.
It's the funeral of Mani of the Stone Roses on the 22nd. He lived locally. This poster is asking people to line the route of his funeral cortege to "show that he truly was adored". pic.twitter.com/X0DYHl10Hp
He had been struggling with emphysema for some time; he was declared dead at his home in the suburb of Heaton Moor, and is said to have died peacefully in his sleep.
As you can see from the posters put in various places around the area, residents wishing to pay their own tributes to Mani before his private funeral service at Manchester Cathedral are encouraged to line the long street leading down from St Paul’s and Heaton Moor United Church as he heads towards the city.
Departing Parsonage Road from 10am on Monday, 22 December, before turning right onto Heaton Moor Rd, then Wellington and eventually on to the Cathedral, you can expect plenty of people to show up.
One of those people will be his former bandmate and another influential guitarist, John Squire, who is one of many famous musical names to have honoured him in their own way over the last few weeks.
Other members of The Stone Roses, as well as Primal Scream (who he joined in 1996), are expected to join the close family and friends at the service itself.
Nevertheless, we have no doubt that plenty will be observing the funeral in their own way.
So, for those of you also looking to honour him, you know what to do; and to quote the poster itself, “together we can show this local legend and his family that he was truly adored.”
Plans to transform Chorlton’s old shopping centre have been green-lit
Danny Jones
Yes, after a prolonged period of uncertainty, the plans put together for redeveloping Chorlton Cross Shopping Centre are now moving forward.
Following an extensive consultation period back in 2023 and planning permission having now been approved by Manchester City Council, the transformation of the long-neglected retail complex has been green-lit, and the project will be moving forward even sooner than you think.
As confirmed earlier this week, Stretford-based construction company PJ Livesey will be working in tandem with the Greater Manchester Pension Fund to deliver the major regeneration, which will see even more living spaces and leisure facilities arrive in the already thriving suburb.
Following an official press release on Thursday, 18 December, we’ve now been given a latest glimpse at what the developers are hoping the new Chorlton Cross district will look like.
Credit: Font Communications (supplied)
Plans for the transformation of both the high street and the old Leisure Centre date back to 2023 and even further when taking into account the Council asking the public for their thoughts on what should happen with the area, but Chorlton Cross, specifically, has been the subject of debate for some time.
The bulk of units in and around the largely forgotten shopping centre are now empty, with just a few hold-outs still clinging on to their space.
Now, following extensive feedback from native Mancs and those who have flooded into the South Manchester town over the past decade, the approved plans have now been revealed.
They include:
A mix of 262 one, two and three-bed apartments, all with access to outdoor space through balconies and gardens
20% affordable homes available through a mix of tenures, with 18.5% of these being available for social rent
Around 3,500 sq metres of public open space, including a fully walkable route through Manchester Rd and outdoor seating areas to encourage people to stop and dwell
A mix of flexible retail spaces, such as a new ‘Makers Yard’ suitable for smaller, start-up businesses
Up to 60 new trees across the site with maximised retention of existing trees
Manc filmmaker, Bernard Leach – who has been making videos about the region since 2007 – shared a longer look at how the vision for this next chapter in Chorlton‘s residential and retail history is currently shaping up earlier this month.
As you can see, some sections of the old Lancashire village and ‘cum-Hardy’ parish could look rather unrecognisable sooner than you think.
Should everything go ahead as scheduled, those involved are hoping to get work underway in the New Year, with the ‘decommissioning’ of all existing buildings, including Graeme House, undergoing demolition by early 2026.
With the majority vacating their premises in recent years, it’s fair to say that it’s been vastly underutilised for far too long.
Posting on social media back in September last year, nearby resident Nigel Woodcock wrote: “Serious question, not just councillor-baiting, but can anyone explain why the retail businesses in Chorlton Precinct were booted out before any decisions were made about what’s going to happen to it?
“It makes no sense to me. No plans have even been submitted, so far as I’m aware, so why kick out those businesses and leave it derelict for so long? The land and buildings are actually owned by the combined GM Local Authorities, so one might expect a modicum of political and business nous to be applied.”
Similar to the new plans being put together for the stretch of land between Castlefield and Salford, most are just glad something is finally happening with the space.
Commenting on the plans progressing, PJ Livesey’s Managing Director, Georgina Lynch, said in an official statement: “This is a landmark moment for Chorlton, marking the transformation of the former shopping centre into a vibrant new hub for the community.
“Working closely with Manchester City Council, we’ve carefully balanced the delivery of much-needed new homes – including 20% affordable – with the creation of lively, welcoming spaces to shop, relax, and spend time.
“This site is at the heart of Chorlton, and we’re bringing it back to life, cementing the area’s reputation as a truly great place to live.”
What do you make of the Chorlton Cross Shopping Centre regeneration plans?
Georgina Pellant -
9th March 2022 
