Bargain warehouse Rogers Wholesale Foods launches new store in Greater Manchester
Rogers Wholesale Foods - an organisation renowned for providing products at a fraction of their normal price - is cutting the ribbon to its new premises on Saturday (January 30).
The UK’s biggest ‘gone past Best Before’ supplier is opening a brand new warehouse in Greater Manchester.
Rogers Wholesale Foods – an organisation renowned for providing products at a fraction of their normal price – is cutting the ribbon to its new premises on Saturday (January 30).
The warehouse – on the Bredbury Park Industrial Estate in Stockport – will be the fifth of its kind, with Rogers venues already operating across the country in Poole, Plymouth, Southampton and Bilston.
Specialising in the sale of items which have gone beyond their Best Before dates, Rogers’ unique model means it offers some of the lowest prices available whilst preventing enormous amounts of food waste going to landfill.
The opening of the warehouses are typically huge events, and whilst the celebrations this weekend are being kept to a minimum on this occasion due to COVID regulations, the people of Greater Manchester will still be able to roam the huge, airy aisles in a socially-distanced manner to grab themselves some unbelievable bargains.
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Managing Director Mark King stated that Rogers was excited to “bring something positive to the people of Manchester” – with food waste being such a pertinent issue during the pandemic.
Difficult economic conditions have meant more families are struggling than usual – and Rogers is hoping to make a difference by offering more affordable items.
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Whilst foods which have gone past ‘Use By” expiry should never be sold, ‘Best Before’ dates are a different breed.
In theory, items with an expired ‘Best Before’ date might have lost some of their texture, taste or colour by that particular time. But according to Rogers, this virtually never happens’ due to the ‘superb’ food packaging of modern times.
The company has also been mentioned by MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis – who has endorsed the business and said that shopping at Rogers was “well worth it”.
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Founded in Wimborne Dorset in 2015, Mark said Rogers recognises a “growing need for the public to be offered a different way to do their food shopping and save money in doing so.”
Mark added: “We continually promise to offer our customers those well known brands we all love at hugely cheap prices, whilst of course still being perfectly safe to eat!”
Rogers’ new Manchester social media page has already racked up nearly 5,5000 ‘likes’ since appearing online.
Already, it’s looking like an enormously popular addition to the neighbourhood.
But that’s no real surprise. Us Mancs do love a bargain, after all…
Get Baked owner offers lifeline to hospitality staff after sudden closure of Almost Famous
Danny Jones
The owner of viral sweet treat brand, Get Baked, has given a potential lifeline to local hospitality staff in Manchester following the sudden news of Almost Famous’ nationwide closure.
Confirmation that the Northern foodie favourites and dirty burger pioneers would be shutting down all of their sites across the country hit the likes of Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool like a freight train on a truly sad Monday mourning.
Although countless customers expressed their condolences online and bid farewell to the more than decade-old institution, the question of what is/will happen to their numerous staff was quickly put to the forefront.
With Almost Famous employees informing The Manc that they had been given no notice of the immediate closure and some still being owed wages, many have sadly found themselves in a crisis. Step up, Leeds-born baker and businessman, Rich Myers.
Yes, Yorkshire’s very own ‘Mr Sprinkles’ – who is slowly building a small but solid and superbly sweet dessert empire in the North – dropped a comment underneath our announcement post and kindly slid into our DMs to help get the word to those who need it most.
With Get Baked’s first-ever Manchester store set to open this year, Myers and his team are on the lookout for staff to make sure it hits the ground running.
That being said, upon learning of AF’s gutting closure, Myers messaged: “Hi everyone. We are opening a new site in NQ on February 28th, and want to do what we can to help any ex-AF staff get into new employment.
Although Get Baked is now planning to move to a different location in Manchester city centre, the opening date is still edging ever closer and we literally cannot wait.
The brand’s original home in Headingley has become internet-famous for its viral take on the legendary ‘Matilda cake’.
It’s unclear as to whether Get Baked have vacancies beyond Manchester but it’s still well worth expressing your interest if you don’t mind a job switch that revolves around sweet instead of savoury.
As for those who have unfortunately been let go by the long-standing burger joint, we sincerely hope that as many of them are snapped up by other local hospitality businesses as possible – and fast.
Almost Famous has been hit with a fair amount of criticism following the mass shutdown; reflecting on this and a raft of recent closures, one person wrote: “I feel sorry for the hospitality industry as a whole and Manchester. But not for AF if they treat their staff with such contempt!
A former employee added: “As a staff member who hasn’t received any direct communication from the business about the immediate redundancy of my contract and no payment of owed wages – the ‘top priority’ comment doesn’t exactly ring true.”
Featured Images — Get Baked (via Instagram)/The Manc Group
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Beloved Deansgate bar shares CCTV footage of customers stealing their… cushions?
Danny Jones
Beloved Manchester gin venue Atlas Bar has shared CCTV footage of two customers caught red-handed stealing their cushions this past weekend.
Firstly, don’t do that and secondly, what a random thing to steal.
Atlas on the corner of Deansgate has been an institution of the local hospitality scene for nearly three years, opening back in 1996 as one of the go-to pre-drinks destinations for those heading to the Hacienda.
Taken over and turned into the gin bar that’s popular day and night as we know it today back in 2012, it remains one of Manchester’s longest-standing independent boozers, so we were gutted and more than a bit puzzled to see them sharing images of patrons stealing property from their premises.
Sharing an understandably frustrated post, the bar wrote: “These two women decided that they needed to borrow (or maybe steal) two of our cushions last night [Sunday].
“We would be grateful if they brought them back soon! Hospitality is hard enough, without people taking what isn’t theirs to take! We would hate to have to involve the police.”
Now, we’re not going to play dumb and pretend people don’t nick the odd coaster or maybe even a pint pot from time to time – many of you reading might even be guilty of this minor sin (don’t worry, this isn’t an official investigation) – but we don’t think we’ve anyone try to sneak out with fabrics.
Petty theft it may be but it’s still theft nonetheless.
One commenter wrote: “Life is hard for hospitality at the moment and if they can afford to go out and drink they can afford to buy their own cushions”; another asked: “Are they expensive? – not the point I know but wondered why they would steal them.”
A third simply added, “What are people like? Fancy stealing a bloody cushion.”
As rightly pointed out by followers, there is plenty of stuff going against the food and drink sector as it is at the moment, so completely avoidable inconveniences like this are just as thoughtless as they are daft.
Atlas has been serving the local community for nearly thirty years, so we think it’s safe to say don’t deserve this kind of treatment, no matter how small it may seem to some.
Luckily for the mystery women pictured in the screengrab, the owners appear willing to welcome the pillow pillagers back to return the cushion without taking any further action and just be done with the whole thing.
The Manc -
28th January 2021 
