2025 will be the last year that legendary street food venture Grub will operate from its current home in Manchester.
In a major update shared today, the enterprise – which is one of the city’s very first and most prominent street food businesses – confirmed that it will ‘cease to exist’ in its current form this winter.
Grub wrote that the building they have occupied for the last six years, on Red Bank in the Green Quarter, will be undergoing redevelopment.
And so it’ll be the end of an era for Grub – but they’re urging fans not to panic.
The much-loved venue said that it will now be ‘returning to the street’, returning to its roots as a travelling food festival, filled with street food chefs, pop-up bars and ‘unbeatable vibes’.
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They wrote in their ‘big Grub update‘ that: “For too long venues, food halls & restaurants have been taking the STREET out of STREET FOOD (that includes us!) but we’re on a mission to bring it back.”
Although Grub will continue to operate on Red Bank throughout summer, they’ve already lined up some other venues to host events at this year, and are on the look-out for even more.
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The venue’s independent cinema, Cultplex, will move to a new home, and its sister site Fairfield Social Club will continue to operate from Angel Meadows unaffected by Grub’s closure.
Grub will ‘cease to exist’ at its current home in Red BankGrub paved the way for street food in ManchesterCredit: The Manc Group
Grub wrote: “We just wanted to let you know 2025 will be GRUB’s final year at our current home. But DON’T PANIC!
“The only reason for this is that our fantastic landlords (who have supported us through thick & thin) are getting round to re-developing the building we live in.
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“This was supposed to happen in 2021 so we’re very happy we’ve managed to hang around for 6 years.
“So GRUB at Red Bank will cease to exist in winter 2025 but that isn’t the end for GRUB as we’ll be returning to THE STREET.
“Yes GRUB will go back to being a travelling food fest packed with the best street food chefs, pop up bars & unbeatable vibes that only a proper street food market can deliver.
“For too long venues, food halls & restaurants have been taking the STREET out of STREET FOOD (that includes us!) but we’re on a mission to bring it back. We’ve already got venues lined up for summer but we’re on the lookout for more, it’s going to be lovely.
“Before that all happens we’ll be having one last SMASHING summer at Red Bank with a few foodie surprises & special events. More news soon!
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“Thank you one & all for your support over the many years we’ve been chugging along, it really is very much appreciated and we hope to see you soon. Much love”
Greater Manchester officially launches five-year climate change action plan
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has officially begun its five-year climate change action plan, with the overarching goal of becoming a net-zero city region by 2038.
The comprehensive pledge put together over a number of years itself will see Manchester City Council and the nearby local authorities put into action a number of key measures that will help to reduce not only central carbon figures but, eventually, across the 10 boroughs in turn.
Over the last 15 years, emissions have been reduced by approximately 64%, saving an estimated 44,344 tonnes of carbon through cleaner building energy, street lighting and other electronics, as well as the increasingly green and over-growing Bee Network.
They have also insisted that it isn’t just about cutting down on greenhouse gases; the aim is to make the city region and the surrounding areas more sustainable, affordable and create a better standard of life.
Our five-year plan to tackle climate change launches today. 🌏
It details how we’ll continue to deliver dramatic reductions in the amount of carbon we emit (the biggest contributor to climate change). 🏙️
As per the summary on the Council website, in addition to creating more efficient homes, they’re hoping to provide more access to nature and good-quality green space, “public transport you can rely on”, and “better health and wellbeing for those who live, work, study and visit here.”
With a steadily recovering local and national economy (touch wood), they’re also hoping for an influx of new jobs, too.
Summarising the key bullet points leading up to the end of the decade, these are the next steps currently outlined by the Council:
Lower carbon emissions
Grow the use of renewable energy
Improve low-carbon travel in the city
Improve air quality
Grow the city’s natural environment and boost biodiversity
Improve resilience to flooding and extreme heat
Engage and involve our workforce and our city’s communities
Reduce waste and grow reuse, repair, sharing and recycling
Support a move to a more circular economy
Minimise the negative impact of events held in the city
Develop our knowledge of our indirect emissions and lower them
Create a green financing strategy and explore new funding models for the city
Influence the environmental practices of other organisations
As for emissions, the target is now to drop the present output by another 34%, which will prevent almost 43,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from being pumped into the atmosphere.
Having touched upon the continued expansion of the Bee Network infrastructure, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is also set to install multiple new travel links over the coming years, including both new tram stops and train stations – further
You can read the climate action plan in full HERE.
Manchester’s firework displays are ‘back with a bang’ as they return from 2026
Emily Sergeant
Council-organised firework displays in Manchester’s parks are set to return from next year, it has been confirmed.
You may remember that these once-popular events have not been held since 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic initially prevented them from taking place from 2020 onwards, and then following that, they remained paused on a trial basis while the Manchester City Council sought to ‘reprioritise funding’ to support a wider range of free community events across the city.
But now, as it seems, the door was never shut on their potential return.
An ‘improved financial position’ now means that the Council is in a position to bring firework events back, while also still continuing to support other community events.
Papers setting out the Council’s financial position show that fairer funding being introduced by the Government next year will leave the Council better off than previously anticipated, he the reason firework displays have been brought back into the mix.
The Council has admitted that ‘pressures remain’ after so many years of financial cuts, but this new funding creates the opportunity to invest in the things residents have said matter the most to them.
“Manchester prides itself on free community events and we know many people have missed Bonfire night firework spectaculars,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.
“That’s why we are pleased to confirm they’ll be back by popular demand in 2026.
“We know that generations of Mancunians have enjoyed Council-organised displays and that free family events are a great way to bring people together… [and] now that this Government is actually investing in Councils like ours rather than the cuts we had since 2010, we can bring back Bonfire events.”
Daisy Jackson -
10th February 2025 
