Deliveroo has just announced the finalists for this year’s Restaurant Awards – and an impressive 24 Manchester restaurants made the shortlist.
Manchester eatery Salt n Pepper has only just landed on the platform, but it’s already up for a best newcomer award this year.
Three Manchester restaurants were nominated for the best vegan award (Oowee Vegan, What the Pitta and Frost Burgers) and two for Restaurant of the Year (Proove pizza and Fat Hippo) whilst an absolute slew have been shortlisted for categories including Best Asian, Best Chinese, Best Sushi and Best Eco Friendly restaurant.
Zumu sushi is up for this year’s Best Sushi award / Image: Zumu sushi
Voted for by the Manchester public, the 24 restaurants listed below have beaten thousands of others across the UK after their popularity was put to a customer vote.
The first round of public voting saw over 50,000 people cast their vote, resulting in more than 600 hopefuls being reduced to 132 finalists Now, it’s up to Manchester locals to ensure their favourite wins – with just under two weeks to go until voting for awards closes on 18 October.
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For 2021, Deliveroo has increased the number of award categories to help celebrate even more of its traders and ensure more restaurants can take home accolades after a rollercoaster year. In total, there are 22 trophies up for grabs – including the much-coveted Restaurant of the Year Award, which is voted for by a celebrity panel of judges still to be revealed.
New awards being introduced for 2021 include categories Best Essentials, Best Meals Under £10, Best Mexican Restaurant, Best Sushi, Best Kebab, Best Fine-dining Restaurant, Best Salads and Bowls.
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Manchester’s What The PItta is up for the Best Vegan award / Image: What The Pitta
Repeat categories, meanwhile, include Best Burger, Best Pizza, Best Vegan Restaurant, Best Indian Restaurant and Best Eco-friendly Restaurant.
Speaking on this year’s awards, Deliveroo CEO Will Shu said: “Celebrating our incredible restaurant and grocery partners has never been more important.
“We are launching our third annual Deliveroo Restaurant Awards to shine a light on the very best food the UK and Ireland has to offer, from high-street favourites to local gems.
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Image: Eatmcr
“With new categories, and over 45,000 restaurants and grocers in the running, this year’s awards will be bigger and better than ever. We’re calling on the public to celebrate their favourite local restaurants and grocers by casting your vote and supporting these great businesses.”
Winners will be announced at Deliveroo’s virtual awards ceremony on November 15th.
The full list of Manchester restaurants to make the shortlist is as follows:
Proove Pizza – Restaurant of the Year
Fat Hippo – Restaurant of the Year
Burgerism – Best Burger
Little Yang Sing – Best Chinese
Chinese Red Chilli 红辣椒 – 曼大店 – Oxford Rd – Best Chinese
Manchester City win watershed case against Premier League over sponsorship rules
Danny Jones
Manchester City have landed an early blow in what is set to be a long and arduous series of legal proceedings over the coming months as they have won a case against the Premier League over their rules around sponsorship and related party transactions.
The current English champions, who have won a record four Premier League titles in a row, launched legal action against the division back in June after claiming that their restrictions around Associated Party Transactions (APT) rules and sponsorships were unfair and unlawful.
Now, as it turns out, an independent panel of three retired judges ultimately concluded that the rules were unlawful and, at least in part, contrary to the Competition Act 1998.
The details of the case are obviously numerous and complex but, in short, it has been found that Man City were unfairly blocked from moving forward with two huge sponsorship deals earlier this year.
BREAKING: Man City has won their legal challenge against the Premier League's Associated Party Transaction rules, which surrounds commercial deals between clubs and their related companies 🚨 pic.twitter.com/ZevrXvOOhd
Although the outcome has been somewhat debated by the league itself, it was decided that the imposed regulations were unfair and “discriminatory in how they operate, because they deliberately excluded shareholder loans.”
Issuing a statement following the decision, the Premier League said they “welcome the Tribunal’s findings, which endorsed the overall objectives, framework and decision-making of the APT system”, adding that it also “upheld the need for the APT system as a whole and rejected the majority of City’s challenges” while reiterating that the rules are necessary for their “financial controls to be effective”.
They went on to add that “the decision represents an important and detailed assessment of the APT Rules, which ensure clubs are not able to benefit from commercial deals or reductions in costs that are not at Fair Market Value (FMV) by virtue of relationships with Associated Parties.”
Meanwhile, the City Football Group responded to the news in a series of bullet points, insisting that the “Premier League was found to have abused its dominant position, […] had reached the decisions in a procedurally unfair manner” and that they will now have to “restate the fair market value of two transactions entered into by the Club.”
Safe to say people have noted quite a distinct difference in tone when it comes to statements from the two parties regarding associated parties and their transactions with clubs but, nevertheless, it’s a victory for the Manc club could have a huge knock-on effect regarding how much teams can spend in the future.
Quite a contrast in wording between the statements from Man City (left) and the Premier League (right) on findings related to Associated Party Transaction rules. pic.twitter.com/H3QkHlwMGM
The Premier League have also reassured that two particular aspects of the existing rules that didn’t fully comply with the Competition Act will be rectified promptly and will be “conducting a process that can allow the league and clubs to enact those specific changes quickly and effectively”.
Not only does this mean that CFG is likely to restart conversations with the two blocked parties – one being the Etihad Group and another with a bank based in Abu Dhabi – but that other clubs could now potentially look into further lucrative sponsorship deals, although ‘fair market value’ will still be assessed.
You can read page 164 of the document which summarises the full Tribunal HERE.
Meanwhile, the still outstanding case against Man City over their 115 charges regarding FFP breaches has now begun, though a decision is still a ways off.
Date set for Manchester’s move to London-style ‘touch in, touch out’ public transport system
Emily Sergeant
The date for Manchester’s switch to a London-style ‘touch in, touch out’ public transport system has officially been set.
With just three months to go until all buses in Greater Manchester are back under local control, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has now set the date for the introduction of capped contactless payments on the Bee Network in a bid to “support multi-modal travel”, and it’s already being described as a “huge step forward”.
TfGM believes contactless pay-as-you-go systems on buses and trams will make travel easier overall, as it’ll guarantee passengers pay the right fare for their journey.
But how exactly will it work?
Coming soon, contactless Pay As You Go on #BeeNetwork buses. Travel seamlessly between bus and tram, with fares automatically worked out for you.
🟡 Pay no more than the daily or weekly cap for your journeys (adult fares) 🟡 Unlimited daily travel by bus for £5 a day pic.twitter.com/dOa8o96vqA
Well, similar to how customers currently travel on the Metrolink, passengers will be able to use their bank card or smart payment device to touch in on all Bee Network bus services, and rest assured knowing that they will only be charged the lowest fare up to the daily cap of £5, or the new weekly cap of £20.
Under the new system, people travelling by Bee Network bus will simply ‘touch on’ as they board the service.
Not only that, but passengers will also be able to travel across both Metrolink and Bee Network bus services at the same time, and only be charged a single multi-modal fare, instead of having to plan or buy tickets in advance – which is similar to travelling in London.
Passengers who use both Bee Network bus and Metrolink can use pay as you go for unlimited all-day travel across Greater Manchester, which is expected to cost a maximum of £9.50, or £7.80 if you start your journey after 9:30am or at weekends.
Journeys will be cheaper if travelling across fewer Metrolink zones.
Manchester is set to move to London-style ‘touch in, touch out’ public transport payment system / Credit: TfGM
For the time being, TfGM has confirmed that pay as you go travel will operate with adult fares only, but this may be rolled-out to others in the future.
“Pay as you go will be launching across Bee Network buses to build on the system that has been in place on the Metrolink since 2019,” explained Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
“This is a massive step forward in terms of delivering a London-style transport network for the people of Greater Manchester, putting our region on par with not only the capital, but also major cities across the world that offer seamless integrated travel by public transport.”
Mr Burnham also said it’ll be “affordable and easier to pay for”, and will ultimately “take the worry out of choosing the right ticket”.
Georgina Pellant -
4th October 2021 
