Manchester restaurant The Botanist has confirmed today that it will be closing early on Sunday night to give its staff the night offto watch the Euros.
Bosses at the group have confirmed today that as football is coming home, their staff should be going home to see it.
In response, numerous Botanist venues across Manchester will be shutting early on Sunday ahead of the 8pm Euro 2020 Final kick-off to allow hundreds of staff to watch England play Italy with friends and family.
Inside one of The Botanist restaurants / Image: The Botanist
Some venues in Manchester and Alderley are already fully booked for the football, so they will be staying open – namely The Oast House and The Botanist in Altrincham.
However, for the most part, all of The Botanist venues will close early on Sunday ready for staff to head home at 7.30pm.
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In Greater Manchester, Deansgate, MediaCity and Didsbury will all shut.
Throughout the day, guests can enjoy The Botanist’s botanical cocktails and kebabs whilst they count down to kick-off with the last booking on Sunday at 5:30pm – which will give them just under two hours at the table.
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The Botanist is known for its legendary hanging kebabs / Image: The Botanist
“Gareth Southgate has shown us all the value of teamwork in the past few weeks – and how every squad member is vital to being successful. That is why we are announcing we’ll be closing early on Sunday to allow as many of our staff as possible to watch the game,” said Matt Bamber, Operations Director for New World Trading Company who owns The Botanist.
“We still have a handful of sell-out sites showing the game in Alderley Edge, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham and Cardiff – we don’t want to be a jinx for any superstitious fans who’ve visited us for every game.
“We’re incredibly grateful to those staff that remain committed to working in this final game.”
The Botanist isn’t the only restaurant in Manchester to be doing this – in fact, quite a lot of venues in the city – including Sugo and Wood Fire Smoke – have been posting about implementing their own “self-imposed curfews” this Sunday ahead of the Euros 2020 final.
The Botanist will be open again as normal from Monday, 12th July – and you can check out their menus and opening times on their website here.
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TfGM issues statement as ‘essential’ work begins on three major Metrolink lines across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Passengers are being urged to plan ahead as no trams will be running on three major Greater Manchester lines for the next two weeks.
If you need bringing up to speed a little, as part of the ongoing £150m investment into Greater Manchester’s tram network, essential improvement work is being carried out on three major Metrolink lines across the region in a bid to make the network ‘safer’ and ‘more resilient and reliable for passengers’ for years to come.
This means that from today (Monday 19 October) through to Sunday 1 November, tram improvement works will take place at Deansgate-Castlefield, and Trafford Bar.
Additional works will also take place in the city centre during this time, allowing TfGM to keep closures of the tram network to a minimum.
During the dates above, no trams will run on the Altrincham, Trafford Centre, and Eccles lines.
A number of shuttle bus services will the running over the course of the two-week closure, however – with services arriving every 10 or 15 minutes, depending on the line, and you can find a full list of these here.
But despite the alternative services, widespread disruption is still expected for hundreds of people.
TfGM has issued a statement on the works being carried out, and offered support to anyone who may need it: “This is essential work that will help keep our tram network safe, reliable and fit for the future. We’re sorry for the disruption and we’ll be doing everything we can to make sure people can still get around while it’s taking place.
“We’ve listened carefully to feedback from customers during previous closures and have introduced more direct shuttle buses between key locations and extra buses on local Bee Network routes.
“If you use any of the affected lines, now is the time to check your travel plans.
“We’d encourage everyone to visit the Bee Network website or app before travelling so they can see the options available to them and allow extra time where necessary.”
Services will resume on these lines from start of service on Monday 2 November.
However there will be some minor route changes through the city centre in place from Monday 2 to Wednesday 4 November, so it’s important to check your journey before you travel.
Featured Image – TfGM
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Victim named and murder investigation launched after young woman is killed in Newton Heath stabbing
Emily Sergeant
The victim of a street stabbing in Newton Heath this week has been named for the first time as a murder investigation continues.
It comes after officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) responded to reports of a disturbance at around 2am yesterday (Thursday 15 October) on Dorking Avenue, in the Newton Heath area of Manchester, and when they arrived on the scene, they found a woman in her 20s with serious injuries that were ‘consistent with a stabbing’.
Despite best efforts of all emergency services involved, the young woman was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
As the murder investigation progresses, the woman has now been publicly named and a photo of her has been released for the first time.
She has been named as 26-year-old Alisha Samuels.
At this time, one man, aged 25, has been arrested on suspicion of murder, and a man and woman, aged 61 and 38, have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, and they all remain in custody – with officers continuing their enquiries to establish the full circumstances of this incident.
Alisha’s family have asked for privacy whilst they deal with the devastating loss of their loved one, GMP has stated.
“We are continuing to urge people who may have information in relation to this incident to please come forward to support our investigation and bring justice for Alisha,” the police force said in a public appeal.
Anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or has mobile phone, CCTV, or doorbell footage, is urged to call GMP on 0161 856 5464, or contact them via the Major Incident Public Portal here.
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
Georgina Pellant -
9th July 2021 
