A former office block in Levenshulme has been converted into flats for homeless Manchester families with huge success.
Set up by HSPG, a property investment company on a mission to end the homelessness crisis in the UK, in partnership with Manchester City Council, the converted block offers a lifeline to those finding themselves newly homeless.
It also welcomes those who are housed in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation.
Stripped down and restructured, today it might look a bit like an office block from the outside but inside it’s filled with clean and modern flats with all the mod-cons a family would need to help get themselves back on their feet.
Image: HSPG
First opened in March 2021, a key aim of Levenshulme’s Apex House is to prevent families from spiralling into long-term homelessness.
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Here, three on-site support workers work closely with both the families and the council’s private rented sector team to move people into suitable long-term housing.
A year on, 62 families have passed through its doors and into permanent accommodation.
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Vineta Simon, 31, and her two-month-old baby have been at Apex House for a month, and she is full of praise for the facilities and the staff.
Vineta said: ” I come from a working family, I’ve always worked, I owned a car, had a home but when I got pregnant and my relationship broke up, everything went downhill.
Image: HSPG
“I had to reach out for help for the first time ever and it has been a really difficult journey, from becoming homelesss, something I never thought would happen to me, up until now.
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“When I got this flat in Apex House, I burst into tears because it was so clean, nicely refurbished and it just felt really safe and secure; it had an immediate impact on my mental health, it made me feel like a human being again.
“The facilities are fantastic and there are staff around all the time to help me. Being in this flat with my baby has given me some breathing space and I can see light at the end of the tunnel, whereas before I could never imagine my future.
“I want to get on and find a new home and go back to work, I am thinking about building a new future with my baby and I want to give something back because I will remember each and every one who has helped me along the way.”
The project has proved so successful that the Council is now working with developers and looking at other premises in the city where it can be replicated.
In the last year, 82 families have been accommodated in Apex House and 62 have been supported to move on, 20 of which are still receiving support to find permanent accommodation.
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Image: HSPG
Of the 62 families who have been rehoused, 60% were rehoused within eight weeks, 19% were rehoused within three months and for 21% with greater needs, it has taken more than three months, to find them the most appropriate move-on accommodation.
Councillor Luthfur Rahman OBE, deputy leader of Manchester City Council said: “Manchester is leading the way with innovative solutions to support families get back on their feet.
“We are incredibly pleased with the results of this new approach to support families into permanent accommodation in Apex House. It has proved so successful that we would like to replicate this across the city.
“No-one wants to find themselves homeless, but Apex provides good temporary accommodation in a modern, fully furnished building.
“Our aim is to house families here for as short a period as possible before moving them quickly into settled accommodation.
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“We are seeing the benefits of this model with targeted support which moves families on in a short space of time helping to keep family disruption, particularly children’s education, to a minimum.”
Feature image – HSPG / Google
News
Michelin-recommended rooftop restaurant Climat has closed its doors with immediate effect
Daisy Jackson
One of Manchester’s top-rated restaurants has announced its shock and immediate closure.
Climat, which is set way up high in Blackfriars House with staggering views of Manchester city centre, has said that the Michelin-recommended restaurant is now permanently closed.
In a heartbreaking statement, founder Christopher Laidler said that Climat is ‘yet another casualty of the times we’re living in’.
Laying out the brutal reality of running a hospitality business, Chris wrote about ‘rampant food inflation’, an ‘ever-increasing tax burden’, and ‘the persistent cost of living crisis’, describing it as a perfect storm against hospitality.
Then delving deeper into the numbers, he shared that Climat has faced an eye-watering £112,000 electricity bill for its first 13 months in business – that’s 400% more than they’d budgeted.
That was chased by a 33% increase in staff wages, then a jump in business rates from £12,000 a year to £38,000 a year.
Couple that with reduced footfall and it’s ‘spelling disaster for so many’.
Climat has closed its doors with immediate effectClimat has laid their finances bare in their closing statement
He wrote: “Whilst I wanted to highlight these reasons for closure, in the naive hope the Government will start to listen before it’s too late for others, I want to acknowledge the fantastic work of our team over the last 3.5 years.
“The closure does not do justice to their efforts and dedication. I’d also like extend a huge debt of gratitude to our guests for their support, enabling us to build a nationally recognised wine list – our raison d’être.”
Signing off, he said: “I wish everyone the very best of luck in these challenging times. Bye for now, Christopher.”
Climat opened in late 2022, with an impressive wine list and a beautiful restaurant space overlooking Manchester.
It didn’t take long before it was added to the Michelin Guide, which wrote: “An open kitchen is the focus of the room, with its aromas filling the air, and the concise fixed-price menu includes well-executed dishes such as halibut with spinach and sorrel velouté, where the ingredient quality shines through.
“Wine is a feature with one side of the room acting as a bar and the carefully curated list deftly mixing traditional and modern styles.”
Claire’s is closing down stores in the UK and Ireland with more than 1,300 jobs set to be lost
Danny Jones
In another hit to domestic shoppers, Claire’s Accessories is closing down en masse across the UK and Ireland after entering into administration once again.
Falling into an unfortunate financial status for the second time in less than a year, Claire’s will be shutting down all of their standalone stores across Britain, along with their IE branches.
A total of 154 stores will soon disappear, with more than a thousand people set to be put out of work.
Once a mainstay of British high streets up and down the country, the accessory shop known for all things jewellery, piercings and more has ceased trading effective immediately.
Announced at the start of the week and the end of the first full month of Q2, it was confirmed that Claire’s closed their final locations on Monday, 27 April.
With administrators, Kroll, appointed to wrap up business proceedings, an estimated 1,300 English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh workers have now lost their jobs.
Founded way back in 1961 over in the United States, Claire’s has operated across the Atlantic for more than three decades.
However, with various other contemporaries and cheaper online options having appeared over the years, they’ve struggled not just to remain profitable but to compete full stop.
They most recently filed for bankruptcy in the US this past August (2025), with their Belgian, Spanish, and Dutch divisions having already called it quits.
Manchester location(s) have changed a lot over time, but now they’re on the way out (Credit: Arndale)
For many, the outcome isn’t all that surprising, but it will nevertheless be a sad loss for many who have seen multiple generations visit these venues over the years.
Georgina Pellant -
24th March 2022 
