Famous bakery Gail’s has confirmed that it will be expanding into the north of England for the first time, as owners reveal plans to open not one, not two but three new cafes in and around Manchester.
Already well known and loved by its customers in the south of England, now the team is eyeing up new sites for its neighbourhood craft bakeries right on our doorstep.
Having confirmed that the first northern location for Gail’s will open in Wilmslow this February, it has also been revealed that the bakery has its eye on two Greater Manchester locations: with a city centre bakery planned for the former White Stuff unit on King Street, and a third set to open on Shaw’s Road in Altrincham.
Whilst no official date has been set for the King Street and Altrincham openings, The Manc understands that these are both expected to open in the early part of 2023 – so we shouldn’t have too long to wait.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
The bakery group already has strong ties with Manchester, having run its sister wholesale bakery The Bread Factory – which supplies bread to some of Manchester’s premium restaurants, cafes and bars – in Openshaw since 2017.
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Now, it’s looking to add a customer-facing presence by bringing its popular coffee shop-style bakery-cafes to Greater Manchester for the very first time.
Here, Mancs will be able to get their hands on all manner of treats: from its range of sourdough breads (including a ‘wasteless’ loaf made with breadcrumb leftovers), to cakes, pastries, sandwiches and more.
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Gail’s CEO Tom Molnar told The Manc: “What an amazing city Manchester is, I mean it’s so creative – I’d love London to be as creative as Manchester is.
“We’re really excited about opening up in Manchester, we’ve been there for about six years now, is that right, um, when we bought this little tiny bakery that an older couple had.
“They’d had it for like 35 years, they were ready to retire, and we were like ‘oh that’s a great opportunity for us to go in’.
“We were trying to continue what they were doing a little bit but the whole idea was to um, to bring like, they were like an old school bakery, […] and they were ready to retire but it was a great space for us and since then we’ve added a bunch of units there and we’re serving chefs, because that’s what we know, that’s the core of the business, is to be serving top chefs.”
First formed in the early 1990s as a wholesale-only operation, Gail’s opened its first cafe on Hampstead High Street in 2005.
Today the brand has over 70 sites spread across London, Oxford, Brighton and further afield, and is known more as a customer-facing cafe and bakery whilst The Bread Factory continues the company’s original wholesale legacy.
All its goodies are baked fresh throughout the day, with any unsold items donated to local charities each evening to help local people in need. When Gail’s opens in the north later this year, it will partner with Fare Share and Eat Well Manchester to give back to its new neighbours wherever possible.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
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A Withington boozer has been named ‘Pub of the Year’ in South Manchester for 2026
Danny Jones
A pub in Withington has just been named the best pub in the South Manchester area for 2026, as the area continues to back CAMRA and proper boozers.
It’s not the first time they’ve picked up this kind of gong either.
Technically, it’s picked up the award for ‘Pub of the Year for Stockport and South Manchester’, but the venue itself sits on the edge of Withy and the outskirts of Fallowfield.
Operated by legendary local business, Hydes Brewery, they claim the trophy after having just missed out on the top spot in 2025, coming second behind The Crown in Heaton Mersey.
Not this time, though, as the Hydes pub located along Wilmslow Road won this year’s prize by some distance, in fact.
The Salford-born beer makers obviously have lots of sites all over Greater Manchester, many of whom regularly pick up monthly Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) awards – not to mention collecting a fair few annual ones – The Vic in Withington is one thought to have been long overdue for the grand prize.
Beloved by regulars and other nearby residents in and around the borough alike, the local community believe this place to be much more than just another watering hole.
For example, it’s been celebrated for its diversity and grassroots work throughout the area, with the team receiving praise for their extensive charitable efforts, such as with the Mero’s World Foundation.
The organisation was established by native Manc mum, Kelly Brown, in memory of her son Rhamero West, who was tragically stabbed to death in Manchester in 2021 at the age of 16; the charity aims to combat knife crime and support youth in the community through various initiatives.
As for The Vic, they’ve helped support the cause for many years, raising vital funds through their New Year’s Eve ticket sales, raffles, and with the management team taking on multiple athletic and endurance challenges on behalf of the cause.
Put simply, husband and wife landlords, Alyson and Paul Mitchell, are absolute legends.
Commenting on the win, Alyson said in a statement: “We’re so proud to win this award, and it is a real honour to be named the best pub in the region by CAMRA. We love what we do, but we couldn’t do it without our amazing team and the incredible support and top-quality ales we receive from Hydes.
“The Victoria is a truly special place for us, and we genuinely have the best customers you could ask for, from students to our local regulars. Winning this year after coming so close previously proves that our collective hard work has really paid off.”
Aside from serving a regular lineup of five or five Hydes cask beers, showing all the games on the box, and generally becoming a bit of a cornerstone of the community, Vic customers also helped raise £1,000 for the Withington Civic Society to install a much-needed community defibrillator outside the premises.
These are the kinds of things we want to hear happening in public houses across the ten boroughs, and it’s yet another instance of South Manchester, specifically, enjoying its moment in the sud-soaked sun.
Manchester City win first Women’s Super League title in a decade
Danny Jones
After a decade of hope and hard work, Manchester City have finally won the Women’s Super League once again in a huge moment for the local club.
Lifting not just their first division title in 10 years, but only their second WSL trophy since the modern female football era began in 2010, it felt like only a matter of time to many supporters.
Ending a six-year Chelsea supremacy, this is also manager Andrée Jeglertz’s first at the helm of Man City’s women’s team, who arrived at the club with a strong silverware record at the start of this season.
These were the scenes at home base as one key result sealed their status as champions:
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) May 6, 2026
City Women secured the WSL title following third-placed Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brighton on Wednesday evening.
They even managed to do so with a game to spare and a six-point gap over the west London club, which has won so much over the past few years.
Speaking in an interview with club media after confirmation of the win, captain and Euro 2025-winning Lionesses defender, Alex Greenwood, said: “[It feels] absolutely incredible. “A moment – we as a team, me personally – us as a club has waited so long for”.
“An incredible moment, it’s an incredible feeling. I’m so glad we got to spend this moment together as a group. Just an absolutely incredible feeling.”
With fans watching both at home, along with the first team themselves, the celebrations have already begun as the team shared a look back at how they got here.
You can see the recap posted on social media in full below.
Commenting on his latest accolade, the Swedish head coach added in a full club statement: “There’s never been doubt about the talent in the group, but there is something else about talking about being winners and champions. We started that early, and we believed in that. That’s led us through this year.
“It hasn’t been easy; it’s been hard work every day, but we had a strong belief that we could be sitting here in May and be champions. That is the first thing, and we definitely deserve it.”
Congratulations to the Cityzens on a well-deserved and long-awaited WSL title; could this be the start of another sporting dynasty of dominance over in East Manchester? Only time will tell…
In other news around the Etihad Campus, the women’s, EDS and academy team stadium is also set to host the final of the FA Youth Cup later this month.
Georgina Pellant -
19th January 2023 
