A.fine dining Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant in Royton, Oldham, has won big at this year’s British Kebab Awards.
Istanblue Royton took home the gong for the Best Fine Dining Restaurant at a glitzy awards ceremony held in London on Tuesday night.
Impressively, it was the only restaurant in the north to be acknowledged with a win at the London-dominated event.
Sharing the news to social media, the restaurant was flooded with congratulations from a host of loyal customers.
Image: Istanblue Royton
One customer wrote: “Well done, love your food you really do deserve it x”
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Another said: “Brilliant, so well deserved. Our favourite restaurant x
A third added: “Nice one well done love your food”
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The annual awards ceremony is the only one of its kind to recognise the British kebab industry, which supports 200,000 jobs up and down the country spanning restaurants, suppliers and the wider food industry.
The ceremony, now in its tenth year, celebrated the £2.8 billion contributions the kebab industry brings to the British economy every year.
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Every day, more than 1.5 million kebabs are sold across Britain.
Image: Istanblue Royton Image: Istanblue Royton
The British Kebab Awards, sponsored by Just Eat, were held in the ballroom at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, with an audience of over 1,200 guests including more than 150 MPs and Lords.
Guests were treated to a cocktail reception with a three-course Anatolian-style meal.
Winners took to the stage triumphing in 18 categories, including Chef of the Year, Kebab Van of the Year, Just Eat Best Delivery and eight regional awards for recognising the best kebab restaurants across the UK.
Image: Istanblue Royton
Thousands of members of the public voted for the 180 finalists to face the judges who included Labour MP Carolyn Harris; Conservative MP David Warburton; James O’Brien of LBC, Adil Ray; and Cobra Beer aSales Director, Samson Sohail.
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Andrew Kenny, Managing Director of Just Eat UK, said: “It’s been an honour for Just Eat to support the British Kebab Awards for the past decade; the event is always a highlight of our year.
“After an undeniably difficult period for the hospitality sector, there’s never been a better time to recognise the resilient and hard-working individuals across the kebab industry, who are making an invaluable contribution to both their local community and the UK economy.
“Huge congratulations to all the winners and finalists on their incredible achievement.”
Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, speaker of the House of Commons, Nadhim Zahawi MP, Secretary of the State for Education, David Lammy MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary, Lord Karan Bilimoria, President of CBI, Kate Nicholls, CEO of UK Hospitality, Andrew Kenny, Managing Director of Just Eat, Paul Scully, the Business minister attended and addressed the event.
Almost Famous announce they are closing their Withington restaurant in candid statement
Danny Jones
The unfortunate hospitality news just keeps coming, it seems, as Almost Famous have announced they will soon be closing their Withington restaurant.
A staple of the Manchester foodie scene for over a decade now and with a growing empire across the North, the ‘dirty burger’ pioneers aren’t just one of the most recognisable restaurant names in Greater Manchester, they’re tastemakers and have been for years.
However, unlike the OG site in the Northern Quarter which first began blowing burger fans away back in 2012, their Great Northern Warehouse venue or their locations in Leeds, Almost Famous‘ Withington site simply isn’t working.
In truth, their most recent restaurant and fifth all-told had been struggling for a while and it was only back in May that they were thanking customers for helping them ‘pull through’ a rough patch, but it seems they’ve sadly slumped back into being quiet and can no longer continue in this fashion.
Explaining in the lengthy and clearly emotional statement, beloved owner Beau Myers wrote: “Announcement (sad sh***y one, sorry).
Sorry to say we will be closing the Withington branch of Almost Famous. It’s not working, we’re not busy enough and it’s dragging us down.
“Really sorry to disappoint you guys, we’ve tried and we’ve pushed and you’ve been amazing for supporting us, this just isn’t the one. Sometimes you have to hold your hands up, admit you f****d up, learn from your mistakes limit the damage and move on.
“We got sucked in with perhaps the most beautiful site ever in the wrong location (for us). It really is/was my fav[ourite] famous and I’m gutted it’s closing, it looks the coolest, we had the staff party there this year. I wish some of the art wasn’t straight on the wall so we could take it with us.”
Almost Famous Withington will be closing after their final dinner service next weekend. (Credit: The Manc Group)
They go on to add: “We will be closing after service on Sunday 22nd (next weekend). Please come down and say goodbye and enjoy this beautiful place one last time before it goes forever. There will be drinks and tears and laughs.
Having visited the particular branch a few times ourselves not only in a work capacity but in our own personal time, we can confirm the Withington restaurant had a special charm to it and we’re also very sad to see it go.
It goes without saying that the comments were filled with support, with one person writing, “This is so sad I’m so sorry: you’ve tried really hard. Sad loss for Withington”, and another adding, “Always sad when a place with friendly staff, serving good food, good drinks and at a reasonable price doesn’t make it… onwards and upwards.”
RIP Almost Famous Withy — we hope you come back one day soon and we’re sure the whole team will bounce back stronger than ever no matter what comes next for the much-loved brand.
The hearing over Manchester City’s 115 FFP charges will officially start next week
Danny Jones
After more than a year of speculation as to when proceedings will finally start, it has been confirmed that the hearing regarding Manchester City and their 115 FFP charges is set to begin next week.
Man City were first slapped with the laundry list of alleged breaches of FFP (financial fair play) and failure to comply with Premier League rules on profit and sustainability (PSR) back in February 2023, but little movement on the case has been reported since then.
In that time, they also won the coveted Treble and their record-breaking fourth league title in a row; meanwhile, the club have continued to deny all claims of rule-breaking.
However, it has now been revealed that City‘s hearing will now kick off on Monday, 16 September.
BREAKING: The hearing over Manchester City's 115 charges will start on Monday 🚨 pic.twitter.com/9ujOCryVMF
As explained in various reports, given the extended nature of the claims made against the Manchester side, it is estimated that the case could run on for up to two months if not longer.
Furthermore, it is thought a decision isn’t expected to arrive until spring 2025 – again, this is simply due to the number of charges brought up over the best part of a decade.
In case you need a refresher, the allegations levelled at Man City date back to 2009 and concern a supposed nine years of financial irregularities, as well as subverting UEFA FFP rules.
Some of the accusations made against them also include failing to cooperate with the European football body and the Premier League, as well as offering ‘secret contracts’ so as to pay one particular manager a larger sum than what they recorded in their financial statements.
The final verdict, whenever it is reached, will be handed down by an independent commission and City will still be able to make an official appeal.
It goes without saying that were they to be found guilty, it would be the biggest financial scandal in English football history and could be seismic for the future of money in the sport and regulations surrounding ownership, which have already grown tighter following the charges being issued.
And in case you needed a more detailed refresher on what exactly they are being tried for and what the possibilities are regarding punishment if found guilty, here’s a quick rundown:
Georgina Pellant -
3rd March 2022 
