Manchester’s Arndale Market, home to dozens of street food stalls and independent retails, remains closed after a fire last week.
Shoppers were evacuated from the huge shopping centre on Friday afternoon last week after reports of a fire at one of the market kitchens.
Fire crews were then seen attending the scene, where witnesses reported they were ‘sweeping out water’ from the Arndale Market.
The damage caused by the sprinkler system has left the area closed every since.
Food traders currently based here include Dunkin Burgers, Hong Thai, Pancho’s Burritos, and Zorba’s.
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Over the years, the Arndale Market has launched plenty of local restaurant ventures, from Salt n Pepper to Viet Shack to Wholesome Junkies.
But on Friday, a fire which reportedly started in the kitchen of one street food trader led to the entire site being evacuated.
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One trader said that the sprinklers did ‘a lot of damage’ to the area.
Manchester City Council has since said that work is underway to ‘reopen the market as soon as we can’.
Shoppers evacuated from the Arndale Market in Manchester after a fire set off the sprinkler system
Rack, which sells incredible sandwiches from the Arndale Market as well as its site in Stockport, said: “As some of you will be aware the Arndale Market has been closed since Friday due to a fire.
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“The fire wasn’t in our unit and luckily no one was hurt but unfortunately the sprinklers did a lot of damage.
“We don’t know when we’ll be able to reopen but we’ll keep you all posted. For now we’re closed until further notice. Both our other sites remain open so get your rack fix from either Stockport or Sale. Sorry for any inconvenience and watch this space for updates.”
Takoyaki Master, which sells Japanese street food, wrote: “We will keep closing until further notice from council. Our neighbor at our back got a fire yesterday, and it started the sprinkler system and caught out the fire rapidly. Luckily there was no one hurt, but we suffered from [water damage].
“We are allowed to enter and check everything on coming Monday. We will try to talk to the office to see the next steps. Hope we can get back to normal soon.”
Takoyaki Master is one of the Arndale Market traders affected by the fire. Credit: The Manc GroupRack is one of the Arndale Market traders affected by the fireLittle Piece of Bahia is serving the best Brazilian food at the Manchester Christmas Markets
Meanwhile Little House of Bahia, which just opened a stall at the Manchester Christmas Markets in addition to its home in the Arndale Market, said: “We are all appalled by the fire at @arndalemarket, with everyone’s losses, but thank God no one was hurt.
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“Due to this incident, the store is closed, and delivery is suspended until the location is released again. We appreciate everyone’s understanding and ask for your prayers so that we can return as soon as possible! Rebuild and continue serving everyone with our food.”
Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council councillor Luthfur Rahman said: “We are working hard to reopen the Arndale Market as quickly as possible.
“We are working closely with the stall holders and would like to thank them for the way in which they have responded and their patience as the clean-up operation took place over the weekend.
“The Market is currently closed and cannot open until a full assessment and essential works have taken place and we will be keeping traders fully informed on the progress of the work to reopen the market as soon as we can.”
All the free things you can get with a Great Manchester Run finisher’s medal this year
Danny Jones
What’s the best part about doing the Great Manchester Run, we hear you ask? All the freebies, of course. You’ll be glad to hear there are more free things than ever for finishers this year.
More than 35,000 runners are set to take on the challenge, be it the half marathon or the 10k, and we firmly believe every single one of these legends should be entitled to as much free stuff as possible.
If it were up to us, they wouldn’t pay for anything all day, but hey, we make don’t make the rules.
So yeah, without further ado, here are all the freebies you can get for taking part in the Great Manchester 2025.
Free stuff and offers for Great Manchester Runners to cop in 2025
Without further ado, here are a tonne of freebies, discounts and deals you can grab by simply flashing your finisher’s medals:
Credit: The Manc/Supplied
Dishoom –Complimentary 330ml Kingfisher/Kingfisher Zero (0.0%) for anyone with anyone dining with a finisher’s medal.
Blacklock –Free glass of fizz on us with your medal.
Maray – Free glass of fizz/pint (or non-alcoholic beer/soft) for anyone with a medal who is dining on Sunday
Electric Shuffle – Free house wine, prosecco or pint for anyone with a 2025 medal.
Salon Madre – 2-4-1 margaritas all day Sunday for anyone with a race medal.
Suki Suki – Free bao bun for anyone with a medal.
Refuge/Kimpton Clocktower Hotel – 100 free pints of Manchester Union Beer (first come, first served)
Hello Oriental – Discounted soft serve ice cream, plus a free beer or soft drink with any meal for all finishers
The Shack – Flash your medal to claim a free glass of Prosecco or beer, plus parties with medals get 20% off their food bill.
Dough Religion (House of Social) – half price slice at Manchester Jazz Festival on Sunday
The purpose of this happy hour spotting app has definitely been a topic of discussion between friends while over a few drinks on a night out, and now this idea has been brought to life.
Titled ‘Hoppy’, the all-new app shows you all the best happy hours in Manchester, even going as far as planning nights out for you and telling you what times each venue is hosting their exclusive offers.
Crazy Pedro’s are just one of the bars featured on this Happy Hour app.Trof is another venue that has a happy hour offering and has made its way onto the app.
Whether you’re after £6 margs at Ramona, two for one cocktails at Rewind or £4 draught pints and cider over at Arcane Bar, this app spells everything out for you plain and simple.
They even go as far as using their social media accounts to plan nights out in Manchester to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.
In a post on their Instagram, they plan out the ultimate Tuesday night in the Northern Quarter, making the most of the various happy hours in the neighbourhood.
The happy hour app stops off at multiple pubs and bars, including frequently visited watering holes like Wolf at the Door, Trof, Bay Horse Tavern and Smithfield Social, before ending the night at Crazy Pedro’s.
Sounds like all the ingredients for the perfect crawl, if you ask us.
Revolución de Cuba, has a huge marg menu, is another drinks spot on Hoppy.Mother Mary’s serves some seriously good Guinness alongside some savvy savings too.
Go on, tell us looking at those hasn’t made you thirsty…
Next time you go out for drinks, why not download this happy hour spotting app along for the ride with you, and you won’t only thank yourself but your bank account will too.
‘Hoppy’ is available on the App Store now for everyone to make the most of their next night out and make finding the best happy hours in Manchester even easier HERE.
See you at the pub – provided happy hour is still on, of course.
Daisy Jackson -
15th November 2023 
