One of Manchester’s best-loved ice cream brands, Lazy Sundae, has announced the permanent closure of Northern Quarter site.
Opening its doors on Tib Street back in May 2021, and bringing sunshine and colour to the heart of the Northern Quarter, Lazy Sundae became beloved dessert spot along the way, famed not only for its adventurous ice cream flavours, but also it selection of bubble teas, and jiggly Japanese souffle pancakes.
Having proved so popular since opening the Northern Quarter site, Lazy Sundae went from strength to strength, and was soon able to open a second site.
The closure of Lazy Sundae’s original site was announced on the same day that another iconic Manchester burger joint, Almost Famous, sadly shared that it was also closing all of its sites in Manchester – both in the Northern Quarter, as well as inside Great Northern Warehouse – and Leeds with immediate effect.
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Lazy Sundae’s statement reads in full: “With a heavy heart, we have to share that Lazy Sundae has closed its doors on our NQ site. The reasons were beyond our control after facing landlord difficulties.
“Northern Quarter is where our dreams of sharing travel inspired ice cream with everyone was born. We remember the days running up to the grand opening post lockdown were filled with both excitement and anxiety.
“At one point, J was convinced no one would even like ice cream, but the Manchester community really showed up for us. We had no idea how many of you would share our passion for flavours from our culture and childhood.
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“To everyone who has visited our little corner on Tib Street with family, friends and fur babies – we are forever grateful. Watching you all enjoy what we have put so much time in creating has brought us incredible joy. (Sorry for all the awkward stares whilst you lick ice cream!) We have made some wonderful friends and memories.
“Saying goodbye to this space is heartbreaking for us, but we are excited for a new chapter.”
The owners closed out their statement by declaring that the Northern Quarter closure “isn’t the end of Lazy Sundae” only a goodbye to “where it all began”.
“Follow us on our journey to finding a new home for the community to enjoy and share our love for travel inspired ice creams and desserts,” the statement concluded, before thanking Manchester “for the support” throughout the years.
Lazy Sundae remains open inside Manchester Arndale.
Five Manchester bars have just been named in the UK’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars
Daisy Jackson
Five bars in Manchester have just received one of the industry’s highest accolades – a place in the UK’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars.
In a glittering ceremony down in London today, the best in the cocktail industry were crowned, and our city has a lot to be proud of.
Manchester now has five cocktail bars in the Top 50, with two new entries this year.
And while Schofield’s has been toppled from the top spot this year, this award-winning bar on Quay Street is still heading home with a podium finish, now ranked the third-best bar in the entire UK.
One of the new faces on the prestigious list is Stray, a beautiful cocktail bar tucked into a corner of Mackie Mayor.
Famed for its tomato vine margaritas, as well as the pain-staking effort the team goes to to infuse their own spirits and make their own cordials, Stray has deservedly debuted at number 25. And we have a feeling they’re just getting started.
Red Light is another new name on the list, after taking home the coveted ‘One To Watch’ award in 2024.
Red LightStrayBlinker
The gorgeous LGBTQ+ cocktail bar on Little David Street at Kampus has placed 40th.
Blinker has held on to a place in the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list, dropping down to 22nd – still a phenomenal achievement for the Spring Gardens boozer.
Blinker has a dedicated martini menu, and also serves them alongside retro Breville toasties.
And finally, last but not least, Speak In Code on Jackson’s Row jumped up into 11th place.
This fantastic brick-lined bar opened properly (it was a pop-up before) just five years ago and it’s consistently topped national lists of the best bars ever since.
There were also amazing results for our sister cities in Sheffield and Leeds, with The Pearl at Parkhill at 44 and Public at 39 for the former, and Tabula Rasa at 27 and Below Stairs at 11 for the latter.
A huge congratulations to all these very worthy winners.
Salford named one of the most expensive UK cities to rent in
Emily Sergeant
One of Greater Manchester’s major cities has been named among the most expensive UK cities to rent a property in.
It was just last week that the Greater Manchester town of Swinton was named a ‘property hotspot’ for 2025 by Rightmove, after house prices there increased by nearly 10% on average last year, and now, the city of Salford itself is also being put under the property spotlight.
That’s because the leading property listing platform has highlighted the city as being one of the most expensive for renters in the whole of the UK.
With 2025 set to be a year of relocation for many, Rightmove has looked at rental costs across more than 50 cities in Great Britain in a bid to find the cheapest – and by contrast, the most expensive – places to rent right now.
Salford has been named one of the most expensive UK cities to rent in / Credit: Benjamin Elliott | Pexels
When it comes to the most expensive UK city to rent in, we doubt it’ll come as a shock to you that the English capital of London takes the top spot.
Some of the other expected cities featuring in the top 10 list, according to Rightmove’s research, include Oxford, Brighton, Cambridge, and the Scottish capital on Edinburgh, but a more surprising entry for Greater Manchester residents is the fact that Salford takes up the eighth spot – with an average monthly rental price of £1,739.
Top 10 most expensive UK cities to rent in
London (£2,695)
St. Albans (£2,330)
Oxford (£2,041)
Winchester (£1,985)
Brighton (£1,880)
Cambridge (£1,870)
Chelmsford (£1,857)
Salford (£1,739)
Milton Keynes (£1,641)
Edinburgh (£1,620)
What's happening in the rental market? 🏡
👉 The average advertised rent of properties coming to market outside of London has fallen for the first time since pre-pandemic 2019, dropping by 0.2% to £1,341 per calendar month.
On the other end of the spectrum, the cheapest UK city to rent a property in is Hull, with the average monthly rental price there being £799, while some of the other North West cities featuring in the top 10 include Preston, Lancaster, and Carlisle.
When taking a look nationally, the average advertised rent per calendar month stands at £1,526, as of January 2025 – which is up 4.3% compared with this time year last year.
But Rightmove says that price changes, as well as average rental prices, vary significantly depending on the location.
Take Salford for example, which is one of the most expensive cities for renting, the monthly cost of renting has jumped by 30.5% in the last year, whereas in Dundee, prices have dropped by 3.7% during the same period.