A number of restaurants, bars and coffee shops have said they will be closing their doors today and tomorrow as temperatures across the region soar above 30C.
Hatch street food traders Fuku and Cheeky Tikka Bites have shared news that they will close up shop today (18 July) and tomorrow – with the latter adding their team will be “enjoying some down time with some chilled drinks and ice creams” as they wait out the heatwave.
Northern Quarter coffee shop North Tea Power has also announced it will close today and tomorrow “due to the high temperature.”
Image: NTP
Elsewhere, Greater Manchester food halls Mackie Mayor and Altrincham Market have both said they will close tomorrow, Tuesday 19 July, amidst the ‘red warning’ heatwave.
Bosses at both the city centre and Trafford food halls said that they made the decision to close in order to protect both their staff and customers from extremely high temperatures, which the Met Office has already warned pose a ‘danger to life’.
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The decision to close affects over ten different traders at the food halls, including Tender Cow, Picoss, New Wave Ramen, Chilli B and Mummas Fried Chicken.
An additional food hall site the Picturedome in Macclesfield, Cheshire, will also remain shut until Wednesday, when ‘much more manageable temperature[s]’ are expected to return, whilst Stretford and Sale food halls remain open as usual.
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Image: Mackie Mayor
Sharing the news on social media, the Mackie Mayor team wrote: “STAY COOL.. Due to the mad temperatures predicted on Tuesday (19th) we’ve decided to close for the day. for the welfare of our staff and customers.
“Sorry for the inconvenience but don’t worry.. we’ll be back to normal on Wednesday with a much more manageable temperature.”
Altrincham’s outdoor market and New Market Square will remain open, with the indoor food and drinks are closed until Wednesday.
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Hatch will stay open, but several of its traders have decided to close up shop for a few days. / Image: Hatch
Last week, Britain’s first ever extreme ‘red’ heat warning was issued by the Met Office with advice for commuters to stay at home and avoid travelling unless deemed absolutely necessary.
The Red extreme heat national severe weather warning covers parts of central, northern, eastern, and southeastern England on Monday 18 July and Tuesday 19 July.
This elevated weather warning followed an Amber Extreme heat warning, which had previously been in place for much of England and Wales for Sunday.
Feature image – North Tea Power
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Simon Wood announces gutting closure of Manchester restaurant after seven years
Danny Jones
Celebrity chef and Manchester local Simon Wood has announced that his self-titled WOOD Restaurant has sadly closed its doors.
The Oldham-born chef-owner who won MasterChef back in 2015, revealed the unfortunate news on Wednesday, 2 October, confirming that the First Street site will be closing immediately. Truly gutting.
Wood has remained one of Greater Manchester’s most-renowned chefs for the past decade, not to mention a huge advocate for supporting the hospitality industry, especially post-Covid and during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Sharing an emotional post on Instagram, he wrote: “It is with much regret that I have to inform you that I must close the doors here at WOOD for good, with immediate effect.”
“We have had 7 years as part of the Manchester city dining scene and I’m very proud of what the team and I have achieved”, the 48-year-old continued.
“Sadly with COVID rent arrears now being demanded by our landlord and an increasingly difficult marketplace, energy increases, ingredient costs and soon-to-be spiralling business rates we just cannot make this work.”
“I’d like to thank everyone for your support and patronage over the years. Thank you, Simon.”
It was only at the start of the week that Wood shared a frustrated post about a group of no-show customers over the weekend that failed to even pre-warn that they would no longer be attending one of his most exclusive and costly experiences.
We’re starting to lose count of how many local businesses are unfortunately struggling in the face of the rising business rates and energy bills that all independents are facing at the minute.
It was only last month that we saw Almous Famous had to call it a day with their Withington location and beloved sandwich spot Micky’s sadly suffer the same fate. Even cult favourite Cafe Marhaba looks to have gone up for sale. So tough to swallow.
We’re genuinely gutted for everyone involved with the brand. All the best, Si – we know you’ll be back stronger than ever one of these days.
Featured Images — The Manc Group
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No trams to run through major Manchester city centre station this weekend
Emily Sergeant
Arguably Manchester city centre’s most important tram stop is set to be out of action this weekend, with no services running through it.
In what is another part of Transport for Greater Manchester‘s (TfGM) ongoing programme of works intended to “maintain and improve” the Metrolink system and ensure tram journeys in Greater Manchester remain “safe, reliable, and accessible”, it’s been confirmed that no trams will run through Cornbrook this weekend.
Due to this, there will be a change to operating patterns across the majority of the Metrolink network on both Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 October.
As is often the case in instances like these, disruption to passengers is expected.
On Saturday and Sunday [5 and 6 October], no trams will operate through Cornbrook.
There will be a change to operating patterns and replacement bus services will be in operation.
On Saturday (5 October), the tram service pattern will change to Altrincham – Old Trafford, Bury – Ashton-under-Lyne, East Didsbury – Firswood, Etihad Campus – Bury (peak time only) / Victoria (after peak only), Manchester Airport – Firswood, Rochdale Town Centre – Deansgate-Castlefield (via Exchange Square), and The Trafford Centre – Wharfside.
Similarly, on Sunday (6 October), the only difference to the above service pattern is that the Etihad Campus tram will only run to Victoria, not Bury.
Services will operate every 12 minutes, except for on the Eccles line, where no trams will run at all.
TfGM is also warning that there may be changes to the first and last tram times during these works, but, in bid to help people still get to their destinations, three bus replacement services will operate from Firswood to Victoria, Old Trafford to Piccadilly, and Eccles to Piccadilly.
No trams will run through major Manchester city centre station Cornbrook this weekend / Credit: TfGM
The Old Trafford to Piccadilly bus service will run through Wharfside, while the Eccles to Piccadilly will travel via MediaCity.
“These works are a vitally important part of maintaining a safe and reliable network for all our customers,” explained
Ian Davies, who is TfGM’s Interim Network Director for Metrolink, said these works are “a vitally important part” of maintaining the Metrolink, and that work has been scheduled by TfGM to “minimise disruption to passengers and residents as much as possible”.
Georgina Pellant -
18th July 2022 
