Beloved British tea brand Typhoo has unfortunately fallen into administration after 121 years but a Manchester company could be set to save it from the jaws of insolvency.
Undoubtedly one of the biggest and best-known brands in the UK, not to mention the teabag of choice for millions up and down the country, Typhoo is a household name to most and has been a mainstay in supermarkets and newsagents for longer than we’ve been alive.
Despite its long-standing reputation and catering to a market of obsessive tea drinkers who aren’t going anywhere, the brew business has proved difficult for them, with a steady decline in sales and increasing losses year on year, as well as levels of debt creeping up to a now unsustainable point.
Financial advisory firm Kroll has now been appointed to handle the administration and find a buyer for the tea business, with a Manchester-headquartered company currently believed to be the frontrunner.
Supreme PLC is London-listed but has a HQ in Manchester.The old Tyhpoo factory which closed last year.Typhoo could be pulled back from the brink of administration. (Credit: Supreme via Facebook)/Rept0n1x via Wikimedia Commons)
Typhoo has been struggling to keep a foothold in the tea markets in recent years – suffering a significant setback when its Merseyside factory on the Wirral was broken into back in August 2023 – however, they have now been given a lifeline by a company just down the road in Stretford.
ADVERTISEMENT
According to industry news outlet, Proactive Investors, vape and battery distributors Supreme Imports (based over in Trafford Park) are now said to be in ‘advanced talks’ to buy the tea brand and save it from going belly up after well over a century on our shelves.
The Bristol-based veterans were acquired by Zetland Capital back in 2021 which looked to have stabilised finances for a little while, but despite steadying the ship in the immediate, the last three years have seen a return to turbulent times.
ADVERTISEMENT
While administration should keep them afloat while a sale is secured, there is still the matter of sizeable debt to be contested with; as of September last year, Typhoo owed more than £73 million to creditors – a whole £20m more than the previous year. In contrast, Supreme recently posted pe-tax profits of £14.7m.
Meanwhile, serious dips in revenue haven’t helped, with losses of around 25% recorded in the previous financial year and the closure of the Moreton plant (which contributed to approximately £24.1m worth of “exceptional costs”) leaving them at risk of going total collapse. It isn’t the heavyweight it once was.
Not for sale in Asda or Tesco for a long time. That doesn’t help!
Conversely, with a diverse portfolio including not only vapes and batteries but lightbulbs, protein powder and bars; other e-cigarette items, the Clearly Drinks brand and even Sealions sleep gummies, Supreme are in the position to potentially rescue Typhoo, although a buyout deal is not yet finalised.
ADVERTISEMENT
It’s unclear what the PLC will ultimately do with the brand should the acquisition be completed but it could prove to be a big coup if they can help it recover.
More importantly, with more than 100 jobs at risk throughout the company, not to mention Tyhpoo’s heritage as a historically significant domestic brand, we would love nothing more than to see the much-loved brew-makers back on their feet and livelihoods kept intact thanks to a local brand of our own.
A ‘legacy walk’ in memory of the Joe Thompson is taking place across Greater Manchester
Danny Jones
The ‘Walk With Me for JT’, a.k.a Joe Thompson ‘Legacy Walk’, is back next month, and Greater Mancunians are being encouraged to take part.
Returning this year following his tragic passing last April, the now annual charity walk has already raised thousands for charity and is set for another big turnout.
Joe Thompson, an ex-Rochdale AFC and Bury FC player, sadly died at just 36 following a long battle with lymphoma, having been diagnosed three different times in 12 years.
While the young husband and father of two’s story is a heartbreaking one, it has also become a source of inspiration for so many across the North West and, indeed, across the UK, with people once again gearing up to complete a fundraising walk in his name.
Set to honour him by making the journey from his adopted home of Rochdale all the way to Old Trafford, with Thompson having come through Man United’s youth academy, the 15-mile trek will start at his former club’s Crown Oil Arena and stop at Bury’s Gigg Lane as well as Salford City’s Peninsula Stadium.
First held in 2024 under the ‘Walk With Me for JT’ banner, the initial legacy walk saw the Bath-born footballer and countless others complete 21 miles in an effort to raise money for treatment.
Gone but never forgotten, the charity walk survives not only in the hearts and souls of his family, friends and other people’s lives he touched, but in the community spirit that his struggle and immense bravery in the face of illness helped spur on throughout the region and beyond.
Writing on social media, the Thompson family and the Foundation in his memory said, “Last year, he walked beside us. This year, we walk for him. This isn’t just a walk… It’s a promise. A promise to carry his strength, his belief, his light forward.
For every family facing illness. For everyone experiencing loss or hardship. For anyone who needs hope right now. Every step matters. Every mile has meaning. Whether you’ve walked before or this is your first time. You won’t walk alone.”
Join the annual Joe Thompson legacy walk on Saturday 2nd May 💙
Departing from the Crown Oil Arena, the 15-mile walk will finish at Manchester United's Old Trafford 🏟️
They signed off by adding: “Be part of something bigger. Be part of Joe’s legacy. Be part of the movement. Get a team together, invite your friends, colleagues and family and let’s raise funds to support The Joe Thompson Foundation.”
With the event beginning at 11am on Saturday, 2 May, there have already been numerous sign-ups, and you can expect even more to lace up their shoes and pay tribute to a local hero.
If you want to join in the effort and help do your bit, you can register for the 2026 Joe Thompson Legacy Walk right HERE.
Manchester rent is now ‘41% more expensive than five years ago, according to a recent study
Danny Jones
Yes, that’s right, as per some of the latest data on leased housing in central Manchester, it’s now approximately 41% more expensive to rent here than it was half a decade ago.
If you’ve lived in and around the city centre for long enough, chances are that you’ve already been feeling that difference, especially of late.
The ongoing cost-of-living crisis roughly began in 2021, following the economy and the world essentially opening back up after multiple lockdowns, so it’s little surprise that new research has shown affordability when it comes to renting has been on a slump ever since, too.
As well as the price of seemingly most things in everyday life going up post-pandemic, the average rental rate for even just a one-bedroom flat/apartment has jumped up significantly between 2020 and 2025.
Even some ‘available’ housing in town is being hampered by claddin (Credit: Valienne via WikiCommons)
That’s according to the numbers crunched by credit card experts, Zable, anyway.
Not only did their recent report cite the rent prices going up even before the cost of living crisis – essentially following the outset of the Covid-19 outbreak – but if their figures, the rate of inflation and the unwaveringly high demand for housing are anything to go by, this trajectory is likely to continue in 2026.
As of February this year, around one in three UK households is now a single-person occupancy, which already comes with its challenges (the Manchester City Council tax discount being a thin lifeline for countless), not to mention energy bills and the cost of groceries continuing on an upwards trend.
Put in the simplest and most reductive terms, it’s now almost £300 dearer for most people to live on their own than it was back in 2020, and besides Liverpool clocking in as second on the list of increasingly expensive cities to live (a 42.12% increase), Manchester came in third.
You can see the full table down below:
Rank
City
% increase – 2020-2025
Difference from 2020 to 2025 in £
Average rental cost for a 1 bed 2025
1
Newport
47.39%
£2,611
£8,121
2
Liverpool
42.12%
£2,290
£7,727
3
Manchester
41.00%
£3,364
£11,569
4
Edinburgh
40.28%
£4,620
£16,090
5
Leicester
39.93%
£2,391
£8,379
6
Wolverhampton
39.22%
£2,049
£7,273
7
Nottingham
39.07%
£2,400
£8,543
8
Glasgow
38.02%
£2,679
£9,725
9
Colchester
37.63%
£2,617
£9,572
10
Cardiff
37.06%
£2,828
Average rental cost for a 1-bed 2025
Another fear is that with lots of people finding it hard to manage living in other major cities like London, even those moving to Manchester are also having an impact on how available affordable housing is here.
That’s why schemes such as the new ‘social rent’ development over in Wythenshawe are so important to the current generations of renters, with the possibility of owning your own property in the future becoming increasingly difficult for so many.
It’s also worth noting that Manchester ranked fourth among the British locations where the cost of living is said to have increased the most over the past five years, with the average difference in annual spend growing by an estimated 22.84%.
Danny Jones -
29th November 2024 
