A vegan burger restaurant has been forced to closed its doors for good just over a year from launching in Manchester.
Liverpool favourite Frost Burgers arrived in the city in January 2021, offering its burgers for delivery-only as part of an exclusive partnership with Deliveroo whilst we were still in lockdown.
However, bosses soon found that demand was so high for their food that they branched out into a bricks-and-mortar unit – taking over a diner space on Portland Street and opening its own Manchester restaurant eight months ago.
Image: Frost BUrgers
Less than a year on, though, owners have now shared an emotional post announcing the restaurant’s shock closure, which will see it close permanently on 14 August after one last service.
Describing themselves as ‘devastated’, owners said that getting the chance to grow Frost Burgers was ‘amazing’ and they ‘couldn’t be more proud of the incredible team” in Manchester.
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Blaming ‘multiplying costs’ that have ‘gotten too much’ to pay their team properly, owners said they had ‘kept going as long as we could.’
They continued: “We knew expanding the business post-pandemic had its risks, but with all the support our Liverpool branch had received we were confident Manchester would be a success.
“Then the current financial situation hit: inflation, increasing food prices, energy bills, supplies and the rapid rise of cost of living has forced us into a situation we cannot come back from.
“It’s a really hard time for any small businesses and we send our love and support to all those still fighting!”
Whilst the Manchester branch will close on 14 August following one last service, the original Liverpool branch will remain open for the foreseeable future for any Manchester fans who still have a hankering come September.
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The full post read: “With heavy hearts, we are devastated to have to announce the closure of our Manchester Location. Our last day of trading will be 14th August.
Getting the chance to grow Frost Burgers was amazing, and we couldn’t be more proud of the incredible team at our Manchester branch, who have knocked it out of the park and captured what Frost Burgers is all about these last 8 months.
Image: Frost Burgers
“We kept going as long as we could for them but unfortunately the multiplying costs have gotten too much to give them what they need.
“We knew expanding the business post pandemic had its risks, but with all the support our Liverpool branch had received we were confident Manchester would be a success.
“Then the current financial situation hit: inflation, increasing food prices, energy bills, supplies and the rapid rise of cost of living has forced us into a situation we cannot come back from.
“It’s a really hard time for any small businesses and we send our love and support to all those still fighting!
“Our Liverpool branch will still be open, and we will try our best to keep that floating, so your favourite burgers aren’t lost just yet.
“If you’d like to come grab a burger and hang out with us one last time over the next couple of weeks, we’d love to see you!
“Thank You so much to everyone for all the support, it truly means the world. Much Love.”
Feature image – Frost Burgers
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Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Georgina Pellant -
2nd August 2022 
