Manchester has welcomed a new Lord Mayor this week, and he’s ready to “serve hardworking Mancunians who want to see their beloved city thrive”.
Following Councillor Yasmine Dar’s departure from the role, Councillor Paul Andrews has now taken over the reins, and was officially appointed the new Lord Mayor of Manchester during a full Manchester City Council meeting yesterday (15 May).
This makes the “proud Mancunian” the 126th person to hold the Mayor title in the city’s history.
Born in Crumpsall, and spending the majority of his life living in the Bradford area of the city before moving to Wythenshawe in 1959, Cllr Andrews successfully completed an apprenticeship in the print industry following his graduation from Poundswick Grammar School in 1970.
His working life began as a baggage handler at Manchester Airport in 1978, but it was almost two decades before he started his politics career.
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Cllr Andrews was first elected to Manchester City Council in 1996, where he represented the Woodhouse Park Ward.
Manchester has welcomed ‘proud Mancunian’ Paul Andrews as the city’s new Lord Mayor / Credit: Manchester City Council
The “tireless work ethic” he demonstrated throughout his Airport career was carried over into his Councillor role, with other Manchester City Council members often noting his “outstanding” participation in committees, his serving on and completing of two terms on the Executive Committee, and his sitting on numerous governing bodies.
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Most notably, he was the Council’s Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing, and he also served on the Foster Panel for a decade too.
Even throughout his time as a Councillor, Paul was keen to keep to “his roots”, and chose to serve on the Manchester Airport Trust Fund and the Port Health Authority as a way of reflecting his “unflinching dedication” to “bettering Manchester”.
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) May 15, 2024
Celebrating carers is described as one of Cllr Andrews’ and his wife, Karen’s – who he has been married to since 1996, and has been a “steadfast supporter” in his duty to public life – “most revisited themes”, as he was known for being passionate about improving the livelihoods of vulnerable young people with help through volunteers and professional organisations.
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Outside of his political life, Cllr Andrews’ favourite way to pass the time is fishing, and he also likes to take regular visits to Ireland and Scotland with his family.
“To be appointed as Lord Mayor of this city is humbling and an utmost honour,” Cllr Andrews said after being appointed as the new Lord Mayor of Manchester yesterday.
He said the honour is one he “does not take lightly”.
“As I seek to serve hardworking Mancunians who want to see their beloved city thrive, under my tenure and through our core values of hard work, collaboration, and innovation, I aim to continue Manchester’s legacy of being a city that supports our residents to succeed,” Cllr Andrews concluded.
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
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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…
Emily Sergeant -
16th May 2024 
