Manchester’s bars, restaurants and hardworking hospitality staff have been celebrated at the Manchester Bar Awards.
Now in its fifth year, the Manchester Bar Awards took place last night, Tuesday 14 March, in a high spirited ceremony at industry favourite Bunny Jackson’s.
Following on from a jam-packed first day back at the Northern Restaurant and Bar Show, the creme de la creme of Manchester’s bartending scene flocked across to the First Street dive bar for a night full of Hooch, tequila and well-deserved accolades.
Put together by a group of Manchester bartenders and hospitality professionals, the awards were organised by the admins of a local Facebook group and first began in 2018 to champion local people working in the industry.
Winners were decided by a public vote from within the Manchester bar community, which is some 17,000 members strong.
Every year the awards pick out the very best operators in the city – with 2023’s categories championing the city’s best new bars, speciality venues and restaurants.
Further categories paid homage to professionals within the industry, with awards given to the best bar backs, front-of-house staff, and rising stars.
Big winners included underground cocktail bar Project Halcyon which took home the award for best new bar, Mulligan’s of Deansgate, which won the speciality venue award for its incredible pints of Guinness, and modern Chinese takeaway Salt & Pepper, taking home the award for best restaurant/food concept.
See the full list of winners from last night’s awards ceremony below.
Manchester Bar Awards 2023 winners
Best New Bar sponsored by Ford’s Gin
Winner: Project Halcyon
Shortlisted: Blinker, Sterling, Exhibition, New Century, Project Halcyon
Best Restaurant / Food Concept sponsored by Tito’s Vodka
Winner: Salt & Pepper
Shortlisted: Salt & Pepper, Sparrows, Kong’s, Climat, Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria
People’s Choice Bar of the Year sponsored by Jameson Irish Whiskey
Winner: Schofield’s
Shortlisted: Blinker, Sterling, Exhibition, New Century, Project Halcyon
Bartender of the Year sponsored by Angel’s Envy Bourbon
Winner: Conor Knowles, Schofield’s
Shortlisted: Jonathan Moncur – Speak in Code, Deana Ferguson – Hawksmoor/Redlight, Adam Montanaro-Taylor – Project Halcyon, Dionysios ‘Dio’ Tzorouchof – Cane & Grain, Conor Knowles – Schofield’s
Outstanding Achievement sponsored by Jagermeister Cold Brew
Winner: The Schofield Brothers
Shortlisted: Abi Dunn – 68 People, The Schofields – Schofields, Sterling, Stock Market Grill, Atomeca, Nathan Larkin – Speak in Code, Dan Berger – Blinker Bar, Paddy & the Team at So Let’s Talk
Front of House Hero sponsored by Cazcabel
Winner: Alex Proudfoot – Wolf at the Door
Shortlisted: Alex Proudfoot – Wolf at the Door, Paola Mariotti – Sterling, Hannah Wingfield – Ramona, Taylor Martin – Tariff & Dale, Oliver Hughes – Ramona
Manchester’s Rising Star sponsored by Old J
Winner: Reah Owen, Project Halcyon
Shortlisted: Reah Owen – Project Halcyon, Caitlyn Grocott – Blind Tyger, Eddie Smyth – Tariff, Joe Kereszteny-Lewis – 10 Tib Lane, Ben Topham-Taylor – Blind Tyger
Bar Back of the Year sponsored by Belle de Brillet
New ‘postboxes of the future’ are being rolled out across the UK
Danny Jones
The Royal Mail is starting to roll out its line of so-called “postboxes of the future” across the UK this year, including right here in Greater Manchester.
It has been dubbed the most important and noticeable transformation to the classic British postbox in its entire 175-year history.
The national postal service teased the modern-day upgrade earlier this year, but the revolutionary new upgrade was officially announced this week, with Royal Mail ushering in a new era of digitally-driven units that should make many lives a lot easier – at least in theory.
Although they might look pretty identical to the iconic red boxes since before the turn of the 19th century have used up and down the country, there are marked differences between the new and the old ones.
Credit: Royal Mail
The biggest change made to the Royal Mail’s soon-to-be standard design is a digitally activated drop-down drawer, which will be able to fit parcels as big as a shoebox, hopefully saving us Brits on a fair few trips to the post office.
You will be able to scan a barcode via the updated Royal Mail app to activate the drawer for larger items; meanwhile, there will be a separate slot for letters and smaller packages.
Additionally, the new range of high-tech postboxes will also be solar-powered, helping the public limited company chase its ‘green’ targets.
Now owned by parent firm International Distribution Services (IDS) – who also oversee Parcelforce Worldwide – following the UK government’s approval of its historic sale to Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský at the end of 2024, the group as a whole is undergoing a significant overhaul.
Britain’s new solar postboxes were first trialled back in April in four towns located throughout the Hertfordshire region: Letchworth Garden City, Ware and Hertford. A fifth was later installed in Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire, too.
Despite being quickly considered a success on the whole, the initial design featured an entirely black top, with polls of civilians and Royal Mail themselves agreeing that keeping them red all over was more in keeping with the brand.
It’s like the old school phone box, isn’t it? We can’t picture it any other way.
📮Attention Postbox Lovers 📮
Royal Mail is upgrading postboxes to accept parcels. They'll gaining a new slot and a solar panel on top
Speaking in a statement, the Royal Mail‘s managing director of ‘out-of-home and commercial excellence’, Jack Clarkson, said: “We are all sending and returning more parcels than ever before.
“This trend will only continue as online shopping shows no signs of slowing, particularly with the boom of second-hand marketplaces. There are 115,000 postboxes in the UK located within half a mile of 98% of addresses, making them by far the most convenient network of parcel drop-off points in the UK.
“Our message is clear – if you have a Royal Mail label on your parcel, and it fits, put it in a postbox and we’ll do the rest.”
The new generation postboxes are now being made permanent in the same locations, with Edinburgh, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester next.
Keep your eyes peeled on the streets as they’ll soon be making a debut in your area.
Manchester Christmas Markets 2025 opening date announced – including Albert Square return
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Christmas Markets are merely months away, and the opening date and important details for 2025’s return have been announced.
It’s official… holidays are coming, and the countdown is on.
Just as we do every year, the Greater Manchester public has been eagerly awaiting news of when the city’s iconic Christmas Markets would be making a comeback for the 2025 festive season.
But now, Manchester City Council has announced that the famous wooden huts will be lining Manchester‘s streets once again from the first week in November, and for the first time in six years, Markets will also be returning to Albert Square.
The Manchester Christmas Markets 2025 return date has officially been confirmed / Credit: The Manc Group | Flickr
Now in their 27th year, Manchester Christmas Markets are known and loved for bring thousands of people into the city centre each year to fill up on the fantastic festive treats and to soak up all the Christmas atmosphere.
While restoration work has been carried out on the city’s Grade I-listed Town Hall building, markets have been spread all across the city centre in recent years, instead of the central hub being in Albert Square – but this year, some of the festivities will return to where they belong.
More than 200 stalls will also be spread across nine other sites throughout the city centre.
Markets will take over 10 major locations across the city centre / Credit: Manchester City Council
Promising to be plenty on offer for seasonal shoppers of all ages, 2025 will see the iconic wooden ski chalet market stalls take over King Street, St Ann’s Square, Exchange Street, New Cathedral Street, Exchange Square, Corn Exchange, and Cathedral Gardens, as well as Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens as usual.
Dominating a twinkling seasonal skyline on Albert Square will be an enormous 50-metre-high ferris wheel, as well as an enchanting vintage carousel for children, and other Christmas fairground-style attractions.
The new ‘A Taste of Christmas’ event will be open on Albert Square until Sunday 4 January 2026, bringing the space back into the heart of the city’s countdown to Christmas festivities and staying open throughout the festive season for families to enjoy into the new year.
Councillors are going all out to make Manchester the world’s number one Christmas city / Credit: Manchester City Council
“We’re going all out this year to make sure that Manchester is the number one city for Christmas – not just in the UK, but in the world,” commented Councillor Pat Karney, who is the Christmas spokesperson for Manchester City Council.
Cllr Karney also teased that there are a few other ‘Santa surprises’ to come that we can expect to be announced in the coming weeks.
He concluded: “In the meantime, dust off your baubles, un-twirl your tinsel, and get ready – Albert’s back.”
Manchester Christmas Markets 2025 will officially open across the city on Friday 7 November and close on Monday 22 December.
That is except for A Taste of Christmas on Albert Square, and the stalls at Cathedral Gardens – which will remain open throughout the Christmas period until 4 January 2026.
Georgina Pellant -
14th March 2023 
