The North Face is opening a new store inside Manchester Arndale, it has been revealed today.
The Manchester city centre shopping centre has announced that the outdoor retailer, known and loved as a classic winter staple, will move into a 3,630 sq ft unit inside the main thoroughfare of New Cannon Street, close to Next.
The outdoor clothing retailer has just signed a 10-year lease on the site, meaning that fans of The North Face brand will now have a dedicated go-to spot to pick up those famous goose down jackets.
The North Face specialises in producing outdoor clothing and footwear, as well as skiing, climbing and other outdoor pursuits equipment for the adventurous.
Already established and well-known here in the UK, this will be the second time that The North Face has opened a store in Manchester city centre. Previously, it had a storefront at the intersection of Deansgate and John Dalton Street.
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The brand is currently seeking to grow its presence in the North West, building on its existing outlets in Liverpool and Trafford.
Credit: The North Face
The North Face has become the latest in a series of international fashion brands that have recently opened new stores at Manchester Arndale.
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These include Moss, Gilly Hicks, Hollister, Kurt Geiger, Carvela and Tommy Jeans, as the shopping centre continues to grow Manchester’s fashion offerings.
The letting also continues an impressive run of new lettings at Manchester Arndale which has seen Nike, Manchester City, Blue Banana, Be More Geek, Oseyo, Black Sheep Coffee and Sunglass Hut sign at the centre since the start of the year, taking retail occupancy to around 95%.
Steve Gray, Head of European Retail Asset Management at Global Mutual, said: “We are delighted that The North Face has become the latest big-name brand to sign a long-term letting at Manchester Arndale.
“Our leasing activity since the pandemic has seen us welcome a truly diverse mix of international and local businesses, as well as a wide variety of retail, leisure, and F&B brands, to ensure there is something for everyone visiting Manchester Arndale.
“Through this approach, footfall has continued to strengthen and demand for well-placed units has remained, so high that we are approaching 100% occupancy, allowing us to avoid the struggles faced by other retail centres, and cement our position as the North West’s leading retail destination.”
New data estimates that 7.3m Oasis fans are set to miss out on 2027 tour tickets
Emily Sergeant
New data has revealed that as many as 7.3 million Oasis fans could be set to miss out on tickets to the band’s 2027 tour.
In case you need bringing up to speed a little, it was announced earlier this week that, following the unprecedented success of the reunion tour, Oasis Live ’25, last year, including five nostalgia-drenched gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park, Oasis would be hitting the road once again in 2027, and this time around, they’re going BIG.
We’re talking 11 nights at the Etihad Stadium and a return to the iconic grounds of Knebworth for four special shows there too, kind of ‘big’.
The iconic Manchester band will also be taking to a range of other world-famous stages across the globe, including five nights at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, and major cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Las Vegas.
But despite the elevated number of dates the Gallaghers and co will be performing, some new data has unfortunately revealed that millions of fans may still not be lucky enough to snag a ticket.
The ticketing system for Oasis Live ’27 is not what it was for the last tour, nor will it be similar to many other tours of a similar scale in the past either, as this time, the band and their promotors are taking necessary measures to ensure ‘genuine fans’ get their hands on the tickets and that dynamic pricing doesn’t creep in.
Instead of going into detail on that now though, you can read our full guide on how to get tickets for the Manchester and Knebworth shows here.
Experts at online ticketing platform TicketSource have analysed the scale of demand for Oasis tickets by comparing the 10 million fans worldwide who queued for the initial release of 1.4 million tickets for their 2025 tour, with the newly announced 2027 tour dates and stadium capacities.
With an estimated 2.67 million tickets available across 38 dates and 11 locations between 21 May and 19 September 2027, Oasis could still face huge demand from fans hoping to see them live.
But research reveals the band would need to play 112 Wembley-sized shows to accommodate everyone who tried to get a ticket in 2025.
The 2027 tour would accommodate just 26.7% of those who tried to get tickets last time, meaning almost three-quarters (73%) of them could miss out, leaving a shortfall of more than 7.3 million fans.
Fingers crossed you’re among the lucky lot that secure tickets, though.
Featured Image – Joshua Halling (Press Image – Supplied)
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Former GMP officer jailed after being found guilty of several online child sex offences
Emily Sergeant
A former police officer from Salford has been sentenced after being found guilty of a string of online child sex offences.
Following a trial back in July, 35-year-old Michael Aspinall was sentenced at Preston Crown Court earlier this week (Monday 14 September) after being found guilty of three counts of attempting sexual communication with a child.
It comes after Aspinall – who was employed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) at the time of the offences – was arrested in October 2024 by detectives from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU), and was immediately suspended from duty following his arrest.
The investigation began after evidence was obtained that Aspinall had been communicating online with individuals that he believed to be children, but he was in fact communicating with a police officer.
Following this series of interactions, he was charged with various offences.
In addition to his eight-month sentence – which has been suspended for two years – Aspinall will also be placed on the sex offender’s register for 10 years, subject to a five-year serious crime prevention order, and have undertake 20 days of rehabilitation, GMP has confirmed.
He has additionally been added to the College of Policing’s barred list.
An application to request forfeiture of Aspinall’s police pension has also been made to the Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester.
“Aspinall’s offending was clearly unacceptable for any right-minded member of society and particularly inappropriate for a serving police officer,” commented Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Humphreys, from GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate.
“His actions put the whole police service under scrutiny, but thanks to the hard work and diligence of undercover officers, he was arrested, found guilty, and has now received his punishment.”
DCI Humphreys concluded: “[Aspinall’s] actions take away from the hard work of the men and women who work so hard for their communities every day, and it is only right that anyone committing these sort of offences are rooted out.”
Georgina Pellant -
5th September 2023 
