First came V-Rev, then Frost Burgers. What The Pitta, Purezza and Vegan Shack soon followed suit. Now, another fast food-style vegan spot, The Vurger Co, is tipped to be opening in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
Already hugely popular in London and Brighton, The Vurger Co. is now set to try its luck up north as it expands into Manchester to open what will be the group’s fourth site – following openings in Shoreditch, Canary Wharf and Brighton.
Image: The Vurger Co
First founded as a market stall in North London back in 2016, the concept has come a long way from those early DIY pop-up days – and now even has its own range of vegan sauces and mayos for sale through Ocado, Whole Foods Market, Planet Organic and Selfridges.
Due to open this April, it will move into the Northern Quarter’s Transmission House development on Tib Street as it launches its largest and ‘most ambitious’ restaurant to date.
Menu-wise, think indulgent burgers like their classic New York Melt, Buffalo Vurger (crispy ‘chicken’ patty dipped in buffalo hot sauce) and Hunny Chicken (house-made vegan honey, drizzled over The Vurger Co’s chicken patty, with honey mustard aioli, gherkins, and fresh brioche).
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Image: The Vurger Co
Image: The Vurger Co
Image: The Vurger Co
Elsewhere, you’ll find vegan mac ‘n cheese, crispy dippers, tater tots, fauxerella sticks and a decent vegan shake menu with flavours like strawberry, salted caramel popcorn, banoffee and Biscoff.
Known for its 100% plant-based burgers, which successfully mimick mainstream favourites with the help of some rather good vegan cheese and homemade sauce, unlike some of its competitors The Vurger Co. only cooks with products that have been completely ethically sourced.
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So strong is its commitment to the vegan ethos, all its packaging is also made from plants and is fully compostable, with a customer guarantee that nothing you buy here ends up being dumped in a landfill.
Image: The Vurger Co
With room for 50 covers inside, the new vegan restaurant will open seven days a week with walk-in bookings only from 30 April 2022.
Speaking on the new opening, Rachel Hugh, Co-Founder of The Vurger Co. explained: “This is a really exciting time for us at The Vurger Co.
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“We’ve worked hard to establish ourselves in London & Brighton and can’t wait to be part of the thriving restaurant & food scene in Manchester, one of our favourite cities. Customers can expect amazing plant-based food, packed with texture & flavour that’s fun & delicious.”
Rich Oliver, Senior Asset Manager at Fabrix (the developer behind Transmission House), added: “The Vurger Co’s decision to sign at Transmission House adds a new destination to the vibrant food scene of the Northern Quarter, which has long been known as the home of music and fashion venues.
“The Vurger Co. joins renowned piano manufacturer Bechstein at Transmission House, making it a new hub for tradition and innovation in the heart of the district.”
The new location will open at Unit 2, Transmission House, 11 Tib Street, Manchester. M4 1AE.To keep up to date with the launch, follow @thevurgerco on Instagram.
Feature image – The Vurger Co
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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 -
5th April 2022 
