Northern Quarter’s beloved Night and Day Cafe have issued an update on the status of their ongoing noise abatement notice, confirming that the neighbour who initially made the complaint has now moved out and the case lies in the hands of the council.
The iconic Manc music and nightlife institution was issued with an abatement notice by Manchester City Council over 18 months after a single NQ resident made a complaint about the noise back in 2021 and the owners have been battling to stay open ever since.
With countless musicians rallying behind the popular bar and gig venue, just as they did in 2014 when this issue last arose, the campaign to save Night and Day is bigger than ever and while the council are yet to drop the case, the venue has now issued an update as to next steps.
Sharing a lengthy statement on social media, N&D confirmed that the neighbour in question moved out months ago and that the team will now be heading back into court next week, adding that they are “hopeful that this matter will finally be resolved”.
As explained in the message on social media, the building hasn’t had a single noise complaint since the one made by the recently vacated resident and “has continued to operate in exactly the same manner during this period and exactly the same as it has done previously for over 30 years.”
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As opposed to simply echoing the sentiment of many locals — ‘don’t move into Northern Quarter then’ — they go on to maintain that “the source of this problem is that no acoustic consideration was given during the planning and development stages of the apartments next to the pre-existing venue N&D”.
Therefore, they will now be “heading back to court next week for a three-day hearing” with the aim of finally putting the case to be and be left to “continue doing what it does best: putting on bands, nurturing culture and creativity, and putting smiles on the faces of the people that visit the venue.”
As for the individual who initially set off the chain of events, during the last visit to court his partner said the man had since become “a recluse” and lost around 30kg in weight as a result of the stress, with some people unfortunately threatening the pair on social media.
Many online were outraged by the local authority’s decision to issue the notice in the first place, labelling it “ridiculous“, “an insult” and as posing a threat to the arts, culture, local business and the Manchester music scene, although the council have insisted they dont want to close the venue.
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Hopefully, for the sake of all parties concerned, the proceedings will see the case finally reach a positive conclusion and not only enable MCC to move on to more pressing issues but, more importantly, allow Night and Day Cafe to focus on giving Mancs a good night out as it has for more than three decades.
It goes without saying that The Manc is in full support of protecting local businesses — we even hosted a DJ set at N&D earlier this month — and were hugely relieved to hear fellow music venue Gorilla is set to reopen its doors again in the coming weeks. Keeping supporting your independents, people.
Featured Image — Night and Day Cafe/mcrjh.pix (via Instagram)
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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…
Danny Jones -
29th June 2023 
