Police are vowing to leave “no stone unturned” as they attempt to find those involved in recent large-scale disturbances in Manchester city centre.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Manchester City Council, and other partner organisations have joined forces in a bid to “identify and apprehend” the people involved in a number of instances in the Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens areas of the city centre over this past weekend.
Officials have claimed this “kind of behaviour will simply not be tolerated” in Manchester.
It comes after last Friday (21 July), GMP were called to two incidents in the city centre – the first involving “a large group of youths” who were congregating in the Market Street/Piccadilly Gardens area just after 3pm, and the second being after officers became aware of video footage circulating on social media of “several people fighting” on Market Street.
#UPDATE | GMP and partners join forces to leave "no stone unturned" to identify and apprehend people involved in large scale disturbances in the city centre
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) July 25, 2023
Three arrests were made on suspicion of public order offences after the first incident, and an adult male was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and affray following the second.
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All those arrested have been released on bail pending further investigations, GMP confirmed.
That’s not all though, as on Monday night (24 July), police were once again called to the city centre following reports of large groups of youths “causing public disorder” – which led to four police officers being assaulted, and subsequently another four people, aged between 16 to 18-years-old, being arrested on suspicion of affray.
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Investigations are currently ongoing to establish whether the three incidents are linked, GMP has revealed, and is working with the Council to “ensure every attempt is made” to identify the instigators of the disturbances.
Police will leave ‘no stone unturned’ to find youths involved in large-scale city centre disturbances / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“We are working closely with our partners to ensure that no stone is left unturned,” Chief Inspector of Neighbourhoods in the City Centre, Stephen Wiggins, assured the public.
“Our investigations are gathering at pace and we will be making more arrests.
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“As part of our large-scale investigation, we have also been undertaking extensive CCTV enquiries and acting on intelligence we have received from members of the public. Officers are being deployed in and around the area in significant numbers to provide reassurance to the local community.”
Several arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, Cllr Luthfur Rahman, says he is committed to making sure “these two unrelated incidents do not reflect Manchester city centre”.
“Together with the police we are sending out a message that we utterly condemn violent or disruptive behaviour in our city.
“We won’t allow these rare incidents to create negative perceptions about our city.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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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 -
26th July 2023 
