First Soho House, now Queen Street: another new private members club is coming to Manchester as the city’s ever-bustling nightlife continues to evolve.
Yes, just off the street of the same name located near Spinningfields, where some of the most luxurious Manc hospitality destinations already lie, a new private members facility is set to pop up next month.
From the team behind the BEAT Club in London, one of the capital’s most exciting and renowned venues located in the famous Fitzrovia district, they are hoping to deliver the same kind of opulence with the Queen St Members Club.
Opening on Saturday, October 5, the new private members club is set to beat leading industry rival Soho House Manchester when it comes to its launch date, with the latter still only earmarked for early 2025.
Similar to Soho House and other member brands, Queen St will be designed for those seeking an exclusivenight out, with the private club will bring a new level of elegance to Manchester’s party scene.
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The interiors of the highly-anticipated venue blend sleek black leather with grand gold touches, a bespoke lighting system as its eye-catching centrepiece, and the latest Funktion One sound system.
A regular DJ roster will consist of both local and global talent each week and Queen St will obviously offer a private club function, available for members to hire and where guests can create a fully customised party.
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And get this, the club will also be one of the few Manchester venues that will stay open until 6am on weekends, so the party – however private – doesn’t stop until you say it does, essentially.
Memberships will be priced between £300 and £500 per annum, you can already enquire online now if this kind of thing tickles your fancy – or should we say very fancy.
Marc Merran, Owner of the new Queen St Members Club, BEAT and Inca (also in London) said: “We are thrilled to bring this brand new members’ club concept to Manchester.
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“A first of its kind, Queen St is set to become the city’s premier destination for those craving an elevated nightlife experience that mirrors the London members’ club market.”
Meanwhile, as for the worst-kept secret among Manchester’s high society, earlier this year we had a tour of an existing facility to see what we can expect when Soho House finally lands over in the city.
Simon Wood announces gutting closure of Manchester restaurant after seven years
Danny Jones
Celebrity chef and Manchester local Simon Wood has announced that his self-titled WOOD Restaurant has sadly closed its doors.
The Oldham-born chef-owner who won MasterChef back in 2015, revealed the unfortunate news on Wednesday, 2 October, confirming that the First Street site will be closing immediately. Truly gutting.
Wood has remained one of Greater Manchester’s most-renowned chefs for the past decade, not to mention a huge advocate for supporting the hospitality industry, especially post-Covid and during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Sharing an emotional post on Instagram, he wrote: “It is with much regret that I have to inform you that I must close the doors here at WOOD for good, with immediate effect.”
“We have had 7 years as part of the Manchester city dining scene and I’m very proud of what the team and I have achieved”, the 48-year-old continued.
“Sadly with COVID rent arrears now being demanded by our landlord and an increasingly difficult marketplace, energy increases, ingredient costs and soon-to-be spiralling business rates we just cannot make this work.”
“I’d like to thank everyone for your support and patronage over the years. Thank you, Simon.”
It was only at the start of the week that Wood shared a frustrated post about a group of no-show customers over the weekend that failed to even pre-warn that they would no longer be attending one of his most exclusive and costly experiences.
We’re starting to lose count of how many local businesses are unfortunately struggling in the face of the rising business rates and energy bills that all independents are facing at the minute.
It was only last month that we saw Almous Famous had to call it a day with their Withington location and beloved sandwich spot Micky’s sadly suffer the same fate. Even cult favourite Cafe Marhaba looks to have gone up for sale. So tough to swallow.
We’re genuinely gutted for everyone involved with the brand. All the best, Si – we know you’ll be back stronger than ever one of these days.
Featured Images — The Manc Group
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No trams to run through major Manchester city centre station this weekend
Emily Sergeant
Arguably Manchester city centre’s most important tram stop is set to be out of action this weekend, with no services running through it.
In what is another part of Transport for Greater Manchester‘s (TfGM) ongoing programme of works intended to “maintain and improve” the Metrolink system and ensure tram journeys in Greater Manchester remain “safe, reliable, and accessible”, it’s been confirmed that no trams will run through Cornbrook this weekend.
Due to this, there will be a change to operating patterns across the majority of the Metrolink network on both Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 October.
As is often the case in instances like these, disruption to passengers is expected.
On Saturday and Sunday [5 and 6 October], no trams will operate through Cornbrook.
There will be a change to operating patterns and replacement bus services will be in operation.
On Saturday (5 October), the tram service pattern will change to Altrincham – Old Trafford, Bury – Ashton-under-Lyne, East Didsbury – Firswood, Etihad Campus – Bury (peak time only) / Victoria (after peak only), Manchester Airport – Firswood, Rochdale Town Centre – Deansgate-Castlefield (via Exchange Square), and The Trafford Centre – Wharfside.
Similarly, on Sunday (6 October), the only difference to the above service pattern is that the Etihad Campus tram will only run to Victoria, not Bury.
Services will operate every 12 minutes, except for on the Eccles line, where no trams will run at all.
TfGM is also warning that there may be changes to the first and last tram times during these works, but, in bid to help people still get to their destinations, three bus replacement services will operate from Firswood to Victoria, Old Trafford to Piccadilly, and Eccles to Piccadilly.
No trams will run through major Manchester city centre station Cornbrook this weekend / Credit: TfGM
The Old Trafford to Piccadilly bus service will run through Wharfside, while the Eccles to Piccadilly will travel via MediaCity.
“These works are a vitally important part of maintaining a safe and reliable network for all our customers,” explained
Ian Davies, who is TfGM’s Interim Network Director for Metrolink, said these works are “a vitally important part” of maintaining the Metrolink, and that work has been scheduled by TfGM to “minimise disruption to passengers and residents as much as possible”.
Danny Jones -
20th September 2024 
