The owner of an independent Manchester restaurant has shared a heartfelt thank you to the visitors that showed their support over the weekend.
Hundreds of hungry people were spotted queueing around the block for a chance to get into The Thirsty Korean restaurant in Chorlton this past Sunday after Sacha Lord announced he’d be footing the bill and paying for everyone’s food and drink.
The Parklife and Warehouse Project co-creator told people to the most of his card being behind the till at the Manchester Road restaurant as he promised to cover all costs on the night from between 4pm and 10:15pm, regardless of how many visitors turn up.
Lord revealed he had chosen The Thirsty Korean to support as he had previously met with the owner, Eunji Noh – who he called “amazing” and said has “great pride in what she does” – and explained that he first became aware of the restaurant after Eunji was reported as having been bullied and was suffering racist abuse in the midst of advertising her business.
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The Altrincham-born businessman encouraged Mancs to “stand up to the bullies” and “rinse me” by turning out to show their support for the beloved indie restaurant.
After the event proved to be so successful, with hundreds making their way down and many even struggling to get in, owner Eunji Noh has taken to The Thirsty Korean’s official social media pages to share her “thousand thanks” to the public in a heartfelt message.
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She also explained why the support means to her.
We’ve seen neighbours coming out and offering people in the queue cups of tea. Manchester at its finest.
“A thousand thanks… no no no…. a zillion thanks for visiting us,” Eunji said on social media, as she revealed her difficulty journey to this point after founding the restaurant in 2019.
She continued: “I arrived in Manchester in October 2018. Opened The Thirsty Korean in June 2019, and I was busy for five weeks until lockdown started due to COVID in March 2020.
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“All I had was the money I made over the last five weeks [plus] a Government grant, which I spent on venue lease and standing bills. When I was able to reopen again in June 2020, I had about £700 left in my business bank [which] I had to decide [if I would use to] buy a flight ticket to go back to Korea and drop everything here, no more The Thirsty Korean, or buy minimum ingredients for food and pouring beers as possible just to reopen.”
Eunji explained that she chose the latter of the two choices, but then made a “wrong decision” by working with a marketing company that “didn’t guarantee any outcome” and had to continue not being paid and doing everything she could and using all she had just to “maintain the business”.
She continued: “Since last year, I was hit by energy price hikes and the expensive prices of all imported ingredients. I am very honest here now, I had to put all of my money just to pay electricity bills which was charging us over £1,600 only for three weeks… [and] this year, we are facing alcohol prices being more expensive again.
“This is not only my story. This is what every independent business is going through. Many of them went through much worse and had to close forever.
“I am lucky that I have survived this far.”
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Closing out her statement, Eunji thanked everyone once again for visiting The Thirsty Korean over the weekend, and urged people to continue to “be supportive to local indies” and praised those businesses for helping to make local communities “diverse and beautiful”.
2024 Manchester Marathon raises £29 million for local economy and over £3.7m for charity
Danny Jones
Just under a fortnight on from the 2024 Manchester Marathon and the numbers are finally, with the annual race generating nearly £30 million for the local economy and raising over £3.7m for charity.
This year’s Adidas Manchester Marathon saw record numbers of runners and spectators as over 30,000 took part in the popular race, up by roughly 6,000 from 2023, and more than 125k turned up to line the streets of Greater Manchester.
As a result, these huge crowds spent upwards of £29.2 million at business around the city centre and around the 10 boroughs last weekend, serving as one of the most significant contributions to the local economy on the annual calendar.
Not only was this an approximately £8m increase on last year’s tally but, most importantly, a sizeable chunk of that went straight into both regional and national charities.
The 2024 adidas Manchester Marathon was a spectacular day for the city and its economy.
Beyond the boost to local vendors, the hospitality sector and retail businesses, over £3.7 million were allocated to charities such as Alzheimer’s Charity, Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and The Christie.
Over £32,000 was also raised for the Trafford Active Fund, with £1 from every paid entry to the Adidas Manchester Marathon and Manchester Half donated directly to the initiative that benefits local sports clubs and organisations through Trafford Council.
Better still, with City of Trees selected as the chosen ‘Green Runner’ charity, the eco-friendly drive saw roughly 7% of participants opt out of receiving either a finisher t-shirt, medal or both.
The money saved in production goes towards maintaining woodlands and wildlife across Greater Manchester.
Together you have raised over £3.7 million for charitable causes, adding even more meaning to those 26.2 miles 💕 Well done and thank you to all those who fundraised and donated! 🌟Tag us in those charity top pictures from last weekend 😍😍#ManchesterMarathonpic.twitter.com/5gsi6NtFzB
This year’s Manchester Marathon also helped produce some of the highest number of passengers on public transport in the city’s history, with a over 175,000 journeys made on Metrolink alone – the highest number of journeys ever recorded on a single day.
This was a 20% increaseon 2023’s race day (145k), spotlighting how the event continues to be more environmentally conscious as years go by.
With the 2025 adidas Manchester Marathon confirmed to be taking place on Sunday, 27 April next year – and over 12,000 places already sold – the city can already look forward to reaping the economic and social benefits of hosting one of Europe’s largest, flattest, friendliest and most-loved marathons.
Featured Images — Adidas Manchester Marathon/The Manc Group
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Co-op Live boss resigns just days before venue’s official opening
Daisy Jackson
The boss of Co-op Live, Manchester’s enormous, ground-breaking new arena, has resigned from his position just days before the venue is set to open.
The enormous music-first arena has been taking shape beside the Etihad Stadium for several years, and was due to welcome its first official audiences this week, but has been hit with last-minute challenges.
And now Co-op Live‘s boss Gary Roden has quit the mammoth project, with the news of his resignation announced late Thursday evening.
Oak View Group, which Co-op Live is part of, said in a statement that they would like to ‘thank Gary for his help bringing the UK’s newest arena to live entertainment fans’.
Stepping into his shoes as interim general manager will be Rebecca Kane Burton, who previously ran the U.K.’s highest-grossing venue, London’s The O2 arena.
Gary has previously come under fire for saying that some grassroots music venues ‘poorly run’ – a statement that OVG has now distanced itself from.
A separate statement said that ‘neither Co-op Live nor Oak View Group share the sentiment expressed by former Co-op Live General Manager Gary Roden regarding the grassroots industry’.
It continued: “As OVG Chairman and CEO Tim Leiweke has repeatedly stated, Co-op Live remains committed to grassroots music in Manchester and beyond, including teaming up with Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham on the Artist of the Month campaign, and as a founding partner of Beyond The Music.
“Co-op Live also donates over £1m a year to the Co-op Foundation to support communities and empower young people to take social action through its new Young Gamechangers fund.
“Oak View Group and Co-op Live remain happy to meet with grassroots organisations once the venue is fully operational.”
Co-op Live boss Gary Roden speaking at the launch of Co-op Live just days before he resigned. Credit: The Manc GroupInside Co-op Live in Manchester
The news of the venue’s boss stepping down comes at a time when all eyes are on Co-op Live, the opening of which has been delayed.
The venue did host a test event with Rick Astley last weekend, but even that faced difficulties, with thousands of tickets cancelled to reduce capacity just hours before showtime.
It’s now set to officially open this Saturday 27 April with a performance by rock group The Black Keys.
The full statement from OVG about Gary’s resignation said: “Gary Roden has decided to resign. We’d like to thank Gary for his help bringing the UK’s newest arena to live entertainment fans and wish him the best for the future.
“Rebecca Kane Burton has been named Interim GM, effective today. Rebecca is a seasoned veteran of venue management and live entertainment in the UK having served as VP/GM of The O2 from 2012-2016 and CEO of LW Theatres from 2016-2021.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd August 2023 
