Two of the most popular nightclubs in Manchester city centre are to back students’ drink spiking protests by shutting on Wednesday.
Following growing national concern over the rise in drink spiking at nightlife venues across the UK, the two indie nightclubs 42nd Street – known colloquially among students and locals alike as ’42s’ – and The Venue Nightclub will close doors for the night on Wednesday 27 October in support of the boycott – which has been set up by members of the Student’s Union at the University of Manchester in a bid to get spiking taken more seriously.
Student nightlife staple 42s has confirmed it will pay staff in full for their work that evening, despite remaining closed.
In a statement addressing the decision to close posted on the club’s social media pages yesterday, 42 Street said: “After careful consideration, we have decided we are going to close next Wednesday 27th October.
“This is not a decision we have taken lightly, particularly as we have a lot of staff who rely on their income from 42s [and] as such, we will still be paying our staff for the night, despite being closed.
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“Everyone has the right to feel safe on a night out, it is important our staff and customers know that we take their safety very seriously.
“This is not a knee jerk reaction, we have consistently put our customers and staff at the forefront of our identity.
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“We support the @girlsnightinmanc initiative to improve the safety of people on a night out.”
The closures follow growing national concern over the rise in drink spiking at nightlife venues across the UK / Credit: Unsplash (Antoine Julien)
The Venue Nightclub has also taken the decision to close this Wednesday “in support of the protest taking place requesting nightclubs to take more action on protecting people from harm”, confirming that all ticket holders for Wednesday’s event will be automatically refunded, and that the club is in discussions with the licensing team from Manchester City Council to come up with a solution.
In a statement shared to the club’s Facebook page last week, The Venue said: “Whilst we have taken a number of steps ourselves, nobody should ever feel unsafe whilst on a night out [and] we are in constant dialogue with Manchester Licensing, our Security Team, and our staff to do more to stop what is an increasingly concerning issue.
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“As a Nightlife Operator, our customers safety has always been, and will remain, our number one priority.
“Since increasing reports emerged of these issues, we have already implemented a number of procedures in place to ensure a safe environment, such as increased search policies, welfare policies, promoting awareness to customers and creating an environment where customers feel they are able to report their concerns to staff whilst in The Venue.”
“We stand alongside everyone protesting that this issue must be given focus and eradicated from the nightlife sector,” the statement concluded.
The Venue also said it would “welcome all feedback” on what it can do to make clubbers “feel safer” in the future.
The decisions taken by the two clubs to close their doors on Wednesday in honour of the boycotts have been met with mixed reactions by students, who have taken to the comments sections underneath the social media posts on Facebook and Instagram to voice their opinions, with some welcoming and praising the decision, but others pointing out potential wider motives – including one Instagram user who said: “42s is closing on Wednesday so that you won’t be able to boycott them and they won’t suffer any losses and you’re all eating it up,” – and referencing alleged incidents during previous nights out in each of the establishments.
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The boycotts have been set up by members of the Student’s Union at the University of Manchester in a bid to get spiking taken more seriously / Credit: Flickr
The Manchester-based boycotts form part of the wider ‘Girls Night In’ initiative, which will see protests up and down the country on popular student nights, with people being asked to help encourage leaders to take action against the recent spate of spiking incidents.
“We’d like a response from Manchester Combined Authority, from Andy Burnham and Sacha Lord,” 19-year-old Emily Bennett – Liberation and Access Officer at the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union – told the MEN.
“We want to see them put measures in place.
“We want to see them funding anti-spiking devices, making it really clear that they don’t accept spiking. We want clear policies and procedures in place [and we want them to] try their best to catch the people spiking, and to know that there is support for those spiked.”
Discussing the issue of drinks being spiked with Mike Sweeney on BBC Radio Manchester last week, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “It’s just completely off the scale.
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“This thing is about again women and girl’s safety, you know, I’ve said before Mike, my daughters tell me some of the things that happen when they’re on nights out and it’s just it’s ridiculous. We thankfully – I’ve checked with GMP – haven’t had many reports of this, although there were some in the Fallowfield area at the time when the students were coming back to university.
“There was about five reports of drinks being spiked and we have looked into that.”
Mr Burnham also then added that: “This one’s for the men. This one’s for the boys. Get a grip, sort this out, don’t tolerate it. You know, we’ve all got mums, we’ve all got sisters, we’ve all got daughters. This, this is on us this one. Not on women, this is on us.
“Clubs do have to do more, so do men and boys.”
Featured Image – Google Street View
News
Kylie Minogue in Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more for ‘Tension’ tour
The unofficial Queen of Australia and Britain’s adopted pop princess, Kylie Minogue, is bringing her dance tracks to Manchester, taking up residence in AO Arena for two nights of pop perfection.
Whether you first got to know Kylie from her stint on Neighbours, her delicious range of branded wines or her marvellous discography, it’s safe to say this star has built quite a legacy.
She loves coming across the pond to the UK and Manchester, specifically, playing the legendary AO Arena over 30 times, and we’re grateful for every single one, especially these two upcoming shows.
Kylie has played at AO Arena, Manchester over 30 times and we’re certainly not complaining.
Now Kylie is returning with her long-awaited ‘Tension Tour’ which features the huge phenomenon that is ‘Padam Padam’ as well as her newest single ‘Lights Camera Action’.
Kylie Minogue UK tour dates
Fri 16 May – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
Sat 17 May – Newcastle, UK – Utilita Arena
Mon 19 May – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
Tue 20 May – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
Thu 22 May – Liverpool, UK – M&S Bank Arena
Fri 23 May – Sheffield, UK – Utilita Arena
Mon 26 May – London, UK – The O2 Arena
Are there tickets left for Kylie at AO Arena?
If you’re ready to get into the ‘Real Groove’ with this Aussie act, there are two Manchester dates you can get tickets for, and if we didn’t know any better, we’d say she did this ‘Especially for You’.
Fancy spending a night like this with Minogue and her crew on Monday, 19 May? You’ll be able to find tickets HERE.
Better still, if you fancy seeing her back to back or can’t make the first date for whatever reason, she’ll be playing again just 24 hours later.
Kylie Minogue ‘Tension’ tour setlist
According to her most recent gig recorded on the ever-trusty Setlist.fm, anyway…
Lights Camera Action
In Your Eyes
Get Outta My Way
What Do I Have to Do?
Come Into My World
Good As Gone
Spinning Around
Taboo
On a Night Like This
last night i dreamt i fell in love
Better the Devil You Know
Shocked
Things We Do for Love
Dancing
The Loco-Motion
Hold On to Now
Cupid Boy
Kiss Bang Bang
Chocolate
2 Hearts
The One
Where the Wild Roses Grow
Say Something
Supernova / Real Groove / Magic / Where Does the DJ Go?
Confide in Me
Slow
Timebomb
Edge of Saturday Night
Tension
Can’t Get You Out of My Head
All the Lovers
Padam Padam
Love at First Sight
What are the stage times for Kylie in Manchester?
Kylie is heading to AO Arena, Manchester for two nights of the ‘Tension Tour’.
If you’re head is ‘Spinning Around’ trying to work out your plans ahead of the big night, fear not as doors open from 6pm with the show commencing at 7:30pm.
Support comes in the form of Jodie Harsh, a London-based drag queen and music producer, who’ll be tailoring a DJ set especially for both nights of the ‘Tension Tour’.
AO Arena has a curfew of 11pm, meaning you can watch this pop princess in action and don’t have to wait ‘A Second to Midnight’ to hear all her timeless hits. Last pun, we promise…
How to get to AO Arena
Tram
For those of you heading to AO Arena, luckily, it’s connected to Manchester Victoria Station and it has an integrated Metrolink stop to make your life even easier.
Head along the pink, light blue or yellow lines directly to the Victoria stop, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Train
Considering this live entertainment venue is situated right in the middle of one of Manchester’s most frequented stations, concertgoers should find no problem getting to the arena, wherever they are.
Bus
A variety of buses cover AO Arena andVictoria Station on their route, such as the 2 bus, which stops just a one-minute walk away from the venue.
A full list of buses and their routes can be found HERE.
The Arena has its own official CitiPark, with 958 car parking spaces, including 40 Blue Badge parking bays, which can be booked in advance.
Alternatively, anyone attending a gig can park at their nearest train station and jump on a train service or the various Metrolink park and ride facilities.
Walk/cycle
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app.
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About the AO Arena
The AO Arena has a few strict policies to keep gig-goers safe, so make sure to check entry requirements carefully before you travel.
For example, only one small bag per person is allowed, and bags like backpacks, travel cases and laptop bags are not permitted inside the arena.
All bags are scanned on entry to check for prohibited items like laser pens, flares, projectiles, weapons, drugs and alcohol, and even selfie sticks.
Manchester has been named among the best places in the UK to buy your first home in 2025.
There’s no doubt the property market in our region has been booming over the last decade or so, with average house prices seeming to rise year-on-year, and more and more areas becoming viewed as the places to live.
You may remember that one Greater Manchester area was recently named a ‘property hotspot’ for 2025 by Rightmove based on last year’s data, while not too long ago, neighbourhoods such as Bramhall, Broadheath, and Bowdon were identified as being the places where houses prices were shooting up the most.
Another recent national ranking by Savills singled-out two of our region’s neighbourhoods as being some of the ‘most desirable’ Britain has to offer.
But this time round, it’s the city itself getting its chance to shine.
Manchester has been named one of the most in-demand places to buy your first home / Credit: Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)
Rightmove has compiled a list of what it believes are the top 10 best areas in the UK for first time buyers looking to get their foot on the property ladder in 2025 – and Manchester has made the cut right near the top.
Rightmove analysed the 50 highest-populated cities in Great Britain to see where first time buyers are looking to settle down in the most this year.
Manchester takes second place on Rightmove’s list though, with average asking prices just below £211,000, with Edinburgh following closely behind in third at £251,000.
Top 10 most in-demand UK areas for first time buyers 2025
Glasgow
Manchester
Edinburgh
Leeds
Sheffield
Liverpool
Birmingham
Bristol
Nottingham
Southampton
But it’s Glasgow that has been named Britain’s most in-demand city for first time buyers.
Here the average asking price for a typical first time buyer property in the city is £148,979, which is significantly below the national average first time buyer asking price of £228,551.
Overall, Rightmove says the data from this year’s analysis shows a trend of first time buyers looking towards northern cities, with five of the top 10 locations situated in the north of England, considering Leeds takes fourth place with an average asking price of £182,420, while both Sheffiled and Liverpool round out the top six.
Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, and Southampton complete the list, with Bristol having the highest average asking price among the top 10 at just above £283,000.