Manchester has a reputation for being a 24-hour party city, with a nightlife scene that’s globally renowned.
Since Covid shuttered the world, our city has bounced back in a big way, from gigs, to clubbing juggernauts like the Warehouse Project, to festivals, to club nights.
But while our after-dark socialising is back with a vengeance, there’s a crucial piece of the jigsaw that’s still missing – our public transport.
If you cast your mind back to the autumn of 2019, you might remember Metrolink trams running all the way through to almost 2am.
There are calls for Manchester’s late-night tram network to return / Credit: Unsplash
It was part of a ‘festive enhancement’ championed by both Mayor Andy Burnham and night time economy adviser Sacha Lord, and benefitted not only members of the public but also an estimated 414,000 night-time workers across the city centre.
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Everyone loved it, but then Covid hit and any mention of a late-night public transport offering seemed to disappear again.
According to TfGM, the return of the late-night trams is ‘not being considered’, despite increasing calls for it.
A petition to bring them back has been launched by the Salford Lib Dems, who say: “If you are out working or enjoying yourself late at night, Greater Manchester Councils are giving us a curfew, expensive taxis or a risky walk home in the dark.
“Even at current, the trams are under capacity and do not fit the current population. The local population is set to double in the next 3 years. We want to change this declining service.”
Similarly, local brewery Beer Nouveau said: “We’re supposed to be a party city, but our public transport turns off the music and turns on the lights, closing the parties early.”
Someone else wrote on Twitter: “24 hour or at least late night Metrolink is the missing piece of the jigsaw. Would open everything right up.”
One person said that the idea of Manchester being an international city is ‘b*llocks’ without public transport that runs past midnight.
Manchester – an international city?
Bollocks !
International cities don't have public transport that shuts down before midnight.@AndyBurnhamGM talks about the great future but he can't even get @MCRMetrolink to run a service that supports our night time economy.
At the time of the festive enhancement, Andy Burnham said: “I am committed to improving Greater Manchester’s transport system and one of the things I want to see is later running public transport.
“I’ve been working closely with TfGM and night time advisor Sacha Lord to look at how we can improve night-time transport and help people get home quickly and safely after work or after a night out.
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“So, I’m really pleased we can introduce these enhancements, which will be a welcome boost for the many people that will be working, shopping or socialising over the Christmas period.
Andy Burnham (left) and Sacha Lord (right) / Credit: GMCA
“We will be closely monitoring the uptake to help inform our long-term plans, and ensure we have a transport system that works for everyone.”
Meanwhile Sacha Lord said back in 2019: “Accessible and safe public transport is vital to a thriving night-time economy, for people going out and for the hundreds of thousands of people in Greater Manchester who work at night.”
A spokesperson for TfGM said this week that returning to later-running trams would be looked into if there was the right demand.
Danny Vaughan, TfGM’s Head of Metrolink, said: “The return of late-night trams is not currently being considered, though we would like to explore this in the long-term if there is demand for it.”
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The Manc has approached Andy Burnham and Greater Manchester Combined Authority for comment.
Featured Image – Unsplash
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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…
Daisy Jackson -
22nd July 2022 
