Mancs have been baffled this morning by the sight of a gigantic mobile phone running around town.
Someone dressed as a phone was clocked moving at pace through Manchester city centre.
The long-legged device travelled from St Peter’s Square down to Piccadilly Gardens before disappearing into the Northern Quarter.
One eye witness said: “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I thought they might be filming a new series of Trigger Happy TV but with an even bigger phone.”
Another person said: “It was quite unnerving because I’m used to seeing my phones normal-sized.”
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When The Manc caught up with the giant phone and asked what they were dressed up for, they refused to answer and just said we’d have to ‘call back at 3pm’.
They also mumbled something about an exciting opportunity before they vanished.
We caught something about Mobile Phones Direct too, which is a brand owned by AO that sells ‘as-new’ mobile phones for a fraction of the price.
AO is the first online retailer to stock these ‘as-new’ phones, with handsets including iPhones from the official Apple factory with 12-month warranties.
Manchester has a bit of a habit for producing giant versions of everyday objects – who could forget the huge pigeon casually strolling past normal-sized ones a few years back.
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And now we’re all sitting waiting for the giant phone to reappear at 3pm today to see what all the fuss is about.
You might want to keep an eye on The Manc’s Instagram and TikTok pages…
Update – 10 August
The mystery of the giant phone was solved on Wednesday afternoon, when it turned out the giant phone was giving away a free, brand-new, iPhone 14 Pro.
The big device went live on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram and began to run all over Manchester city centre again, prize in hand.
The first person to track him down – and he was fast – sing a ring tone, and shout Mobile Phones Direct, was declared the winner.
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And Jake Whitehead was the lucky soul who scooped himself a brand new phone after sprinting all the way from the Northern Quarter to catch The Manc on Cooper Street.
Perfect timing, too – Jake had smashed his own phone the day before…
The independent Manchester gym that’s spent eight years getting the city’s office workers stronger
Daisy Jackson
In a city centre that has changed almost beyond recognition over the past eight years, one Manchester gym has stuck to a simple idea – getting people stronger shouldn’t have to take over their lives.
Tucked away on Kennedy Street, opposite Manchester Town Hall and just a short walk from St Peter’s Square tram stop, P1 Fitness Studio is celebrating its eighth year in business.
This local success story has been built by husband-and-wife team Peter and Abby, who wanted to build the kind of gym they actually wanted to train in themselves, after becoming increasingly frustrated with what they saw as the ‘normal gym scene’.
Their answer was to create something different: a smaller, calmer space where people could be coached properly, recognised when they walked through the door and actually enjoy coming to train.
Eight years later, Peter and Abby are still hands-on in the independently owned business, working alongside a coaching team of five.
Welcome to P1 Fitness, in Manchester city centre / Credit: The Manc Group
There is no franchise model or corporate head office. Just the same basic philosophy they started with in 2018, which seems to have resonated with a particular part of Manchester.
P1’s members are predominantly busy professionals – lawyers, architects, creatives, teachers, business owners and office workers – many of them in their 30s, 40s and beyond.
For people spending much of their working lives behind a desk, the proposition is deliberately straightforward – you don’t need to live in the gym to become stronger and healthier.
P1 believes two properly coached strength sessions a week can make a meaningful difference.
Sessions last 50 minutes and run throughout the working day, meaning members can train before work, at lunchtime or after work. There are showers, changing facilities, towels and toiletries too, making it possible to fit training around a working day rather than the other way round.
More recently, the studio has added an infrared sauna, giving members somewhere to recover and switch off before heading back to the office or home.
The independent Manchester gym that’s spent eight years getting the city’s office workers stronger / Credit: The Manc Group
P1 specialises in small group personal training, with a maximum of six people per coach.
Everyone follows a structured strength programme, but the coaching is adapted to the individual. Exercises, weights, and progressions can all be changed depending on someone’s ability, goals, injuries or simply how they’re feeling that day.
So someone picking up a barbell for the first time can train alongside somebody who has been lifting for years, without either being pushed through the same generic circuit.
It’s also not the kind of gym where you’ll see your own reflection staring back at you at every turn, because the focus is on becoming stronger and moving better, rather than how you look.
The idea is longevity – looking after your joints, maintaining muscle, building strength, and staying capable of doing the things you want to do outside the gym as you get older.
Or, in P1’s own words: “Built stronger to last longer.”
And there’s some impressive evidence that the approach has encouraged people to stay the course.
Based on its current schedule of roughly 75 coached sessions a week, P1 estimates it has delivered more than 31,000 coached sessions across its eight years.
Some of the people attending those sessions have been there since the doors first opened.
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Rather than celebrating short-term transformations, P1 marks the less glamorous (but arguably more meaningful) milestones: members receive T-shirts when they reach 100, 250, and 500 training sessions.
That means there are members whose relationship with the studio is measured in hundreds of coached sessions and several years, rather than a six-week challenge.
And over time, the gym has become something more than somewhere to lift weights.
P1 increasingly describes itself as a ‘third space’ for Manchester professionals – somewhere between home and work where people can train, switch off, see familiar faces and feel part of a community.
People train alongside many of the same faces each week, and coaches get to know the people they’re working with.
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There are socials, themed workouts, challenges, member celebrations and charity events to really build that P1 community – for example, members raised more than £1000 for Parkinson’s UK through a bake sale last year.
The business has also increasingly taken its philosophy beyond its own four walls, working with Manchester companies and corporate teams on strength training and health education, including sessions around women’s health, men’s health, nutrition and sustainable strength training.
P1 has won Best Strength Training Gym of the North West at the National Fitness Awards in 2023, 2024 and 2025, while also being shortlisted three times for the National Fitness Awards’ Functional Training Gym of the Year UK award.
But perhaps the more remarkable achievement is simply making it through the last eight years as an independent city-centre business.
Since P1 opened, Manchester has had to navigate Covid and lockdowns, the huge shift towards home and hybrid working, and the major redevelopment around Town Hall and St Peter’s Square.
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The city centre around the studio has changed dramatically, but the basic idea inside P1 hasn’t. It’s not just a gym, but a third space with a barbell in the middle of it.
Find out more and book your first sessions with P1 in Manchester HERE.
Featured Image – The Manc Group
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A FREE shopping event dedicated to saving students money is returning to Manchester Arndale
Thomas Melia
One of the city centre’s most popular shopping events helping students save money is returning to Manchester Arndale and the city centre.
MCR Student Socialis heading back to the city with its big discounts, freebies, giveaways and plenty of entertainment to keep you busy while you browse.
This interactive shopping event encourages new and current students to wander roundManchester Arndaleand the surrounding streets while snapping up some seriously good deals.
Expect discounts of up to 50% off at 120 stores including big high street retailers like Champion, Søstrene Grene, Selfridges, Sephora, and Berghaus.
This incredible 50% off deal continues into some of Manchester Arndale’s big-name food vendors like Wingstop, Archie’s, Barburrito, Sides, HOP Vietnamese and more.
If you’re after carrying thatZara Larssonenergy into your next academic year, the Arndale’s Rhinestone Rodeo celebration includes a Charm Bar in Exchange Court, where you can turn photos into personalised charms.
No shopping trip is complete without a matcha in-hand and you can bag yourself a free hot or iced drink in Exchange Court at the Cult Beauty Matcha Station.
Look out for our Audio North truck on Market StreetThe Manchester Arndale MCR Student Social is back
There’s even the Arndale’s Party Tuk Tuk which will be roaming around the city-centre shopping complex blasting out hip-hop tunes and some of your song requests.
Just outside Manchester Arndale on Market Street, there’s plenty of activities split across three dedicated zones, like Food & Drink by familiar foodie faces like Franco Manca and Great British Doner.
The Party Zone will be buzzing as Footasylum, Museum of Illusions and Urban Playground all unite, while there’s plenty of giveaways over at the Info Zone with brands like Science + Industry Museum and RSPB.
And, our very ownAudio North x The Manc DJ Truck is soundtracking Market Street with student DJs playing out everything from dance and funk to classic party anthems.
MCR Student Social is taking place on Thursday 24 September at Manchester Arndale from 12pm to 7pm and you can find more information via its official websiteHERE.
Daisy Jackson -
9th August 2023 
