Former Manchester United midfielder and Salford City FC’s CEO, Nicky Butt, surprised nearby locals with free ice creams and free holidays this week. Now kicking ourselves that we don’t work in Salford Quays.
Popping up in a little blue ice cream van over in Media City, the Class of ’92 legend and Ammies boss teamed up with the Salford City‘s new sponsor loveholidays to hand out not only free scoops to Mancs in the area but a few free getaways to five lucky sods.
The club have recently signed a new partnership with the UK’s largest online travel agent for the 2023/24 season, with the affordable holiday provider sponsoring matchday highlights and offering exclusive holiday-themed competitions for fans throughout the year. Mint.
All that being said, the company didn’t just wanna be yet another football sponsor and so they roped in Butt and Salford defender Liam Shephard to help hand out the free ice creams and make five fortunate Salfordians‘ day, maybe even year, by surprising them with a free holiday.
He was always known for doing whatever job was asked of him.And you always do what the gaffer says…Nicky Butt gives you an ice cream and a free holiday. Totally normal. (Credit: Ben Stevens)
Parking the loveholidays ice cream truck up in the MediaCityUK precinct to serve up a taste of summer on one of the few sunny days we’ve actually had over the past couple of months, the pair put in a different shift from their every day by doing their best impressions of the Great British ice cream man.
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Speaking on the new sponsorship deal and the fun event, Salford’s Marketing Director Katy Leeson said, “We’re pleased to welcome loveholidays on board for the 2023-24 season, and we are really looking forward to working closely with them.
“As a club, we want to work with the right partners, and as a growing brand looking to offer the lowest-priced holidays for our supporters and the Salford community, this is a great opportunity.”
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As for the brand itself, Chief Marketing Officer Al Murray added: “We’re delighted to be joining Salford City Football Club as its official holiday partner and to celebrate our partnership, we wanted to bring some sunshine to Salford with the help of Nicky and Liam.”
Look at that queue.Nice one, Nicky – hope you saved us one (a holiday we mean).
What a great little campaign, well done, guys. Next time though, instead of the Quays can you do it more central — maybe just outside The Manc office? Nice one, cheers.
Manchester Airport launches HUGE January sale with up to 40% off travel essentials
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport is kicking off the new year with a huge January sale, and there’s loads of savings to make the most of.
2026 is here, and with January often being considered one of the least-favourite months of the year, many people will be dreaming of their next holiday and planning when they’re next going to jet off on their travels, which is why Manchester Airport has decided to launch a big January sale – with up to 40% off on travel ‘essentials’.
Unfortunately, we wish it was… but one of those ‘essentials’ isn’t actually the flights themselves.
While you won’t be able to bag a couple of quid off the flight to your next holiday, tourists will be able to save on a range of other travel services instead, as after all, the journey is just as important as the destination.
We’re talking savings on parking places, airport lounges, FastTrack security checks, and even a private terminal to fly from.
When it comes to parking, you can get 15% off T2 Multi Storey West and T2 Meet & Greet, and 25% off all other parking locations for arrivals until 30 April 2026, as well as 15% off all parking locations for arrivals from 1 May until 31 August 2026.
To make your airport experience that little bit more stress-free, you can now get 40% off FastTrack Security for all arrivals until 31 December 2027.
You can get 20% off T1 & T3 Escape Lounges, and 10% off T2 Escape Lounges for all arrivals until 31 March 2027, and if you want to add some luxury to your airport experience, then you can even get 30% off at aether when you spend £400 or more on travel between 1 April 2026 until 30 September 2026.
Many of the offers just mentioned cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer and are subject to availability too, so make sure you don’t get caught out.
Fancy booking a trip then? You can find out more information about Manchester Airport’s January Sale 2026, and book online here.
Featured Image – Ivan Shimko (via Unsplash)
Travel & Tourism
A new design-led hostel with rooms from £41 has opened in the Northern Quarter
Daisy Jackson
A new hostel has launched in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, with rooms starting from just £41.
The staggeringly affordable new accommodation comes from Malacuna, which already has similar sites across Spain and Portugal.
The European brand has now taken over a prime building in the Northern Quarter, just off Stevenson Square, which used to be home to Hatters Hostel.
The Hilton Street hostel features 37 rooms and 132 beds, from private rooms to shared dorms with four, six or eight beds.
These spaces at Malacuna are promising ‘design-led accommodation that doesn’t compromise on style, location or social atmosphere’.
With Manchester now attracting 2.6 million overnight visitors annually, demand for accommodation is surging – especially around major events such as Parklife festival, gigs at Co-op Live and the AO Arena, and football.
And now visitors will finally have somewhere to stay that won’t break the bank, with beds from £41 per night in one of the most sought-after corners of Manchester.
Malacuna is set directly above Wilson’s, a 200-capacity bar and restaurant, and is open now.
Danny Jones -
17th August 2023 
