A brand-new gym and spa has opened inside one of the most luxurious hotels in Manchester city centre today.
King Street Townhouse’s new purpose-built gym and spa facilities are tucked away inside the four-star hotel’s historic Grade-II listed Italian Renaissance building as part of the upper King Street conservation area, and they’re set to bring an “elevated fitness and wellbeing experience” to the heart of the city centre.
Having officially opened its doors to the public today, the new King Street Townhouse Gym & Spa has its sights set on being a destination for “unforgettable” spa experiences.
Designed by EPR Architects, the spa is decked-out in a soothing palette of calming neutrals and natural materials like timber, marble, and stone to “evoke a sense of deep relaxation and calm”, and designers say each area has been crafted with luxurious wellness in mind.
The new Gym and Spa Salt Cave / Credit: King Street Townhouse
The spa includes four treatment rooms, a thermal suite, a eucalyptus steam room, and an ice fountain, as well as heated loungers, a relaxed dining room in the calming spa lounge, and also boasts a full treatment menu.
The “unrivalled” treatment offering includes bespoke treatments that are exclusive to the hotel from leading skincare and wellness brands ESPA and Perricone MD.
And one of the stand-out new features has to be the immune-boosting Himalayan salt cave.
The new Spa Lounge / Credit: King Street Townhouse
One of the exclusive new spa treatment options is the ESPA Rebalance & Restore Ritual – which is said to be an uplifting massage featuring salt stones, a rose quartz facial, scalp massage and salt inhalation to leave the body, skin, and mind feeling “re-balanced and radiant”.
As mentioned, King Street Townhouse has partnered with Perricone MD to create a range of bespoke specialist spa treatments in a UK-exclusive.
This means that hotel guests will be the first in the country to get the chance to experience the brand’s targeted and results-driven facials, advanced techniques, and holistic approach to skin health like never before.
The new Spa Sauna / Credit: King Street Townhouse
The hotel’s new state-of-the-art gym facility has also been designed to help guests enhance their physical and mental wellbeing.
There’s four specially-designed workout zones for cardio, functional, strength, and free weights to give guests a choice of fitness equipment to suit all strengths and abilities, so no matter whether you fancy doing a quick 10-minutes on the treadmill, or a full HIIT workout and weights session, there’s facilities for everyone’s needs.
King Street Townhouse says its wants its new Gym & Spa to provide a “distinctive experience” to suit people of all lifestyles and wellness routines.
The relaxing Spa Lounge also offers a balanced menu of both light and nutritious food and drinks all day-long, as well as plenty of indulgent treats to tuck into – with a range of vegetarian and vegan-friendly options too.
The new Gym / Credit: King Street Townhouse
“We are delighted to announce the opening of the new King Street Townhouse Gym & Spa,” said Viki Tahmasebi – CEO at THG Experience.
“The carefully-curated space touches upon all aspects of wellbeing to offer a place to unwind, recharge and fully escape from the stress of the everyday.
“Not only does the new expansion offer an elevated wellness destination in the heart of the city, but it also enhances our ‘home away from home’ experience for our hotel guests.”
The new King Street Townhouse Gym & Spa is now open.
Spa facilities are open to both residents and guests, and while gym facilities are exclusively open for hotel residents for a limited time, membership options are launching later in 2022.
Featured Image – King Street Townhouse
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Brighton’s Carlos Baleba is now said to be ‘keen’ on a move to Manchester United
Danny Jones
Manchester United may not yet be done with their transfer business, as another potential summer target, Carlos Baleba, is now reportedly “keen” on a move to the Theatre of Dreams.
The Brighton midfielder popped up on the radar of numerous clubs around Europe following a breakout season in 2024/25.
At just 21 years old, the promising young player has recently emerged as one of the most exciting prospects in the Premier League over the past 12 months or so, and it appears Man United are leading the race to sign him.
Many around the club think the Cameroonian CDM could be the perfect fit for Ruben Amorim’s somewhat makeshift midfield at the moment; perfectly positioned to take the starting spot from an ageing Casemiro or an as-yet unproven Manuel Ugarte. Moreover, it’s now said United appeals to him.
📹🚨🗣️| Laurie Whitwell on Carlos Baleba and Manchester United:
“Now you come to Carlos Baleba, and as you say, Brighton are going to ask for a lot of money for him.
I don’t know an exact figure – I don’t think that’s been communicated yet. Clearly United feel as if they have… pic.twitter.com/MNYQzgeU5a
Whitwell had already explained that the Seagulls would be setting a hefty and perhaps intentionally excessive asking price in a previous episode, as it is understood they would prefer not to sell him at all, with a figure of at least £100 million being floated around as the current rough estimate.
Given that Man United have already forked out over £200m on a selection of new signings – the most recent being striker Benjamin Šeško – the chances of him making the jump in this current window look slim, though it is thought there is still an eventual switch that could be done.
“Talks are continuing”, according to Whitwell. “There are obviously intermediaries working on behalf of United and the player [Baleba] as well, to see if Brighton would be open to this [a deal].
“Brighton are saying he’s not for sale, and there is quite a bit of scepticism at Manchester United as to whether this can be achieved, but still, it’s been totally shut down.
“That is leading me to believe that you never know, but I’m probably in the camp of it being unlikely. There are ways this can be sorted; a crucial point is the player – he’s keen on the move to Old Trafford.”
Whitwell goes on to detail that current players have been in touch to explain the “landscape” around the club amid this rebuild, reiterating that the environment is positive. However, Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler seems pretty confident that the south coast club will hang on to him, at least for now.
Fabian Hürzeler is adamant Carlos Baleba will still be a Brighton player at the end of the transfer window, despite interest from Manchester United… 👀 pic.twitter.com/4AagOtKJbl
Addressing the rumours with reporters, the German manager insisted, “I didn’t see any change. He seems to be in a very good place, enjoying it [the pre-season and training] with his team-mates.”
With that in mind, it’s more probable that Baleba could join the Red Devils next year, when he’s had yet another season to develop and prove himself in the English top flight, though his value will probably increase even further.
On the other hand, if Baleba does indeed want to swap his white and blue striped shirt for a red one, he could push for the negotiations progress, like new arrival and fellow compatriot Bryan Mbuemo did.
This is an outcome that could, in theory, benefit both teams, as not only are Brighton still considered a selling club, but with another EPL campaign under his belt, they could demand and even larger fee come summer 2026/January if Amorim is still desperately in need of a central solution.
You can watch the episode – one that also touches on the new so-called ‘Man United mantra’, which has even been printed on water bottles around Carrington – in full down below.
Featured Images — MyAlbionTV (screenshot via YouTube)
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Aldi is back looking for another taste tester to send FREE crisps to
Emily Sergeant
Aldi is looking for a special someone to become its official crisp taster, and will send the lucky winner a bunch of bags to try for free.
Calling all self-confessed crisp connoisseurs, this one’s for you.
That’s right, Aldi is ready to make savoury snack food lovers’ dreams come true, as the supermarket retailer is back on the look-out for another official ‘Crisp Taster’ to join the team, especially after the inaugural search last year proved to be so popular with shoppers, amassing hundreds of applications.
The highly-anticipated return also follows interest from local celebrities last year too, with Manc actress Michelle Keegan declaring to her 7.5 million Instagram: “IS THIS TRUE @aldiuk? Because I am READY and available with lots of experience.”
Last summer, it was 39-year-old NHS worker George Critchley from Sheffield who became Aldi’s first-ever Official Crisp Taster… but now it’s your turn.
Aldi is back looking for another taste tester to send FREE crisps to / Credit: Aldi UK | Esperanza Doronila (via Unsplash)
The successful applicant will receive a selection of Aldi’s most popular crisps to sample at home for free, including Aldi’s Specially Selected Lightly Sea Salted Hand Cooked Crisps, Specially Selected Mature Cheddar & Red Onion Hand Cooked Crisps, the Snackrite Delta Strips, and Snackrite Cheese Flavour Cheezios.
All that’s required in return is a set of exclusive reviews rating the crisps’ taste, crunch, texture and appearance to help guide the supermarket’s Buying Team on potential future flavours.
“After the success of last year with hundreds of entries, we welcome our shoppers feedback once again to make sure our latest products provide the quality, taste and price they deserve,” explained Julie Ashfield, who is the Chief Commerical Officer at Aldi UK.
“Our range of crisps are going down a treat this year, so launching the role for a new Crisp Taster is the perfect way to encourage innovative ideas and delicious products onto shelves.”
Fancy it then? To apply, you’ll just need to be aged 16 or over, a legal UK resident, and create a short application video, that’s no more than a minute long, explaining why you should be Aldi’s next ‘Crisp Taster’.
Applications are now open, with a closing deadline of Thursday 21 August.
You’ll need to share your application video via the email address [email protected], and you can find out more information on the official ‘Crisp Taster’ webpage here.
Emily Sergeant -
11th July 2022 
