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Council confirms two mini Manchester Christmas Markets will go ahead from this week

The socially-distanced event is hoping to provide a "flavour of Manchester’s famous Christmas Markets".

The Manc The Manc - 7th December 2020

Manchester City Council has today announced that two mini socially-distanced Christmas Markets will go ahead in the city centre from this week.

The event – which will invite independent local traders in Manchester and across the region who would have been part of the city’s usual Christmas markets – is hoping to provide a “flavour of Manchester’s famous Christmas Markets”, all while supporting businesses during the festive period.

The markets will be located in Piccadilly Gardens and St Ann’s Square, and will offer visitors a seasonal alternative to the high street.  

The Piccadilly Gardens markets will include the usual street food traders, along with a range of craft and gift stalls, and is open now until Wednesday 23rd December from 10.30am – 7pm, while the markets in St Ann’s Square will welcome some of the usual Christmas Market favourites for two long weekends.

These will take place between Wednesday 9th December – Sunday 13th December & Wednesday 16th December – Sunday 20th December from 10.30am – 7pm. 

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Cllr Pat Karney – Christmas Spokesperson at Manchester City Council – said: “We know people were so disappointed to hear this year’s Christmas Markets could not go ahead [but] public safety must be at the heart of everything we do, and we could not put on our usual world-class event while keeping people safe.

“Since then, we have been looking at ways of supporting the Christmas traders at an important time of year for their businesses, while also attracting people to the city centre in a safe and manageable way. 

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“Our Winter Markets have attracted some of the city’s – and region’s – top makers and traders, who provide a real alternative to the high street.”

Geograph / David Dixon

St Ann’s Square

  • Porky Pig – Yorkshire Pudding Wraps 
  • Eat Greek – Traditional Gyros and Halloumi Fries 
  • Elsie May – Cookie Dough
  • Mango Rays – Burritos and Vegan Chill con Carne

There will also be the fan-favourite traditional Christmas market pancakes, and gourmet English sausage and German bratwurst too.

Piccadilly Gardens

Week One

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  • The Crusty Pie Company
  • Popsters
  • The Great British Cheese Company
  • Johnsons Toffees
  • The Closet Boutique
  • Zen Experimental
  • Mandalay Accessories
  • The Cocktail Co
  • Amazonas Gifts
  • Cheshire Cheese Company
  • Personalised Gifts
  • Paul Collins
  • Trolle Trading Limited
  • Snugglebottle
  • Priya
  • Sticky Chocolate
  • The Olive Tree

Week 2

  • Snugglebottle
  • Chi Chi’s 
  • The Little Gift Hut
  • Mayflower Apiaries 
  • Priya Trading
  • The Cheese Board
  • Sticky Chocolate
  • The Closet Boutique
  • From The Olive Tree
  • O’Donnell Moonshine
  • Malvavisco
  • Just The Cheese         
  • Amazonas Jewellery
  • Johnsons Toffees
  • The Crusty Pie Company
  • Popsters
  • The Cocktail Co. 
  • Paul Collins 

___

The weekend markets will be strictly managed to limit the number of people who can access the stalls at any one time, using a one-way traffic system to ensure social distancing can be always adhered to.  

Outdoor markets can trade under the Tier 3 guidelines.  

You can find more information about all the stalls via the Manchester City Council website here.

 

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Manchester’s Club de Padel claps back at ’embarrassing’ copycat ASOS product

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

A local Manchester business has sarcastically pointed out the glaring similarities between a new t-shirt on ASOS and one of its own designs.

Club de Padel has a range of retro-inspired merch with UN:IK, a small independent streetwear brand also based here in Manchester.

Its collection of t-shirts, hoodies, tracksuits, hats and bags often feature a design of an illustrated padel ball (which to the untrained eye is basically a tennis ball) in motion.

But this week a t-shirt appeared on ASOS that also featured an illustrated padel ball in motion, just in a slightly different colour palette.

The ASOS version, which has now been removed from sale, also undercut Club de Padel’s price by £6.

Since Club de Padel took the ’embarrassing’ copycat product public on their Instagram page, ASOS has launched an investigation and taken it off their website.

The sports venture, based at Deansgate Square and the only padel club in Manchester, wrote: “Love the new designs ASOS, kinda reminds us of something though…

The ASOS t-shirt that Club de Padel has said copies their merch. Credit: ASOS
The ASOS t-shirt that Club de Padel has said copies their merch. Credit: ASOS
Club de Padel's t-shirt created by Manchester brand UN:IK
Club de Padel’s t-shirt created by Manchester brand UN:IK. Credit: Club de Padel

“Ah. Well that’s embarrassing… We’ve got a new line coming soon with UN:IK Clothing you’re just gonna love ASOS.

“In the meantime we made this for you @asos, save your design team a job.”

An ASOS spokesperson said: “We take intellectual property issues very seriously and have removed this product from sale while we investigate further.”

Of the Club de Padel and UN:IK collaboration, aka the real deal, UN:IK says it has ‘served up a staple for us, retro inspired leisure pieces with Manchester’s first ever padel club’.

Club de Padel in Manchester has gone public to poke fun at ASOS

They wrote: “Inspired by owners after a trip to Spain, Club de Padel has hit the city with a wave and the lifestyle brand we have created with them reinforces the fastest growing sport across Europe.

“Our classic vintage washes and oversized fits, working with independent designs as always on this local independent partnership. Don’t be afraid to the sport, we’ll guarantee you love it as much as these clothes.”

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Featured image: Club de Padel

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Yorkshire Tea is Manchester’s ‘favourite’ brand of teabags, according to new data

Danny Jones Danny Jones Yorkshire Tea is Manchester's favourite teabag

The Great British debate of which teabag is best is one that will rage on for millennia, that’s just the way it is, but according to new data, it sounds like we might at least have an answer to which brand makes for Manchester’s favourite brew.

It won’t be a surprise to many of you and we can certainly confirm it on our end but the one and only Yorkshire Tea looks to have taken the cuppa crown when it comes not only to Manchester’s preferred teabag but seemingly the best-loved in Britain as a whole.

This is according to numbers pulled by local firm, TonerGiant. The Atherton-based ink and toner suppliers decided a poll around the office wasn’t enough and instead chose to turn their knowledge of the market and consumer trends into a bit of online research.

At the end of the day, tea has got to be the most important of all office supplies, surely?

mancunians favourite brand of teabags
According to the stats, Yorkshire Tea is Manchester’s favourite brand of tea bags. (Credit: Yorkshire Tea)

Using data from trusted online source Statista, which nailed down the top 25 teabag brands in the UK, each make was then ranked in relation to its average monthly searches via Google Keyword Planner to reveal that Yorkshire Tea was clearly the top dog.

With roughly 390 searches per month in Manchester alone, compared to PG Tips as the next best (260), it seems us Mancs have to concede at least one thing to our fellow Northern county: Yorkshire makes a bloody good brew.

The Roses rivalry raged for centuries but if there’s one thing that brings us together, it’s a good cuppa.

In terms of other tea brands that came in high on the leaderboard, Pukka Tea (170), Twinings (140)and Teapigs (90) made up the rest of the top five most-searched tea brands in Greater Manchester. It’s also interesting to see how those figures looked when extrapolated nationwide. Here’s the full ranking:

RankTeaAverage UK monthly searches
1Yorkshire Tea27,100
2PG Tips18,100
3Pukka Tea14,800
4Twinings12,100
5Teapigs8,100
6Whittards Tea6,600
7Tetley4,400
8Clipper Tea4,400
9Lipton Tea3,600
10Barrys Tea3,600
11Thompsons Tea1,300
12Typhoo1,300
13Taylors Tea1,300
14M&S Tea1,300
15Tesco Tea1,000
16Tick Tock Tea880
17Sainsbury’s Tea720
18Lyons Tea720
19Asda Tea590
20Aldi Tea590
21Waitrose Tea590
22Lidl Tea480
23Morrisons Tea320
24Bewleys Tea90
25Cafedirect Tea40
Few of these on here we’ve never heard of. Taste test, anyone?

While Yorkshire Tea was found to be Manchester’s and the nation’s favourite, Belfast was the only UK city where Yorkshire Tea didn’t take the top spot. Instead, it was Irish-owned Barry’s Tea that came out as their favourite – we definitely need to hold a ‘brew-off’ between the two. The Hoot, you up for it?

As for supermarket’s own-brand offerings, out of the eight options on the list, Marks and Spencer’s teabags were found to be the most popular, closely followed by Tesco and then Sainsbury’s.

Commenting on the findings, TonerGiant’s Stuart Deavall said: “With so many office workers opting for tea to get through the day, it’s no surprise that the UK has a day dedicated to the drink.

“In light of National Tea Day on Sunday, 21 April, our new data shows that Yorkshire Tea is the nation’s favourite, with over 27,000 Brits searching every month… We can expect many Brits to be celebrating in style this Sunday, no doubt with a mug of Yorkshire tea in hand”. Speaking of, anyone fancy a brew?…

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Featured Images — Yorkshire Tea/Rumman Amin (via Unsplash)

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