Manchester has been named as one of the top 10 best places in the UK for a night out, but it’s not so good news for Salford.
With Manchester being the home of 24-hour party people and having a nightlife scene that’s globally renowned, it’s probably no surprise to hear that a new public survey has crowned the city one of the country’s best for a night out.
A short trip over to the neighbouring Salford however, and it’s a different story as the fellow Greater Manchester city is ranked as being one of the worst nightlife spots.
The Night Out Index has been compiled using newly-conducted research by public opinion consultancy, Public First, and has looked at the size of the night time economy across more than 100 major towns and cities in England and Wales to create a top 10 best list, and on the other end of the spectrum, a top 10 worst list.
Manchester only narrowly secured its place on the favourable list, however, just managing to grab the coveted tenth spot.
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Manchester named in top 10 best UK cities for a night out / Credit: David Dixon (via Geograph) | PickPik
The Southern coastal city of Brighton was named the best place to head to for night out, based on the number of restaurants, pubs, bars, and clubs it’s home to, while the picturesque city of Bath came in second place, and the historic Yorkshire city of York took the number three spot.
Fellow Northern cities Chester, Newcastle, and Harrogate also made the top 10.
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On the flip side, Salford has found itself at the front end of the list of the top 10 worst places for a night out, grabbing the fourth spot and only being beaten by the the southern trio of Basildon, Bracknell, and Slough at number one.
Bradford was the only other northern representative to make the top 10, with the rest of the ‘worst’ list featuring southern towns and cities.
Top 10 Best Places for a Night Out
Brighton
Bath
York
Chester
Shrewsbury
Cambridge
Harrogate
Newcastle
Cheltenham
Manchester
Public First said that the Night Out Index focused on licensed establishments to measure the strength of nightlife, the Mirror reports, and did not consider unlicensed evening establishments – including shisha bars or late-night dessert parlours, which have both grown significantly in popularity.
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Overall, Public First says northern towns have seen some of the biggest improvements in nightlife, with Leeds, Liverpool, and Halifax leading the way with a roughly 20% increase in the per capita number of night time establishments.
On another local level though, according to Public First, Rochdale has seen one of the biggest declines in the Night Out Index.
Just under half (46%) of major towns and cities in England and Wales have seen an improvement in nightlife over the past decade, as measured by the Night Out Index, while the remaining 54% have seen a deterioration.
It’s according to the Night Out Index compiled using a research survey by Public First / Credit: shawnanggg (via Unsplash)
Top 10 Worst Places for a Night Out
Slough
Basildon
Bracknell
Salford
Chatham
Harlow
Luton
Bradford
Redditch
Gillingham
Speaking on the findings of the Night Out Index, Scott Corfe – Data and Modelling Team Director at Public First – said: “Our Night Out Index reveals big differences in the health of the night-time economy in different parts of the country, as well as some major changes in the make-up of the night time economy with the shift towards restaurants.
“It’s encouraging to see the nighttime economy contributing to ‘levelling up’ in the North of England, particularly with the greatly improved nightlife scenes in Leeds, Liverpool and Halifax over the past decade.
“However, with the Night Out Index declining in over half of towns and cities over the past decade, much needs to be done to strengthen the night-time economy elsewhere.”
The player celebrations from Stockport County’s League Two trophy presentation are glorious
Danny Jones
If you’re a Stockport County fan, you’ve had a very good year as the Hatters have just been crowned League Two champions and will be back in the English third tier next season – safe to say they’ve been making most of the trophy celebrations.
Players and staff very much included.
Edgeley was filled with flares and even people climbing on rooftops when they officially secured promotion back to League One for the first time in 12 years – the second time they’ve managed to go up in three seasons – and there was a great attendance in Stockport town centre for the bus parade.
But it was last week’s trophy presentation back at the stadium that produced some of the most memorable scenes, with County topping off a season of impressive and often high-scoring performances on the pitch with plenty more pageantry. Cue the music.
— Stockport (C)ounty (@StockportCounty) May 3, 2024
No one ever takes those pitch invasion ‘warnings’ seriously – not even the players.
We still haven’t stopped laughing at Kyle Knoyle.
From bringing Isaac Olaofe’s ‘Tanto’s on fire!’ chant to life to hammering home puns on names like Fraser Horsfall, no matter how obvious, these are the kind of deeply unserious celebrations we expect from a trophy presentation.
County fan or not, you’ve got to admit it looks like a good party.
It’s moments like these that players, fans and staff work hard all season for; to prat around like muppets in front of their adoring supporters. They even got assistant coach, Clint Hill, in the mix and, as it turns out, he proved to be one of the biggest ring-leaders.
We sincerely hope the Hatters keep trickling out more of these party scenes as we know there’s plenty more that fans would love to watch back.
We’re still yet to see captain Paddy Madden, who won Player of the Month for April, and the gaffer himself, Dave Challinor, who has comfortably secured his legacy as one of the club’s all-time greats.
Challinor and the club have made no secret of seriously eyeing up the Championship and who knows what else at County’s momentum continues to build, especially with a huge stadium redevelopment kicking off soon.
What do you reckon, Hatters – do you reckon a third promotion could be on the cards?
Liam Gallagher says he’ll ‘gig in Lidl’ if Co-op Live still isn’t ready – and they sound pretty game for it
Danny Jones
Following the ongoing palaver with Co-op Live, Liam Gallagher has joked that he’d happily play his scheduled gigs in a Lidl if the arena still isn’t ready – at least we think he’s joking…
With Liam Gallagher having been named as one of the first acts booked to play Co-op Live last year, many are now wondering whether the venue will even by June, with the former Oasis frontman set to play four Definitely Maybe 30th-anniversary sets. That being said, he’s come up with a solution if not.
Turns out Liam Gallagher isn’t an Aldi man, he’s team Lidl.
Vintage LG, we’ll give him that.
Obviously a bit of a tongue-in-cheek quip at the venue being sponsored by a supermarket and convenience store chain, it could have been any other competitor that the ever-witty youngest Gallagher brother picked but it somehow made it extra funny that he chose a budget brand like Lidl.
However, with the 51-year-old already having fun with stunts like voicing the tannoys on the Metrolink last year, for instance, we wouldn’t put it past him to take this joke a little further.
Better still, not that we’re getting carried away or anything but Lidl themselves seem pretty keen on the idea too; they even spent the time to build an entire setlist for the fictional show. Fair play.
Liam Gallagher @ Lidl Arena – Setlist:
– Lidl by Lidl – Champagne Superoffer – Super(market) Sonic – The Importance of Being Lidl – Tiger Roll With It – Don’t Look Back in Hanger – Some Might Save
Can you imagine? Liam Gallagher swapping the occasional tambourine shake for beeps from a barcode scanner as he moves back and forth on the conveyor belt. We know it’s absolute nonsense and we definitely shouldn’t be even remotely considering it… BUT it’s the stuff of dreams and strange things have happened.
A lot of stranger things have happened this week alone. As for the latest with Co-op Live, the Chairman and CEO of key-backers Oak View Group, Tim Leiweke, issued a full statement sharing his “sincere apologies”and insisting that they understand “there is work to be done to rebuild your trust in us.”
With the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Peter Kay, The Black Keys and more having their gigs pulled by the venue due to numerous issues, including an air conditioning unit falling from the ceiling, fans are understandably fearful that other upcoming events could face delays or general misfortune.
Much like the venue itself, we imagine we’ll be playing catch-up on this whole saga for the foreseeable, but here’s a recap of the story so far:
Emily Sergeant -
10th July 2023 
