Manchesterhas been named one of the seven happiest places in the UK to settle down and retire, according to new research.
Our city has claimed a fair few new titles in recent weeks.
First up, it was crowned the best UK city for retail and leisure in 2022, and it was also voted as the top rated city to replace London as the UK capital, and then, just last week, it was named by The Economist as the 28th most liveable city in the world in the ‘Global Liveability Index 2022’ – being the highest-rated UK city on the list, and beating out big hitters like Barcelona, New York city, and our own country’s capital in the process.
But it seems like the titles just won’t stop coming, as it’s now been revealed that Manchester is considered to be one of the top seven places in the UK for a happy retirement.
With more and more people now choosing to relocate after their careers draw to a close, the UK has seen a huge surge of demand for retirement homes over the last 12 months, and now, some new research from Lottie has analysed several lifestyle factors crucial later in life to determine where retirees should head to, the Metro reports.
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Lottie looked at factors such as the popularity of the area, affordability for day-to-day living, investment prospects, air pollution, and crime rates to determine the happiest retirement locations across the UK.
Manchester was named number six on the list.
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With Wiltshire taking the top spot as the happiest retirement location, and the majority of other locations on the list being sought-after rural locations, Manchester was selected as being the place for retirees to head to if they aren’t after “a slow life in the countryside”.
Manchester has been named one of the seven happiest places in the UK to retire / Credit: Unsplash (Josh Taylor | Chris Curry)
“With the perfect mix of a bustling city centre and leafy suburbs, Manchester is near the Peak District and Lake District, which is perfect if you fancy a bit of of time away from the city,” the research by Lottie explained.
The research also revealed that Manchester has the highest retirement affordability score in the top seven, which means you “won’t have to sacrifice price or location”.
“Our new research shows that locations offering a balance of affordability, community spirit and security are the happiest places to retire in the UK in 2022,” explained Nick Jones – head of retirement living at Lottie.
Top 7 Happiest Places to Retire in the UK
Wiltshire
Buckinghamshire
Dorset
Somerset
West Midlands
Manchester
Nottinghamshire
Manchester is the place for retirees if they aren’t after “a slow life in the countryside” / Credit: Fraser Cottrell (via Unsplash)
He continued: “There are lots of factors that determine the perfect retirement location, and this is different for us all.
“For example, locations popular with retiree’s offer great opportunities to socialise and build friendships later in life. Affordable locations can help make it easier to live comfortably on a fixed income, while good investment prospects can help your pension pot to go further – as we face a rising cost of living.
“Researching the air pollution of an area can help determine how beneficial a new location may be for your overall health too.
“Low crime rates also offer a sense of safety and security.”
Featured Image – Visit Manchester
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‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Benson Boone has announced a headline gig in Manchester – and it’s a big one
Danny Jones
American pop sensation and unrivalled king of unnecessary front flips, Benson Boone, has just announced his first-ever headline Manchester arena gig as part of a new arena tour.
The solo artist and acrobatic chart-topper has seen a meteoric rise in the US and, as is usually the case across the Atlantic, he’s become increasingly popular over here too.
Benson may have performed here in Manchester before as part of the 2024 MTV EMAs and for a small show at The Deaf Institute, but now big fans have the added Boone of getting to watch a standalone show at one of Europe’s leading indoor entertainment venues.
Announced on Friday, 30 May, the 22-year-old will be making his way across the pond from Washington for a limited run of UK concerts, with a date at Co-op Live arena being one of just five dates.
Extending his ‘American Heart Tour’ ahead of the release of his eponymous sophomore record, with this autumn leg, Co-op Live will mark his individual visit to 0161.
The Grammy-nominated artist has earned several nods of recognition already for his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which was released just last spring.
He has been described as among the current trend of male singers who fit into the American Idol and ‘Voice audition pop’ genre (a term recently coined online), along with the likes of Teddy Swims, Shawn Mendes, Alex Warren and others.
Regardless of the slightly tongue-in-cheek term, he’s become a huge hit around the world and landing him is still a big coup for the venue that has already welcomed similarly massive pop contemporaries like Swims, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
In case you’re wondering just how big a deal he is over in the States, even this early in his career, his domestic headline dates sold out in seconds, quite literally…
The last time he visited Co-op Live was to perform at the most recent MTV EMAs
Benson Boone is coming to Manchester on Monday, 27 October and will be playing just two other British venues: The O2 in London (two nights) and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Safe to say you don’t want to miss this one if you like soaring vocals and lots of flipping.
General admission tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 5 June, but Co-op Members can gain access via the arena’s official pre-sale window from the same time on Tuesday (3 Jun).
Emily Sergeant -
30th June 2022 
