It’s not a cocky or off-putting confidence, necessarily, it’s just the kind of confidence that gives them the guts to move through the world with their head held high – and now, a recent survey has proved what we know to be true when it comes to one particularly important aspect of daily life… DIY.
DIY is a skill that needs to be fine-tuned and perfected over time, and it turns out Mancs have got that covered better than the rest of the UK.
The ‘Home Truths’ study by power tool specialist Black + Decker – which polled thousands of Brits on their household habits to reveal who are the handiest when it comes to ‘doing it yourself’ – found that just over half (51%) of those who responded in Manchester said they think they’re better than average person at DIY, while 40% say they’re determined to work out how to do every repair themselves.
One in 10 reckon they’re just as good as a tradesperson, and a surprising 9% of Mancs even said they would consider themselves DIY ‘experts’.
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Mancs have been named some of the ‘best’ in the UK when it comes to DIY / Credit: Black + Decker
Again, one in 10 Mancs said they feel comfortable using all household DIY equipment – with 86% claiming they can handle a drill with ease, 75% can operate a jigsaw, and 64% would be un-phased when using a handsaw.
Overall, of those polled across the UK, 50% said that doing home repairs and improvements gives them a great sense of achievement, and 62% feel motivated to do so without hired help in order to save money, while a further 38% said they actually enjoy it.
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The enjoyment of it all – and, of course, knowing that practice makes perfect – is probably why one in five (19.1%) Mancs admitted to getting involved with DIY projects at least every couple of months, and a further 13% said they complete a DIY task fortnightly, 18% claiming to have taken on a new DIY challenge every day for the last year.
One in 10 Mancs reckon they’re just as good at DIY as a tradesperson / Credit: Malte Luk (via Pexels)
In terms of tasks people wouldn’t get a tradesperson to help with, 80% of those polled would never get help when putting up a shelf, 74% are confident they can unblock a drain alone, and 55% would find a way to fix a leaky tap.
“After a decorating boom in lockdown, it’s great to see that the passion for home improvements and home projects has remained the same for people of Manchester,” Tim Winstanley, the Senior Brand Manager at Black + Decker commented on the survey’s findings.
Manchester City announced signing of top Premier League defender Marc Guehi
Danny Jones
It looks like they’ve finally got a done deal: Manchester City have finally announced the transfer of highly sought-after defender Marc Guehi.
Man City reached an agreement with Crystal Palace to sign the increasingly established Three Lions star after emerging as a suitor in recent weeks.
Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of the impressive Premier League centre-back ramped up earlier this month, as it became apparent that they were hoping to hijack Liverpool’s prospective move for Guehi.
The Ivory Coast-born England international looked all set to arrive at Anfield back in the summer, but the deal never materialised, and now rivals City have sealed his signature instead.
Finally confirmed and fully announced on Monday, 19 January, Palace and Man City are said to have reached an agreement in principle for a base fee of approximately £20 million.
However, rumoured add-ons are thought take that total closer to £30m; either way, it’s fair to say that it’s an absolute bargain for a player of his quality.
On the other hand, the acquisition will also see Man City’s total spending reach roughly half a billion pounds over the past year alone. Staggering sums for any sporting outfit.
Not that his former London team will mind one bit, of course, as it became increasingly clear that Guehi would be leaving eventually; manager Oliver Glasner – who also seems set to depart at the end of his contract – even addressed the sale ahead of completion in a recent press conference.
Guehi will wear the number 15 shirt for Man City and has penned a deal until 2031.
With Man City currently facing multiple absences, particularly in their backline with both Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias out injured, Guehi’s arrival is no doubt a welcome one.
Although many debated whether or not Pep needed to sign another centre-half, especially with two promising youth players returning from loan, supporters will nevertheless be glad to have snatched him from the clutches of Liverpool.
Over in the women’s team, they’ve also brought in a new member of the squad who could help spur on their title charge.
Can you see any more deals being down befor the end of the window?
New survey reveals half of Mancs have already given up their new year’s resolutions
Emily Sergeant
We’re into our third week of 2026 now, and according to a new survey, half of Mancs have already ditched their new year’s resolutions.
New year’s resolutions are always made with the best intentions, and it’s not like we intentionally set ourselves up to fail with them, but more often than not, that tends to be the case – and now a new survey of 1,000 Brits carried out over the past few weeks has found that 35% of us have already admitted to giving them up.
That percentage rises to a whopping 50% when narrowed down to the people of Greater Manchester.
Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, and Glasgow are the other four major cities joining Manchester in the top five list of people in each area that have stopped their 2026 challenge early.
Half of Mancs have apparently already given up their new year’s resolutions / Credit: PICRYL | Pexels
On the other end of the spectrum, it’s the cities of Southampton, Newcastle, and Edinburgh that are staying strong, with just 25%, 26% and 26% giving their new year’s resolutions up respectively, and some of the other northern cities on the list including Liverpool and Leeds.
According to new research from greetings card marketplace, Thortful, more than half of Brits (53%) expect to give up within the first three months of the year – with the hustle of busy schedules, work commitments, families, and social activities being given as reasons why.
When it comes to the reasons people provided for why they’ve given their resolutions up this year, lack of discipline tops the list at 43%, followed by just being too busy to consider them at 21%, and different mental or physical barriers in third place, as well as a change of personal circumstances and a lack of money also cited.
The majority of people cited a lack of discipline as being the reason they gave up / Credit: Andrea Piacquadio (via Pexels)
Looking forward to next year, it seems many of us want to reframe how we set our new year’s resolutions in the future.
According to the research, 32% of respondents want to ‘improve their existing qualities rather than set an unrealistic challenge’ next time around, and 16% ‘feel like there’s social pressure to change in the new year’, when in reality, they ‘don’t have to’.
Emily Sergeant -
26th October 2023 
