The Trafford Centre has issued advice to shoppers planning on visit the mall when it reopens after England’s national lockdown on Wednesday.
The popular shopping centre is asking visitors to plan ahead of their visit next month.
With the festive season fast approaching, the Trafford Centre is expecting to see an influx of shoppers looking to get their hands on gifts for their loved ones and tick off their Christmas lists early, so is therefore urging visitors to consider visiting the centre during quieter periods, which are generally earlier in the day and later in the evening.
The quietest shopping times are expected to be posted weekly via the Trafford Centre’s social channels.
A number of essential stores have remained open throughout the duration of the second lockdown, along with several hospitality establishments to provide takeout services, but all retailers are due to reopen from 10am on Wednesday 2nd December.
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Some larger stores, including Selfridges, Debenhams, John Lewis, Boots, Primark and M&S, will open an hour earlier at 9am.
Primark will trade from 7am on 2nd December until normal closing time on 3rd December too.
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Speaking ahead of the centre reopening, Zoe Inman – Centre Director at The Trafford Centre – said: “It’s been an unusual year, but Christmas is still the highlight in our calendar, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back on Wednesday 2nd December.
“Since the start of this pandemic, we’ve had robust and adaptable plans to ensure the safety of everyone who visits and works at The Trafford Centre, and these strong safety measures will continue as non-essential retail opens again [but] we would recommend visitors spend a few minutes planning their visit to ensure they have the best experience possible.
“We know the Christmas season is going to be different this year, but we’d like to thank everyone in advance for doing their part.”
To help “make the centre a safe place for all”, the Trafford Centre asks that visitors remember to always follow marked routes and visit with their household / social bubble only.
Everyone that visits the centre, whether that’s to work or shop, will need to wear a face covering too.
The Trafford Centre defines a face covering as “something which safely covers the nose and mouth” and visitors can use reusable or single-use face coverings, as well as also use a scarf, bandana, religious garment or hand-made cloth covering, but these must all securely fit round the side of the face.
To ensure safe social distancing, the centre will be observing capacity limits and this means that customers may be asked to queue outdoors during busier periods and are advised to dress appropriately for the winter weather.
A number of car parks and entrances will also remain closed to help manage capacity.
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Enhanced hygiene regimes will continue, with regular deep cleaning of key areas and touchpoints like escalators, toilets and keypads, and hand sanitation stands will also remain at entrances and throughout the centre.
The COVID-safety measures are hoped to “provide all visitors with additional reassurance” and further information can be found here.
Opening Times
Monday – Friday: 10am – 10pm
Saturday: 10am – 9pm
Sunday: 12pm – 6pm
You can find more information ahead of visit via the Trafford Centre website here.
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Stockport County defender Brad Hills ruled out for the rest of the season
Danny Jones
In a big blow to their promotion push, Stockport County have been hit with a major injury and loss to their first-team squad, as defender Brad Hills has been ruled out for what looks to be the remainder of the season and then some.
Not what Hatters will want to hear with crunch-time in and around the playoffs now well underway.
Having emerged as even more of a starring centre-back this year, following his initial loan spell with the club during the previous campaign, Brad Hills has arguably been one of Stockport’s best and most reliable players in 2025/26 thus far – but not County will have to do without him.
Although the exact severity is yet to be fully revealed, the former Norwich City youth academy graduate is said to have hurt his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Confirming the news on social media, the Greater Manchester side stated: “We regret to inform supporters that Brad Hills sustained an ACL injury in Saturday’s draw at Luton Town that will rule him out for the foreseeable future.
“Our full focus is on supporting Brad throughout his recovery – we know he’ll come back stronger”
For anyone unaware, ACL tears/ruptures are among some of the worst injuries in football, and depending on the extent of the damage, it can take anywhere between six months and a full year to bounce back.
Safe to say, therefore, that supporters have been left gutted by the update, with one commenting, “Awful, awful news”; another simply wrote, “FFS”.
After typing a very long expletive following the show news, fan podcast The Scarf Bergara Wore wrote: “Wishing Bradley Hills a speedy recovery – come back stronger!
Since becoming a permanent signing back in August, he’s earned multiple man-of-the-match awards in blue and white, not to mention contributed to a decent number of clean sheets. He’ll be a big miss in their backline.
While it’s no doubt a big setback as the League One team looks to get promoted into the Championship, the absence could see manager Dave Challinor reshuffle the pack and perhaps even the formation for the remaining fixtures.
One option is Louie Barry, who – depending on the setup – could finally be set for a return to the pitch after he was signed on a third loan deal this past January, but is still continuing his own rehab following a knee operation.
Put it this way, with not many games left, lots of County fans are probably wishing that the pending and potential further changes in the EFL could have come sooner…
Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Emily Sergeant -
30th November 2020 
