Still battling, the bars and eateries on first steps towards recovery
WALKING down Market Street on a weekday lunch time, life appears to have returned to something resembling normality in Manchester city centre.
Shops have reopened and the strip is bustling with families and groups of friends – many wearing masks – enjoying a day out in town.
Buskers are assembling mic stands and laying out their guitar cases ready to catch coins, and street vendors push trolleys displaying face coverings for sale alongside the usual mobile phone covers.
After months of lockdown that have already left economic scars on the high street, it’s heartening to see people cautiously returning to everyday activities like shopping.
Restaurants and bars are becoming busier too, with many reporting encouraging early trade since reopening on July 4.
But footfall remains severely dented throughout the city centre with many workers yet to return to offices, and none of the crowds usually brought by major events such as Manchester Arena gigs, theatre shows and football matches.
Despite a ‘gradual uptick,’ visitor numbers are still down 56 per cent year on year, according to a council report published last week.
And with fear of the virus still impacting consumer confidence, the city centre’s nightlife has a battle on its hands.
Greater Manchester’s night time economy adviser Sacha Lord said: “I think the biggest, most obvious challenge is immediate footfall. There’s a huge population that’s been taken out of the city centre – that’s going to take the longest to recover.
“At the moment, it’s estimated maybe 20 to 25 per cent of people will return to the office by Christmas.
“A lot of venues survive off the Arena and there’s nothing scheduled there for quarter four. It’s the same for the Apollo and the Ritz. And a lot of places rely on the football.
“When you have all these factors in place plus the lack of tourism, many hotels aren’t opening. Footfall is down hugely.”
That’s evident in Spinningfields. Just a handful of tables are occupied at the restaurants that line The Avenue and the normally crowded Oast House courtyard. Others like Iberica have yet to reopen.
“It’s a bit of a ghost town,” said Becky Wilkes, sales and marketing manager at 20 Stories.
The restaurant and bar sits atop the No 1 Spinningfields tower, which normally has around 6,000 people working in the offices inside. Becky says she’s been told only around a tenth have so far returned. Nevertheless, 20 Stories’ yearon-year trade is strong so far – and Becky is optimistic about the future.
“Like for like we are doing well. In our opening week from July 6, we had 1,171 diners with us – that’s actually up versus the same week last year,” she said.
“I think we will bounce back and as long as we don’t have a second wave, places should be back up to 80 to 100 per cent nearly by Christmas.”
Across town, the business district in and around King Street is similarly quiet.
Restaurant consultant Thom Hetherington, who runs the Northern Restaurant and Bar show and Manchester Art Fair, believes office workers will return, but warned recovery would be a ‘slow path.’
He is concerned about the immediate impact on the city centre.
“I think the issue is Manchester has become a victim of its own success,” he said.
“We’ve developed a cultural scene and hospitality scene which has largely been fed by the growth in city centre residents, the growth in commercial population – whether that’s in Spinningfields or at MediaCity – and the growth in tourism which has been unprecedented nationally and internationally.
“I think we may suffer more than other provincial cities because they are the sectors that have been most immediately affected by coronavirus.”
Walking through the Northern Quarter towards Ancoats, it’s a little more lively – even for a weekday – with pockets of people populating the temporary beer gardens in newly-pedestrianised areas such as Stevenson Square and Blossom Street.
Keith McAvoy, whose family brewery owns the Seven Brothers Beerhouse on Cutting Room Square in Ancoats, said trade had taken a dip at the weekends but weekday trade on the days it is open was up year-on-year.
“We’ve done well but I think that’s primarily due to the luxury of having quite a bit of outside seating,” he said. “We’re evaluating things all the time and we have to make sure that the Government support carries on for the hospitality industry for a little bit longer.”
While the furlough scheme will be wound down between August and October, the new Eat Out To Help Out scheme comes into effect next month in a bid to boost the sector.
It’s been too little, too late for some venues which have already had to close including Deansgate tapas restaurant Lunya and steakhouse Grill on New York Street.
And while a £1.57bn package of support has been promised to the arts and cultural sector, there have already been significant redundancies at music venue Band on the Wall and the Royal Exchange Theatre.
While music venues The Deaf Institute and Gorilla have been saved from closure this week, Sacha fears more casualties are sadly ‘inevitable’ as Government aid dries up.
But he said: “I feel more optimistic about Manchester than any other city in the UK actually. We know we are resilient as a city region and we know we have support from its leaders. I have total, 100 per cent confidence that we will bounce back.”
Becky Wilkes, 20 Stories