We’re struggling to earn a crust...
How the city’s butty businesses are finding life tough post-Covid and amid the cost of living crisis
IT’S just after 10am on Wednesday and outside the Cygnet Sandwich Bar about half a dozen builders in hiviz vests are waiting for their butty order.
With Manchester city centre’s building boom continuing apace, it’s a scene that plays out most mornings.
After the rush has died down Elaine Devlin, who’s owned the Swan Street shop for 14 years, explains that while tradesmen have always been her bread and butter, they’re now more important then ever. “Construction has saved us,” she says.
“A lot of office people are still working from home and it doesn’t look like they’re coming back.
“There was a call centre near here, now they’re all working from home.”
Exact figures on the number of office staff now working from home in Manchester are hard to come by. But last month footfall - the number of people visiting the city centre was down by more than a quarter on pre-Covid levels. And that was an improvement on the previous three months.
If that wasn’t hard enough, at the moment cafes like Elaine’s are also being hit by a double whammy of soaring food and energy prices while the cost-of-living crisis means customers have less money to spend.
Meanwhile the war in Ukraine is leading to shortages of things such as cooking oil. It’s all having a huge effect on the bottom line.
“Chicken’s gone up from £21 to £27, two kilos of cheese has gone from £7.90 to £9.80,” said Elaine. “I’m doing everything I can to keep costs down, but it’s hard.
“I’ve been here a long time and I’ve always tried to keep my prices at working class prices. We still sell coffee for £1.10. How people can afford £3 for a coffee I don’t know.”
Round the corner on Oldham Street, Lauren Irlam, owner of Nibble cafe, paints a slightly rosier picture. She’s facing much the same problems as Elaine, but says business is ‘generally good.’
She has, however noticed a change in the normal patterns of the city centre. “We used to get the commuter rush in the morning, but it’s slow now,” she says. “You used to be able to predict it, now there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to it. But I’m optimistic. There are new buildings going up left right and centre. Tourists are still coming.
“And we’ve been through worse. We got through Covid and we’ll ride this out too.”
Donna Sutch and Lynne Mirrlees work at Rustica sandwich bar on Hilton Street. It was one of the first Northern Quarter businesses to reopen during lockdown.
Lynne says many of the new customers the shop gained then are still coming back now. “We’re busier than ever,” she says, in-between scribbling down orders from the four or five people waiting on the pavement outside. “We’re packed with builders every day. From 10-10.30am they’re queuing down the street. And the offices are slowly coming back. “People seem to be coming back in for meetings - we’re starting to get catering orders from businesses again.” Lynne and Donna have both worked at the Rustica for years - and in that time they say the owners has only put up prices twice. But now she’s having to seriously consider a third increase. “Prices are going through the roof,” says Donna. “Our bread order from (Chorlton bakery) Barbakan used to be £32 a day, now it’s £40. “She’s going to have to think about putting prices up. She’s worried about losing customers, but I don’t think she will.”
Phil Skundric owns the NQ Cafe on Oldham Street. He says working from home ‘is not going away,’ so businesses like his will have to come up with new ways to survive.
“I have customers, office workers, who are only coming into work once or twice a week now. If they’re given the choice to work from home they’re going to take it.
“And then some people are still fearful of Covid so they’re staying away from busy places and then people are also cutting back on things.
“But then sometimes it’s packed. I look out the window and it’s like ‘Where have all these people come from?’
“I don’t have a clue what’s coming round the corner. I don’t think anyone does.”
We’ve been through worse. We got through Covid and we’ll ride this out too Lauren Irlam