The Mancunian Way: Northern clichés
PLUS The first celeb sighting ahead of Chanel’s Métiers d’Art show AND ‘Chips, Gravy & Opera’ and other patronising takes
17:20, 6 DEC 2023
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I must say I thought Sofia Coppola’s montage of clips to promote the Manchester Chanel show was fairly uninspired. I appreciate that they’re appealing to a global audience - and Manchester is known for specific things - but to look at it you’d think nothing had happened here for the last three decades. There are nods to Lowry, the Suffragettes, Canal Street and Ian Curtis in the video promo, which is soundtracked by New Order’s Blue Monday. But for some reason, it did rather remind me of Alan Partridge’s poem about the working classes . Would a similar video for a Chanel show in London feature beefeaters, Buckingham Palace and jellied eels? Perhaps, but if Sofia fancies a mooch around some of the less obvious parts of the city, I’ll happily play tour guide. Speaking of patronising Northern cliches, a fair few have been bandied around as people react to the news that English National Opera will be moving to Manchester . And they didn’t escape the notice of Tom Bridges, of Arup UK. He tweeted this thread, which highlights ‘some incredible takes from Londoners’ on the ENO move. “Chips, Gravy & Opera - sounds like a winner to me…” commented Richard Prew. While Derek Des Webster wrote: “Beltin'... Hopefully there'll be real ale and jackbit served at all shows.”
A poster called Elsie is very angry about the move. “The eno moving to manchester is a f***ing joke I'm not about to be paying £200 for a train ticket to get up there when i can simply just go to the royal opera house i just feel so bad for everyone who's about to be uprooted in this move,” she commented. To which Tom said: “So awful people having to spend money on long distance train tickets to access national institutions (unless you live in the north of course).”
JennXLDN suggested people of the North may not be able to afford opera tickets. “This is the end of ENO. Are there that many opera lovers in Manchester with the money to afford tickets compared to London?” she questioned. While critic Christopher Morley asked how critics would get up here to do reviews. “Everyone knows how much I seethe at metrocentricity, but how on earth are ENO going to get reviews when they move to some unknown venue in Manchester? Will the London so-called "nationals" be happy to pay expenses all that way?” he questioned. Meanwhile Mill Hill Publishing Group came up with this wild take. “London is bigger ( 10 million) than the whole North put together. When ENO leaves the only opera company in London will be Royal Opera which is an international house. Manchester and the North will have two opera companies. Wales one (for 3 million people). Ridiculous.”
Ridiculous indeed. Kristen Stewart photographed in Manchester ahead of the Chanel show (Image: Sean Hansford)
American actress Kristen Stewart was the first celebrity to be spotted here in Manchester ahead of Chanel’s Métiers d’Art show tomorrow. The actress was seen outside the Stock Exchange Hotel in the city centre. An ambassador for Chanel, the A-lister regularly attends the fashion brand’s shows and has starred in campaigns for the luxury designer, including Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2023 campaign. Final preparations for the show are taking place across the city centre. Tables and chairs have been moved onto the street, lining the edges of the catwalk, as Liv Clarke writes. And a huge mural has been created on the corner of High Street and Thomas Street. Though many businesses are having to close for a couple of days, The Millstone is remaining open with its famous karaoke continuing to play. It has even put up posters saying it ‘welcomes stars and visitors to Manchester’. I wonder if Kristen will take up the offer? The fascinating link between Coco Chanel and the North West
It's hard to comprehend the incredible influence Coco Chanel has had on women's fashion with the timeless 'little black dress' and ever-popular Chanel No5 perfume all staples of the fashion world, Lee Grimsditch writes . But her connection to the North West of England is far less well known. The designer had a 10-year relationship with the second Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, from around 1923 to 1933. It was this that brought her regularly to Cheshire’s Eaton Hall, Chester and the city’s famous racecourse. Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster at Chester Races with French fashion designer Coco Chanel. May 1, 1924 (Image: Getty Images) (Image: Getty Images)
Co-founder of the Women of Chester tour, which features Coco Chanel, claims she paraded along Chester's famous Rows and took afternoon tea at the Grosvenor Hotel. Isabel Robertson claims Chanel's collection featuring navy and white stripes is thought to have been inspired by the liveries of household staff at Eaton Hall. "To know that Coco Chanel was in and around Chester for 10 years is absolutely fabulous. She was so glamorous.. She was a force of nature. She would definitely have had an effect on the city," she previously told Cheshire Live . "Coco Chanel regularly visited Chester Races. There is even some cine film from Pathe News from this time which showed her and the Duke visiting and this would have been shown in cinemas. It would have made the north west town a fashion epicentre at this time.”
Chester isn't the only north west town to have an, albeit disputed, connection to Coco Chanel. Morecambe is also said to have a link to the fashion icon. Its beautiful art-deco Midland Hotel is where she is rumoured to have spend the weekend overlooking Morecambe Bay during the resort's heyday. The wait for an ambulance
One out of every eight ambulances arriving at A&Es in Greater Manchester had to wait more than 30 minutes before handing over patients at the end of last month. There were 5,663 arrivals at A&E by ambulance at trusts in our region in the week ending November 26, according to the latest data from the NHS. One in eight of those had a handover time of more than 30 minutes. That includes 167 which took more than an hour. But while some patients in Greater Manchester were left waiting, the figures for this region are actually better than the national average, as Helena Vesty reports. Nationally, 8 per cent - or one in 12 - arrivals by ambulance had a handover time of over an hour. Meanwhile, almost a quarter, 23pc, had a handover time of over 30 minutes, which includes those that took over an hour. A spokesman for NHS Greater Manchester said staff were working hard to reduce ambulance waiting times and they were now significantly shorter than elsewhere in the country. ‘We didn’t expect queues at 7am’
La Chouquette co-owner Mairead Deignan (Image: ABNM Photography)
Fans of buttery pastries rejoice - the incredibly popular Didsbury bakery La Chouquette has opened a second site in Poynton. And as Mairead Deignan and Florent Verove tell What’s On writer Adam Maidment , they’ve been welcomed to the village with open arms. They have been baking delicious breads, pastries and cakes from their base in Didsbury since 2020 and have been overwhelmed by the response from locals, who can often be seen queuing out of the door. It looks like a trend that will follow them to Cheshire, as there were queues before the new Poynton site even opened its doors at 7am yesterday. “We really didn’t expect people to be queuing up outside when we opened at 7am,” Mairead said. “It was so dark and we couldn’t see anything, so to open the blinds and to see lines of people outside was really a big surprise for us.”
The team recently won best Manchester bakery at England's Business Awards and believe the demand for their products comes down to quality. “We really thrived during the pandemic and that really helped us set up our brand in Didsbury,” Mairead said. “We’ve got an incredible team at both sites and we have become known for the quality of our products.”
Johnson apologises for ‘pain,loss and suffering’ of the Covid victims
Of course the biggest news story of the day comes from the capital, where Boris Johnson is giving evidence to the Covid-19 inquiry. The former Prime Minister has admitted his government ‘underestimated’ the threat posed by the virus in the early days of the pandemic and has apologised to the victims. “Can I just say how glad I am to be at this inquiry and how sorry I am for the pain and the loss and the suffering of the Covid victims,” Mr Johnson said. Former prime minister Boris Johnson giving evidence
But volunteers from the National Covid Memorial - who stood up during the hearing with signs reading: “The Dead can’t hear your apologies” - said they did not accept his apology after being removed from the inquiry. Aamer Anwar, lead solicitor for the Scottish Covid Bereaved group, said: “Mr Johnson apologised today but that apology is not accepted by many of the bereaved because he also claimed the Government saved thousands of lives. And that, for many, is a gross distortion of the truth.”
Speaking at the inquiry today, Mr Johnson claimed coronavirus had not ‘really’ escalated to him as ‘an issue of national concern’ at the start of 2020 as data emerging from China was misunderstood. But he said ministers should have ‘twigged much sooner’ the need for action, adding that it was only when he saw the ‘horrors’ of the outbreak in Italy in February that year that he realised its seriousness. The ex-premier said his government did not fully believe some of the early forecasts that were being made about Covid-19 and were unable ‘to comprehend the implications’. “It would certainly be fair to say of me, the entire Whitehall establishment, scientific community included, our advisers included, that we underestimated the scale and the pace of the challenge,” he said. Thursday: Heavy rain changing to cloudy by nighttime. 8C. Road closures: A560 King Street West, Stockport, in both directions closed due to roadworks between Chestergate and A5145 Travis Brow. Until December 22. A5145 Kingsway Eastbound, Stretford, closed due to long-term roadworks between A5181 Barton Road and A56 Chester Road. Until August 31, 2024. A665 Devonshire Street North in both directions closed due to gas main work from Coverdale Crescent to A57 Hyde Road. Until December 10. Headlines
Future: A legal row has erupted following an underage drinking sting at a Flixton pub. It comes after a series of incidents, including allegations of three serious assaults, at the Garricks Head pub on Moorside Road, and whether they should affect a review of its licence. The review by Trafford’s licensing sub-committee, due to take place last month, was adjourned until after the New Year, leaving the future of the pub in limbo. More here. Homes: A controversial plan to build 400 homes on green belt land in Worsley looks set to move a step closer to approval as the consultation period for ‘modifications’ to Greater Manchester’s housing masterplan closes this week. The submission for the £54million development at Hazelhurst Farm - between the A580 East Lancs Road and the M60 - is now on the Salford city council’s online planning portal. But land and property giant Peel’s application cannot be decided before the outcome of the long-running Places for Everyone plan for nine of Greater Manchester’s districts over the next 15 years is finalised. More here. New: A new Victorian-inspired bar has opened at Stockport’s historic Underbanks . Stanley's - located beneath St Petersgate Bridge, opposite Queens Head pub - opened on Friday night and is spread over two floors, decorated in a Victoria style, with modern details. Shops: Plans have been submitted for a mixed-use commercial site in the Hattersley area of Tameside. They include a new Aldi store, a Costa Coffee café/drive-thru, 16 electric vehicle charging points and eight new employment units on a 5.5-acre site adjacent to Stockport Road and Ashworth Lane. More here. A good read
This great picture of two youngsters sitting at Manchester and Salford docklands has sparked fond childhood memories. A reader was looking through Lee Grimsditch’s gallery of images of life and work on the docks from the early 20th century when they spotted two familiar faces. alsafc777 says he and his sister are pictured in one of the images, and his dad is in another. User alsafc777 said he saw himself and his sister in this old photo taken around the docks on June 12, 1967 (Image: Mirrorpix)
"That is me and my sister in the picture, we lived on the locks in one of the two houses on the locks beside the water tower," he said. Another image captures his dad walking along a footbridge, he says. The docks, which spanned Salford, Stretford and Manchester formed one of the busiest ports in Britain and helped the region become an industrial powerhouse. They began life in 1894 following the completion of the 35-mile Manchester Ship Canal - an engineering feat that connected the city to the sea. Following their closure in 1982, the Salford side of the canal was purchased by Salford council in 1984 and later redeveloped into Salford Quays.

The Mancunian Way: Northern clichés

'Chips, gravy and opera': How Londoners and the rest of the country reacted to the English National Opera's move up North
News that the globally-renowned opera company will make Greater Manchester its 'main home' saw some strange responses
The English National Opera is currently based at the London Coliseum (Image: Tristram Kenton)
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Plans to move the English National Opera (ENO) to the North of England have been warmly welcomed in Greater Manchester which will become the 'main home' for the cultural institution. But the news, which was announced on Tuesday (December 5) , was met with some strange responses from the rest of the country on social media - including from some angry Londoners. It comes just a year after the globally-renowned company campaigned against a decision by Arts Council England to slash its funding unless it moves out the capital. At the time, the ENO's bosses said a mooted move to Manchester was 'just not doable'. But after striking a two-year funding deal worth £24m with the public body, the organisation says it can gradually make the move up North while still putting on a 'substantial' annual season at its current home in London's West End. The ENO, which is currently considering slimming down its orchestra due to funding cuts, says Greater Manchester will be its 'main home' by 2029. The opera company has confirmed to the M.E.N. that it will not be based at a specific location in the city-region. Instead, it will put on performances at existing venues in Greater Manchester including The Lowry and Factory International's Aviva Studios. Joining mayor Andy Burnham , local venues and arts organisations have welcomed the prospect of working with the national institution. But commenting on social media, some people were not so pleased about the ENO moving to Greater Manchester. Tom Bridges from Yorkshire posted a thread on X, formerly known as Twitter , which highlights ‘some incredible takes from Londoners’ on the ENO move. In one post, JennXLDN suggested people of the North may not be able to afford opera tickets. The English National Opera in London (Image: Google)
“This is the end of ENO," she wrote. "Are there that many opera lovers in Manchester with the money to afford tickets compared to London?”
Richard Pew, whose location is listed as Birmingham, quipped: "Chips, Gravy & Opera - sounds like a winner to me . . ." Meanwhile, Michael SW, wrote: "Vandals. Short-sighted, unimaginative, ideological vandals. Decimating London and the UK for no reason whatsoever. Pathetic." elsie added: "the eno moving to manchester is a f***ing joke I'm not about to be paying £200 for a train ticket to get up there when i can simply just go to the royal opera house i just feel so bad for everyone who's about to be uprooted in this move." And on the subject of trains, Dr Chris Dexter-Mills #FBPPR responded to the ENO's announcement saying,: "You will have heard, no doubt @E_N_O about the rail services (existing/planned/cancelled) to, from and around Manchester… Good luck!" In another response on X, Fraser., posted: "Manchester already has Opera North. The whole reason Opera North was created was as a representation of English National Opera for the North of England. This is so stupid. London needs ENO." Responding to the news, Opera North said it looks forward to 'continuing to work closely with ENO' to offer a 'coordinated programme of opera for audiences'. The Leeds-based company confirmed it will continue to perform in Greater Manchester, adding: "We’re hungry to collaborate with ENO and other arts organisations to make sure that music reaches as many children and young people as possible and to use public funds as effectively and efficiently as we can for the benefit of all." Also responding to the news, performers and entertainment trade union Equity said it is 'completely unclear' what the move means for the ENO's workforce. A restructure, which could see the chorus and orchestra slimmed down and members moved to part-time contracts, is currently under way. The ENO says a 'reduced' annual season at the London Coliseum will continue. Story Saved
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'Chips, gravy and opera': How Londoners and the rest of the country reacted to the English National Opera's move up North

"We can't wait": English National Opera moving away from London to make Greater Manchester its new home
It comes one year after the organisation campaigned against a decision to slash its funding unless it moved out of the capital
The English National Opera in London (Image: Google)
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The English National Opera (ENO) will be coming to Greater Manchester. The globally-renowned company, which is currently based in London's West End, has announced that it is now working with local leaders on a plan to make the city-region its main home by 2029. It comes after bosses at the organisation campaigned against a decision by Arts Council England to slash its funding unless it moves out of the capital. News that the ENO could be moving to Manchester, which emerged last year, was met with fury in some quarters . But in July, an agreement was reached with Arts Council England in which £24m was awarded to the opera company to develop an artistic programme in a new base outside of London during the 2024-26 period. After this, the organisation says it will be 'firmly established' within Greater Manchester by 2029, delivering performances and other activities at existing venues across the city-region. The organisation will continue to own and manage the London Coliseum with plans for its annual season at the theatre to continue beyond 2029. However, the opera company says it is 'excited' by the opportunity to set up a new city base in Greater Manchester. Interim chief executive officer Jenny Mollica said the organisation is 'delighted' to confirm the new partnership with the city-region. She said: "As we continue to transition through significant change, today’s announcement marks an important and defining moment for our remarkable company. This future direction will see us continue to expand our role as a national institution – supporting our mission to create work with and for even more audiences across the country, alongside our annual season at the London Coliseum. "Throughout our discussions with partners and stakeholders in Greater Manchester, we have been struck by an emerging vision for the future of ENO and operatic work in the city-region, defined by a shared ambition to open up new possibilities for opera in people’s lives. We look forward to embarking on new adventures with partners, artists and audiences across Greater Manchester as we create a range of operatic repertoire at a local, national and international scale, inspired by the extraordinary cultural vibrancy of Greater Manchester and its communities. "We hugely appreciate the generosity, enthusiasm and time given throughout this robust process by all the cities involved, and are heartened by the warmth and openness we have received from Greater Manchester’s cultural sector and city-region leaders as we look ahead to a bright shared future together." Plans to bring a national opera house to Manchester date back more than a decade when London’s other major opera company - the Royal Opera - drew up plans with Manchester council to set up a northern outpost at the Palace Theatre. That ambitious £100m plan, was welcomed by the then-culture secretary, Andy Burnham, but the idea was axed under the Conservative and Lib Dem coalition. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said: "The ENO is one of the most exciting cultural institutions in the country, and we’re immensely proud to be able to bring them to a new home here in Greater Manchester. We’ve worked closely with them to set out a shared vision for a future in our city-region, where they can continue making groundbreaking opera, foster new collaborations with artists across the North, and bring their award-winning learning and wellbeing programmes to communities here. "Greater Manchester’s world-renowned history of radical art, activism, and affecting change, and the cultural renaissance taking place across our towns and cities, makes it the ideal home for the ENO. We can’t wait to welcome them and see where this new partnership takes us." Manchester council leader Bev Craig said: “"We're absolutely delighted that English National Opera is going to make Greater Manchester its new home. Manchester today is completely unrecognisable from what it was just a few decades ago. "The city has transformed itself over the last 30 years into one of Europe's fastest growing cities with the largest creative economy in Europe after London. We're a city that puts culture and the arts centre-stage and the impact of this can be seen in the audience numbers, range of venues, skills pipeline and local talent that already exists here in abundance. "With a growing population, a thriving business sector, and already a global destination for visitors who travel from across the world to Manchester to see our world-class productions, the city region is a perfect fit for ENO and we can't wait to welcome them and work with them as they make Greater Manchester their home." Salford mayor Paul Dennett said: “On behalf of Salford’s Culture and Place Partnership, I am excited and proud that ENO have made a decision to embark on a new collaborative working relationship with Greater Manchester. This welcome news offers significant new creative and innovative opportunities for Salford and Manchester within GM and we’re really looking forward to welcoming ENO’s internationally respected creative, production and artistic teams. "We are excited to explore how the City of Salford’s vibrant and creative ecology can collaborate with ENO as future plans are developed. I’m also looking forward to introducing ENO to the cultural partnership in Salford, our fantastic cultural and creative institutions and Greater Manchester’s work around creative health." Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said: "This announcement is the culmination of months of hard work by the ENO. ENO’s new base is good news for the people of Greater Manchester. "It means excellent opera performances for new audiences and new ways for young people here to experience and participate in opera. It will also bring new opportunities for creative and technical professionals in Greater Manchester to partner with a world-class organisation making innovative work." Lucy Frazer, Secretary of State at the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: "The English National Opera is a treasured national institution and I am pleased that people across Greater Manchester, the North West and beyond will be able to enjoy their captivating performances more easily. I look forward to seeing the exciting new developments in the English National Opera's journey as they build on this new partnership, level up access to opera up and down the country and create more opportunities for the young people across the North to explore their creative talent." Story Saved
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"We can't wait": English National Opera moving away from London to make Greater Manchester its new home

ENO confirms move to Greater Manchester PLUS Dim the lights and close the curtains for Chanel show AND Welcome to the ‘Whoseum’
17:09, 5 DEC 2023
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Exciting news today. That’s despite a backlash against the decision in the national press earlier this year and ardent campaigning against a decision by Arts Council England to slash funding unless the company moved out of the capital. ENO has now confirmed it is working with local leaders on a plan to make the city-region its main home by 2029, as Joseph Timan reports. Arts Council England has awarded £24m to the opera company to develop an artistic programme in a new base outside of London during the 2024-26 period. After this, the organisation says it will be 'firmly established' within Greater Manchester by 2029, delivering performances and other activities at existing venues across the city-region, including The Lowry and Aviva Studios. The English National Opera in London (Image: Google)
It will not have its own venue in Greater Manchester and will continue to own and manage the London Coliseum with plans for its annual season at the theatre to continue beyond 2029. Interim chief executive officer Jenny Mollica said the organisation is 'delighted' to confirm the new partnership with Greater Manchester and will allow ENO to further develop as a ‘national institution’. "Throughout our discussions with partners and stakeholders in Greater Manchester, we have been struck by an emerging vision for the future of ENO and operatic work in the city-region, defined by a shared ambition to open up new possibilities for opera in people’s lives,” she said. Plans to bring a national opera house to Manchester date back more than a decade when London’s other major opera company - the Royal Opera - drew up plans with Manchester council to set up a northern outpost at the Palace Theatre. That ambitious £100m plan, was welcomed by the then-culture secretary, Andy Burnham , but the idea was axed under the Conservative and Lib Dem coalition. The mayor today said our region’s ‘world-renowned history of radical art, activism, and affecting change, and the cultural renaissance taking place across our towns and cities, makes it the ideal home for the ENO’. That’s not to say that everyone will feel the same. The plans were met with fury when they were first mooted last year. And as What’s On editor Jenna Campbell wrote at the time , ‘you would think London was the only show in town, if you were to read the reaction to the ENO story in the capital's press’. “Arts bosses are always saying they want to reach more diverse audiences,” she wrote. “Now is their chance. In an ideal world there would be more to go around for everyone. But when resources are limited, they should really be going to those who regularly miss out. For too long London has had the largest slice of the pie.”
Region’s hospitals ‘nearly full’
With winter approaching, Greater Manchester’s hospitals are more than 90 per cent full. Hospital bed occupancy across the region is at around 92 per cent according to the latest update from the region's NHS system. Children's beds have also been more than 90 per cent full in the last week, health reporter Helena Vesty has discovered. Health leaders have previously said anything beyond 85 per cent of beds occupied is 'very uncomfortable for hospitals' . The latest update means the region is in a similar situation to last year, which saw the start of an extremely difficult winter for the NHS as patients waited in ambulances for hours outside A&E as there were too few beds and medics to cope with demand. Greater Manchester's NHS says the acute care system - meaning the region's ambulances, emergency departments and hospitals - is under significant pressure with specific challenges in getting patients into hospital and out the other side. The NHS has also said the region is seeing 'high numbers of people with no reason to reside in hospital' and serious pressure in 'mental health capacity versus demand'. Attendances at emergency departments for mental health conditions were said to be extremely high during October 2023. However, those figures have reduced slightly during November. Close your curtains, dim your lights and don’t disturb the stars
You may have been wondering why Chanel has decided to hold a huge catwalk show here in Manchester - or indeed why you should care, given that it’s aimed at exclusive guests only. Well, the luxury fashion brand has now offered up some more details about why it has chosen Manchester for the Métiers d’Art show. They say Manchester is an ‘effervescent city’ which has changed ‘the history of music’. Promotional images have apparently been designed by former Factory Records artist Peter Saville , the man behind the Hacienda's iconic black and yellow hazard stripes. He is also one of the curators of a major Manchester retrospective exhibition being staged at the city's historic Victoria Baths - which will host a glitzy fashion show after-party on Thursday night before opening to the public from Friday afternoon all weekend. Chanel shares first details about its Métiers d'Art show in Manchester on December 7, 2023 (Image: Chanel)
A statement on the Chanel Instagram account reads: "CHANEL has chosen to present the 2023/24 Métiers d’art show in Manchester, one of the most effervescent cities of pop culture and an avant-garde one, whose bands, spanning all genres, have changed the history of music." Judging by the imagery used to promote the event, it looks as though Factory Records era music will loom large over the show. Some of the world's biggest stars are set to jet into Manchester for the multi-million pound event , with all of the city's five star and luxury hotels booked out. 600 VIP guests will attend the ultra-exclusive invite-only event. A film of Thursday’s catwalk show will be revealed to the public on Friday. A huge metal structure has been created in the city's Northern Quarter to host the show on Thursday night. But as Imogen Clyde-Smith reports , businesses located near the catwalk claim they have lost trade amid the disruption and residents say they have been banned from their balconies. Chanel's multi-million pound Metiers d'Art catwalk show is under construction on Thomas Street (Image: ABNM Photography)
Several businesses are being paid to shut while the event takes place. But the manager of one bar on nearby High Street says they have suffered reduced footfall due to people assuming bars and shops are already closed. “I would say we were a couple of grand down,” they said. One resident living in a flat on Thomas Street says she has been asked not to use her balcony - which overlooks the outdoor catwalk. Another received similar correspondence and says: “We were told not to go on our balconies and to keep our curtains shut during the show. It was more or less: ‘We strongly suggest you don’t go on your balcony or if you have lights on in your home close the curtain’.”
But the landlady of a pub on Shudehill says the show is ‘great for Manchester’. “It’s a once in a lifetime thing. There has been a lot of disruption but they’ve paid everybody compensation. I have the pub on the corner and they’ve kept us informed for weeks and weeks. It’s not disrupted any business for me and we’re hoping it will bring people in on Thursday. It’s a busy time of the year anyway but I think it will be good for us. I think it’s brilliant, it's got everybody talking about Manchester and it’s good for the Northern Quarter as well.”

The Mancunian Way: The ideal home for opera?

Why the English National Opera is moving here - and what it means for Greater Manchester
The news comes after the opera company's funding was cut
The English National Opera is currently based at the London Coliseum (Image: Belinda Jiao)
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News that the English National Opera (ENO) will be moving to Greater Manchester has been welcomed locally - but elsewhere in the country, some people aren't happy. Plans to make the city-region its 'main home' by 2029 were announced this morning (December 5). It comes just a year after the globally-renowned company campaigned against a decision by Arts Council England to slash its funding unless it moves out the capital. At the time, the ENO's bosses said a mooted move to Manchester was 'just not doable'. Now, after striking a two-year funding deal with the public body, the organisation says it can gradually make the move up North while continuing to put on a 'substantial' annual season at its current home in London's West End. However, against a backdrop of funding cuts and plans for a slimmed down part-time orchestra, it is not clear yet exactly what the ENO will look like by the end of the decade. Reacting to the news on social media, some have also questioned why the move is necessary, citing Opera North's presence in the region. But the Leeds-based opera company has welcomed it, saying it looks forward to continue working closely with the ENO. The opera company has confirmed that it will not have its own venue in Greater Manchester, nor will it be based at a specific location. Instead, it will put on performances at existing venues in the city-region including The Lowry and Factory International's Aviva Studios. Meanwhile, the ENO will still own and manage the London Coliseum with plans for its annual season to continue at the theatre beyond 2029. The move to Greater Manchester will begin in May 2024 when a new programme of activities will be announced. The English National Opera in London (Image: Google)
It follows an agreement with Arts Council England which gives ENO £24m over the next two years, some of which will be ringfenced for the transition to the new base outside of the capital. According to the ENO, this represents a funding cut of around 10 per cent. A restructure of the organisation, which could see the chorus and orchestra slimmed down and staff moved to part-time contracts, is currently under way. The ENO has also said that its annual season at the London Coliseum will be 'reduced', although still 'substantial'. However, the costs of running the London Coliseum are currently met by the income from renting the theatre throughout the rest of the year for musicals, ballet and other performances. This means the opera company's presence in the capital can continue for now. But performers and entertainment trade union Equity has said it is 'completely unclear' what the move means for the ENO's existing workforce. Responding to the announcement, Equity's Hilary Hadley said: “We remain concerned for the existing workforce in London. "They are currently facing the impact of an extremely uncertain future and dramatic cuts to their contracts. It is unclear from this announcement whether there will be any opportunities for them at this second base, and it is our fear that it will further erode good quality jobs on Union contracts for singers and stage management. “Expansion of the ENO outside of London should not come at the expense of the workforce, or indeed to the detriment of a London opera audience." The Lowry in Salford Quays where some ENO productions are set to be staged (Image: Vincent Cole - Manchester Evening News)
Looking ahead, the ENO says it is hoping to secure more funding so that it can continue staging a similarly-sized annual season in London, while becoming 'firmly established' in Greater Manchester, which will be its 'main home' by 2029. But what does that mean? The ENO has confirmed it will not be moving into a specific venue in Greater Manchester, but rather, it will deliver 'performances, wellbeing and learning activity with multiple partners and venues across the city-region' including at The Lowry and Aviva Studios. The opera company has also told the M.E.N. that it might establish new rehearsal studios, production space and offices in the city-region. The Lowry has welcomed the news, with the arts centre's CEO, Julia Fawcett, saying she is 'absolutely thrilled'. She said: "We think this is great news for audiences in the region and we look forward to collaborating with the company on their exciting new plans." John McGrath, who is the artistic director and chief executive of Factory International which runs Aviva Studios, was equally pleased, expressing excitement about developing productions together with the ENO as well as its involvement in the organisation's training and skills programme. Meanwhile, Dave Moutrey, who is the director and CEO of the HOME arts centre and Manchester council's director of culture described the prospect of working with the ENO to create new possibilities for opera in the city as 'very exciting'. Responding to the news, Opera North said it 'looks forward to continuing to work closely with ENO and other touring companies to offer a coordinated programme of opera for audiences'. The Leeds-based company confirmed it will continue to perform in Greater Manchester, adding: "We’re hungry to collaborate with ENO and other arts organisations to make sure that music reaches as many children and young people as possible and to use public funds as effectively and efficiently as we can for the benefit of all." Story Saved
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