Dear readers — at the weekend we published a slightly unusual piece. We teamed up with our sister titles in four other cities — Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham and Glasgow — to document several month’s worth of reporting on the flag-raising trend we’ve seen all across the country. It featured an all-star cast, including a Salford-based people smuggler, a sex doll salesman in Stirchley, a neo-Nazi north of the border and a Birmingham-based businessman accused of making bogus compensation claims to Spanish hotels for food poisoning (which he denies).
Thanks as ever to everyone who shared the piece, we enjoyed reading the dozens of kind posts on social media over the weekend. Phil Harrison called it a “cracking piece of investigative journalism” and “the kind of thing that mainstream, centralised outfits don't do enough of now”, while Patrick Galey said it was “genuine public service journalism”.
Our weekend story was the product of several month’s work across five cities. As with so many of our biggest stories we made it free for everyone to read, because we think it’s important for this kind of journalism to be widely accessible and widely read. If you read it, we hope you enjoyed it.
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With multiple venues across the city, Colony has established itself as the place to work for Manchester’s professionals who are looking for fresh and inspiring spaces. Since 2017, they’ve grown from a small cluster of coworking desks in Ancoats to eight fully fledged venues across the city, with private offices, coworking, meeting rooms, event spaces and podcast studios. Their latest venue, Spring Gardens, opened earlier this year and they’re now looking forward to opening the doors of their new flagship space on King St in early 2026 – look out for more details on that later in the year. For more on their offering, see below.
Fishy chips in Stockport
A microchip factory in Stockport has found itself at the centre of a national security row following reports that trade secrets were stolen from there and transferred to China. The plant is the UK arm of Nexperia – a chip manufacturer based in the Netherlands but owned by a larger Chinese technology group – which was brought under the control of the Dutch government in September. Authorities there believe that Nexperia’s former CEO Zhang Xuezheng took the secrets from the Manchester factory to a site he owned in China. After a monthslong stand off with the Dutch government it appears Xuezheng, who owns Nexperia’s parent company, saw the writing on the wall and began dismantling Nexperia’s European operations (his company rejects this characterisation). He also planned on laying off nearly half of its staff and moving equipment to factories in China. It means car companies across the world, which use Nexperia microchips, are being threatened with having to halt production. Meanwhile, MPs told Politico that the accusations against Xuezhang represented a greater danger to UK industry “In the U.K., as in Europe, some of our most critical supply chains are highly exposed to malicious actors,” said Matt Western, who chairs the joint committee on national security strategy.
A familiar face in Piccadilly’s brawl
A few weeks ago, we published a piece exploring the online trend of Youtubers making videos exposing gay men cottaging along the Rochdale Canal. We reached out to a number of the Youtubers who had made these videos, but only one replied, Cozzy, a self-described “independent journalist” who says he explores the topics the “mainstream media” ignore. In one video, subtly titled “MIGRANT HOTEL!! AGGRESSIVE COTTAGERS COVE ITS TO LATE FOR BRITAIN ITS BROKEN SODAM AND GAMORAH!!!!!! [sic]”, Cozzy monologues to the camera: “Just down the old Cottagers [Cove]. It’s entertaining, innit? Go and see the gays.” Well, when a video was widely shared over the weekend of a Halloween fight in Piccadilly Gardens, of two people wearing bunny ears punching a man to the ground — with dozens of onlookers gathered around — we recognised the man straight away. It’s hard to tell from the footage what prompted the fight, but it has been suggested that Cozzy provoked the situation by following and filming the people wearing bunny ears. Cozzy himself has since spoken to the MEN, describing himself as an “innocent victim” who was simply trying to document life in the area. “Normally situations like that don't happen to me,” he said. “Obviously I'm a YouTuber and I want to highlight things. I'm a filmer and a documenter and I try to stay out of arguments.” A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police has said they are reviewing footage of the brawl.
The Big Wheel of fortune: AI is up; Pride is down; Noonan’s going round and round
🤖 Manchester has seen the biggest rise in registered AI companies in the last five years, according to new data. As we reported last year, the AI community, helped by university-backed schemes and start-up incubators, is set to become a cornerstone of our economy. The local tech sector is estimated to have reached over £1bn GVA, and Manchester has been named the UK’s most “AI Ready City” for the last two years running in the AI Cities Index. According to this year’s index, Manchester has the most tech-based jobs and biggest development grants outside of London.
🏳️🌈 A Crowdfunder has been launched in support of the freelance artists, producers and performers left out of pocket by the bankruptcy of Pride. After the company’s sudden closure, Manchester Pride owes over £1.3 million to various freelancers and suppliers, while less than a quarter of that figure reportedly remains in the company’s account. The fundraiser has a target of £50,000 — they’ve raised just over £3,500 so far. You can help them reach their goal by the 27th of November here.
🎡 Keen Mill readers will remember that we opened last Monday’s newsletter by reminiscing on that fated day when notorious gangster Dominic Noonan climbed Manchester’s Big Wheel. You can therefore imagine our surprise when, only three days later, it was reported that Noonan has been unexpectedly and inexplicably released from prison — just as the Big Wheel makes its return to Manchester for the first time in over a decade. Noonan had been given two 11 year sentences to be served consecutively, but has been released after serving only seven — meaning he was incarcerated for less time than the Big Wheel has actually been gone. In fact, Noonan, who was serving time for the combined convictions of arson, blackmail, perverting the course of justice, and 13 historic sex offenses, spent significantly less time behind bars than Albert Square itself.
Open newsroom
🐟 For a while now we’ve been after the right kind of fishmonger in order to do a story. We want someone who delivers fresh fish from the sea to the city, ready to sell that same day. Last night at the pub we heard rumours of such a fishmonger — a small van in China Town delivering the goods. Do you know about this van, or another monger who matches this description? Let us know here.
This week’s weather
Unseasonably mild this week, but there will be rain or showers at some point most days. Often windy as well.
Tuesday 🌦️ Breezy & very mild with showers. Heavy rain during the evening and overnight. Max 16°c.
Wednesday 🌦️ Mostly cloudy with intermittent light showers during the daytime. Largely dry during bonfire evening. Max 16°c.
Thursday 🌥️ Mostly dry and breezy with bright spells. Max 16°c.
Friday 🌦️ Turning wet for a time during the morning before bright spells and mostly dry conditions follow. Max 14°c
Weekend 🌦️ Cooler with bright spells and good periods of dry weather.
Home of the week
This grade-II listed, three-bedroom barn conversion in Stockport “seamlessly blends history, style, and comfort”, and is on the market for £495,000.
What we’re reading
Manchester rabbi: ‘I didn’t think an attack like this would happen in England’ — The Telegraph
On the morning of 2 October, Rabbi Daniel Walker only had one thing on his mind. “The only thing I was worried about was whether my sermon was good,” he told the Telegraph this week, one month on from the Heaton Park synagogue attack, a day that would come to define his community. On the way to his seat beside the holy ark he passed and greeted Adrian Daulby, who would soon be dead. It was not long after he began reading prayers that Rabbi Walker heard what he describes as a very loud bang.
Lessons from Manchester for Labour’s new town agenda — Financial Times
The newly-branded Victoria North, a 155 acre area to the north of the city centre, which was once a Victorian slum referred to as “hell on earth”, is set to become a “new town”. Regeneration bosses have had their eye on it for the best part of a decade, and in 2017 the council entered a joint venture with Hong Kong developers FEC. The FT explores what that will mean for Manchester, and whether it can be a model for the government’s new town agenda in boosting growth.
Writers recommend
📰 Ever the fan of alternative news sources, Ophira recommends heading to Central library tomorrow to see the People’s Papers — an archival event exploring Greater Manchester's community newspapers of the ‘70s.
🥃 Tickets for the Manchester Whisky Festival later in the month are selling fast. It’s held over two days at Manchester Cathedral, 21 and 22 November, with the Whisky Lounge hosting. Take a look.
🦖 And finally, Jack Walton will be eating, roaming and repeating, like a triceratops, at Manchester Museum’s Triceratops exhibition. The centrepiece is a rare 1.9 metre skull. The exhibition is free, suitable for all ages and will be at the museum until February.
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