The day that changed Manchester's restaurants, bars and takeaways forever (2025)

Five years on from the first Covid lockdown people in the hospitality industry talk to Jenna Campbell about the impact of the pandemic and how it changed their businesses.

Everyone remembers where they were when Boris Johnson announced the first UK lockdown.

It was just a week after he had told people to stop non-essential contact and travel and just days after he announced the first measures to slow the spread of Covid-19 in his 'don't go out tonight' speech from Downing Street.

"We are collectively telling cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants to close tonight as soon as they reasonably can, and not to open tomorrow. We’re also telling nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres to close on the same timescale."

The writing was on the wall, but nothing could have prepared the population for what would transpire over the coming weeks, months and years as the deadly virus shut down the world.

Across the UK, just under 227,000 people died who had the virus listed as a cause of death. Children stopped going to school, shops and businesses closed, and families and friends did not see each other for months on end.

Many sectors were irreversibly damaged by the pandemic, forced to grapple with lockdown measures, varying local rules and gradual reopening. Subsequent parliamentary reports have found that restrictions on trading disproportionately impacted hospitality businesses.

Restrictions ranged from forced closures and limits on opening hours to rules on the number of people that could meet indoors and table-service requirements.

Late-night businesses such as nightclubs and businesses in city centres were the hardest hit, but all those across the industry were forced to reset, adapt and manage the best they could in incredibly difficult circumstances.

In their own words, some of Greater Manchester's longest-serving operators reflect on the five year anniversary of the first national lockdown, from their initial reactions to how they evolved as businesses, and the long-term impact on the sector.

Anne Wallace - Taylor's fish and chips, Woodley

1966 was a good year for the beautiful game and the residents of Hattersley where Taylors first landed. It eventually put down roots in Woodley Precinct in 1986 with Anne and Bob Wallace at the helm alongside Anne’s mum and dad (Jennie and Albert).

"When it all started, we were actually on holiday, and then we came back on Friday and on the Monday we had to close our two businesses - the fish and chip shop and the coffee shop next door but one," recalls Anne when casting her mind back to March 2020.

"I think we were all living in a nightmare really, but restaurants suffered more than takeaways, everyone had to adapt.

"The fish and chip shop was the biggest challenge in terms of could we actually operate. We were closed for a month and then we got a guy on board who set up an online ordering platform, which he turned around for us in just a couple of days.

"When it was set up it was crazy. People obviously couldn't go out and we were getting so many orders."

In terms of the changes Anne has noticed since then, she's says that while it was good for business to turn to a takeaway model it took a long time for dining in to return to what it once was.

"You had so many things to consider like social distancing and having staff on furlough. But the biggest challenge was keeping everyone safe.

"The thing I didn't expect and thought would go back to normal quickly, but didn't was people coming in and sitting down for a meal again. Eat-in didn’t really recover, it was dire to a point where no one was sitting in, it was depressing. Eat-in before Covid was a big part of what we did, and it never really recovered."

While the business, like many others, made the necessary changes, Anne says a lifeline came about what a branding company offered to help them embark on a new chapter almost two years ago.

"My daughter works for a big national company in marketing, and she said she was working with a branding company and as part of that company's corporate social responsibility they worked with a small business so she put us forward.

"A guy from a business called Leap in Birmingham came in and worked with us to rebrand the whole operation - he was phenomenal.

"We ripped everything out, from the exterior and the uniforms, to the signage and whole look and feel. Since we did that 18 months ago it's just gone crazy here and we've been so busy. That and our manager brilliant manager Jamie, and our team has led to a 50% increase in sales.

"From a personal point of view, I think the pandemic gave everyone a wake-up call, but as a business it was probably a positive, not during, but in the aftermath.

"It taught us that you can’t just sit there and be doom and gloom, you have to keep changing.

"It made us adapt, and it makes you a bit more efficient, you have to look at working practices, and how it runs. The business is a lot better now than had we not gone through it, even though it was awful.

"My husband and I have been in the trade since 1966, and you have to move with the times.

"Our manager Jamie is a very dynamic, as is our young team, and you’ve got to listen to your staff and customers. You also have to invest in your staff.

"Covid also made me realise, there's more to life than work."

Matt Nellany - Trof, Northern Quarter

Trof has been serving thirsty punters in the Northern Quarter since 2003. General Manager Matt Nellany joined the fold in 2017 as deputy manager before taking on the general manager position the next year.

Towards the end of 2021, Mission Mars handed over the reigns to Matt, who has been running the independent institution. He's also a co-founder of The Trading Route at St John's and Stow restaurant on Bridge Street.

“The business was part of Mission Mars, and then they streamlined the business focusing on Albert Schloss and Rudy’s around the time of Covid and that meant the opportunity came about to buy Trof," he explains.

"They knew my ambition was always for me to take on somewhere of my own and they helped make that happen.”

In the early days of the pandemic, Matt recalls things unfolding very quickly and having to grapple with a constantly moving situation.

“It did happen very quickly in terms of understanding what was going on and then lockdown being mentioned. Within weeks it all unfolded and very quickly we had to grasp what that meant for bars and restaurants.

"Our first reaction was panic, we were asking what does that mean and for how long will we have to be shut? And what does it mean for our jobs? At first we thought maybe it will just be a few weeks or a month and we might be ok.

With the Government reviews on lockdown you always felt like you had to be ready to open and then it would be delayed again. It was very weird.

"If we had known that we would be shut for a set time we would have focused on different things or not ordered the amount of food or beer.

"Trof was lucky that at that time it was part of Mission Mars because there was that financial security and support. I don’t know how a lot of other businesses survived."

Like the other operators we have spoken to, Matt told us that it was about being agile in the face of a rapidly changing situation.

“One way we adapted was through takeaway roast dinners because that’s what we’re known for really. We knew breakfast and pub grub don't travel as well, so we focused on roasts.

"They're about 50% of our food sales so we did cook-at-home roasts for people to pop in the oven. It wasn’t enough to sustain us though.

“Then when outside dining opened and luckily the pavement license rules were adapted by the council so we could put tables and chairs outside. It wasn’t ideal as it’s an alleyway with bins and there’s no sun, but those 6-7 tables were always full. The minute people could drink outside they were straight out there.

“Then there was that period of all the different ways you could eat in and what constituted a substantial meal. That was crazy.

“You had to be adaptable. A big skill we’ve learnt from Covid was changing things to get people through the door and increase sales.

"But there was always this conflict about public health, and having people on site you had to be extra careful.

“It was trying to find that middle ground of not wanting to risk anyone being ill, or putting our staff at risk. Some staff were concerned about coming back and if they didn’t want to we understood."

On the impact it's had on hospitality, Matt thinks its changed how customers spend time in venues and how much they spend.

“It’s definitely impacted the industry. Trof was a lot more wet-led before than food-led, and the biggest difference is that before Covid, people would come in and they would stand with a drink at the bar. Now, someone walks in and they look for a table straight away.

"It’s coming back now but for the first few years no one would stand - it was ingrained in people.

“People’s spending habits have also changed, they’re not drinking as much but they’re drinking more premium products.

“Post Covid and taking on the business ourselves, you always feel like you’re treading water. You think we’ll just get through Covid, or in a couple of years we’ll be back to normal, but then a Budget will be announced and then the War in Ukraine, or energy prices tripling.

"Then you think ok this won’t be the year and we’ll only make minimal profit. Last year I felt sales were almost back to what they used to be and things were a bit more stable.

"But then the Autumn Budget came in and presented the next challenge we have to tackle. Business rates changing is going to be a big one.

"We were very grateful for that discount, 75% is a generous discount and now it’s down to a 40% discount, but I think it’s just that hospitality is still finding it very challenging. It will have a big impact on businesses.

“We can’t really put our extra costs onto the customer because customers' disposal income is reduced too and they’re facing cost of living issues too.

"People will be looking for cheaper experiences or will be more conscious about what they spend, it’s much more of a luxury to go out again.

"We’ve got to look at ways to save costs to respond to that. It will be a big challenge but we should be ok and we’re ready for it."

Tom McNeeney - The Oxford Pub, Rochdale

The Oxford pub in Shawclough has been under the management of ‘Team McNeeney’ for 12 years. The family - Alison, Phil, Tom and Ella – took over The Oxford in February 2013, with Alison and Phil having previously run pubs over 30 years ago.

Over the years, the family-run pub at the foot of the Pennines, has become known for putting on its own Christmas markets. This year, they're looking to put on even more events for the local community and have some big partnerships lined up.

"When you think back to that time everything was so alien and scary, it’s was like nothing any of us had ever experienced before so looking back is pretty bizarre.

"The first year felt a real struggle, we had the same mental battles to face that anyone had going into the lockdown situation but added to that The Oxford couldn’t qualify for any of the Government grants meaning we had to think about how we could continue, safely, to generate an income even in a period of uncertainty.

"We had to constantly find new ways to keep our heads above water and our minds positive all while still trying to support the community we’d built around our pub.

"I think we can all safely say now looking back that the government handled few industries worse during the pandemic than hospitality.

"The hoops we were made to jump though and the tier system made it practically impossible for businesses to make that return to trading successfully.

"Let’s not forget, with the benefit of hindsight, we’re looking back on a period when the government failed to help this industry while also throwing plenty of parties of their own.

"The bitter taste of Covid has lasted long in the mouth of the sector and we’ve never truthfully recovered that relationship with any government since."

Reflecting on how he and his family handled the challenges of Covid, Tom says he's proud of what they managed to do under diffiuclt circumstances.

"It would have been very easy to walk away from what we’d built here and the incredible community we’ve created around the team and The Oxford, but we saw an opportunity to make improvements, to use that time to change a lot of what we do here to come back stronger after lockdown.

"We’re fortunate to be creative people in a creative industry, we are used to pressure so our resilience in a crisis made all the difference but what we learnt was all of that would be for nothing if we weren’t supported by so many fantastic people.

"We’ve never been reminded more of the importance of our pubs to their communities than during Covid and it’s shaped every decision we’ve made in the years since."

Like many other businesses, Tom and his family are now looking ahead to the opportunities and challenges they will be presented with.

The reduction in business rates relief and increase in employer's National Insurance and Minimum Wage contributions is something that weighs heavily on their minds.

"Looking forward over the next 12 months is difficult, it’s hard to see that the current crisis the trade is facing is causing more businesses to shut than even in the peak of the Covid restrictions.

"Where a lot of sectors can look back on the Covid years as their biggest challenge to date, sadly for hospitality we’ve been hit by bigger and bigger tests with perhaps our toughest year to come.

"A terrible legacy for those incredible venues that survived a global pandemic only to find themselves in a worse position year on year since."

Johnny and Charlotte Heyes - Common and Nell’s, Manchester City Centre, Chorlton and Altrincham

Jonny Heyes established the bar on Edge Street in the Northern Quarter back in 2004 alongside co-founder Chris Stevenson who stayed with the business until around 2009. It was around this time that Charlotte, Johnny's wife, joined the fold.

Since then, the pair have become key figures in Manchester’s food and drink scene. Port Street Beer House, Common, The Pilcrow and Indy Man Beer Con have all been steered by them and shaped the nightlife sector as we know it today.

Their hit New York-style pizza concept was launched during Covid and can be found at their Edge Street venue, Kampus site near Piccadilly Station, The Beagle in Chorlton as well as Altrincham's Stamford Quarter.

Reflecting on Covid, Johnny says: "It was all just quite surreal, but I thought we’d be back open in a couple of weeks."

The Nell's venue at Kampus was already secured before Covid hit, but wasn’t the main focus. They had planned to open the site as a pub with a pizza shop attached, but the pandemic changed all that, and the founders say it turned out to be a much-needed lifeline.

“When Covid hit there was some rapid decision making, we had everything ready, logo and recipes done and week one Charlotte said don’t spend anything but I got the pizza oven and that was our lifeboat.

“I don’t really like to look back too much because it was an awful time, and you lose track of the fact that every day or week we had to change what we were doing completely. 14 inch pizzas were never intended but it was so we could do delivery."

“I spent the first lockdown perfecting the recipes and refitting the kitchen. We were lucky in some ways that we had Nell’s as an idea ready to go and by the time the lockdown ended we were up and running, selling slices out of the front window."

During Covid, Common and Nell's specifically hit headlines when police told the owners to stop serving slices of 22-inch pizza as they didn’t class as a ‘substantial meal’ under the Tier 3 lockdown rules.

As well as ever-changing rules and regulations businesses like Common had to deal with local lockdowns announced late at night on Twitter, strict curfews, and many other complicated safety measures introduced to the sector.

“To be honest, I’m still trying to block it out of my mind," adds Johnny.

Though he described it back in early 2021 as a ‘non-stop grind’, they did find their way through and continued to do what they do best - adapt with the times.

Fast forward to 2025, the hospitality is facing a new set of challenges, but Johnny is keen that they stay positive.

“I think the biggest thing is consumer confidence. I want to see a bit more feelgood factor, people getting out and enjoying themselves and spending a bit of money. Get rid of all the doom and gloom.”

The Original Third Eye, Didsbury

Mela - Mel - Kumar and her husband, chef Arun Kumar, have run The Original Third Eye, one of Didsbury Village’s longest-running restaurants, for 25 years. Before this, the first Third Eye was opened in the 1990s in Burnage, but they consolidated to one site in 2000.

Mel was born in Kathmandu, but the family moved to Manchester before she started school. Her father Gopal was scouted from Nepal to come and work at the famous Rajdoot restaurant.

He went on to establish The Great Kathmandu on Burton Road, and she grew up above it, working in the restaurant from her early teens. And it was here, that she met Arun, who was working for the family as a waiter.

The announcement was a complete shock to us," reflects Mel when thinking back to March 2020.

"Like many in the industry, we didn’t know what the future held and had deep concerns about our staff, customers, and the overall sustainability of the business.

"As a family-run restaurant, our priority was the health and safety of our team and guests, as well as ensuring we could navigate the uncertainty of restrictions. The unpredictability of the situation made it an incredibly difficult period.

"Initially, we closed our doors due to the unknown nature of the virus. However, as the situation evolved and guidelines became clearer, we adapted by setting up a takeaway-only service.

"While this allowed us to continue serving our community, it was a challenging time financially, as takeaway sales could not fully replace the revenue lost from in-house dining."

Like many other businesses, Mel and the team implemented strict safety measures including sanitising stations, face masks for staff, disposable paper tablecloths, table distancing, and protective screens.

They also strengthened their online presence to make ordering easier, introduced contactless payments, and engaged more with their customers on social media to maintain connections during successive lockdowns.

"As a family-run restaurant, we handle most things in-house, which helped us remain flexible in adapting to the new challenges.

"We also took the opportunity to involve the younger generation in our family, who brought fresh ideas to the business - whether through social media, online marketing, or understanding emerging food trends. Their input helped us stay relevant and connected to changing customer habits."

Like others, Mel noticed a notable change in customer behaviour that has lasted beyond the pandemic. She's also concerned about the next set of challenges hospitality will have to deal with over the coming months, but is staying positive.

"One of the biggest shifts has been customer behaviour - many guests now prefer takeaways or home dining rather than dining in restaurants as often as they used to.

"Operational costs have increased significantly, and the industry continues to deal with supply chain disruptions and staff shortages. Many independent restaurants have struggled or closed due to these challenges.

"The hospitality industry is still facing challenges, particularly with rising costs and changes in customer spending habits. Whilst the sector hasn’t fully recovered, we remain optimistic.

"We’re grateful for the support of our loyal customers and believe that with innovation, resilience, and fresh ideas from the next generation, independent restaurants like ours will continue to thrive."