Manchester’s Finest began over a decade ago as a small passion project, aiming to highlight the best independent lifestyle venues in Manchester. Now they have grown to be a universal hub that people flock to for recommendations across the city. This is done through their various online channels amassing hundreds of thousands of followers respectively. This organic growth underscores the public’s appetite for genuine, localized experiences and the valuable role Manchester’s Finest plays in meeting that demand. UNCLE will be continuing to partner with them over the coming months to elevate their presence on city streets.
Their usual process of selecting featured establishments is both dynamic and community-driven. There is no strict formula; instead, selections are made based on personal experiences, team discoveries, and audience recommendations. The team members and local residents continuously scout for fresh and exciting places, ensuring they provide honest and firsthand reviews. This hands-on approach allows them to maintain authenticity and reliability in their recommendations.
This poster campaign highlights the district of Levenshulme, described by the team as “a really fascinating microcosm of what’s great about the whole city”. The reasoning and importance behind this selection is discussed in the following interview we did with the team along with the cultural emphasis of the brand and how they are able to showcase the city’s unique blend of tradition and modernity.
HOW DID MANCHESTER’S FINEST BEGIN?
Manchester’s Finest started out as a passion project over 10 years ago – it was a simple blog that we used to spotlight independent lifestyle venues we loved. It turned out that what we were doing really resonated with a community that started to develop – people were eager to explore and engage with what our city had to offer.
The blog quickly grew into multiple social accounts and a website that now provides a trusted resource for anyone looking to get curated recommendations.
WHAT GOES INTO SELECTING THE FEATURED ESTABLISHMENTS?
There isn’t really one set rule on how we select places to feature. It can come from good personal experiences or from recommendations. We have a weekly series ‘Suggested By You’ where our audience hits us up in social comments and DM’s to tell us about food and drink spots we ‘must’ visit – it’s a really popular series that one – and we’ve been to so many places we hadn’t previously tried because of it.
We’re always out there ourselves though, trying everything first-hand. Our team all live locally and are constantly sharing intel on new places they spot that are opening or where they’ve been out to eat, drink, shop etc… We enjoy the food, we chat with the owners, we get the vibe of the place. This way, we can tell you honestly what’s really worth checking out. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO CHAMPION INDEPENDENT SPACES?
Supporting independents is crucial for us at Manchester’s Finest because these places are what give our city its unique character and charm. It’s something we’ve done since the start – independents are the lifeblood of the city and pioneer innovation, offering experiences, products and services that you don’t find in larger chains. They bring the creativity and variety that makes our city such a vibrant and diverse place to be.
Championing local businesses also has a positive impact on our community – these places are owned and operated by people who care deeply about our city – they contribute not just economically, but culturally and socially as well. By supporting them we help maintain a thriving local economy and ensure that important resources stay here for the enjoyment of everyone.
Our team also love it when we’re privileged enough to share in the journey of growth and success for a local business, as well as owners and ventures that come from outside the city and make it their home. There’s a real sense of camaraderie and support in Manchester that makes it a unique city.
DO ALL YOUR SELECTIONS HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON?
In terms of the literal selections, places can vary greatly in what they do and offer – one moment we could be in a rustic café, the next at a gig or craft workshop, or in a Michelin level restaurant – but what they all share are the same core attributes – passion, integrity, and great at what they do.
TELL US ABOUT LEVENSHULME?
We think Levenshulme is a really fascinating microcosm of what’s great about the whole city.
The A6 is one of the main roads here (famous for being the 192 late night bus route!) and it runs right through the centre of ‘Levy’ which was historically a more working class (read ‘cheaper’) part of South Manchester to live in compared to places like Didsbury.
Levenshulme’s been through huge changes in recent years – a familiar story but a large influx of artists and creatives as well as other communities moved to the area for lower rents or to get a foot on the property ladder. So now you’ve got a generation of people who’ve grown up there plus immigrants and newcomers from a range of backgrounds – Asian, British, French, Indian, Italian, Irish, Jamaican, Lebanese, Turkish. These diverse cuisines and cultures all jostle against each other alongside the more ‘old school’ classic joints that are mainstays – traditional greasy spoons, working men’s clubs and heritage sites like The Antiques Village all within a small easy to navigate radius.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO HIGHLIGHT THIS AREA FOR THE CAMPAIGN?
Last year we launched our new ‘Places’ directory, to be a useful resource on our website for our audience and visitors to the city by curating all our recommendations in each Greater Manchester neighbourhood. So these new ‘Neighbourhood Guide’ campaigns are a natural extension of that – we pick some of the best spots and delve a bit deeper and behind the scenes with our video crew, a presenter and someone who lives in the spot we’re focusing on.
We create written and visual content to really get under the skin of a place. Levy seemed a good place to start for all the reasons above – but we’ll be covering more soon.
TALK US THROUGH THE POSTER DESIGN?
We just kept it simple and selected highlights from our video guide to make statement headlines and grab people’s attention. Then when you scan the QR code you get to watch our full video guide.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR MANCHESTER’S FINEST?
We want to get out more, away from our screens, to create our own events and meet our community in real life. We’ve been running a BBQ and music festival ‘Live From the Grill’ for the past two years which is a fun end of summer blowout that we want to scale up. And we recently launched a beer in collaboration with Manchester Union brewery – we definitely want to do more stuff like this – creative collaboration on products with local producers etc. We’re not short on ideas… just time!
