The return of our famous Manchester48 FAM with Make Events caused much excitement amongst our members when we announced the date. Make Events are our event agency partner and we couldn’t wait to officially kick off the partnership with this FAM trip – 48 hours in Manchester!
Make Events are famous for their magic touches and there were plenty of them throughout the 48 hours but before we headed to Manchester, our members got a glimpse of what was to come. The content and design team at Make Events produced an online mobile-friendly brochure for the FAM trip setting out details of our hosts, the venues/suppliers involved, and the agenda for the weekend.
Upon arrival at the train station, we were welcomed by the Make Events welcoming committee with branded luggage tags, branded water bottles, and lots of hugs! Our luggage was whisked off to our hotel and we headed off to House of Make to kick off the 48 hours…
Day 1
- House of Make truly lives up to what Make Events stands for – creative, full of magic touches, gets under the skin of the brand, and creates the ultimate experience. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the amazing Gastronomy Guys who are the kings of making food and drink fun, interactive, and tasting good! We were welcomed with interactive cocktails/mocktails, ice creams, and meringues. We highly recommend looking into the team when you require a drink and food adventure at your events! After a tour of the office and networking in their coffee shop, we enjoyed a delicious brunch with the team. The area was full of branding for the event and creative props demonstrating how you can create an activation in your office. With a full belly, we sat down in the cinema meets disco area – yes you’ve read that correct – with Holly Moore and Juliet Tripp for a Q&A session and learned more about the launch of Anything is Possible that is coming very soon. All attendees were provided with an amazing journal to help them achieve their goals along with other lovely FAM survival treats in a super cute tote bag to carry the memories from the FAM.
- Our first venue visit was to the beautiful Mottram Hall which is a stunning countryside property 7 miles from Manchester airport. The venue is perfect for retreats, private dining, conferences, incentives, and celebrations with the capacity for up to 150 attendees. The venue has beautiful grounds for outdoor –events, team-building etc as well as a golf course and a Champneys spa. We enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea overlooking the golf course.
- We love showcasing the newest venues to our members and Make Events did not disappoint, they introduced us to Co-op Live which has not even opened yet! We went to their HQ to visit their immersive pop-up experience showcasing Co-op Live. Co-op Live will be the UK’s largest and most sustainable music venue with a capacity of up to 23,000. As well as being an incredible music venue with hospitality options, it will house amazing bars and restaurants along with event spaces to create unique and magical events. With innovative technology, a planet-friendly venue, and opportunities to bring the local community and further afield together, it truly is going to change the experience of how we can entertain our delegates at hospitality events. Keep your eye on this venue!
- After exploring Manchester for a number of hours we were ready to freshen up and check in to the Hilton Deansgate where we were staying for the night. The views from our bedrooms on the 22nd floor were incredible and we were greeted with motivational quotes provided by Make Events within our rooms to keep us inspired and motivated – a great way to incorporate your messaging from your event into the wider event. To help us feel glam and refreshed, we headed to the Penthouse in the hotel where we were treated to a glow-up by Secret Spa with make-up and hair specialists -it made us feel super special and very boujee! We enjoyed drinks and nibbles, with wine provided by Laylo Wine which provides premium boxed wine by independent wine-makers. With our glow-up, we had lots of Instagram moments with the penthouse views and the gorgeous balloon wall provided by Beautiful Balloons by Jade.
- Pre-dinner drinks took place in Cloud23 which is the bar on level 23 in Hilton Deansgate, again like our rooms we were greeted in our private area with fabulous views of Manchester but also with our favorite drink – a great magic touch! Cloud23 is an excellent space for smaller group bookings and larger drinks receptions.
- We ended our first 24 hours in style at FireFly which is a super pretty restaurant, serving delicious Pan-Asian-inspired food all served with a super fun atmosphere. The restaurant would be a great option for a small group booking who are looking for a fun atmosphere or for exclusive hire for a party for up to 400 attendees.
day 2
- Feeling refreshed and energised after a good night’s sleep, we explored the meeting spaces available at the Hilton Deansgate. The hotel is perfect for conferences, awards, Christmas parties, celebrations, etc with 18 meeting rooms for up to 600 delegates. As well as the meeting spaces, Cloud23 – where we enjoyed pre-dinner drinks – also provides opportunities for networking events.
- When visiting Manchester for events, you can’t visit without doing a showcase at the impressive Manchester Central. It really does cater for all events from small events for up to 100, medium events for up to 500, and for large events for up to 10,000 attendees! The options are endless from board meetings, conferences, dinners, and gala receptions to fun staff incentives. We loved seeing how Make Events have transformed the spaces into unique and bespoke event spaces.
- Another tradition for our Manchester48 FAM is the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, previously known as the Principal, this industrial glamourous hotel in the heart of Manchester is simply stunning. Full of history at every turn, the hotel is able to cater to a variety of events within its 17 meeting spaces that have capacities between 10 – 1,000. We enjoyed a delicious lunch in the Winter Garden which is a stunning space in the heart of the hotel.
- Manchester is a very walkable city providing opportunities for you to host events across a number of venues. To demonstrate this, the Make Events team set up a treasure hunt across the city providing clues directing us to some of their favorite venues/restaurants within Manchester. We had to take selfies of ourselves at the spots and our competitive sides emerged as we battled it out (in a very collaborative manner) to win the amazing prize donated by the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel – thank you for your generosity!
- The Stock Exchange Hotel had been on our list to visit since it opened, and we were super excited to see this venue on the agenda for the weekend. This beautiful hotel provides opportunities to produce intimate and exclusive events for key stakeholders either in a suite, the penthouse, the restaurant, or the private dining room. Tom Kerridge is the resident chef in the restaurant – make sure you try the cheese scones with marmite butter – which provides opportunities for an amazing dinner in the restaurant or within the private dining space that is fully enclosed private space.
- With another hot off the press and exclusive venue, we headed to the Peterman Bar to use the key we had been provided with to unlock some cocktails! The Peterman is a gorgeous bar that would make the perfect spot for a small booking for drinks, enjoy dinner in their beautiful dining room for up 24 guests, or a boardroom meeting for up to 18 people. The Peterman is located beneath Ashas restaurant which serves award-winning Indian food, we enjoyed some delicious bites with a cocktail (or two) in the bar. If you need to catch 47 winks after your event, sampling the cocktails and the delicious food you can head to Forty-Seven which is going to be an incredible boutique-style hotel located in the building. We had a sneak peek and it is going to be gorgeous!
- In need of caffeine, we headed to Whitworth Locke for an iced latte and a showcase of their event spaces before checking into our studio apartments for some recharge time (ourselves and our phones!). Located within a cotton factory, Whitworth Locke really does bring the community together from their coffee shop, communal working space, bar, event spaces, social events, and more! The main event space can hold up to 150 people, it is a self-contained space with natural daylight, a bar, and a super cool vibe incorporating the industrial history of the building. This is a great spot if you wanted an informal meeting as you can meet people in the communal co-working space and if you wanted some privacy smaller meeting rooms can also be hired. After a tour, we checked into our studios which were all super cozy, equipped with your own kitchen so perfect for longer stays and the interiors were fabulous.
- We ended the evening with a private dining experience in Peru Perdu – a South American inspired restaurant where the vibes and colors are bright; the food is amazing and the service is incredible. We had blast in the private dining room which can accommodate up to 14 people for the feasting menu which was delicious. The restaurant is located in Whitworth Locke so we didn’t have far to go to head to bed. As our hangover kits, another magic touch from Make Events stated “What happens in Manchester…”.
The final hours
- Our last final hours of the 48 FAM were at Native Manchester located next to the train station so a perfect location for an event if delegates, like us, needed to catch the train from Manchester Piccadilly. Native Manchester has 162 beautiful apartments with exposed brickwork, cozy interiors, and kitchens – your home away from home – that your delegates can stay in. The larger apartments are perfect for product launches, intimate dining experiences, PR meetings, interviews, etc. As well as the apartments, there is a lounge, restaurant, all-day-deli, cinema, fitness studio, and outdoor terrace – something for everyone. From an events perspective, there are a number of spaces available from the 36-seater cinema space, the atrium space which can be transformed for a drinks reception, and three event rooms that can be used either as one space or three individual rooms. We can vouch for the food here as we all enjoyed our last meal together in Manchester with a fantastic breakfast in the restaurant overlooking the terrace.
Thank you SO much to Make Events for curating an incredible, bespoke, and fully tailored experience for our members to experience the best of the best that Manchester offers along with demonstrating how Make Events can make your event the ultimate experience full of magic touches like our FAM trip. For any details on the venues showcased or Make Events, please do reach out and we will connect you.
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