Manchester food and drink venue Hatch to close permanently

Hatch, the popular outdoor food and entertainment venue on Oxford Road, has announced that it will be shutting for good at the end of September and reopening under new owners.

The site will close permanently on 30 September and leisure company Stack, which runs similar sites in the North East, will be taking it over. Hatch is owned by the Manchester-based Bruntwood Group.

The Hatch team made the announcement via Instagram post, saying that it was time to “pass the reigns onto a new team who are ready to take the site to the next level,” adding that Stack “intends to transform the site into a bigger destination.”

The post continued: “We’d like to say a HUGE thank you to our traders and every single business who has been part of the Hatch journey, our AMAZING site team and all of you, our wonderful guests. Hatch has always been a place that is made special by its people and you have created a community that we are truly proud of.”

It is not yet known if the current traders will be staying put, but Hatch said in the Instagram post that they will be given first refusal when the site reopens, which is expected to be at the end of 2024. The only vendors that will continue trading will be OL Bar.

The post said: “When the site reopens all food and beverage traders will be given priority if they decide to apply for a unit within the newly created STACK. In the meantime we are supporting them in every way we can in finding new homes.”

Opened in December 2017 underneath the Mancunian Way and right in the heart of Manchester’s university campuses, the site is home to a number of independent food and drink vendors, as well as other businesses, such as clothes stalls, a DJ school and a tailors – all housed in shipping containers. It also has a performance area and regularly hosts music events.