A Manchester hatmaker tracing to an 1875 acquisition of the Maypole Hat Works, incorporated as the New Failsworth Hat Manufacturing Company in 1903; it made military headgear in WWII and produced Stetson-licensed hats from the late 1940s, and now trades as Failsworth 1903.
Best for Caps, flat caps
Failsworth's roots trace to 1875, when the business acquired the Maypole Hat Works and, in 1881, moved to a site on Claremont Street in Failsworth, near Manchester. It was formally incorporated as 'The New Failsworth Hat Manufacturing Company' on 2 December 1903 — the date now used in the brand's own '1903' name — starting from modest output of about 25 dozen hats a week. Growth was substantial over the following decades: by the 1940s the company was producing around 5,000 dozen hats weekly. During the Second World War, normal civilian hat production was restricted, and the company instead worked on Ministry of Supply contracts, making headgear for the armed forces and leather flying helmets and aircraft components for the RAF. In the late 1940s, Failsworth agreed a licensing arrangement with the American John B. Stetson Company to manufacture men's hats under the Stetson name in Britain, a partnership that lent the company additional prestige in menswear. The company was renamed Failsworth Hats Limited in 1940 and continues today, trading as Failsworth 1903, making flat caps, trilbies and other traditional headwear associated with northern English craft manufacturing.
Founded in 1981 by John Wardle and David Makin, who opened a single sports-fashion shop in Bury, Greater Manchester (the name combines their initials); listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1997 and expanded globally from there.
Best for UK sportswear retail
JD Sports was founded in 1981 by John Wardle and David Makin, who opened their first shop in Bury, Greater Manchester, selling branded trainers and sportswear. The company's name is simply the combined initials of its two founders. The chain grew steadily through the 1980s and 1990s, reaching more than 56 stores by 1996, before floating on the London Stock Exchange in 1997, which funded further UK expansion. Since then JD Sports Fashion plc has expanded well beyond its Bury origins into a global sneaker and sportswear retailer, acquiring other chains and opening stores across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, while still trading under the JD Sports name built from Wardle and Makin's initials in that first shop over four decades ago.
Ancoats Coffee Co. roasts single-origin lots like Ethiopian Niguse Jilo and Mexican Decaf Ozolotepec inside Manchester's historic Royal Mills. Its wholesale arm and online shop supply cafes and home brewers alike.
Best for Ancoats Coffee Co
Ancoats Coffee Co. operates out of the Royal Mills complex in Manchester's Ancoats district, a 19th-century cotton-spinning mill now repurposed as mixed residential and commercial space, and the roastery's café trades on that industrial architecture rather than a purpose-built shop front. The current single-origin list gives a clear sense of how the buying changes: a Warehouse City 2026 lot named Sucuri, an Ethiopian Niguse Jilo, and a Decaf Ozolotepec from Mexico processed to remove caffeine without stripping origin character, sold alongside a limited-edition line called Los Nubarrones. Prices scale from roughly £10.50 for a starter bag up to £57 for the Ethiopian lot in larger format, and a £32.50 Global Tasting Experience bundle packages several origins together for direct comparison. The business runs three strands in parallel: retail bags sold online, the Royal Mills café itself, and a wholesale arm supplying other cafes and workplaces, a broader footprint than most single-site UK roasters attempt. The company describes its sourcing as ethically focused, though it does not publish grower names or farm-level detail beyond the lot names themselves, so that positioning sits alongside the specifics rather than being independently verifiable from the site alone.
A Northern Quarter record shop on Paton Street stocking new and used vinyl, CDs and DVDs across rock, punk, soul, funk and jazz. Rarities and out-of-print titles sell through its MusicStack and eBay stores, and the shop buys collections for cash on the spot.
Best for Record shop, vinyl, CDs, punk, soul, funk, jazz
This independent Manchester brewery, founded in 2014, sells its craft beer by the can, mixed pack and subscription through an online shop stocked with glassware and clothing. Buyers can build their own box, book a brewery tour, or drink in at the Piccadilly taproom.
Best for Brewery, craft beer, IPA, lager, mixed packs, subscriptions
A family art and craft shop trading since the 1880s, its 37 Lever Street store and website carry over 30,000 products from watercolours and sketchbooks to David Shrigley mugs. Vintage photobooths and craft kits round out a stock spanning traditional handicrafts and design-led homeware.
Best for Art supplies, craft materials, homeware, gifts, photobooths
Grindsmith roasts espresso and filter coffee in Manchester, rotating its offering through the year to follow the seasonality of the crop. Beans are sold online by brew method, with a newsletter flagging each new release.
Best for Manchester roaster since 2010, Ancoats roastery, seasonal single-origin espresso and filter coffee
Grindsmith was founded in 2010 and opened its first Manchester shop in February 2014 in Greengate Square, near Manchester Cathedral, funded in part by one of the earliest Kickstarter campaigns used to launch a UK coffee business. The name comes from combining 'grind' with the '-smith' suffix used for craftspeople who perfect a trade — a goldsmith or blacksmith — reflecting the founders' framing of coffee roasting as a craft discipline. The company's roastery, the operational center of the business, is based in Ancoats, Manchester's coffee-and-craft-industry district, and Grindsmith now runs multiple sites including MediaCityUK in Salford, Bridge Street in central Manchester, and a location on Pollard Street East. It roasts both espresso and filter coffee, rotating its offering through the year to track the seasonality of the crop, and sells beans online sorted by brew method with a newsletter announcing each new release. The company has been profiled by industry press including Sprudge, which documented the build-out of its roastery space, situating Grindsmith within Manchester's broader specialty-coffee scene alongside other roasters that emerged in the city over the past decade.
An art and design bookshop selling illustrated books, independent magazines, prints and design-led gifts through its online store. Stock ranges from a Fumi Koike St Pancras print to niche titles picked up at the Bologna Children's Book Fair.
Best for Bookshop, art books, magazines, prints, design gifts
The Spirit of Manchester Distillery makes Manchester Gin alongside rum, vodka and English whisky in the city centre, selling bottles and cocktail bundles through its online shop. Its five-year aged Manchester Rum and raspberry-infused gin sit among a range built over a decade of distilling.
Best for Distillery, gin, rum, vodka, whisky, cocktail bundles
Marble Beers is an independent Manchester brewery whose beers are sold directly through its own online shop. The site accepts direct online orders behind a standard age-verification gate, giving customers a direct route to the brewery's beers without making the checkout platform part of the description.
Best for Brewery, craft beer, cask ale, online shop
Founded in 1977 as a small Manchester fudge shop, Mother Myrick's is best known for the buttercrunch toffee Ron began making that first year, alongside caramels, chocolate assortments and its Lemon Lulu cake. The retail store still sells over the counter while a full online cart ships cakes and confections nationwide.
Best for Confectionery, chocolatier, buttercrunch-toffee, bakery, caramels
Okla trades bold, colourful homeware and lifestyle goods from independent makers, shipping worldwide from its Manchester base. The direct online store spans folk-art pieces, best-sellers and sale finds, with free UK delivery over fifty pounds.
Best for Homeware, lifestyle, independent makers, gifts, colourful decor
British menswear brand founded by Liam Gallagher in 2009, built around mod-inspired parkas, paisley, knitwear and shirting; the label continues today under later ownership.
Best for Mod style, British; Paisley mod prints; Quilted jacket
Manchester-founded sneaker and streetwear retailer established in 2000, built around exclusive releases and collaborations with brands including Nike, adidas Originals, New Balance and Reebok. Grown from its UK roots to more than 30 store locations worldwide, including an expansion into Canada.
Best for UK sneaker exclusives
Size? was established in 2000 in Manchester, England, as a specialist sneaker and streetwear retailer, positioning itself around access to sought-after and hard-to-find footwear and apparel. The retailer built its identity on exclusive product drops and collaborations with major sportswear brands, including Nike, adidas Originals, New Balance and Reebok. From its Manchester base, Size? has expanded to more than 30 locations, and in recent years extended the brand into Canada, opening size.ca as its first North American outpost.
Bernard and Margaret Slattery opened this Whitefield bakery in 1967; it is now run by the third generation, still baking fresh bread and hand-piped celebration cakes on the premises alongside handmade chocolates. The ground-floor shop sells confectionery and build-your-own chocolate bars, while the upstairs Masons dining room serves breakfast through afternoon tea.
Best for Third-generation daily-baked bread, wedding cakes and handmade chocolate
Bernard and Margaret Slattery opened their Whitefield bakery in 1967; more than half a century later it remains family-run, now in its third generation. The business grew into a combined bakery and chocolatier, producing fresh bread daily alongside hand-piped celebration cakes and handmade chocolates, all made on the premises rather than bought in.
The ground-floor shop sells that full range, confectionery, gift hampers and build-your-own chocolate bar kits, while upstairs, the Masons dining room serves breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea in the same historic Whitefield building the family has occupied since the business began. Slattery describes itself as award-winning, though it does not itemize which awards on its site.
The chocolate side of the business is seasonal in practice: during warm weather the bakery holds internet chocolate orders rather than risk shipping products that could melt in transit, a small operational detail that underscores how much of what Slattery sells is still made and handled by hand rather than mass-produced.
British outdoor-clothing brand founded in 1974 above a launderette in Chorlton, Greater Manchester, by sailors-turned-climbers John Hunt and Simon Wright, making waterproof cagoules; launched its first Gore-Tex jacket in 1982. HQ remains near Manchester's edge, close to the Peak District.
Best for Waterproof, hiking
Sprayway started in 1974 above a laundrette in Chorlton, Greater Manchester, when John Hunt and Simon Wright - competitive dinghy sailors who were also keen mountaineers - began making functional, affordably priced PU-coated nylon cagoules for the sailing market. The brand launched its first Gore-Tex jacket in 1982 and, a year later, became the first to machine-tape non-Gore-Tex waterproof garments, under its own Hydro-Dry range. Its Torridon Gore-Tex jacket became a near-ubiquitous sight on UK hillwalks through the 1990s. Sprayway's headquarters sits on the eastern edge of Manchester, close enough to see the foothills of the Peak District from its windows.
A worker-owned grocery in the heart of Chorlton, twice named Best Food Retailer at the BBC Food and Farming Awards, including in 2008 as reported by Co-operative News, stocking organic fruit and veg, affordable wholefoods and eco household goods. Live price boards compare its produce against the big supermarkets, and an in-house kitchen and deli round out the shelves.
Best for Grocery, organic-produce, wholefoods, deli, worker-co-op
Trading on Oldham Street since 1988, Vinyl Exchange is the north-west's largest buyer and seller of rare and second-hand records, CDs and DVDs. Its direct online storefront runs deep with graded stock across everything from krautrock and Detroit techno to reggae 45s and promo-only pressings.
Best for Record-shop, vinyl, second-hand-records, CDs, rare-records
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