About Manchester Wire
Manchester Wire is the city’s leading what’s on site. Founded in 2012 the site was among the first in the region to offer live, digital listings paired with social media and newsletter content. Manchester Wire has since gone on to become the city’s highest converting, most trusted platform for local people and visitors looking for the best things to do in Manchester and the surrounding area.
We offer hand-picked guides to the city’s best days out, culture highlights, food and & drink recommendations and advice on other exciting things to do around the city, and we’re committed to delivering content that speaks to as many of Manchester’s diverse and fantastic residents as possible. Manchester Wire is run by Wire Press Limited, which also runs our sister website, Taste of Manchester, which we took over in 2022, and Birmingham Wire.
Manchester Wire was established in 2012 by editor and journalist Ruth Allan and website builder and music promoter, Chris Horkan (Oh Digital), It was designed by Intruct Studios (Mcr City Council, MAG, NFM). Chris continues to maintain the site, while Ruth oversees the commercial and editorial aspects of the business.
Our team
Founder – Ruth Allan
Ruth started her career at BBC North before moving into journalism. She was an editor at City Life Magazine, Manchester editor of the Metro and has written what’s on guides and guide books for, among others, the Guardian, FT, Independent and Time Out. She is a Trustee of the Portico Library and a Chartered Business Manager, having graduated from MMU Business School’s Executive Programme in 2023.
Editor – Brad Lengden
Brad is wildly passionate about Manchester having grown up and studied here and has a tonne of experience covering cultural highlights around the city. He has also been recognised with industry awards during his time leading the editorial output for Social Chain and in the past has contributed to the likes of Skiddle and NME.
Freelancers
We have a passionate team of freelancers who work with us. These include John Stansfield (comedy editor), Adam Keyworth (social media), and Rhiannon Ingle (free things to do editor). Many famous names have worked with us over the years including Simon Binns (UK Gov), Jessica Hardiman (LadBible), Simon Bland (freelance film writer) and Simran Hans (The Observer)
The content
Manchester Wire’s mission is simple, to share with our audience the best things happening across the city via previews, trending news stories and guides. Whether it’s huge cultural highlights or off-the-beaten-track recommendations and hidden gems, we’re all driven by discovering the very best our diverse and eclectic city has to offer, and sharing it with our readers.
How we make money
To ensure we are able to support our editorial and technology costs by working with organisations of varying sizes that we have handpicked due to the relevance of each business to our audience. Any work that has been sponsored or paid for by a client is clearly marked as being so for full transparency with our readers.
Our business
Copyright 2024
The company: Wire Press Limited
Company reg no: 08947023
Reg office: c/o Oh Digital, 44 Edge Street, Manchester, M14HN
Get in touch
Use our contact form or email us at editor@manchesterwire.co.uk
