Fast-expanding hotels group announces first venture into Manchester

Liverpool-based hotel developer and operator, Signature Living, has announced plans for a landmark hotel and tourist attraction in Manchester city centre.

The company is developing plans for a hotel that showcases the myths and mystery surrounding Manchester’s infamous Quality Street gang.

Planning permission has been granted for the 25,000 sq ft development on Liverpool Road, which will incorporate 42 plush bedrooms as well as a bar and restaurant.

The hotel will include artefacts and memorabilia from the Quality Street era of the 1960s and 70s.

The Quality Street Gang was a name given to a group of criminals operating in Manchester in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Although the group was considered by some senior officers in Greater Manchester Police to be the instigators of much of Manchester’s crime, others believed the gang was nothing more than a social friendship between a group of men, most of whom had criminal records.

However, the gang was at one point attached to a story about the Kray twins coming to Manchester to expand their interests outside London, but being turned around at Manchester Piccadilly station and put back on the train to the capital.

In 2008 Daniel Flood gave evidence in a High Court hearing that his father, Douglas Firkin-Flood, had been a member of the gang who had been involved in the fight, although the claim was later denied by Flood’s son, Ian, who pointed out that several conflicting versions of the story exist.

The former gangster associated with the Krays, Frankie Fraser, doubts that the incident ever happened, as the Krays travelled exclusively by car and were uninterested in expanding their territory outside London.

Signature Living founder, Lawrence Kenwright, said: “We’re incredibly excited to announce plans for our first significant hotel development in Manchester.

“The Quality Street Hotel will become a real destination for history lovers and those intrigued by the mystery surrounding Manchester’s Quality Street men, for which there still remains a great interest.

“This is also going to be a quality development.

“The 42 rooms will have a boutique feel to it and we’re confident of making the bar and restaurant a popular choice for those enjoying a night out in Manchester city centre.

“Work on the development will start this Summer and we’re aiming to open by Spring 2020.

Plans for No9 restaurant in Signature’s Dixie Dean hotel

“Eventually, we would like to operate the equivalent numbers of bedrooms in Manchester that we do in Liverpool, as we have the capability to cater for up to 2,000 guests a night in Liverpool alone, which will soon rise to 2,700 guests a night.

“Hopefully, this will be the start of many more hotels in Manchester that will give visitors a very unique experience.”

Signature Living has delivered a range of hotels, including Liverpool and Preston’s Shankly Hotels, the Titanic-themed 30 James Street in Liverpool, and the forthcoming Rainhill Hall hotel and wedding venue in St Helens.