It tells the story of a man swept away in ‘emotional, financial and moral boom and bust’ and has launched to rave reviews. But as the credit crunch eases and we wave good bye, for now, to the longest recession since WWII, how many people want to read about bankers?Preston explains: “I felt there was a lot of picking over of the credit crunch and of how the banks got into trouble but from a semi-academic stand point. I wanted to look to what was happening with the people, how they were so greedy, how they built all these things around themselves and got it so wrong.

“It’s not asking people to feel sorry or sympathise with the characters, they don’t lend themselves to that.”

‘This Bleeding City’ is about Charlie Wales, an ambitious young man with humble roots, who graduates from Edinburgh University and goes to work in London.

During his time at Edinburgh, he befriended the wealthy crowd with ‘magazine-bright lives’ and naturally re-adjusted his aspirations. Offered a job in the city, Charlie is just getting his feet under the table when the credit crunch hits.

In humanising the story, Preston draws on the symmetry between “the fluctuations of the market and the fluctuation of human emotions.”

“It’s not my story, but I think it has become a common experience to be at university and to be offered a position in the city which offers enormous amounts of money. People ended up extremely unhappy.”

How have Alex’s colleagues, past and present, reacted to the book?

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised that people have understood it’s a work of fiction and secondly that a lot of people read it and, at least to me, said they enjoyed it.

“I expected people would desperately pick through to see if there were any references to themselves, but I’ve had some lovely emails about it.”

How does life as a writer compare to life as a city trader?

“It’s about as different as you can get. I work all day, go home, bath my little boy then sit down to write.

“I wouldn’t want to change that balance in either direction at the moment. Rather than being an academic, doing something where I’m in Tokyo one day and New York the next brings something to my writing that I wouldn’t have otherwise.”

This Bleeding City is available to purchase at Waterstones priced £12.99

http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Culture/Arts/Interview-with-novelist-Alex-Preston_10778.asp

Where is it?
Bratt’s Vintage
Oldham Street
Manchester

Oldham Street may be barricaded with fences for now but there is a nice big sign right outside the door with an arrow. You cannot go wrong.

History:
Partners Jeff and Terry initially wanted to open a bar in their Oldham Street basement cavern, but fire regulations would have meant all manner of inconvenience and general logistical problems.

Instead they filled it with vintage finds from all over the world, some you can wear some you can’t. On the plus side, it’s a very cool looking shop. Bratt’s has been open a matter of weeks but there are already big plans for the future.

Before Bratt’s, Jeff passed his days doing admin work at an accountancy firm, which “bored him to tears”. Terry has run retro tea house Café 3 at Affleck’s Palace for the past three years.

What does it sell?
The name leaves little to the imagination but this is vintage for the discerning.

The racks of clothes are the real floor filler and there are lots of them, for boys and girls. From your standard fur coats and jeans to more niche items like mohair cardigans with sequinned motifs, blouses, bags and hats with a twist of style your grandma would be proud of.

There’s also a nice and rather extensive range in gloves, sunglasses and vinyl, stocking the usual bygone heroes such as Floyd and Bowie.

It’s also possible to find the odd piece of glass ware.

My personal stand out item was a hands-free hairdryer; imagine a shower cap with a portable jet pack. It’s from sometime before 1975 and will set you back £20 but hurry.

Who shops there?
The young, the old pretending to be young and everybody in between. Included in that category are students, waifs and strays. Apparently.Most importantly people who know what they want and what they are buying shop here. This isn’t vintage for the benefit of tourists and children.

Why go there?
It’s no secret that vintage is everywhere and has been for some time. The Northern quarter is packed with ’boutiques’ with demand so high some even cut the labels out of last year’s H&M and think they can get away with it.

But while the first pioneers of the oldy-worldy look may despair at the mainstream appeal it now holds, they could still find themselves at Bratt’s.

Here, the hard work has been done for you with pieces almost hand-picked for the rails.

More relics than rip-offs, Jeff explains: “We sell old originals and we have a vast range of all kinds of stuff. If you look at all the other vintage shops around here we are totally different. We buy stock from America, Amsterdam, odd pieces from all over.”

Believe it when he says odd, I refer to the previous point about the hair dryer.

Future:
Jeff and Terry have plans to expand the shop beyond its current ply wood and curtain walls. Apparently there’s another fifteen foot of stylish space to be utilised and the shop is “a work in progress”.

The entrepreneurial bug is still biting too and Jeff and Terry are looking into the possibility of a second premises where they can open that long awaited bar next year.

http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Health-and-Beauty/Shopping/Bratts-Vintage_10788.asp

It’s not a bird but it does have a little bit to do with planes. Ladies and gentlemen behold the Manetian; the pizza that tells the tale of two cities. (NB* you may want to note that nobody is actually biting it!)

Created by Dough head chef Paul Rippon, the limited edition dish celebrates Jet2′s new route to Venice with a culinary bang.

The pizza combines traditional tastes from both cities, with a full English flying the flag for Manchester and a combination of olives, aubergines and Mozzarella firing up the Italian half.

The pizza will be sold at Dough in the Northern Quarter until 6 May, with adventurous diners entered into a prize draw to win flights to Venice.

Restaurant owner Alyson Doocey, said: “We pride ourselves in creating innovative flavours for our pizza toppings.

“We think the pizza tastes great but the proof really will be in the pudding with how it goes down with our customers.”

That would be the locally sourced black pudding, which, along with streaky bacon and cheddar cheese, creates the full English flavour.

Ian Doubtfire, Managing Director at Jet2.com, said: “It has been a hugely exciting process working with Dough to create the recipe and we hope that the people of Manchester deem the Manetian a huge success. Who knows – it may soon have a regular place on the menu. We hope that Dough’s customers will be inspired to venture to Venice themselves to find out what the magnificent city has to offer.”