Manchester Craft & Design Centre

Despite the visible decline of Britain’s high streets, central Manchester continues to fly the flag for independent retail and hospitality in a big way. Some areas do this better than others, and the Northern Quarter — epicentre of the region’s counterculture and consistently ranked in lists of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods — does it better than anywhere else. It’s here we find one of the city’s most iconic and original shopping destinations, the Craft & Design Centre: a collection of inimitable artist studios where you can pick up handmade jewellery, pottery, canvasses, textiles, sculptures and other stunning pieces. 

Then again, we might be prejudice. When it comes to choosing unique gifts for birthdays, Christmases, Eid and other celebrations, we usually make a beeline for this beautiful historic building, hiding away on Oak Street, before even considering looking anywhere else. A work of art in its own right, the Centre has now been operating for well over four decades but the structure itself first opened to the public in 1873 as part of the sprawling Smithfield Market. Studios now occupy what would have originally been small stall fronts, and the keen-eyed will still be able to spot telltale signs this place was home to the old retail fish market. 

Worth a look just to take some photos, alongside the creatives and makers that produce seriously special one-offs and one-of-a-kind pieces, you can also enjoy teas, coffees, cakes and a great vegetarian menu at the ground floor cafe — something of a hidden gem when it comes to grabbing a bite in and around the Northern Quarter. One of our absolute favourite places to spend an hour or so in the heart of the city, you’ll leave with a real sense of how design and the arts seem to course through the very veins of Manchester, Mancunians and anyone else who lives here.