Diversified Communications has launched the northern edition of its trade show, lunch!, following record numbers at this week’s Northern Restaurant & Bar (NRB)

This week’s NRB saw an 11% increase in attendance, with more than 9,600 visitors at Manchester Central across two days.

Lunch! NORTH will take place at Manchester Central alongside an extended NRB on 11–12 March next year. The event will focus on the café, coffee shop and food-to-go sector in the North and provide a dedicated trade show for these operators.

Chris Brazier, group event director for NRB & lunch! NORTH, explained the reason for the launch: “After positive conversations with the who’s who of the sector it’s clear that there is a strong appetite for a lunch! show in the North. The ongoing success of the lunch! show in London, and indeed the growth we are seeing with NRB, makes us very confident this will be another unmissable event for the whole hospitality industry.”

This week’s NRB saw more than 300 food, drink, tech and equipment suppliers in attendance. In a keynote interview, Kate Nicholls OBE, chief executive of UK Hospitality discussed its aim to increase the attraction of hospitality as a career. Other highlights from the event also saw Sacha Lord champion the success of Manchester’s hospitality and nightlife sector, Will Beckett of Hawksmoor discuss growing a business, while Simon Rogan and Tom Barnes delved into their extraordinary careers so far.

On the success of the two-day trade show, Siobhan Thompson, event manager for NRB24, said: “We’ve had an absolutely brilliant show, reporting a record 9,645 attendance. Northern Restaurant & Bar just continues to grow and grow in popularity every year and these record numbers of trade buyers are just testament to its success.”

Exhibitor at the show, James O’Sullivan, CEO at Kobas, said: “NRB 2024 was the single busiest show we’ve done in the 10 years – they’ve been part of our sales approach. We collected 43% more leads in 2024 than in 2023 and 17% more than any other show in 2023.”