Northern Restaurant & Bar 2027

Northern Restaurant & Bar is a two-day hospitality trade show held each March at Manchester Central, bringing suppliers together with operators from across the north of England. UKHospitality, the trade body for the sector, lists it as a partner event.

Exhibitors are hand-picked and cover a wide range of products and services: food and foodservice ingredients, desserts and confectionery, beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks, kitchen equipment, furniture, lighting and interiors, sustainable packaging, technology and EPOS, and wholesale and distribution.

Visitors are owners, operators, chefs, bar managers and buyers from restaurants, bars, pubs, hotels and contract catering. Independent and group operators in the north can be hard to reach through national channels, and many prefer to meet suppliers closer to home, which is a large part of the show's appeal.

A programme of interviews, panel debates and live demonstrations featuring well-known operators gives visitors reasons to spend time in the halls. The show also runs alongside lunch! NORTH, which adds a food-to-go audience and widens the pool of potential customers for suppliers whose products cross both markets.

For suppliers, the event is a chance to open accounts, launch products to a regional audience and meet existing customers in one place. Sampling, pouring and seating areas tend to define successful stands, since hospitality buyers want to taste and try before committing.