University Precinct Centre

I only ever utilise the University Shopping Precinct when making the twenty or so steps from the top floor of Blackwell’s to Barnardo’s, occasionally stopping at the Natwest bank to use the ATM. Since the branch of Ryan’s Vintage closed down, followed by a succession of other businesses I’ve had fewer and fewer reasons to venture in. The place reeks of decline. I find myself lying awake at night worrying what the future of my beloved little ‘every item £2′ Barnardo’s holds.
With its wonderful natural lighting and prime location the place should be heaving and I feel with the addition of, perhaps, a Boots Pharmacy, Sainsbury’s Metro or Starbucks, this place could really serve some sort of purpose. It currently has the atmosphere of a multi-​story car park and is consistently devoid of punters. It’s a bit like, ‘in the University Shopping Precinct, no one can hear you scream’. The worst thing of all is the nightmarishly sinister escalator that takes you out onto the street below.

Sitting above the lovely Blackwell’s, which all book lovers sincerely love, and connected to the Precinct Library which is always flooded by Manchester uni students, the University Precinct Centre is a multipurpose place for a lot to do.
It has all studenty essential places which are cheap yet do a decent, moderate job. If you fancy a good quick lunch, you can try the Happiness café or the University V grills. If you’ve got financial issues to solve out, Natwest resides with plenty atm’s for convienience. They have Barnado’s if you like some very cheap vintage clothing or anything really.
This place is very well laid out and could definitely turn into people’s favourite. It just needs a good makeover, with some new paint and new décor. Other than that, it stil remains a uni haunt.

I first graced the Precinct centre venturing to the library. Then I discovered the centre houses a whole lot more than one of the University of Manchester’s student resources. The dubious looking escalator on the approach, leads up to a Sandwich bar, a photo shop, a barbers, a few cafes and a few banks and charity shops.
The precinct seems to offer a range of basic services specifically for students. It’s very dull and run down and needs a little bit of sparkle but it doesn’t pride itself on being a modern complex. It’s just there to give you the cheap lunch, a bench to sit on, a quick haircut or some cash from the atm. The Precinct centre may need a lick of paint but it doesn’t stop regenerating itself either way. Happiness Café is reopening at night and a new drinking and dancing hole will be gracing Oxford Road.

I’m so surprised that this place hasn’t yet suffered the same fate as Ugly Tower Block University Building and Ugly University Refectory Building. I give it, and the OP Tower, another 5 years before the bulldozers are called in.
I’m even more surprised that every other Unilocaler so far has given the Precinct Centre a whopping 4 stars! It lacks any natural light, is quite warm, and has numerous metal benches, so is therefore the perfect place for sleeping vagrants to shelter from the Mancunian rain.
There’s a pretty average bookshop (Blackwell’s), a pretty average charity shop (Barnado’s) and a pretty average bank (NatWest). My boyfriend has been getting his hair cut at the barbers for the past 7 years where the price of a hair cut hasn’t budged from £6. He assures me that they are a friendly bunch too. However, a few years ago there were a couple more decent shops, which have seen sense and moved away.
When I last visited there were more empty shops than open ones, and it looked like the cool little vintage shop had closed down. Rebecca, you completely hit the nail on the head with your comparison to a deserted Midlands shopping centre — but it doesn’t even have a Poundland!

I’ve not been here in ages as I no longer come up this end of Manchester often, but I have many fond memories of the Precinct Centre. As the others have pointed out it houses an astonishing array of shops for its size, and, up until recently, the University Accomodation Office. This makes it a mecca for students, whether they are after stationery, food, books or simple relaxation.
I must reiterate Becca’s words of warning about the floor though; they are VERY SLIPPERY. I don’t know which numpty is responsible for that particular debacle, but I hope they learned from their mistakes.
Anyway, if you happen to be in the area and looking for something, it may well be in the precinct.

The Precinct Centre, though massive, is one of those places that a surprising number of people haven’t heard of. And that’s a shame, because it’s a great little place. Off the top of my head, the Precinct has a hairdressers, a vintage shop, a charity shop, a sandwich shop, a newsies, a chemist and a library. And that’s just in the upstairs bit, accessed by a grim and bleak concrete staircase. On the ground floor there’s Blackwells and a Spar shop and a waxing salon. The Precinct is basically ready for anything, and the sandwiches on offer are totally delish.
Word of warning: for some reason the floor tiles in the upstairs bit are slippy, despite being dry. I fell over here once, and felt distinctly silly.
The vintage shop is an offshoot of the horror story that is Ryan Vintage, but it is smaller and less crowded, and cleaner. The variety isn’t as good as in town, but it’s always worth a shuftie, as it has similar low-​low prices to the big store in town. Barnardo’s has a great book selection, and Tea Snob Friend picked up a load of Buffy the Vampire Slayer videos here for liek a quid each, so it’s always worth a look, because as we have discussed before, campus charity shops usually have cool stuff…
Despite its dated and faded appearance, and lack of natural light, the precinct is a really great resource. I just wish more people used it, as it can occasionally feel like a deserted Midlands shopping centre.

I absolutely love the University Precinct Centre, and so does everyone else, even the pigeons.
It’s the perfect place for lunch, mainly because of a phenomenal sandwich bar. Here you can create your own sandwich from an unbelievable choice of toppings, of which you can have as many as you like, at no extra cost. I usually go for salami, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pastrami, sweetcorn, coleslaw, mustard and pickle, with back pepper. Sometimes I throw in a bit of stuffing and/​or ham, honestly! A large is only £2.60.
They also sell their own home-​made savory snacks such as samosas, onion bhajis, spicy sausages and beautifully crafted scotch eggs. They have an array of crisps including the king of potato chips, Brannigan’s roast beef and mustard. The ready made sandwiches are great too, and start at £1.35.
If cold sandwiches wont satisfy you, then go next door to the specialist panini shop. Here they sell paninis of every flavour you can think of, toasted and oozing with delicious mozzarella. Across the way is a coffee shop. There’s also a newsagents with subsidised papers for students.
There’s a large Blackwells store too with one of the most impressive collections I’ve seen at a bookshop. They sell all the old classics, a wide range of modern novels, as well as a huge collection of history and non-​fiction from philosophy to language.
The final components of the precinct are a couple of less exciting banks, and a charity shop which has a few bargainous books to be acquired.