A ‘Living Room with a Licence’ Is Strengthening This Manchester Community

"I've just fired my chef."

Heather Garlick, the one-woman force majeure behind Manchester bar The Sip Club—or, as she likes to describe it, a "living room with a licence"—is having a stressful day.

But Garlick is used to the pressures of running a neighbourhood bar. She launched The Sip Club on her own, above a letting agents on an otherwise nondescript strip of shops in the centre of Stretford, a little over two years ago. "Launch" might be somewhat hyperbolic, though.

"We had an opening night for friends and family, but the following night, not one person walked through the door," Garlick remembers. "I had no idea about marketing and promotion. We didn't even have a sign."

A legitimate secret bar, I offer.

"An accidental one," Garlick clarifies.

The Sip Club comprises three rooms decked out in what more knowing bars might term "shabby chic," but in the case of The Sip Club, is more to do with the constraints of the budget.

"I took out a nine grand loan to open it up, most of which was spent on legal things," Garlick says. "I was left without about two to three left to spend on actual, physical stuff—most of which I bought from charity shops."

Garlick has lived in Stretford for most of her life, save a spell when she was at university and then five years travelling. Though she claims to have had a "boring" life, her background in academia and globetrotting jaunts suggest otherwise.

"I thought I might be a scholar, but then went travelling. I went from thinking, 'Maybe I'll go to the Middle East next week,' to owning a bar and having employees," she says.

Stretford is an interesting suburb of Manchester. Home to a diverse working class community, the borough has undergone rapid change in recent years, with students and "creatives" moving to the area due to its low housing prices and proximity to the bohemian Chorlton.

While Garlick claims to have had no grand plan behind opening the bar, she lets on that there was little more nuance in putting together her idea than she perhaps cares to admit.

"I studied communities and how you create a community. In Stretford, there isn't a whole lot of enterprise or much of a sense of pride or responsibility towards the community," she explains. "I wanted to create somewhere integrated, where the drinking is more sort of incidental."

Garlick took inspiration from European drinking culture. The Sip Club's tables are covered with tablecloths and topped with small vases of flowers and candles.

"You know, when pubs shut in a particular area, alcoholism goes up. It's more about having somewhere to to meet people," she adds.

There's certainly a sense of community in The Sip Club. Customers include those who have lived in Stretford all their lives and twenty-somethings new to the area.

I ask one regular, Sandra Gregory, how she thinks The Sip Club has changed the neighbourhood.

"Before, there wasn't anywhere, but here there's always something different, always something to do," she tells me. "It's just really relaxed."

The food at The Sip Club is idiosyncratic to Stretford, sourced hyper-locally from suppliers mostly just down the road. The pies are from the nearby butchers and the cheeses from a local dairy which among other things, has its own herd of water buffalo.

"The cheeses are a big deal," says Garlick. "We source it all locally, get the bread from the bakery around the corner, and the chutney … well, my mum makes the chutney."

The Sip Club also hosts regular supper clubs, though with a distinctive twist: the cooks are all customers.

"Customers just cook a meal at home and we oversee it to make sure they're sticking to all the right hygiene standards," explains Garlick. "A Japanese regular made a Japanese supper, a vegan who comes in a lot made a vegan supper. We call it Homespun Supper Club"

The Sip Club's booze is similarly sourced.

"All the beers are from Greater Manchester," she says. "The local CAMRA branch helped out, they were just really excited about having cask ales nearby. Wine has obviously been difficult. But we now have four or five Manchester gins."

Krista Jones works the bar at The Sip Club, advising customers on the different ales and wines. After studying holistic beauty therapy at a local college, she took up an apprenticeship here.

"I'm a maker at heart," Jones tells me, pouring the drinks. "And I love working here. There are so many people that come in by themselves then get talking to a group."

Garlick likes to think at some point, she'll find someone to take over the bar and restaurant, so she can go off travelling again, though doesn't see it happening any time soon.

"I didn't realise how busy I'd be," she admits. "I just thought: paint the walls and open the doors. Go bust or don't."

I wonder, if Garlick could go back, would she would do anything differently?

"Yeah," she replies. "I'd get a sign."