Grew up in Cheshire and now live in the US. I’ve taken to flying into either LHR or LGW and driving than bothering with MAN - unless I’m on a TP run or need a couple of extra BA flights to retain or achieve status. Last flight out of MAN was an early flight - got there 2 hours before, was in J, no one at the F/J check in desk, no clue where the J security lines were, got called out for having an apple in my bag as it’s “mostly water” so needed to go back and put it in a plastic bag, then finally got through and my carry on went to the dreaded carts and a 40 minute wait for them to go through all my stuff in front of the world. No lounge, and no clue what the gate was until 5 mins before boarding and all those I guess “in the know” were already there..
Arriving into MAN is a joke too. I don’t see my checked bags from checking them in at SFO until they show up on the conveyor belt in T3. No customs lol But then you’re stood (usually in the rain) waiting for a non-existent bus to get to the car rental place. I prefer the M40 and M6 toll road to MAN.