The Butcher, a high-end European burger brand based in Amsterdam, has opened its first UK branch in Manchester. Billed as an “haute couture” take on the fast-food favourite, it launched this week at the new Urban Playground in the Arndale Centre.

The brand has an ambitious mission statement to live up to, declaring: “The Butcher stands for quality and is committed to serving the world’s best burgers.”

The opening also represents a UK debut for entrepreneur Yossi Eliyahoo’s The Entourage Group, which operates a range of restaurants in Holland including Momo, Izakaya, The Duchess and Mr Porter. The Butcher, founded in 2012, now has nine sites, including Berlin and Ibiza.

Eliyahoo said: “As a concept developer, I envision and feel the places I design before they actually exist. We knew that the UK was the next step for our international expansion plans, and Manchester truly is a global hotspot.“