Velvet Owner Mark Cain Found Dead

POPULAR Manchester hotel and restaurant owner, Mark Cain, was found dead this weekend.

Cain was co-owner of Village institution Velvet, a boutique hotel and bar/restaurant opened on Canal Street in 1996, and more recently Velvet Central which opened on Mount Street by the Town Hall in 2013.

Confidential owner and publisher Mark Garner knew Cain for many years, he had this to say:

"I’ve been collecting characters for decades; ranging from Austrian Counts in Europe to Porn Barons in the Valley in LA, Deans of Universities here in Manchester and pop stars with whips from the sixties. 

They are, and in some cases were, good friends. 

In the top five of those characters was Mark Cain, a man for whom Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem If. 

But Mark was also a pal. And I sit here on a Monday morning with tears running down my cheeks.  

To Mark’s family I can tell you this; the last time we both shared a drink in the dark hours just before dawn, having had the piss taken out of me unmercifully for three hours, he talked of you lot with total, unconditional love. He was besotted with you.

I for one will remember the man with the straight back and the glint in his eye.

Goodbye pal."

Velvet

More tributes have been pouring in on Twitter:

Shocked to hear of Mark Cain's death. Thoughts are with Sunny and the Velvet family. Mark was one of Mcr's great operators.

— Jon Drape (@jondrape) January 26, 2015

Shocking news that Mark Cain of Velvet and Velvet Hotel has died. He did great things. Love to his family & friends.

— Dave Haslam (@Mr_Dave_Haslam) January 25, 2015

How very sad, met Mark Cain in the early 90s for the first time. RIP to one of Manchester's finest operators http://t.co/7lIWi9lIep

— Thom Hetherington (@ThomHetheringto) January 26, 2015