It's a fantastic Uni, fantastic shopping, clubbing, concerts - it's got it all really.
But what's the alternative?
Certain Uni's hold prestige on certain courses. Blue-chip organisations target specific universities and set up campus ambassadors with that Uni when they know the course they offer is particularly great.
It means graduates from those courses automatically get a toe through the recruitment process. Doesn't mean candidates from other Uni's aren't considered but with campus ambassadors - companies send people from the firm to do talks, to engage with the students, they hold events, they're there a Freshers weeks etc and of course when a CV crosses their desk from a student they've met at one of these events - it gets passed along.
E.g. Salford University has one of the best TV and Film courses in the whole country. So you bet that ITV and BBC, Channel 5 etc etc recruit their camera people from there.
Investment banks have their preferred Uni's (e.g LSE)
Engineering companies have their preferred Uni's (Nottingham, Loughborough)
You say English Lit - it depends what your kid ultimately wants to do with that. If it's be a teacher/lecturer - go for Manchester.
If they have no idea - then Manchester is a good bet because it's very diverse, very reputable, attracts alot of the major companies and it will be a fantastic Uni experience.
But if your kid has a very specific path they want to follow it might be worth looking at which companies/organisations associate themselves with Manchester the most.
Hope that helps!