With regards to freight one of the things to consider is logistically the UK is not that big and the distance from EMA to MAN is not that great a distance and there is a large logistical park adjacent to EMA which is growing. Maybe the decision has been taken to make EMA the freight hub.
As for MAN maybe concentrates on its passenger offering and finish what they started. The remote stands will be an issue in more inclement weather, and none of the stairs being used that I have observed have had roofs unlike Frankfurt that also has many remote stands with arguably worse winter weather. Boarding a 330 with one set of stairs is a time consuming issue !
As I mentioned Leeds earlier I do not understand how they get away with the large queues for immigration stretching onto an operational apron at times when flights are early or indeed late. The stairs comment also applies there as well.
Cheers
Mr Mac