THING OF THE WEEK
SUB FOUR… After coming agonisingly close to breaking the four-hour barrier at the Manchester Marathon earlier this year, Property Alliance Group chief executive Alex Russell headed to Amsterdam recently to put is demons to bed. But not content with tucking them in and giving them a kiss on the forehead, he booted said demons off the cobbles and into the canal and watched them drown, by crossing the line in 3:42. Russell, who has raised more than £3,000 through his recent marathon exploits, says he has enjoyed the grind but has now “ticked the marathon box”. We shall see about that. Sub-3:30 anyone?
GAMESCUBO… When building an empire it is important to fit in some downtime. Marc Brough, founder of expanding co-working platform Cubo, is a busy man; the firm has opened up a number of location across the country in the last few years. However, he still has time to switch off from work and switch on a spot of retro gaming. He has somehow managed to get Championship Manager 1997/98 on his laptop and, if the game is half as addictive as THING remembers, Cubo might not be opening any new offices for a while…
The hotel is owned by Real Big Group. Credit: Google Earth
DATA… The ground floor and basement of a hotel in Burnley could be brought into use as a data centre. In one of the more outlandish schemes that came to light this week, Real Big Group has had plans approved by the local council to convert the 40,000 sq ft subterranean space into a two-level location for digital infrastructure. The proposal sees the Burnley-based conglomerate add another string to an eclectic bow that also includes blinds, cinemas, hotels, and sunbed shops.
