THING OF THE WEEK
HEAD FOR HEIGHTS… Renaker gathered the great and the good of Manchester en masse on Tuesday to celebrate the topping out of the tallest building at Deansgate Square, which at 200.5m makes it the city’s first true skyscraper, THING has been told. Travelling in a lift open to the elements up the side of 67-storeys was not for the fainthearted, and revealed who in Manchester’s leadership team lacks a head for heights; chief exec Joanne Roney certainly paled, while leader Sir Richard Leese was unfazed. Most surprising perhaps, it was architect Ian Simpson who proclaimed: “I don’t like heights!” with his eyes squeezed shut. You’d think that living at the top of Beetham would have helped with that…
REGIONAL BIGGING UP… Lancashire cheeses, fancy chocolates, Bowland snails and, inevitably, award-winning gins will be among the delicacies available at a bash to promote the county as a business location, to be held at the House of Commons in Lancashire Day, next Tuesday. Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson, who doesn’t have a Cabinet post to quit so should still be in place, is hosting the do, organised by Marketing Lancashire. Also in attendance will be the Association of Lancastrians in London, including its president Johnny Ball. Marketing Lancashire is also spearheading a social media campaign inviting proud Lancastrians to share their favourite Lancashire scenes, characters, events and delicious local produce using the #;ancashireDay hashtag, so get thinking – no excuses, now.
RED RED WINE… The Beaujolais Run, popular with a certain social type in the 1980s, is back with a bang according to French restaurant group Bistrot Pierre, which has locations in Altrincham, Preston, Southport and Stockton Heath among its 24 UK operations. Ahead of the big day – 15 November, if you didn’t know – the group sent a team to France to bag some of the Beaujolais Nouveau 2018 crop ahead of a day when punters and staff alike were invited to do the whole dress-up thing, the more cliched the better. Arpita Anstey, marketing director, said: “It’s written into French law that the first bottle can only be uncorked at 00:01 on the third Thursday in November. Beaujolais Day is all about having fun and embracing the novelty of being among the first to taste this young wine.” This sort of stuff is precisely the kind of frictionless trade the UK needs to focus on, THING feels.
On display now in Liverpool. @Coldwar_Steve pic.twitter.com/iUZrVkaHYC
— David Sillito BBC (@DavidSillitoBBC) November 9, 2018
MCFADDEN MONTAGE… Pass the Fray Bentos – Liverpool has this week played host to a work by Cold War Steve, whose pieces have been delighting, confusing, and terrifying Twitter in equal measure of late. The montage on Williamson Square is a typical example: a mash-up of politicians, minor celebrities, Simon Cowell, Kim Jong-Un, and of course, Steve McFadden. The mash-ups seem to reflect the current political mess the country finds itself in, in a darkly comic way. Follow @coldwar_steve on Twitter for more, and there’s also an exhibition on down in London.
SKATE EXPECTATIONS… Avid THING readers may remember a crowdfunding deal for ProjektsMCR for its skate park under the Mancunian Way. The not-for-profit community group is looking to raise money through a community share offer to get the plans of the ground, and has now extended its programme after winning backing from One Manchester and housing association Onward Homes to reach its initial target of £50,000. Projekts is looking to add 7,500 sq ft to its existing site including new concrete ramps, a café, community space, a viewing platform, and a replacement of its existing surfaces to add more capacity and to provide skateboarding lessons and private hire options. The crowfunder has now extended its next target to £75,000 by December this year, and can be accessed here.