THING OF THE WEEK
LISTING… Liverpool has been voted the seventh-best city in the world for 2024 by TimeOut, with New York taking top spot. You may recall that in 2021 Mancunians got very excited when their city was ranked third behind San Francisco and Amsterdam. This year, Manchester has to settle for 15th place, way behind Liverpool in the fight to be the best UK city that is not London – the power of Eurovision has clearly had a profound effect on the rankings. Liverpool cannot afford to rest on its laurels if it wants to keep its place in TimeOut’s good books, something San Francisco knows all too well. The US city topped the pile the year Manchester claimed bronze, but has slumped to 37th this time around.
Credit: via Barrett Dixon Bell
RAISE THE ROOF… A Wigan-based roofing contractor is doing its bit to boost the profile of a lesser-known sport. IKO has become the headline sponsor of the England Amputee Football Association’s National Football League for 2024. The deal will see IKO provide kits and equipment to livestream matches, allowing more people to access the sport. The association’s football league – or the IKO EAFL – is the main event of the sport’s calendar, with teams such as Everton, Chelsea, and Portsmouth competing. All fixtures for the 2024 season will be played at Reaseheath College, in Nantwich, Cheshire, and broadcast across the EAFA Facebook and YouTube channels. And with a new sponsorship deal in place, if the weather threatens any of the fixtures, IKO could presumably just build a roof to protect the pitch.
Credit: via planning documents
PYRAMID PROGRESS… Forget fancy Michelin-star-chasing eateries, the most eagerly anticipated restaurant opening of 2024 is surely Royal Nawaab within the iconic but long-vacant Pyramid in Stockport. Work is going on behind the scenes to get the project off the ground and plans have been lodged for the building’s new-look entrance. The image above, complete with supercars, gives the clearest insight yet into how the Pyramid will look under its fresh guise.
Spinach does not appear on the menu. Credit: via Scoop
CHICKEN CHAIN… After making its North West debut last year, US fast food chain Popeyes is eyeing significant growth across the region. The opening day of Popeyes in Piccadilly Gardens saw queues out of the door as hungry chicken fiends waited for their fried fix. Buoyed by the success of its Manchester outlet, the chain is now planning to open across the border in Salford. A site off Bury New Road a stone’s throw from two other North American eateries – Tim Hortons and McDonalds – has been acquired.
TAKE THE BISCUIT… We all love a biscuit with our brew, but what is the property industry’s favourite dippable accompaniment to a cup of tea? That was the question Hays director Barry Fellowes asked his LinkedIn followers earlier this week to settle an office spat. Fellowes’ top three was an eclectic array of biscuits and featured a surprise appearance from the perennially – and some would argue deservedly – overlooked fig roll. The property industry piled in, lambasting each other for their choices and putting forward their own suggestions. Ultimately the poll raised more questions than it answered – is a Jaffa Cake really a biscuit and what on earth is a Custurd Cream?
