THING OF THE WEEK
CAN’T STOP, WON’T STOP… Add Harry Catherall’s name to the list of public servants who seem unable to actually retire. The Oldham chief executive first gave retirement a go in 2019, when he stepped down as chief executive of Blackburn with Darwen Council – only to get pulled in as interim chief executive for St Helens Council in early 2021. In August of that same year, he became chief executive of Oldham Council. Catherall tried to retire again in 2023, before agreeing to stay on until 2026 to provide more time to find a successor.
Now, Catherall has added a second job – interim chief executive of Tameside Council. Some people just don’t know how to take it easy. Let this be a warning to Eamonn Boylan, who has started down a similar path of retiring as Greater Manchester Combined Authority chief executive only to return as interim chief executive of Manchester City Council a few months later. Best watch out, Eamonn, lest you end up still working five years after calling it quits!
As we eagerly await chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget, we can’t help but wonder – how hard it is really to balance a public sector budget? Credit: Kirsty O’Connor for HM Treasury, via CC BY NC ND, bit.ly/40heHCq
BUDGET GAMES… Want to channel your inner Rachel Reeves? Cheshire West and Chester Council is letting you do just that – albeit at a smaller and more local scale. CWAC has created an online budget simulator, where you can try your hand at closing the local authority’s £50m budget gap. Will you raise taxes? Reduce spending? It is decidedly harder than it looks. Give it a go and let us know how you did in the comments: cheshirewestandchester.budgetsimulator.com
Seed Architects has drawn up plans for the future of the waiting room at the Carlisle railway station. Credit: Seed Architects
RAISE A GLASS… An unused first-class waiting room at Carlisle’s Citadel Railway Station could have a bright future ahead of it – as a pub. Network Rail has submitted an application with the help of Seed Architects to refurbish the historic space, which dates to 1880. Since its inception, the waiting room has had a variety of uses and was, ironically, most recently a pub. However, that rendition did not commercially work out so it shuttered, leaving the space empty for years. But with a fresh coat of paint, a mezzanine, and a slew of necessary repairs, Network Rail hopes the pints will flow once more. Cheers!
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TATERS AND CHICKEN… Preston has been picked as the landing ground for Canadian fast-food joint Mary Brown’s Chicken’s first foray into the UK’s (highly saturated, it must be said) fried chicken market. MB Chicken Preston will be the first MB to open in Britain, buoyed by more than 300 outfits back across the pond. MB will hope its offers of a ‘Big Mary Monday’ and ‘Canada’s favourite chicken sandwich’, will make the same dent in the northern market as another Canadian fast-food success story in the North West, Tim Hortons. MB will face worthy opponents in Preston city centre: The Chicken Shop, Chicking Preston, Cheeky Chicken, and CHIXX will all be vying against the newcomer for Preston’s pounds.
A new hotel is on the horizon. Credit: via Sanderson Weatherall
SNOWDONIA HQ HOTEL… Llys Gwydir in Llanrwst – the former £1.3m HQ of collapsed developer GM Jones – could be turned into an apart-hotel with new plans being considered. Having gone into administration in 2019, the GM Jones HQ was empty before Pharma Group moved in in 2022. The lower space of the building was not required by the Pharma Group, and it failed to lease the office space. Now the tenants have applied to change the use of the building to an apart-hotel focused on welcoming tourists. Llanrwst straddles Eryri National Park, Pharma Group is hoping to cash in by welcoming tourists to the gateway to Snowdonia.
