THING OF THE WEEK

SKEM… Everton’s new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock, Manchester United’s vision for a £2bn New Trafford, and newly-promoted Leeds United’s plans to expand Elland Road mean that football stadia have dominated the development discourse so far this year.

While these grand plans complete and emerge, spare a thought for Skelmersdale United, whose nomadic recent history is worth hightlighting. The West Lancashire Club has seldom had a home to call its own over recent years. Back in 2017, the club faced extinction after failing to agree a new lease on their Selby Place ground until Prescot Cables stepped in and offered Skem a ground share.

The 140-year-old club returned to Skelmersdale in 2019 after finding a new home at JMO Sports Park. However, after a couple of happy years there, the artificial playing surface was deemed unsuitable – failing an FA sanctioned ‘bounce test’ – and Skem was ordered to find somewhere else to play.

That somewhere else was at another local rival, Burscough, while next season, with a return to Skelmersdale feeling as far away as ever, the club has agreed to play its home matches at Marine’s Travel Arena in Crosby. Who knows, in future Skem could move there full time; Marine is currently working up plans for a new 5,000-capacity stadium 2.5 miles away in Thornton.

Credit: PNW

LIGHTS… Blackpool Council is on the hunt for a company to organise and execute one of the most important events in the UK cultural calendar – the illuminations switch-on. Every year around 3.5m people visit the illuminations; they are a quintessentially British attraction, featuring light-up displays of modern TV classics like Sooty and Sweep and Fireman Sam. Every year, illuminations fans wait impatiently to find out which celebrity will get to press the big red button; comedy legend Peter Kay, pop royalty Robbie Williams, and Kermit the Frog have all got the gig in the past. The company that gets chosen by the council to arrange the switch-on will surely have to demonstrate an impressive Filofax of celebrity contacts as part of its pitch.

Cut and Craft will be in the former banking hall at Bond. Credit: via Citypress

STEAKING A CLAIM… This week, a(nother) steak restaurant opened in Manchester. Cut and Craft, has set up shop in the ground floor of Bruntwood SciTech’s Bond on Mosely Street and is the latest steak specialist to launch in Manchester after Flatiron and Blacklock emerged to challenge Hawksmoor to be Manchester’s meaty messiah. Cut and Craft hopes to tempt diners away from those places by offering things like bottomless champagne steak brunches – could this be the thing that finally draws Manchester’s property professionals away from Piccolino’s?

FOB… The good people at OBI this week teased a venture billed as Through the Key Fob, which we can only assume is an office-based take on the former TV-favourite Through the Keyhole. We can’t wait to see how Richard Lace performs reprising the role of Lloyd Grossman as host while snooping around various workspaces in Manchester and asking, “who would work in an office like this?”. And there won’t be long to wait – the series is due to launch next week. Place North West will definitely be tuning in.

Cllr David Meller might be stepping down as Labour group leader but he still has plenty to say. Credit: Place North West

PARTING SHOT… Cllr David Meller, now in his last weeks as Leader of the Labour group on Stockport Council, has issued a plea to supermarket group Lidl to take action over a site in Cheadle where it has failed to win planning permission. Cllr Meller, who intends to continue as a ward councillor for Cheadle East and Cheadle Hulme North, posted on Facebook following a fire at the Cheadle Heath Works site to state that “Lidl own the site and it’s their responsibility to maintain and secure it. If they don’t, there’s the potential action could be taken”, suggesting the group should get on with selling up to a developer. There is a housing shortage after all. It is fair to say Meller is not a fan of Lidl’s proposal – he recently described it as a “disaster and disgusting”.

A podcast studio features in the unit designed by Studio John Bridge. Credit: Studio John Bridge

SPUDS… The Preston potato purveyors, who began selling spuds from a converted 1950s tram, have put forward plans to expand. Brothers Jacob and Harley Nelson struck gold when they discovered the viral power of the humble combination of a baked potato and a Lancashire smile. On TikTok, hundreds of millions of viewers have been captivated by body-cam footage of the Nelson brothers dumping healthy spoonful’s of beans on top of steaming hot spuds to Prestonians queuing across Flag Market.

Now, with the expertise of Studio John Bridge, the Spud Bros are hoping to swap their tram for a unit the size of two shipping containers in plans pitched to the city council. Capitalising on their present fame is the name of the game for the brothers – improved kitchen facilities will maintain high standards, while a podcast studio set to host celebrity interviews over tuna mayo tatties will surely maintain the brothers’ growing popularity.