THING OF THE WEEK

STOKE… Salford City Council played hosts to its Stoke-on-Trent counterparts this week as the latter handed over a ceremonial centenary baton to the former, which will raise its bat in 2026.

Next year marks 100 years since King George V officially granted Salford city status by Royal Charter, one year after Stoke was afforded the same title. As the Staffordshire city’s centenary year comes to an end, a celebration was held at Swinton town hall, which was attended by guest of honour Kelvin the Kiln, Stoke’s centenary and not-at-all-menacing mascot.

It has been a busy year for Stantec. Credit: via Stantec

WRAPPED… Our Spotify Wrapped told us how old our ears are and this week our LinkedIn Wrapped has been telling us who our favourite professional connections are.

Some businesses are also doing their own version of a yearly wrap. Take Place North West for example – this year we have published more than 2,500 stories. Others at it include Stantec’s Manchester planning team, which has published a nifty little infographic rounding up some of this year’s achievements. During 2025, Stantec has advised on 3.1m sq ft of real estate projects and still found time for four public inquiries. All in a year’s work.

Credit: JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

CHESS… When a property journalist receives an email with the subject line “ECF condemns FIDE Congress”, he or she could be forgiven for thinking that the prolific development joint venture between Muse, Homes England, and L&G is engaged in some tasty beef.

As it turns out, ECF shares its acronym with the English Chess Federation, and the FIDE is the sports international governing body. Not a story for us, then, but why are our chess bosses in a condemning mood, I hear you ask.

It turns out that FIDE voted recently to lift sanctions against Russia in a meeting chaired by Arkady Dvorkovich, who is FIDE chair and *checks notes* a former deputy prime minister of Russia. Sounds like the biggest meeting controversy since Jackie Weaver and the sordid Knutsford Parish Council episode.

Tast is due to close. Credit: PNW

TAST… Pep Guardiola can rightfully say that his particular brand of expansive, continental football has transformed the Premier League. His side’s dominance ushered in an era of managers attempting to emulate the Spaniard’s possession-heavy style but, in recent months and years, the power of Pep’s vision has waned somewhat.

New trends have taken hold and long throws and longer balls have come back into fashion as teams move towards a more direct approach to the game. In line with this evolution, we fully expect a Sam Allardyce-backed British bistro serving old fashioned classics like bangers and mash to replace Guardiola’s Tast on Manchester’s King Street, which announced it would close this week.

Credit: Google Earth

AD ASTRA… Workers at AstraZeneca’s Macclesfield campus have called on the government to pave the way for future investment at the Cheshire site and ensure it has a role to play in the pharmaceutical company’s aims to become an $80bn firm by 2030. GMB Union is calling for a “firm commitment from government to ensure future investment leads to another blockbuster drug being produced in Macclesfield” to protect existing jobs and create new ones.

Steve Boden, GMB regional organiser, said: “We need government to step up, create the conditions for growth, and make sure the next big breakthrough is made right here in the North West.”

Throwing Macclesfield a bone could be a wise move from the government, which desperately needs to curry favour in Cheshire East after ruffling more than few feathers over the Adlington new town saga.