THING OF THE WEEK

MAN IN BLACK NO MORE… Urban Splash founder Tom Bloxham has developed a bit of a reputation for his solid-block colour wardrobe, and for the longest time there was an unspoken rule (it seems): all black in Manchester, all white in Cannes.  That is, until Place Party. Bloxham was spotted on the dance floor in a bright yellow outfit with his traditional bucket hat. Much more fitting for a party, we think!

Michael Gove was in attendance in Liverpool this week. via CC BY 3.0, bit.ly/43GCfAZ. Image has been cropped.

CONFERENCE… Party conferences are weird. One minute you’re watching Michael Gove tackle a croissant and the next you’re being harangued by protestors for not accepting another tote bag filled with literature about another worthy cause.

It also seems to be a place you get to glimpse politicians being normal people. We saw Prime Minister Andy Burnham get choked up on stage talking about his late father, Yvette Cooper cracking jokes about unflattering acronyms, and Lucy Powell getting involved in footy #bantz – she reminded Manchester United fans how “crap” they are. Conference is also a rip-off: £5.50 for a mediocre BLT? That’ll be getting expensed.

Kim McGuinness, pictured here at a different event, was not a fan of the joke. Credit: Place North East

COLLABORATION… While many were still digesting the news that an independent commission had found Manchester City guilty of 114 of the 115 charges levelled against them by the Premier League, Chris Ball, AtkinsRealis head of UK and Ireland, was ready to talk about it.

Speaking at a Great North event during the Labour party conference, he suggested Manchester City should follow in the great tradition of collaboration between Northern cities and hand over the trophies it won during the period under scrutiny to their rightful owners. “Next year I am banning football jokes,” North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said when she retook ownership of the mic.

The scheme has been estimated to cost around £500m. Credit: via planning documents

END OF THE ROAD… Last night, Stockport Council voted on a motion seeking to consign to history a highways plan that has been in the works for 25 years. The idea of a road connecting the A6 in Hazel Grove to the M60 at Bredbury has been batted around without getting very far over the last quarter of a century. It seems Labour has had enough and wants to see the scheme scrapped for good. However, the council’s ruling Lib Dems declared emphatically that they were not ready to pull the plug. Not quite the end of the road, then.

Credit: via 24 Indoor

SOFT PLAY… Monkey Town, the brainchild of Dutch leisure operator 24 Indoor, is preparing to launch in Kirkby on 18 October. Sadly, it is not a primate-themed extension of the famous safari park in the same borough, but a soft play centre for kids. At 16,000 sq ft, the deal on Cherryfield Drive is not an insignificant one, especially during what is a tough time for high streets like Kirkby. News of a soft play complex coming to the market will be also be well received by parents looking for new and exciting place to spend a hungover Sunday morning regretting everything.