THING OF THE WEEK
MIC… Morgan Sindall’s Open Mic night is always a great do. This year, it took place in Liverpool the evening before Place North West’s Liverpool City Region Development Update, which made for great planning and a few bleary eyes among delegates the next day.
Around 300 people packed into the Cavern Club to watch property and construction professionals strut their stuff on stage. Among them were Morgan Sindall’s own Emma Ratcliffe alongside the contractor’s former North West MD Barry Gregory, as well as LK Group’s Samantha Neden, who belted out a fantastic rendition of ABBA’s Does your mother know that you’re out for the Leaky Gaskets. The punk stylings of the excellently-named The See You Next Tuesdays saw the energy ramped up; the band’s drummer – decked out in tight tartan pants – is none other than the chief executive of the Government Property Agency, Mark Bourgeois. Rock on.
Matt Pickering’s journey included a stop at Bletchley, famous for Bletchley Park, home of the WW2 codebreakers. Credit: PNW
TRACKING… Arcadis principal Matt Pickering needed to travel from Stockport to Bedford for work recently, and what might have been a straightforward journey between two large towns turned into something of an odyssey involving seven trains and a whistle-stop tour of some of the Midlands’ finest station platforms.
More than six hours of travelling saw Pickering waiting for trains in places including, but not limited to, Leicester, Nuneaton, and Bletchley. Against all odds given the often fragile nature of the country’s rail infrastructure, he made all of his connections and, on the final leg between Milton Keynes and Stockport, chowed down on his hat.
The resort is due to open in 2029. Credit: via Rule 5
THERME… With 18 waterslides, THERME Manchester – actually in Trafford – is undoubtedly one of the more eagerly anticipated developments in the North West. Place reported back in October about another round of design tinkering for the complex and this week the company has released fresh internal CGIs showcasing how the completed project could look. Set to open in 2029, work is progressing on site, with the first of 10 pools due to be dug out over the next eight weeks.
