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Hello and welcome
Have you got World Cup fever yet? I've got to admit I have - much against my better judgement. Before it kicked off the prospect of a mid-winter World Cup in Qatar left me cold.
And while I wasn't planning on boycotting it as such, I figured I probably wouldn't watch much of it. Who was I kidding?
Now the actual football's started I'm well into it. At about 11am on my day off yesterday I found myself sat on the sofa with the dog avidly watching Switzerland grind out a dull 1-0 win over Cameroon.
Forget Gazza breaking down in tears, Roger Milla dancing by the corner flag or Diana Ross scuffing a penalty - that's the stuff World Cup memories are really made of.
At the end of today's newsletter we've got a fiendishly tricky Tameside-themed World Cup trivia question for you. Elsewhere we'll take a look at how a bruising Ofsted review has seen only one high school in Greater Manchester retain its outstanding rating.
And we'll hear how the ongoing meltdown on the railways is hitting Manchester's economy.
An Almost Complete Collapse In Confidence
The continued chaos on Avanti West Coast and railways across the North is causing 'serious economic damage' to Greater Manchester. That's the view of Chris Oglesby, chief executive of property giant Bruntwood.
He's written to Transport Secretary Mark Harper urging him to take action to address the problems. In his letter Mr Oglesby reveals events and conferences worth tens of thousands of pounds to the Manchester economy are being cancelled because of unreliable train services to and from London.
As an example, Mr Oglesby says a major accountancy firm's staff had cut all travel to the North West and cancelled a client conference for over 120 businesses in Manchester 'because it was not possible to rely on people being able to travel from London'.
One group of investors were forced to come from London to Manchester by minibus, while a major US investor who regularly travels between the two cities to oversee projects has now switched to travelling by car and 'much less frequently, potentially delaying investment decisions and the growth that comes with these'.
People are routinely travelling from Manchester to London via Leeds and Sheffield, adding extra time and inconvenience, while cultural attractions are being hit by people cancelling their plans at the last minute because they can't get home, says Mr Oglesby.
Since August, Avanti West Coast has cut the number of services between London Euston and Manchester from one every 20 minutes to one an hour as well as limiting ticket sales because of a lack of staff to drive and run the trains.
Mr Oglesby, chair of the Manchester Business Sounding Board, said it's led to an 'almost complete collapse in confidence in the rail network as a means of transport for business and leisure' and described the current situation as 'worse than anything we have experienced... worse even than after the May 2018 timetabling fiasco'.
He added: "The consequences of the current crisis, almost every company is feeling the effects - either in terms of business being more difficult to do, staff being unable to get to work, increased costs and long term damage to Manchester’s reputation as a place to invest."
In response the Department for Transport, which last month gave Avanti a short-term contract extension saying it had until April 1 next year to improve its services, said: "The Transport Secretary will soon be travelling to meet northern metro mayors to hear their concerns first hand so, together, we can provide the reliable service passengers across the region deserve."
One group of investors were forced to come from London to Manchester by minibus, while a major US investor who regularly travels between the two cities to oversee projects has now switched to travelling by car and 'much less frequently, potentially delaying investment decisions and the growth that comes with these'.
People are routinely travelling from Manchester to London via Leeds and Sheffield, adding extra time and inconvenience, while cultural attractions are being hit by people cancelling their plans at the last minute because they can't get home, says Mr Oglesby.
Since August, Avanti West Coast has cut the number of services between London Euston and Manchester from one every 20 minutes to one an hour as well as limiting ticket sales because of a lack of staff to drive and run the trains.
Mr Oglesby, chair of the Manchester Business Sounding Board, said it's led to an 'almost complete collapse in confidence in the rail network as a means of transport for business and leisure' and described the current situation as 'worse than anything we have experienced... worse even than after the May 2018 timetabling fiasco'.
He added: "The consequences of the current crisis, almost every company is feeling the effects - either in terms of business being more difficult to do, staff being unable to get to work, increased costs and long term damage to Manchester’s reputation as a place to invest."
In response the Department for Transport, which last month gave Avanti a short-term contract extension saying it had until April 1 next year to improve its services, said: "The Transport Secretary will soon be travelling to meet northern metro mayors to hear their concerns first hand so, together, we can provide the reliable service passengers across the region deserve."
Rob Parsons has more here .
The schools no longer top of the class
A bruising review has seen only one Greater Manchester high school retain its outstanding status following Ofsted's decision to revisit all top performing schools, Joel Shooter reports . The watchdog said more than 80 percent of visits resulted in a downgrading.
The review came about after Ofsted changed its policy on inspecting 'outstanding' schools. Up until 2020, top-rated schools would only be inspected if there were specific concerns.
But that meant some had gone as long as 15 years without being inspected. Now that's changed and those schools that had gone the most time without a visit from Ofsted have been prioritised for inspection.
Ofsted found that most schools were still judged to be good, but that 17 percent required improvement and four percent were rated as inadequate.
Levenshulme High School was the only Manchester secondary school inspected following the removal of the exemption to retain its outstanding status.
One school downgraded was King David High School in Crumpsall, which dropped to the lowest rating after Ofsted highlighted 'discriminatory' arrangements due to issues with how some pupils were unable to mix socially .
Five primary schools across Manchester also saw their Ofsted grades fall from outstanding, with Well Green Primary School, Brooklands Primary School, Mills Hill Primary School and Our Lady of the Rosary RC Primary School all dropping to good.
Meanwhile Great Moor Infant School was lowered to requires improvement, with all the schools falling below outstanding in early years provision, quality of education and leadership and management.
But the move has been criticised by teaching unions. NEU joint general secretary Kevin Courtney said Ofsted's findings were 'frequently unreliable and invalid'.
"Far from demonstrating the value of Ofsted, this report shows that the inspectorate makes no material positive difference to schools," he said. He said Ofsted was 'driving good teachers away' and 'punitive and ill-informed inspection' slowing down improvements.
Helping hand for 'buzzy' new restaurant
A small city centre restaurant that 'just wanted to survive' the first year coming out of covid has been added to the prestigious Michelin Guide. Another Hand, which opened just eight months ago on Deansgate Mews, has been included in the November edition of the Michelin Inspectors' Favourite New Restaurants.
It's one of 11 Manchester restaurants featured in the guide. In its description of the restaurant, inspectors wrote: "Tucked away on the upper 'mews' level of Deansgate’s Great Northern Warehouse, this small, buzzy restaurant comes from the three chefs behind the city’s erstwhile 3 Hands Deli. A café by day, by night it serves an array of delicious sharing plates, made with produce from ethical local growers."
The inclusion comes just two months after the casual, neighbourhood-style eatery was named Best Newcomer at the Manchester Food and Drink Awards.
Julian Pizer, one of the team behind Another Hand, told the M.E.N.: "It's more than we ever expected in our first year really, our humble little restaurant, it's been incredible. Honestly, we were just wanting to survive the first year coming out of covid and with the pending crisis in hospitality that we knew was coming.
"All we can hope is that the traction continues, we're going to keep doing what we're doing."
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Christmas on The march
Manchester will stage its first ever Christmas parade through the streets of the city centre next month. Image: Carl Sukonik.
It doesn't seem right to be thinking about Christmas while the World Cup's on, but I'm afraid we must. Next month Manchester is to host its first ever Christmas Parade through the city streets.
It will feature more than 100 street performers, magical stilt walkers, artists and bands. The procession will be filled with all the 'sights, sounds and sparkle that spell Christmas', say organisers.
Council bosses say they aim to build on the success of the city's Manchester Day Parade which, after starting small for its first parade back in 2010, now regularly sees thousands of people flock to the city centre to watch. The inaugural Manchester Christmas Parade will take place on Sunday, December 11.
Dianne Bourne has all the details here .
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