003: Good News for Stoke & Staffordshire
Lissy Taylor, Stoke Creates, Cris Cohen, BEAR and all those canals in Staffordshire.
This week in The Knot đđź
Whatâs On/Things To Do â
Lissy Taylor on Radio 1, Stoke Creates Co-working and Drop City Books Author Party.Spotlight đŚ
Cris Cohenâs vision for hospitality in Stoke and how food tells stories.Good News đ
Re-form Heritage, How to spend transport money.Food Highlight âď¸
BEARJobs đ¸
Fletcher Moorland, Synectics Solutions and more.Property đĄ
ÂŁ1m 6 bed Grade II listed home in Staffordshire of 2 bed flat in Fulham?Knot Having It â
The canals of Staffordshire.
đ° READ NOW: Stoke The Embers
At the height of production, Stoke-on-Trent supported 70,000 jobs in the ceramics industry, earning its moniker the Potteries. For the last century and a half, people stepping out of Stoke-on-Trent railway stationâŚ.(Read full article)
WHATâS ON/THINGS TO DO â
Lissy Taylor on Radio 1 Future Artists with her new single, Life Changing. LISTEN TONIGHT. This is an anthem to believe in yourself, to take control of your life. Iâm listening to it writing this. Go on Lissy, we believe in you. The Stoke Taylor Swift.
Drop City Books Author Party, Andrew McMillan on his new book, Pity. 22nd March. This book is getting some serious attention and the blurb resonates, deep. âOnce, the town provided, it was important, it had purpose. But what is it now?â Hosted by Ruth at Drop City Books who will get a spotlight in The Knot soon enough, because her bookshop is banging and her events are wicked.
Stoke Creates Co-Working Day. TOMORROW. If youâre a creative, artist, painter, potter, actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, freelancer, creator of any kind and you need community and you need to be around other awesome people creating (you do). Get here. Connect with awesome people and be part of Stokeâs burgeoning creative scene. Youâll be the next scenius. You get to work from Smithfield Works from 10am-4pm for free and itâs great in there.
Spotlight đŚ
Cris Cohen is the Chef behind FEASTED. Crisâs vision for food and hospitality in Stoke and Staffordshire is beyond opening a few new venues. With Chefâs Table they craft stories out of their food that spark conversations and encourage diners to discover something new about their City through the dish. Each plate is a story and every mouthful connects you to whatâs possible for the future.
Chefâs Table is just the beginning, Crisâs vision is for a series of restaurants across the region all playing with the areas heritage and all crafted by local people. STOCK, his new ramen restaurant in Newcastle-under-Lyme is a sign of things to come.
His energy is captivating. Heâs not just passionate about Food, heâs passionate about opportunities for young people. I spent time talking to one of his team, Betty, a young baker from Wolstanton who FEASTED has given an opportunity in hospitality too, she remarked how much her confidence had grown in this work and how few opportunities she felt she had before. Itâs this full journey from food, stories, education and young people that make what Cris is doing special and worthy of applause.
Good News đ
How Stoke Could Spend its Transport Budget. Credit where itâs due, this is a good piece of writing. You just have to charge your phone to read it, be very patient and donât read the comments. This is âgoodâ news. (Phil Corrigan, The Sentinel)
ICYMI: Re-form Heritage Gets Fresh Funding to Revamp Historic Buildings. Theyâve done a great job of Middleport Pottery, can they revitalise another piece of heritage? I believe so. This is great news. (Re-form Website)
Food Highlight - BEAR âď¸
Not just a highlight but a critical part of my life. Genuinely not sure I could have survived the cold turkey transition from living in London to Stone without the coffee, brunch options and cinnamon classics from BEAR.
The vibe is great, the space is enjoyable to be in and there are enough people with tattoos and silly little hats working on their laptops (with stickers on) to make me feel like Iâm not a weirdo for doing the same.
Founders Craig and Michael are Uttoxeter boys and thatâs home to their first place, they have others in surrounding areas, including Northwich and Ashbourne.
For me, itâs a Long Black, a Cinnamon Classic (warmed up) and then a Veggie Breakfast on a Sunday.
Disclaimer: The coffee is so strong I once had two, or three cups in a row and iâm sure it nearly brought on a panic attack.
JOBS đ¸
In the latest instalment of âthereâs no jobs round hereâ I wrote something on LinkedIn about employers in Stoke and Staffordshire and it went a bit crazy. I found out about a lot of businesses Iâd never heard of doing amazing work and actively hiring. I feel like there is more to be done here, beyond sharing roles so people stay working in this area, Iâm not entirely sure what The Knotâs impact can be here yet.
Synectics Solutions are hiring mainly business and account management.
Fletcher Moorland are hiring mainly engineers.
More in previous issues.
PROPERTY đĄ
A Six Bedroom, Grade II Listed Property in Staffordshire or a two bedroom, two bathroom flat in West London?
House prices in Staffordshire are very compelling for people making moves out of big city life. I wonder how we can entice people with money to live and spend here yet keep property prices attainable for local first time buyers to see a future here too.
KNOT HAVING IT â
Staffordshire is home to the most miles of canals in the UK?! Thatâs actually knot that hard to believe.
Thank you for reading. This week Iâm really feeling energy building and Iâm also really enjoying the challenge that people are bringing. Iâm starting to get my first round of criticism. Mostly people that are sharing the facts and statistics about poverty, wages and living standards in Stoke and parts of Staffordshire. The reflection for me is that I donât believe we need to talk more about the challenges, they are clear for all to see. The Knot will continue to be action-oriented, weâll highlight issues and provide thoughtful inquiry into what can be done. Yet our priority will absolutely be on those in the arena, taking action and building the future. We need people to sit behind desks analysing, yet we need more people on the ground leading and driving change. Thatâs my focus.
Cheers,
James Routledge, Editor of The Knot.
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