🎉Nearly the weekend, head into it well informed. Catch up on what we’ve published this week by following the link below to our website. There’s a Monday Briefing to digest, as well as a story about Wolverhampton.
Read both here🔗
www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk
On Wednesday, we published an article about the pedestrianisation of a popular street in Wolverhampton.
Plus, in the above article, our Brum in Brief.
Click here for more ➡️🔗
www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/where-are-wo...
Catch up with what we’ve published this week:
Our Monday Briefing, where the headline was the battle for the budget (now passed).
There’s also a couple of bits on our to do list that could help you plan your weekend…
Great work by the dispatch. Certainly food for thought for pedestrianisation advocates like me.
You may have missed our Brum in Brief yesterday:
🗞️ A man in his 20s has died following a stabbing on Bridge Road in Alum Rock on Tuesday, which also left a woman with non-serious injuries.
💰Birmingham city council passed its budget on Monday.
Read more below⬇️
Another is a butcher, who has worked in the same shop for 21 years, he says the city in general has gone downhill following the loss of big chain names.
Amidst all of this, however, millions of pounds is being poured into regeneration.
Read more below🔗
www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/where-are-wo...
Banning cars was going to revive Wolverhampton’s centre. Why’s it empty?
We spoke to some shops in Wolverhampton. Three sit on Victoria St, which was pedestrianised in 2023. They say that the move has greatly affected their trade.
📸Ian Hughes
It's nearly lunchtime, and what a great opportunity to get stuck into our popular weekend read on Yorks cafes.
It's completely free to read, you just need to sign up to our newsletter. You'll get high quality reporting on Birmingham landing in your inbox every single week.
🧵However, a council spokesperson said, “due to the wider economic conditions affecting the market” since the first building was completed in 2019, the development cannot afford the repayments.
Click the link below to read more of our Monday Briefing:
Also: Birmingham city council may have to use public money to pay for half of a £60m bailout for the Paradise development on Chamberlain Square. A loan to pay for land and relocating costs was due to be paid off through land receipts and income by 2032.
🧵Last week, the vote on the budget was postponed due to Labour nerves that they wouldn't have the numbers to pass it. The vote will now take place at 2pm today.
🚨Your Monday Briefing is here 🚨
🧵
Is Birmingham a “cesspit”? That’s how Jane Jones, an independent councillor, described the city during a budget debate last week. Labour leader John Cotton, however, said the non-bankrupt authority is a "thriving powerhouse.”
📸: Irina Mackie
Launching a new newsroom is simple in theory:
If 500 people back it, we build it ⚒️
We’re working towards bringing independent journalism to West Yorkshire - and support like this from Robyn Vinter really means a lot.
🧵Just in case you need more convincing to read yesterday's story on Yorks cafes, here are some glowing reviews from readers⬇️
☕️ Don’t miss our must-read weekend piece on Yorks cafes — plus, if you’ve read it and you’re not signed up, why not join for free? You’ll get high quality journalism landing straight in your inbox every single week.
🔗Head to our website to find out more and read the Yorks cafes story.
"Nothing was set up properly, the service was poor, the food was mid. There were issues with the chefs. It was carnage."
- Mark*, former employee
"He has dug himself into a situation and rather than confront it, he kept digging."
- Alex*, investor
*names have been changed
📸Yorks/promotional
"I recognise that the insolvency of the Birmingham business has had a significant impact on former employees and others connected to the company. A thirteen-year business employing many people will inevitably affect lives when it ends, and I very much regret the impact caused."
-Simon Ford (owner)
Publicly available records show that York's cafe alone are saddled with debts of at least £750,000 owed in unpaid tax, bills and staff wages.
How did such a promising venture, with so much goodwill and hype, go bust?
🧵Less than 12 months after opening, Yorks cafe closed its 100-seater flagship branch in the Paradise development.
A sign in the window read: "Dear Customers. We are having to close while we resolve a few issues. More announcements to follow."
No announcement followed.
📸:Insta
⭐️On Wednesday, we published a piece by Erin Lewis on Brummie queens reclaiming ‘bastard’ drag.
🧵Spend your Friday evening catching up with what we’ve published this week.
⚽️On Monday, you may have missed our briefing, where the top story was a committee report on the government’s handling of the banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from Villa Park
⭐️Don't miss out on yesterday's story about Birmingham's drag queens embracing 'bastard' drag.
Plus, click the link below for our Brum in Brief to stay caught up before the weekend
www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/cheap-hairy-...
Read more by clicking the link below🔗
www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/cheap-hairy-...
📋 Also, we need your help. Madeleine’s curiosity has been piqued by organisations offering youth support in Birmingham. The two she’s interested in are called NonStopNonStop, and Attentive Management — if you have any info, please email madeleine@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
🧵Plus, don’t miss our Brum in Brief:
🥘 UNESCO could recognise Birmingham’s Baltis
📄 Labour’s Weoley and Selly Oak councillor, Jamie Tennant, is the subject of a confidential complaint to Birmingham City Council, alleging gross misconduct, we can reveal (read more🔗)
Once a kind of slur, ‘bastard’ has been embraced by contemporary queens — especially in Birmingham.
Click the link below to read more🔗
Shows like Ru Paul’s Drag Race present drag as glossy, glamorous and often expensive. But, in pubs and clubs across the country, the old way endures. ‘Bastard’ drag is the term used to describe less polished, comedy-focused drag.
🧵“Bastard drag is camp, fun, and a bit silly,” Jazmin Sparks, a drag titan of Birmingham says. “I think that's a good thing as well about Birmingham, we like to reclaim power words.”
