CITY COUNCIL AGREES FIVE YEAR SMITHFIELD CENTRE DEAL IN SECRET:
Mystery company set to lease two floors of office block
A COMPANY is set to sign a fiveyear deal to lease up to two floors of a council-owned office block. The deal was revealed at a private meeting of Stoke-on-trent City Council’s cabinet, which banned The Sentinel and members of the public from the proceedings. And city councillors have also been sworn to secrecy over the identity of the company which looks set to be taking over the entire second floor and part of the first floor inside One Smithfield in Hanley. It is therefore not known whether Stoke-on-trent is getting a jobs boost – or the roles are simply being transferred from elsewhere in the city. In a cryptic tweet, the Smithfield, Stoke-on-trent account messaged: “These corridors won’t stay empty for too much longer. Something exicting is coming at Smithfield.” Stoke-on-trent City Council has declined to provide a statement to The Sentinel regarding the latest development. It is understood that a nondisclosure agreement is in place between the two parties. The minutes of the private cabinet meeting state: “It is agreed that cabinet grants authority to grant a lease of part of the first floor and the whole of the second floor, One Smithfield, for a period of five years.
“It is agreed that cabinet grants delegated authority to the director of housing, development and growth, in consultation with the cabinet member for regeneration, infrastructure and heritage, to finalise and agree the terms of the lease.” It is yet not known when the identity of the company will be disclosed.
One councillor, who asked not to be named, told The Sentinel: “I have been told that the organisation does not wish to be named currently, and I was told this confidentiality is on behalf of the organisation and not for the council. “Suffice to say, I am not animated by it particularly.”