Dear Millers – we have just learned that James Binks has been suspended as chief executive of Rochdale council, following our reporting over the weekend into his conduct when he was a council executive in Manchester. We obtained a confidential report that found Binks and other council execs engaged in “sleazy” behaviour towards young female staff. More on that below.
“Great piece about appalling breaches of trust & responsibilities which must not go unpunished,” commented one Miller. “More fantastic reporting from The Mill,” said a Redditor, adding: “every great city needs a great set of pain-in-the-arse local journalists.” We’re happy to oblige.
Also in today’s briefing: the latest in the weird and wonderful world of Manchester rail, and details on a skyscraper tycoon who received almost £1bn in public loans from Andy Burnham’s GMCA and then decided to move to… Monaco.
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Factory International celebrates another year of nurturing home-grown talent
The next generation of Mancunian music talent is finding its voice with Factory International. The Factory Sounds and Factory Promoter Academy initiatives are opening doors for the local talent shaping Manchester's new sound. The programmes provide everything from recording studio access to financial backing, and expert mentoring to real world pitching opportunities, helping artists to experiment and develop. It's all part of Factory’s deep commitment to nurturing the local arts scene. For more information, and to find out about 2026 opportunities, click below.
This week’s weather
Tuesday: ⛅ Dry with variable amounts of cloud and bright spells. Less windy compared to Monday but still breezy. Max 10°c.
Wednesday: ⛅ Largely dry with a mix of bright and cloudy periods. Slight chance of a shower. Max 9°c
Thursday: 🌧️ Cloudy with morning rain before a drier afternoon. Remaining cloudy. Maz 9°c.
Friday: 🌧️ Cloudy with rain arriving during the afternoon. Feeling chilly. Max 7°c
Weekend: 🌦️Mild, often cloudy and unsettled. No snow, frost or ice.
Exclusive: James Binks suspended as CEO of Rochdale Council
Top line: James Binks, the CEO of Rochdale Council, has been suspended today following our reporting over the weekend. We obtained a confidential report which found Binks had “inappropriately touched and grinded” against a graduate trainee 20 years his junior while assistant CEO of Manchester City Council.
Key details: The confidential report, written by senior employment lawyer Victoria Duddles of Weightmans LLP and commissioned by Manchester City Council, found that Binks had to be pulled to one side by HR director Mark Bennett following the incident of inappropriate touching while dancing. More generally, Duddles found “there was a vibe of less than professional behaviour” on the night. One woman interviewed as part of the investigation found the behaviour she experienced “sleazy” and said she had not expected the “level of creepiness” she witnessed.
The timeline: The incident occurred at a bar that council staffers visited after an annual staff awards event last November. Although Binks’s behaviour was witnessed by multiple other Manchester council execs, including director of HR Mark Bennett, no investigation seems to have been launched for seven months. Instead, it took a group of women to file a whistleblowing complaint against Binks and others — including Deputy CEO Paul Marshall — for an investigation to begin this summer. In the meantime, Binks was appointed chief executive of Rochdale in January and started in April.
The big question: When did Rochdale’s leaders first learn about the Binks incident? The Weightmans report was sent to Manchester – who commissioned it - early last month. It’s unclear when it was shared with Rochdale council, but we're awaiting answers from the council on a firm date.
‘Media coverage’: Rochdale council confirmed this morning that Binks has been suspended. Council leader Neil Emmott sent a message to councillors which didn’t elaborate on whether he first read about the allegations against Binks in The Mill, or whether he had already read the report:
You will all no doubt be aware of the troubling recent media coverage relating to our chief executive, James Binks,” going on to say, “in light of these reports and the need to ensure that the reputation of the council is upheld, I have taken the decision to suspend James from work.”
Non-sexual grinding: On Friday, the council appeared to be backing Binks, telling us that he denied that his behaviour was in any way sexual. That prompted a withering response from Rochdale’s former deputy leader Sara Rowbotham, who told us: “That’s exactly the problem. Men might think it’s a joke. It’s the equivalent of a 1970s squeeze of the bottom in the workplace. They are dismissing her account, because her word isn’t worth anything.”
More departures: Binks is a former Treasury official who joined Manchester City Council in 2011, rising to increasingly senior roles, most recently assistant chief executive. As we reported on the weekend, Marshall and Bennett have also left their positions at the council. A spokesperson for Manchester City Council told us that it “takes allegations of inappropriate behaviour between staff members extremely seriously” but said that they can’t comment on individual staffing issues.
Reassurances: This morning, Manchester’s council chief executive Tom Stannard wrote to staff to say “unwanted and unprofessional behaviour has no place in this organisation,” and to “assure you that staff members who raise concerns have been and will continue to be supported.”
We have sent questions to Manchester City Council and Rochdale Council asking exactly when the damning report into Binks was shared with Rochdale and when Emmott read it. We’ll be updating readers on those points in the coming days.
Stories like this one, which has led to the suspension of a very senior council official in Rochdale, involve a lot of detailed reporting, careful editing and high legal costs. They’re only achievable because we have thousands of paying members. There's a reason very few outlets take on investigations like this — it’s hard to make the numbers add up.
Our reporting on James Binks has been free to read: that’s because we think it’s in the public interest. However, we're currently trying to welcome 1,000 new members during our first-ever membership campaign, and we’re approaching 450 new members. If you’d like to support us to continue doing more journalism like this there has never been a better time to join. During the campaign, you can pay what you can afford if the full price is too much, and you'll get that price for the next two months. It would be great to have you on board.
Your Mill briefing
🚅 In the latest in a series of baffling transport decisions in Manchester, it’s now been revealed that the morning service from Piccadilly to London Euston that was going to be cancelled, is in fact not being cancelled, they’re just not going to let anyone on it. The Avanti service – which leaves Manchester at 7am and gets you to the capital before 9 – will be running empty, for the sole purpose of transporting the train and its staff. It’s the only train which makes the journey at this speed — a cool hour and 59 minutes, which as Times Radio director Tim Levell puts it “means Avanti can say you can get from Manchester to London in under two hours — even though you can only do that once a day.” Levell – who you may remember often makes the commute to London on said train – was on the service this morning, which he tells us arrived at its destination a fairly typical 23 minutes late. Alongside him were 150 other commuters and travelers who will soon be crowding the alternative, later services. “It’s total madness isn’t it?” he told The Mill this morning. “An empty train going all the way to London!”
✈️ A 31-year man has been arrested at Manchester Airport in connection to October’s synagogue attack in Crumpsall. The man, who was arrested on suspicion of “commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism”, after arriving on an inbound flight earlier, becomes the seventh person arrested in connection with the attack. Five of the seven have since been released without charge, but one — a 30-year-old man arrested on suspicion of failing to disclose information under the Terroism Act — remains on bail.
🏙️ Daren Whitaker, the Renaker co-founder who was handed more than £750 million in taxpayer loans as he built 12 skyscrapers in Manchester, has decamped to Monaco. Whitaker’s success story has been controversial: a recent lawsuit filed by Aubrey Weis, a rival developer, claimed Whitaker had benefited from effective subsidies from Andy Burnham's Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Renaker had been bankrolled by the GMCA’s Housing Investment Loans fund, but faced scrutiny over the fact many of their blocks contained no affordable housing. The lawsuit, however, was ultimately rejected. Companies House filings now show the developer has switched his primary residence to Monaco, joining the likes of Topshop owner Sir Philip Green in the tax haven.
🪩 The ‘90s ravers among us will be happy to hear that Sankeys nightclub is returning to Manchester next month after a nine year absence. The venue, which first opened as ‘Sankeys Soap’ back in 1994 (due to its premises in a former soap factory), was renowned for introducing the likes of Daft Punk and The Chemical Brothers to the masses, and was voted Best Club in the World in 2010. Now it’s returning to an as-yet-unrevealed location, and will open only on Saturday nights, with a strict ‘no phones on the dancefloor’ policy. If any of you are heading there next month, please tell us all about it.
🚨 A 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after an attack in Altrincham town centre left four people injured. The attack saw a 21-year-old man suffer wounds to the chest, leaving him in a “serious but stable” condition in hospital, while another man in his 20s had “life-changing” facial injuries. A 51-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman also suffered minor injuries. Full details here.
Home of the Week
We’ve chosen this 2-bed in Fallowfield as Home of the Week if only for the unbridled enthusiasm of the listing — which claims that the “bay-fronted beauty… practically winks at you,” and that you should “consider your house hunt over.” Bonus points for mentioning the “iconic 192”. £220,000.
Recommended reads
‘In the presence of evil’: Manchester synagogue attack survivor on the day that shook British Jews — The Guardian
When Yoni Finlay saw Jihad al-Shamie, as the latter attempted to force his way into the Heaton Park Synagogue in Crumpsall as part of an attack that would lead to two deaths, he saw something he never had before. “I’ve never felt this before, I’ve never experienced it, but there was evil. We were in the presence of evil,” he told The Guardian in his first interview since that morning. Finlay was struck by a police bullet as he barricaded the door to stop al-Shamie entering, and described a feeling of survivor’s guilt in the aftermath.
Even Vimto’s boss Andrew Milne doesn’t know its secret — The Sunday Times
Any piece that begins in Sam’s Chop House is worthy of our attention. This one, an interview with Andrew Milne, the chief executive of the company that owns Vimto, tells the story of how an Edwardian health tonic became a drinks brand that conquered the Middle East. Vimto originated in Manchester in the early 1900s, and of course has a monument in the city, but the company has been equally successful in the Muslim world, “where for almost a century Vimto has been the drink of choice for the iftar, or sunset feast, during Ramadan.”
To do list
🎼 Joshi will be off to Manchester Baroque’s annual performance of Handel’s masterpiece, Messiah, which is being performed in partnership with Manchester Cathedral Choir on Saturday. It’s a perfect way to mark the beginning of the Christmas season, and Millers and Millers alone can get Two-for-One tickets here!
📚 Jack Dulhanty will be meeting his hero, his idol, his inspiration Richard Ayoade tomorrow afternoon. The panel-show-star will be hanging around Waterstones on Deansgate chatting about his brand new book.
🎤 And Ophira’s off to see some sort of fusion of traditional Egyptian song and modern Arabic poetry played by a Lebanese jazz sextet at the White Hotel, obviously. SANAM take to the stage tomorrow night, and they’re supported by Mill-favourite Jennifer Reid singing Lancashire ballads.
The suspension of James Binks by Rochdale council, only two days after we broke this story, is an example of the power of this kind of journalism. We plan to continue following this story over the coming weeks.
The coverage of Binks has been free to read — but not free to produce. If you aren’t currently signed up as a Mill member, but you appreciate this kind of reporting and want to see more of it, we’d urge you to get on board with our campaign to add 1000 members. You can pay whatever you like in your first two months, and — alongside getting four great editions into your inbox every week — you’ll be helping to unlock six amazing pledges for the city. Help us hit 1000.
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