Star date: 19th January 2012

PEEL HOLDINGS WINS SALFORD STAR MARY BURNS AWARD

The Salford Star Mary Burns Awards are given out to honour the most deserving individuals and organisations in the city for their stupid statements, dodgy dealings and iffy activities over the past 12 months.

The Feed The Rich Award, handed out in recognition those using public funds to help subsidise the well moneyed, is usually the most hotly contested Mary - with past winners including the Homes and Communities Agency, Urban Splash and Peel Holdings. Peel couldn't have won it again, could they?

Ladies and Gentlemen, wave your wallets in the air and rattle your jewellery for the winner of the FEED THE RICH AWARD…

Click here to see who's scooped the cash…

SALFORD STAR MARY BURNS AWARDS – FEED THE RICH

Winner: PEEL HOLDINGS

Yes, despite hot competition from the usual suspects – Urban Splash, LPC Living, Miller Homes, Countryside Properties et al - Peel Holdings have triumphed yet again in this category, having been previous winners in 2007.

During just nine months of 2011, Peel picked up over £2million in direct payments from Salford Council…

Salford Council paid Peel Media £2,179,060 for `capital expenditure' on MediaCityUK from its Chief Executive department. The Council also coughed up £3,040 to rent office space from Peel on Media City, which should really please those Council workers who have had their workplaces shut down to save money.

The two most scary payments were £1,400 to Peel Holdings from the skint Children's Department for `marketing/publicity', and £1,680 to Peel Advertising, also from the hard up Children's Services budget, for the `Training of Others'. What on earth were they training them to do? Get rich quick from the public purse?

While the direct payments from Salford City Council to Peel during nine months of 2011 total £2,186,113, the figure is dwarfed by the near £490million public money Peel Holdings will trouser to cover all their building costs at Media City, as revealed by the Salford Star yesterday (see here).

Add to all this the £15million of public money that Salford Council is helping Peel to raise towards its Port Salford venture (click here) and the £22million loan from Salford Council that's gone into its joint venture with Peel to build the Salford City Stadium (see here) and this year's Feed The Rich Award was really no contest.

Oh, and in return, Peel Holdings – profits £55million last year – gave a pathetic £17,000 to charity…

Ladies and Gentlemen, throw your coppers in the hat for the winners of the Feed The Rich Award…

PEEL HOLDINGS!!!

Applause…

If anyone from the Peel Holdings would like to make a speech please fill in the Comments box below...

See also this year's other Salford Star Mary Burns Award winners…

For Services To Regeneration – Salford City Council – click here
The `In For A Penny, In For £26,500' Award – Urban Vision – click here