Ten awarded honorary freedom of Stoke-on-Trent
Business leaders, community champions and Port Vale Football Club were among those awarded the honorary freedom of Stoke-on-Trent – at a special meeting celebrating the city's centenary.
City councillors were joined by the great and good of the Potteries for the civic council meeting at the King's Hall in Stoke, where George V granted Stoke-on-Trent city status exactly 100 years ago.
As part of the celebrations, the council voted to award the honorary freedom of the city to 10 individuals and organisations to honour their contributions to Stoke-on-Trent.
The recipients were:
- Denise Coates, the founder and co-chief executive of bet365.
- Peter Coates, the former chairman of Stoke City.
- Staffordshire Lord Liuetenant Sir Ian Dudson.
- John Goodwin, former chairman of engineering firm Goodwin.
- Local historian Fred Hughes.
- Tile Mountain founder Mo Iqbal.
- Music impresario Mike Lloyd.
- Port Vale Football Club.
- Port Vale chair and co-owner Carol Shanahan.
- Former Stoke-on-Trent North MP Joan Walley.
The new Freemen of Stoke-on-Trent paid tribute to the city, praising the kindness, hard work and creativity of its people.
Mr Iqbal, who was born in Kashmir, spoke about arriving in Stoke-on-Trent as a boy in 1979, and how he was taken to his first football match by a friendly neighbour, and how a teacher made extra efforts to help him with his English.
He said: "It's hard to put into words what this moment means to me. To be awarded the freedom of the city – the city that gave me everything – is deeply humbling.
"Our family settled in Tunstall, not knowing what the future held. But I know it was a place where people were kind, honest and hard-working. Stoke-on-Trent gave me my education and the confidence to dream bigger."
Ms Shanahan founded Burslem-based Synectics Solutions with her husband Kevin and took over Port Vale in 2019, saving the club from potential administration. She said her life changed when her company moved into a building next to Vale Park.
Ms Shanahan said: "It felt like destiny that I ended up here. I felt part of a community. By the time I arrived the mines had gone, the pots had gone. Everything else had been taken, but I was determined that its football club wouldn't be taken."
Ms Coates, whose company bet365 is one of the biggest employers in Stoke-on-Trent, said: "I am proud to have set up my business here, developed it here, and thankfully, to have had it continue to flourish here.
"We have worked hard collectively to grow the business in Stoke-on-Trent and to make a success of it. We are an example of what hard work, technical aptitude and expertise can add to an area."
Mr Goodwin said: "I'd like to thank all Goodwin people – I've enjoyed working with them. There are over 1,000 now, the majority in Stoke-on-Trent, and they are kind, considerate and hard-working.
"I'd like to thank the councillors and city executive teams for their support, enabling businesses such as ours to grow over the last 100 years."
The civic council meeting began with a welcome from Lord Mayor Steve Watkins and contributions from various faith leaders.
Sir Ian read out a letter from King Charles, who expressed his 'warmest good wishes' to the people of Stoke-on-Trent, and spoke about the continuing efforts to secure a visit from the King or another senior member of the Royal Family this year.
The Royal Family played a significant role in Stoke-on-Trent becoming a city in 1925, as George V overruled his government's initial decision to reject the request, as he recognised the importance of the then county borough's pottery industry.
Mr Hughes read an excerpt from his new book, setting out how the King had surprised most of his audience at the King's Hall with the announcement a century ago.
Stoke-on-Trent's Poet Laureate Nick Degg returned to the subject with his new poem, written from the perspective of the anonymous council employee who had decided to send a letter to the King asking for him to step in, inviting him to 'come and have a shufty and I'll show you, come and hear our story and we'll wow you'.
The meeting also featured a performance by the city council's choir, who sang Angels by Robbie Williams and a new song, Six Towns One City, written by the authority's director of strategy, economy and communications Angela Glithero.
Three members of Stoke-on-Trent Youth Council reflected on the centenary from the perspective of young people, expressing a hope that in 2125, people would be able to look back on a city that had embraced the possibilities of the future, including new technology and new industries.
The meeting closed with councillors voting unanimously in support of a formal motion honouring the centenary of Stoke-on-Trent's city status.
Council leader Jane Ashworth, who proposed the motion, said: "I know that we can make our city an even better place to grow up and grow old in. We can make ourselves a city where skills and talent can rise without barriers, into a city where people of all faiths and none collaborate and share, and stand up together when people are in need.
"We know this can be done, because a city with a history of creativity like ours cannot fail to support a new generation of entrepreneurs."
Opposition leader Dan Jellyman, who seconded the motion, said: "Stoke-on-Trent is a magical place. It's a city that turned a craft into industry. It was fate that put us here in a place where the coal is good, clay in plentiful and salt is just over the border in Cheshire.
"And it was those forefathers who turned that craft into industry, that private enterprise that brought wealth, and that global city that exported to four corners of the globe."
The year-long programme of events marking Stoke-on-Trent's centenary will continue with a special service of thanksgiving at Stoke Minster on Sunday at 6pm.
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