I remember touring the Phoenix Centre back in February when the then culture secretary Ben Bradshaw came to the city.

Patrick Kitterick, who was city regeneration chief at the time, pulled me to one side and remarked: “The Mercury did loads of stories about Curve because of the money troubles and delay, but the Phoenix was a success story so you lot weren’t interested.”

I just happened to recall this comment as I put the finishing touches to Tuesday’s front page on the Phoenix’s £250,000 emergency bailout, less than a year after it opened.