The Reading Borough Council (RBC) policy committee on 20 January was meant to be an Oscar night for an unnamed winner of the Award to Design, Build and Maintain Reading’s Boroughwide Leisure Centres, who would only ever be referred to as bidder A. The frustration of the procurement process was too much and the compère, RBC leader Jason Brock, decided to reveal the successful bidder’s name. But wait, hadn’t RBC chief executive officer (CEO) Peter Sloman already done that?