Business News

Birmingham Airport has jumped on board with a new children’s literature project that aims to empower children across the world, working with local author and businesswoman Alison Delaney, founder of Little Bird. Through this exciting initiative, Birmingham Airport is helping children expand their imagination and reach their full potential through Dreams Workshops.  Every child at Yorkswood Primary School in Kingshurst, North Solihull, a school close to the airport and part of the UNITY Trust Collaborative, receives a copy of the book as a key resource within the workshop.

Next week will see the staff of Wolverhampton based Charter Court Financial Services (CCFS) put on their running shoes as they take part in the 2016 Great Birmingham Run. The team of 38 runners from the business will be vying to record the quickest team time and the chance of topping the table and collecting the Business Challenge Trophy at the event sponsored by the Birmingham Post.

A report carried out by Albion Econimics has revealed that almost 27,000 people will be working on HS2 by 2020 - while the new project could deliver up to 9,000 apprenticeships. The independent report, published by High Speed Rail Industry Leaders, has analysed contracts already issued by HS2 Ltd, the programme for the coming years and roles throughout the supply chain.

Deutsche Bank’s Beth Farminer is toasting a double success – after being crowned the Future Face of Greater Birmingham and the Future Face of Professional Services. She received her awards at the second annual dinner for Future Faces - the young professionals’ arm of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce – at Edgbaston Stadium on Friday night.

Wolverhampton has officially welcomed more than 100 newly qualified teachers who have joined the city’s primary, secondary and special schools this term. They were invited to a special event in Wednesfield last week organised by the City of Wolverhampton Council’s School Standards Team where they had the chance to meet other members of the “class of 2016”.

Preferred Westside developer, Urban & Civic, will be one of the prominent buyers at Wolverhampton Business Week’s ‘Meet the Buyer Breakfast’ - and there is still time to sign up if you wish to attend. More than 200 businesses will come together in Molineux Football Stadium’s WV1 Suite on Wednesday, September 28, between 8am and 10am. It is open to anyone interested in hearing about supplying goods or services in the city and where to find opportunities.

Landlords across the UK have been given an annual reminder of their responsibilities when it comes to ensuring the gas safety of tenanted properties. Gas Safety Week, which is running from 19th to 25th September, aims to raise awareness of gas safety and the importance of having gas appliances checked and maintained by a qualified engineer.

A growing number of people are choosing to reserve a new house months ahead of its expected build completion date in order to reap the benefits of off-plan homes, according to Bellway West Midlands. The national housebuilder’s West Midlands division believes benefits such as selecting a plot, having design input, and access to record-low mortgage rates are the main factors driving the increase in off-plan reservations.

Sydney has become Qatar Airways’ first destination in Australia to be served by the super-jumbo A380 aircraft, just six months after it joined the carrier’s global network. Following the route’s inauguration with the Boeing 777-300 on 1 March 2016, Qatar Airways has seen a steady growth in demand for its service on the route. The 517-seater A380 aircraft increases Qatar Airways’ current daily capacity by 44 per cent on this route to meet the growing travel and trade demand.

The first bricks have been laid for new homes on the first two plots of the multi-million pound Bilston Urban Village site. Kier is developing 78 units comprising one, two, three and four-bedroom properties located on the west side of Dudley Street, either side of the entrance to Carder Crescent. It is part of City of Wolverhampton Council’s push to deliver up to 450 homes on Bilston Urban Village, which sits south of the town centre and Black Country Route.

Birmingham has been named the ‘Most Enterprising Place in Britain’ by the 2016 Enterprising Britain Awards. The winning project saw Birmingham City Council team up with six Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to improve confidence, encourage investment, and attract and retain business talent. It supported 1,000 businesses, generating £87 million in private sector investment and creating or safeguarding 4,300 jobs, as part of the ambitious plans to build a Midlands Engine for Growth.

UK universities and education institutions will benefit from the ‘Brexit effect’ as studying in the UK is now much cheaper for international students, according to new research by Western Union Business Solutions (‘WUBS’). WUBS, a leader in global payment services, has analysed tuition fee payments data for the main overseas markets and found that tuition fees are up to a fifth (22.1%) cheaper than they were last year for some students.

Wolverhampton businesses will get the chance to tap into the latest technology as part of a free event during the city’s Business Week. World-leading business technology specialists, including Panasonic, NEC, Bosch, Honeywell, and Samsung, will be at Wolverhampton Racecourse on Tuesday, September 27, between 8am and 3.30pm.

Two thirds of SME house builders are struggling to identify land for development, according to new research from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). For the second year in a row, the FMB’s annual House Builders’ Survey has shown a lack of available and viable land as the biggest barrier to SMEs delivering more new homes.

As the deadline for clearing approaches (20^th September 2016), Best Western Great Britain has published the results of the Best Western Careers Index revealing what aspirations parents from Central England have for the careers of their children, uncovering some surprising results. The independent survey of over 1,000 parents revealed that despite recent strike action, medicine is the top preferred career, followed by accountancy and being an engineer.

British shoppers defied Brexit fears over the summer, as retail sales surged at the fastest rate in six months, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The CBI's survey showed that 35% of retailers reported higher year-over-year sales volumes in August, compared to 26% who said sales were down.