Business News

Three new categories have been added to this year’s annual Birmingham Chamber awards and dinner, which is a sell-out event with over 1,000 guests attending. The new categories are ‘Excellence in Manufacturing’, ‘Excellence in Sales and Marketing’ and ‘Business of the Year’. The latter will be drawn from the winners of the other seven categories. The new awards will be presented for the first time at the awards and dinner on 30 March at the ICC, at which the host will again be broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, back by popular demand.

City of Wolverhampton Council’s cabinet will meet next week to finalise budget proposals for the coming financial year after almost 2,600 people had their say in a public consultation. The Cabinet is expected to agree to set a balanced budget without the need to use contingency reserves for the third year running as the council sticks to its robust plan to manage Central Government cuts at the same time as a growing demand for services.

Last summer, Princess Cruises teamed up with popular Instagram photographer, Paperboyo. Princess Cruises invited Paperboyo onto Royal Princess for a cruise around the Mediterranean to take some of his unique photographs onboard and in destination. The photos will be posted on the Princess Cruises (@princesscruises) and Paperboyo (@paperboyo) Instagram pages over the next five days with the first appearing today.

The Black Country Chamber of Commerce have identified that there are limited opportunities for young people in education to become involved in their local business community in a meaningful way. Young people have an important contribution to make, and it is important that there is an effective mechanism in place for ensuring their views are heard on areas such as careers development, the economic environment and Chamber activities as the employees, business people and consumer market of the future.

Keen home cooks, chefs, and food buyers are being urged to head to the Wimbledon and Queens Park Farmers Markets to meet with the team behind groLOCAL, creators of urban and hydroponic farm equipment. With a huge variety of home grown exotic micro-greens, spices, and herbs on offer, food lovers will have the chance to sample a range of delights at the market and pick up some seasoning to give their kitchen creations some added flavour.

British Airways is to start flying from Birmingham Airport again with the launch of four new summer-only routes to popular European sunspots. From May the airline will begin direct flights from Birmingham to the popular Spanish destinations of Malaga, Ibiza and Palma and to the Italian city of Florence. They will operate on modern 98-seat Embraer 190 jet aircraft, with spacious cabins and two abreast seating so every customer can have an aisle or window seat.

The Asian Business Chamber of Commerce in Birmingham is marking International Women’s Day by holding its own celebration at Warwickshire County Cricket Clubs’ Edgbaston Stadium to recognize the progress that has been made to inspire women and to celebrate their achievements. In the presence of Special Guest Speakers; multi-award winning BBC broadcaster and current Chair of Performances Birmingham Limited, Anita Bhalla OBE and communications expert Farzana Baduel - CEO of Curzon PR, the evening’s event will applaud the social, economic, cultural, and political achievement of women.

Birmingham Airport has entered another year drawing in record breaking monthly passenger figures with January being the busiest start to the year on record for the airport. In total 775,176 passengers were handled in January 2017 – giving a 16.1% growth year-on-year compared to the same month last year. Long haul demand for seats was also very significant showing a 29.5% rate of growth. Short haul also experienced strong growth up by 13.4% year-on-year.

Birmingham Airport announces that more than two million passengers have flown between Birmingham and New York/Newark with United Airlines, as the airline approaches its twentieth anniversary serving the route. Operating non-stop flights from Birmingham Airport since 15th July 1997, United Airlines provides direct access to New York/Newark, with onward connections to over 300 destinations throughout North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, including more than 100 served non-stop from Newark. Popular onward destinations taken by Birmingham Airport passengers include Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Wolverhampton Interchange Partnership has announced the name of the preferred contractor to deliver a new multi-million pound city railway station. Plans to demolish the existing station building and replace it with a new one were approved in November. Galliford Try - one of the UK’s leading construction groups and responsible for putting the retractable roof on Wimbledon Centre Court - has been appointed.

Unilever announced the team from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) as winners of Unilever Talent Hunt 2016 (UTH 2016) at the grand finale held at a local hotel. Students from universities across Pakistan competed for the opportunity to represent Pakistan at Unilever’s Future Leader’s League in London, a global competition that brings together students from across the world to experience the nuances of future leadership.

Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce has kicked off its Growth Through People campaign - in a bid to help businesses achieve better results by managing their employees more effectively. The campaign will focus on how businesses – particularly SMEs - can effectively manage their staff and increase productivity and growth by doing so. Throughout the month-long campaign, GBCC will be working with a range of partners to deliver activities including free training sessions, seminars and networking events.

The future of the West Midlands built environment could lie in the hands of the under 25s, according to industry professionals at the West Midlands Great Debate. This week over 200 industry professionals came together to grill the latest mayoral candidates on their vision for the region’s future. The joint event between the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Landscape Institute Midlands, Royal Institution of British Architects (RIBA), Institution of Chartered Engineers (ICE) and Royal Town Planners Institute (RTPI) debates the biggest topics facing the West Midlands built environment each year.

The Professionals Network has conferred the Best Sustainability Report Award to K-Electric during the 6th Corporate Social Responsibility Awards 2017. Zehra Mehdi, Deputy Director ESG and Sustainability received the award on behalf of the organization during a ceremony held at a local hotel here in Karachi.

Nominations are now open for the first annual Wolverhampton Independent Retail Excellence (WIRE) Awards. The awards, commissioned by the Leader of City of Wolverhampton Council, Councillor Roger Lawrence, are being led by Wolverhampton Business Improvement District (BID) in partnership with the council. The aim is to celebrate and praise the entrepreneurial spirit, dedication and hard work of those involved in running and managing a successful independent business, as well as to recognise the loyalty and dedication of the staff that work in this sector.

The Department for International Trade’s (DIT) Export Hub is making a week-long stop in the West Midlands next week, with the aim of helping businesses realise their global ambitions. A series of free events is being held as part of the roadshow, which take places between February 6 and 9 and will offer a range of advice to companies that want to start exporting or increase their international reach. It will also provide opportunities for one-to-one meetings with international trade experts and give businesses the chance to learn about new export markets.