Business News

Black Country Chamber of Commerce has been awarded with the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Bronze Award. This follows on from their commitment made to the Armed Forces in May 2016 when the Chamber signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant. The ERS recognises commitment and support from UK employers for defence personnel. The scheme comprises bronze, silver and gold awards for employers who support those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families.

Paul Kehoe has taken over as Birmingham Chamber president with a three-point pledge for his two-year term. The chief executive of Birmingham Airport is succeeding Greg Lowson, head of office at lawyers Pinsent Masons in Birmingham, at the Chambers annual meeting at University College Birmingham.

SMEs across the Black Country are being given the opportunity to grow their businesses by tapping into a new European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funded scheme led by the City of Wolverhampton Council, working in partnership with Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall councils. The capital and revenue grant scheme, Black Country Transformational GOLD (BCT GOLD) delivers financial assistance and access to development support to businesses across Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell and Dudley.

Harvard Global Diversity Leadership award winner Charlotte Sweeney, has announced the release of her debut book ‘Inclusive Leadership - The Definitive Guide to Developing and Executing an Impactful Diversity and Inclusion Strategy – Locally and Globally’. Set to be a practical how-to guide to diversity and inclusion, the book has been co-authored by Fleur Bothwick OBE, head of Diversity and Inclusive Leadership for the EMEIA region at EY and draws on their collective real life experience.

Ryan Ackroyd, the man who famously hacked Sony, Fox and the FBI, is guest speaker at a thought-provoking Cyber Security seminar, which is being hosted by the IT Solutions team at PKF Cooper Parry. Ryan, a former black hat hacker, is one of a panel of experts taking part in the event at the firm’s East Midlands Airport office on Friday 4 November from 9am - 12.30pm.

New figures from VisitEngland show that Brits spent a record-breaking £5.5 billion on day trips across England in August, the highest spend recorded for a single month since the day-tripping survey began in 2011. August also saw the highest number of day trips taken in any month since 2012, with 151 million day trips across England, up 14% on August 2015.

A new EU vehicle testing system aimed at preventing any repeat of the VW emissions scandal has been unveiled by West Midlands MEP Dan Dalton. Mr Dalton's report, presented to the European Parliament's Internal Market Committee today, proposes a rigorous programme of assessment and market surveillance by individual countries to be policed by other countries through peer review. The European Commission would oversee the process, checking the performance of national authorities every three years and having the power to take action against those that do not meet the required standards.

Tesco has revealed over 1.5 billion single-use carrier bags have been saved by Tesco customers in England since the introduction of the Government bag charge a year ago. The figures represent an incredible 72% fall in the use of single-use plastic bags being used in Tesco stores. Tesco customers shopping on tesco.com have also dramatically reduced the number of bags they use, with 57% of online shoppers selecting 'bagless' deliveries.  

The line-up of Mentors for the third Women in Travel Meetup at World Travel Market London (WTM London) 2016 has been announced. Group mentoring sessions will take place over one hour on the second day of WTM London, Tuesday 8th November 2016, in the context of the Women in Travel Meetup, the international event for women in travel by women in travel. Dedicated space and up to 5 mentoring tables will be made available between 2.45 and 3.45 pm in Platinum Suite 4.

A delegation from the City of Wolverhampton Council is heading to China after forging international links during Wolverhampton Business Week. The city hosted Civic and business leaders from Anqing last week where they were shown around the i54 site, Tata Steel in Wednesfield, and Marston’s Brewery in the city centre, before also attending a number of Business Week events whilst also meeting with city business leaders.

Birmingham’s business community today threw its weight behind the city’s bid to stage the Commonwealth Games in 2026. The city announced that they had decided to officially enter the race to host the Games and those looking to bring the global sporting event to the city are calling on the entire region to get behind the bid.

Andy Street claimed the Tories need only a four per cent swing in their favour to win the West Midlands Combined Authority mayoral elections next year when he launched his campaign at the opening day of the Conservative Party conference at the ICC in Birmingham yesterday. The former chair of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership set out his campaign priorities around transport, skills, housing and jobs and challenged his opponents to debate with him. 

History was made as Wolverhampton set about establishing an official city partnership with Anqing in China. As part of Wolverhampton Business Week, senior figures from the city council hosted their Chinese counterparts at a Civic Centre reception.City of Wolverhampton Council Leader, Councillor Roger Lawrence, and Anqing Municipal People’s Government Deputy Secretary-General, Ms Ye, put pen to paper on a ‘Memorandum of Understanding on Establishing a City Partnership through friendly discussions’.

Qatar Airways and British Airways’ parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), has announced a joint business agreement that will come into effect on 30 October 2016. The joint business will benefit customers by offering a wider choice of flights, an enhanced network, greater choice of fares and superior benefits for members of their frequent flyer programmes.

Wolverhampton residents are once again being asked to make a positive change in their street, community and city. Make:Shift – the ideas forum – is this year celebrating its fifth anniversary. The free event will take place on Saturday, October 15, at The Old School, 73 Dudley Road, Wolverhampton, WV2 3BY, between 10am and 4pm. Last year more than 60 people from across the city shared their thoughts on how to ‘Change Wolverhampton with an idea’.

Black Country Chamber of Commerce has selected Patron-member Paycare as the next Member of the Week, after a period of very significant success for the organisation. Member of the Week is a Black Country Chamber initiative to celebrate the great work that our members are doing and to highlight the success stories in the local area.