The doors of five new luxury boutique accommodation offerings have opened in Regional NSW, upping the ante of accommodation available across the State.

According to the STR Global Tourist Accommodation Snapshot, the demand for accommodation in Regional NSW has experienced strong growth, increasing 6.5 per cent in 2016 with 2.2 million room nights sold and occupancy rate growing from 62.6 percent in 2015 to 66.4 percent in 2016. Overall, Regional NSW received over 20.6 million domestic overnight visitors in the year ending September 2016, an increase of 6.8 percent on the previous 12 months.

Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer Sandra Chipchase said, “There is a demand for accommodation in Regional NSW, including luxury accommodation which gives travellers the chance to relax and recharge. Increasingly travellers, particularly those visiting the State's food, wine and beach destinations, are after stylish and bespoke accommodation that lets them switch off and feel refreshed.”

“Travellers to NSW are always on the hunt for great accommodation, be it luxury, eco, unique, or in an impressive location. I'm delighted that visitors to NSW now also have these stunning properties to choose when booking a getaway.”

City of Wolverhampton Council has revealed at MIPIM a stunning new artist’s impression showcasing Urban & Civic’s £55 million Westside development.

Enabling works are currently underway on the leisure-led mixed use scheme at the heart of the city centre, and strong demand from occupiers means construction on the first phase remains on track to start in early 2018.

The MIPIM presentation in Cannes also highlighted a 100-plus bed opportunity for a hotel investor to be part of the scheme, which sits across 6.4 acres on three adjacent parcels of land.

Westside will also bring to the city a multiplex 12-screen cinema, 50,000 square feet of additional leisure space, new restaurants covering 40,000 square feet, and a multi-storey car park in phase one.

Phase two will deliver more than 300 new city centre homes and 50,000 square feet of retail and leisure space.

Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “Plans are progressing well for Westside and it is a fantastic city centre scheme, as this latest image shows.

“It has already attracted unprecedented demand from occupiers and will gain added profile at this week’s MIPIM event.

“Urban & Civic possess an excellent track record in delivering comparable high-quality schemes in the UK and have the financial support in place.

“There is a general enthusiasm around the Westside opportunity, and optimism concerning the groundswell of regeneration activity across the city, where £3.7 billion of investment is on site or in the pipeline.

“The outstanding proposals put forward by Urban & Civic perfectly meet our expectations of a regenerated Wolverhampton.”

Construction on phase one of the project is expected to be complete by early 2020. It encompasses land between Penn Road Island and Salop Street, including the current School Street and Peel Street car parks and the area around Market Square.

Phase two incorporates parts of land between Salop Street and Darlington Street, including the Fold Street car park. Works on this section of the development are likely to be completed in 2022.

Urban & Civic Property Director, Philip Leech, added: "We are proud to be the developers of this prestigious city centre leisure scheme which for the City of Wolverhampton will become a game changer both culturally and economically.

“Leisure-based urban regeneration is a specialism of Urban & Civic and we are looking forward to completing a destination which will serve the city for generations to come"

More than 500 delegates from across the East and West Midlands attended the first Midlands Engine Trade Summit in Birmingham. Businesses keen to start exporting or step up their global reach took part in the day-long event at The Vox, to learn how the Midlands Engine can support their plans for international business growth.

International Trade Minister Mark Garnier, who delivered the keynote speech, said the Midlands Engine is a commitment to harness the region’s 11.5 million people, a fast-growing economy and to create jobs and growth that spread prosperity.

He said: “When it comes to the Midlands, it is clear that with great potential comes great expectation. If the Midlands matches its predicted growth over the next 15 years, it will; create 300,000 jobs and inject £34 billion into the UK economy. The Midlands Engine is how we go about meeting that expectation.”

More than 27,000 businesses in the Midlands export nearly £40 billion worth of products to over 100 countries and that the Midlands Engine will provide practical support for businesses, including 20 trade missions by 2020.

Already 80 Midlands firms have taken part on missions led by DIT across the globe, which should generate £5 million worth of deals over the next 12 months.

Mr Garnier added:

“We are putting companies into rooms with buyers from Shanghai, New York and Dubai. A simple face to face meeting with the right contacts can be a game changer.”

Afterwards, delegates took part in specialist workshops, where they heard from a range of experts about how they can export their goods and services overseas. Dozens of one-to-one meetings were also booked with experts in the fields of finance, overseas markets and export.

Ian Harrison, acting director of the Midlands Director of Exports, said:

“We were extremely pleased to see more than 500 attend the first Midlands Engine Trade Summit. It is testament to the fact that there are many ambitious businesses across the East and West Midlands that want to tap into the opportunities overseas.”

Twenty-eight Export Champions were unveiled at the Summit, all exporters from the East and West Midlands. They will engage with SMEs and local businesses, promote the Department for International Trade’s Exporting is GREAT campaign and digital tool great.gov.uk, which helps UK businesses break onto overseas markets.

The Export Champion programme will provide practical advice and support to drive further growth in exports.

Shocking statistics revealed by blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan reveal that one in five (20%) young men from the West Midlands could not be encouraged to sign up to a blood stem cell or bone marrow register for any reason – despite the possibility of saving a life being a reason to do so.

Birmingham St. Mary’s Hospice is encouraging people to secure one of its limited edition, expertly crafted flowers to celebrate the lives of their loved ones. The local Hospice has commissioned 1,500 wrought iron flowers as part of its new Forget Me Not appeal.

The flowers will go on display in Brindleyplace from April 24- 1 May, and by making a donation ahead of that, people can have their own keepsake flower dedicated to their loved one as part of the display.

People who have made a donation will then be able to keep the flower after the event as a permanent tribute to a loved one. The colourful flowers have been designed and crafted by the Midlands based British Ironworks Centre.

For one week, the striking installation will include as many as 1,500 flowers, each one dedicated to the memory of loved ones lost whether they were cared for at Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice or not. The floral display will be showcased at Brindleyplace’s central square, and visitors to the display will be able to make a donation to secure one of the flowers.

Prominent local figures are signing up to show their support for the campaign and include Local radio personality Llewela Bailey as well as West Bromwich footballing legend Brendan Batson. Both will be dedicating their flowers to honour the memory of their spouses who were cared for by Hospice staff during their final months.

Former West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal defender Brendon Batson said:  “I’m really happy to be a part of the ‘Forget Me Not’ appeal because I know first-hand the great work the Hospice does. When my beloved wife Cecily was diagnosed with a brain tumour back in 2009, I was touched by the care and support from nurses at the Hospice allowing for her to be cared for at home.

“Each ‘Forget Me Not’ symbolises the celebration of a loved one and I’ll be dedicating my flower to Cecily. I hope the people of Birmingham get behind the appeal by donating and dedicating a flower to someone’s life and I look forward to seeing them on display in Brindleyplace.”

Each flower will help fund the valuable work at Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, which provides vital care and support to local families living with terminal illness. Flowers will be available for a donation from Monday 13 March by visiting www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/forgetmenot

"Hot from the desk of the Superkart Charity Challenge we’re proud to introduce our fantastic Premier Sponsor and official media partner “The Phoenix Newspaper”." Known and respected as the newspaper from the community for the community, the “Phoenix” have taken up the challenge and will be whole heartedly supporting our charity challenge as an on-going project to connect and promote the business’s involved, our local communities who are competing, and the 7 nominated charities who we are raising funds for.