Birmingham Forward

Lord Mayor of the City of London visits Birmingham 

Birmingham Forward recently played host to Nick Anstee, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, on his visit to the city. Having already visited regional centres at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester, Birmingham Forward members were keen to hear the Lord Mayor’s views on how Birmingham compares.

Jackie Hendley, chair of Birmingham Forward, said: “While the Lord Mayor was keen not to play favourites, he did comment on Birmingham’s strength of talent and the opportunity to really build up business and industry in the city.  He also mentioned he had been asked to write Manchester’s business plan and declined!”

The Lord Mayor focused on the launch of TheCityUK – an independent membership body promoting the UK financial and related professional services industry.  TheCityUK has three key strands: overseas promotion; domestic promotion; and regulatory reform and trade policy.  These come together to create new opportunities for the industry as a whole.

Birmingham Forward is working with TheCityUK to ensure that members are involved in these new opportunities and that the region is included in both the overseas and domestic promotional activities. 

Jackie continues: “The work of TheCityUK is complementary to the work we’ve already started with the Birmingham Forward Ambassadors programme.  As well as inviting the Lord Mayor of the City of London to Birmingham, we’ve also carried out four overseas delegations in the last two years.  We will continue to focus on inward investment and the promotion of Birmingham as a city of excellence over the coming year.”
 

Photo: From left to right; Jackie Hendley, chair of Birmingham Forward, Nick Anstee, Lord Mayor of the City of London & Mary Daunt, chief executive of Birmingham Forward.