News & Events
Chairman’s Gala Dinner- Just what the doctor ordered!
The Birmingham Forward Chairman’s Gala Dinner takes place on November 23rd at Birmingham’s Botanical Gardens. This prestigious black tie event is one of the highlights of the business calendar and the culmination of a highly successful year of events for Birmingham Forward.
We are delighted that this year’s event will be sponsored by one of the UK’s leading construction companies, Sir Robert McAlpine.
The evening will include a three course dinner & wine with guests entertained by our speaker, Dr Kevin Jones. Dr Jones is a Consultant Physician currently working in Lancashire and offers an hilarious insight in to his many years working in hospitals across the country and business lessons to be learned from from the NHS.
This is a not to be missed event- a fantastic opportunity to meet up with fellow Forward members and their guests, be entertained by one of the country’s top after dinner speakers and support our Chairman, Diane Benussi to raise funds for her chosen charity Get-A Head which supports the work being undertaken at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital treating patients with head and neck cancer.
Tickets are available online here or by contacting samantha.sandbrook@birminghamforward.co.uk or telephone the Forward office on 0121 632 2200.
The Inaugural Roger Dickens Lecture – Straight from the Lyons Den.
Members were treated to an inspiring and fascinating inaugural Roger Dickens Lecture on Wednesday, 8th November at the ICC from Sir Michael Lyons.
Sir Michael gave an overview of the soon to be published Lyons Inquiry into local government and discussed the concept of “Place Shaping” which has now been established in the recent White Paper published by the Government. Sir Michael told the audience that he believed Birmingham was making steady progress and that there are lots of positives to celebrate however, he told guests that the city needed a “big, bold jump” such as it experienced previously with the NEC and ICC developments.
Sir Michael drew on the lessons to be learned from elsewhere including successful American enterprises. He talked of the “Gold dust of the 21st Century” building on skills and entrepreneurial flair. He also called on Birmingham Forward members to think about the future shape of the city saying it needed to be a “truly distinctive vision.”
Future-pro is coming to Birmingham.
Our colleagues in Birmingham Future are mounting three events, supported by AWM, bringing together employers from the Professional and Business Services Sector and final year students from our regional universities.
Future-pro will provide Graduates with a unique opportunity to network with employers as well as offering a series of skills workshops designed to help them prepare for employment. Future-pro Birmingham is open to all Forward members and will be promoted to graduates from all three of the city’s universities and will take place on February 7th 2007 at the Aston University Conference Centre. Look out for more details in the next few weeks on how your organisation can support Future-pro.
The New Breakfast Connection – The City Region – A Progress Report
With recent Government proposals welcoming City Regions, but also pointing towards more directly elected Mayors and more powerful Council Leaders – this month’s Breakfast Connection being held at the Burlington Hotel, New Street Birmingham on November 22nd between 7.00am – 9.00am -will bring you two speakers at the sharp end.
Ben Reid the Chief Executive of the MidCounties Co-op and outgoing business community representative on the shadow board of the Birmingham, Coventry and Black Country City Region and Simon Murphy the City Region Project Director will explain how the City Region intends to improve competitiveness, skills, transport and investment in the urban core of the West Midlands.
Places can be booked online here by calling Halina Bromberg on 0121 632 2204, or by email: Halina.bromberg@birminghamforward.co.uk
Masterplan for Birmingham
On the 17th October Professor Michael Parkinson held a meeting as part of the process he is working on to develop a new Masterplan for our city on behalf of Birmingham City Council.
Professor Parkinson has over twenty years experience of writing about cities and urban regeneration in Europe and the USA. He recently completed for ODPM a major report on The State of English Cities which involved 10 universities in the UK and abroad. He led the evaluation of the Manchester urban regeneration company, New East Manchester and acts as adviser to the European Commission on “The State of European Cities” based on the European Urban Audit. He is also director of the Global Cities Conference organised annually by Reed Midem and is adviser to the European Commission’s Interrreg IIIC Compete Network, dedicated to improving the competitiveness of major European cities.
Part of the process is to have the widest possible consultation with the business and residential community of our city. Professor Parkinson would like to hear your views on the following five questions:
- What are the major achievements in the city centre over the last 15 years?
- What missed opportunities?
- How should the city centre connect wider city-region?
- Who does what better or differently to build on progress?
- How can the Masterplan help?
Can you please send your responses to j.parry@ljmu.ac.uk with a copy to Richard Brennan at Richard.brennan@birminghamforward.co.uk so we can be aware of any trends coming from the membership. Professor Parkinson would appreciate responses by the end of November.
£6bn events industry driving regional economy
Marketing Birmingham yesterday published results of a KPMG economic study which shows that the events industry in the West Midlands contributes more than £6bn to the regional economy, supports more than 100,000 jobs and generates some £800m tax revenue for the Treasury.
This is the first time that economic research on the region’s events industry has been evaluated on such a large and comprehensive scale. KPMG were commissioned to examine conferences, exhibitions and events in the region with a breakdown specifically for Birmingham. Their research validates what was already suspected about the value of the events industry within Birmingham and the West Midlands, but these results are stronger and healthier that were expected.
From the West Midlands total, £2.3bn is spent directly in Birmingham, representing a 77% increase on total visitor spending in Birmingham since last recorded figures by the NEC Group in 1999 of £1.3bn.
Inward Investment Team at AWM wants to hear from you!
The Inward Investment Team at Advantage West Midlands seeks to attract investment and employment opportunities from foreign owned companies to the region. An integral part of the team’s role is to introduce potential investors to business service providers.
Birmingham Forward, as part of its commitment to promote members’ interests, would like to offer organisations or individuals the opportunity to forward their details to the AWM Inward Investment Team. If you are interested email your contact details to owenhillIs@advantagewm.co.uk
Winter Events
With the festive season nearly upon us, why not experience something a little different and head over to Chamberlain Square to watch Birmingham's annual Pantomime Horse Grand National on Sunday 3rd December. The race will consist of single sex heats proceeding down a 12 fence course including water & foam to raise money for the Lord Mayor's charities.
Following the success of the Canal Boat Light Parade held last year, Gas Street Basin will be the venue once again for this stunning exhibition starting at 5.30pm on Sunday 10th December. Last years parade drew a massive crowd of over 20,000.
New Members
- Accountancy Matters is an exclusive executive recruitment solutions provider with sector specific teams in the commerce, financial services and practice markets.
- Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank through business centres provides dedicated Business Banking and tailored solutions to meet individual business requirements, including money transmission, investing and and financing.
- bit10 ltd has been building web sites and applications since 1997, and has grown into a £1m+ company with clients from a wide range of public and private sectors most of them long term partners.
- Coutts & Co is the international private banking arm of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and manages assets for some 98,000 clients worldwide. Coutts offers a complete private banking service that is professional, innovative and flexible in responding to individual needs, utilising an extensive range of investment, fiduciary and banking products.
Birmingham Forward, One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD
Telephone: +44 (0)121 632 2200 Fax: +44 (0)121 632 2201
