e-bulletin - October 2007 | Birmingham Forward

Here we are thrown into Autumn complete with falling leaves and pouring rain, but with some great news happening all around us in our great city.

Firstly the reopening of Birmingham Town Hall, a triumph of restoration and return to use. If you have not yet arranged to attend an event there you are missing a real treat. Personally I have not lived in the city long enough to have experienced its final days before closure but everyone in the know tells me the transformation is superb.

The Arts theme continues with another successful ‘Match made in Heaven’ event which we helped the council to achieve. We are expecting to be able to shortly announce a full programme of these specialist events next year which provide a really simple way for firms and individuals to become involved in the Arts.

Richard Brennan, CEO

News & Events

Membership 2008

The process for renewing membership will be starting shortly. Every year we endeavour to make it as simple and painless a process as possible. In return we ask that you ensure that the paperwork gets efficiently processed at your end so that we do not have to spent our limited finance resources chasing payments. If you have any suggestions as to how we might further streamline the process please let Richard Brennan, our CEO, know.

BIDs

The core team have planned to visit two key locations in London later this month – Better Bankside, an established BID that has some similarities, and the London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea where their work in the Public Realm has won a number of awards. We have also now almost finalised the borders for our proposed BID area.

Independent Members with Birmingham City Council

The City Council is currently looking to fill three Independent Member vacancies – one for their Standards Committee and two for their Independent Remuneration Panel. Travel expenses are paid and these positions should be of interest to members who want an opportunity to provide key input and support to these important teams.

Further information on each of the committees and their activities can be obtained by emailing: Mirza Ahmad, MBA LLM Barrister, Chief Legal Officer mirza_ahmad@birmingham.gov.uk

Gala Dinner

The Chairman's Gala Dinner draws ever closer and plans for a spectacular evening are well underway.

The Gala Dinner kindly sponsored by AWM is taking place at the ICC on Friday 10th November where the evening begins at 7pm with a drinks reception followed by a superb 4-course dinner. Members and their guests will be entertained by after-dinner speaker, Matthew Parris, political sketch writer and former Conservative MP.

Places are available at £80.00+vat per person. To book your place for what promises to be another outstandingly entertaining evening, please click here to book on-line or by e-mail to isabel@birminghamforward.co.uk

Want to raise your profile within Birmingham’s professional and financial services sector? If so, Birmingham Forward could help. Sponsorship opportunities are still available for this year’s event. For more information please contact Jo Sollom on 0121 632 2202 or by e-mail here.

Minister for Innovation, Universities and Skills to address Birmingham Forward Members

Ian Pearson, newly appointed Minister of State at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and MP for Dudley South, will be principle speaker at the Keynote Lunch on Monday 15th Oct. Sponsored by one of the UK's largest commercial law firms Hammonds, the last few places are available at £35.00+vat. Book on-line here or by e-mail to martina@birminghamforward.co.uk

Insight for Business: China & India

The IoD West Midlands Region has organised a high profile breakfast seminar on Wed 5th December which will provide an insight into the practical knowledge and advice for doing business in or with China & India. Huge opportunities exist in these markets, thanks to a rapidly increasing customer base and willingness to do business with the UK.

The event will be held at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on Wednesday 5th December. Places are limited for this event, if you wish to attend please click here to book your place on-line or call the IoD on 0121 632 2300.

Graduates welcomed to Birmingham

Over 200 graduates, who have recently joined the professional and financial services sector in Birmingham were officially welcomed to the city at an event held at the Banqueting Suite of the Council House on October 3rd. The event was organized by Birmingham Future and sponsored by Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets, Wesleyan, Pinsent Masons, Greenwell Gleeson and West Bromwich Building Society.

The reception welcomed new graduate recruits from every sector of the professional services community. As well as providing an opportunity for the new employees to network with each other, attendees heard from Chairman of Birmingham Future Alex Bishop, current BYPY winner Clare Edwards and former Lord Mayor of Birmingham Sir Bernard Zissman.

Is Your Business, 'The Business'?

Yet again, the race is on to find the winners of the Birmingham Best Business Awards for the Development of Work-Life Balance 2007. The Birmingham Work-Life Balance Focus Group are inviting progressive businesses who recognise that flexibility and work-life balance is good for both their staff and their business, to come and get the recognition they so rightly deserve.

The Best Business Awards give businesses the opportunity to become recognised as one of Birmingham’s Top Thirty Companies to work for in the city and are judged by an independent panel of business leaders. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a small, medium or large business/organisation, there’s a category for you! The focus is on just five key areas; work patterns, leave provision, additional work-life balance activities, business benefits and communication.

So what are you waiting for, why not have a go? The closing date is Friday 26 October and all applicants are invited to prestigious awards celebration event, at the Botanical Gardens on Thursday 7 February 2008. To find out more, or to request a hard copy of the application form, please contact the Employer Team on 0121 303 9838.

New name, new era

Birmingham City University is the new name unveiled by patron member University of Central England. The move follows extensive consultation with students, staff and stakeholders.

With a shorter, more powerful name, the University has ambitions to promote itself and support Birmingham's drive towards a stronger knowledge based economy.

Little steps for a better future…

No.29 - Learn to be friendly in another language - We're rubbish, we Brits. How many of us make an effort to speak a foreign language? Not even the basics like hello and thank you. Is it really that difficult? Just by learning a few words of a foreign language it's amazing to see how much genuine warmth you can create. We have compiled a few phrases here to get you started!

No.30 - Take public transport when you can - is this a joke? Public transport sucks. I have a car, I love my car and I'm going to use it. This action tends to bring out extreme reactions. We love cars too, it's just a question of balance. How many car journeys are really necessary? If everyone with a car took just one car or train journey a week how much our carbon emissions would be reduced! And if you are driving to work or school share the journey with a friend. Click here for more details.

Birmingham… Did you know…?

George Cadbury began making chocolate in Birmingham in 1824. At that time chocolate was considered an aphrodisiac and therefore not suitable for a lady's diet!

The famous ODEON chain of cinemas was first opened in Birmingham in 1930 by Oscar Deutsch. ODEON stands for Oscar Deutsch Entertains our Nation.

New members…

Birmingham Forward would like to welcome the following new member;
Mazars LLP is an international, integrated and independent organisation. They specialise in audit, tax, and advisory services. In the UK they have 100 partners and 1000 employees working in their 18 UK offices.

Patrons