Richard Brennan: Business 550 answers

Why did you decide to take on the new role? Because I am passionate about Birmingham and the professional community that is so much at the heart of the regeneration and development of the city's strength. What do you mean when you say 'Simon created a great platform to push from'? Simon has brought about a new level of engagement for Birmingham Forward building on his excellent political connections both here in the UK and in Europe. We need to push forward the message that Birmingham is a true global city that holds its head high with Barcelona, Chicago, Frankfurt and Toronto to name but four. What is involved as Chief Executive of Birmingham Forward? The role is to serve the members, ensuring their messages are heard and their needs addressed. It involves helping to promote our great city as more than just a conference destination - although that is important. Birmingham, as we already say through 'Advised in Birmingham' is the best place in the UK to get superb cost effective advice from the widest possible range of professionals. What do you think will be Simon Murphy's legacy? He has developed and enhanced our credibility across the political spectrum. What extra do you think you'll bring to Birmingham Forward? A real passion for what we do, as members, as associates and as part of the team charged with ensuring Birmingham Forward is seen as the true voice for the large community we represent. I am passionate about Birmingham, Birmingham Forward shares that passion and I am passionate about people and our members firms are heavily reliant on their people so again there is a real fit. On behalf of our members and our board I will be both persistent and consistent. How would you assess the current professional services market place in Birmingham and the West Mids as a whole? The market is continuing to grow and develop strongly but we need to be ever vigilant to the demand for talent from other centres. Our members are excellent at growing and developing talent and we need to ensure that Birmingham is an attractive enough city to live and play in so that they will stay. How could it be improved? By ensuring there is enough interest from school leavers and undergraduates to want to stay and develop their career in Birmingham so that we can ensure that we are creating the next generation of leaders who will ensure the stability and success of all the different sectors we represent. As a regional centre how would you say Birmingham is holding up against others like Bristol, Manchester, Nottingham etc? The debate about which city in the UK is better than another is rather futile much of the time. We need to complete in world markets to be successful. We need to put more focus on competing on the world stage.

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