Politicians, businessmen and women, local leaders and prominent community figures were all in attendance last night at the Birmingham Conference & Events Centre for a Dinner with Andy Street. The former Managing Director of John Lewis was the man of the moment as he set out his stall as the Conservative candidate for West Midlands Mayor for the upcoming election, due to take place on May 4th.
“I am a proud Brummie, I grew up here, but about 5 years ago I came back when the Local Enterprise Partnerships were formed. I thought maybe I could do something about the state that the region found itself in. The most recent figures showed that Greater Birmingham and Solihull were at the top, with growth of 5% and 7% respectively.”
“With just 9 weeks to go, I really do believe that we are going to win this election.”
As approximately 400 people filled the BCEC, the guest speaker for the evening, the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP joined Andy to back the man with the business and leadership experience that the region will need to push itself forward under the new combined authority.
“What the West Midlands needs is someone with many different characteristics, someone who was born locally, raised locally, educated locally, someone who understands business, perhaps even someone who has worked in a business, even one of the most successful businesses this country has ever seen, with a track record of delivering, and someone who cares about people across the country and especially the West Midlands.”
“That man is Andy Street.”
With an passionate speech by Tony Wouhra MBE, calling on everyone to do their bit to support Andy Street, the support from the BME communities, and especially the Chinese community was evident on a night that saw them turn out en masse in support of the former John Lewis man.
With generous donations of raffle and auction prizes by Sir Doug Ellis, Mr Wing Yip OBE, Mr Lam Kin Bong, Mrs Dorian Chan, Ying Wah Travel and more, the night was all about raising the profile of their preferred West Midlands Mayor candidate, as well as raising funds for the campaign.
With bottles of champagne, vouchers for Wing Wah and Wing Yip, and a signed Aston Villa Football up for grabs amongst others, the biggest success of the night had to be that of a bottle of Remy Martin Grande Champagne Cognac Louis XIII, courtesy of Mr Wing Yip OBE and introduced for the auction by César Lesne of Remy Cointreau UK, which found a new home for the small price of £3,800.
For the full Special Report including more images from the night and an exclusive interview with Andy, look out for the April edition of The Phoenix Newspaper, and highlights in our weekly newsletter and social media platforms.
