Business News

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Equiduct, the retail-focused pan-European exchange, have announced that SEB is the newest trading participant to join its commission-free Best Execution service, Apex. SEB will also consume and display Equiduct´s innovative market data services which offers a real-time consolidated view of liquidity from twelve major European markets.

SEB is one of the largest banks in the Nordic financial eco-system in terms of total assets and trading volumes. SEB is also renowned for its market leading equities business and for championing execution quality for investors in Sweden.

The IMEX team has been working hard behind the scenes for nearly 18 months to design and debut a new visual treatment – a brand refresh – set to go live today (Monday 22 May).

The brand review process was conducted by IMEX’s talented inhouse design team led by Design Manager, Anna Gyseman. Gyseman was a seminal member of the team that launched Grazia magazine into the UK market. As ‘honest critics’ she successfully recruited ex-colleagues Tony Chambers, former Editor and Creative Director of Wallpaper magazine; Suzanne Sykes, award-winning Creative Director, Graphic Designer and Brand Innovator; and Jonathan Clayton-Jones, Creative Director at the Telegraph Group.

MODIFI, a global commerce platform for business payments, announced a partnership with leading global payments and financial platform Airwallex to launch a streamlined, innovative, and secure solution for transferring money across multiple regions. Leveraging Airwallex's global payments and financial infrastructure, MODIFI has created Global Account Solutions, a payment tool which facilitates a seamless payment integration for exporters in China and large buyers around the world, by addressing the complexities and high costs of cross-border payments and invoice financing.

New research has revealed the most popular times of the year to start a business. The study by UK financial services provider CMC Markets analysed the latest ONS data on weekly company incorporations found that from Saturday, 4th June to Friday, 10th June 2022, 18,386 new businesses were created at Companies House. This was the fifth highest number of new business incorporations since records of weekly data began at the start of 2019.

The UK’s biggest airline have announced that it will open a base for three of its aircraft at Birmingham Airport (BHX) from March 2024.

This major investment by easyJet will create around 100 direct jobs, including pilots and crew, and will support 1,200* indirect jobs in the West Midlands region. Basing three of its 186-seat A320 aircraft at BHX will significantly enrich the offer for both business and leisure customers flying out of the Midlands travel hub.

Raj Kandola, director of External Affairs at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “This morning’s ONS figures revealed a mixed picture as the unemployment rate ticked upwards both regionally and nationally with the challenging economic landscape continuing to hamper businesses in their attempts to hire staff.

Responding to the Q1 2023 GDP, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said: “It's good news that the economy is growing but to reach the government's growth priority we need to stay focused on competitive taxes, labour supply and productivity.

"The Bank of England Governor confirmed that the Budget has made an important start, but we will keep going until the job is done and we have the high wage, high growth economy we need."

Say good-bye to work culture: Three quarters of professionals (71%) have stated that they would be willing to give up work socials and relationships with colleagues, in favour of a 4-day working week. The findings come from a recent poll by leading recruiter Robert Walters, of 3,000+ working professionals – and highlights the ‘not-so appealing side’ of the 4-day week to employers, with office relationships taking the biggest hit.

Global energy tech group Octopus Energy announced today it has signed a framework agreement with Masdar, one of the world's leading clean energy companies, to license Octopus' ground-breaking technology platform Kraken. Masdar will use Kraken to flexibly manage its battery storage portfolio in the UK.

In the presence of HE Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Chairman of Masdar, and COP28 President-Designate, the agreement was signed between Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, and Greg Jackson, Founder and CEO of Octopus Energy Group, at the UAE Climate Tech Forum.

i54 South Staffordshire will be in the spotlight at the UK’s Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF). The major Midlands business park, located in South Staffordshire on the county border with Wolverhampton, has recently seen the completion of a 60-acre western extension.

A new occupier is already lined up for part of the extension but an opportunity for an end user to secure the remaining 25 acres for advanced manufacturing, technology, training and innovation will be showcased by Invest Wolverhampton, Staffordshire County Council and South Staffordshire Council at UKREiiF (May 16-18).

A street party was recently held by residents at David Wilson Homes’ River Meadow community in Stanford in the Vale to mark the coronation of His Majesty The King. The event, which was held at the development on Ware Road on Sunday 7th May, brought together the community for an afternoon of fun and festivities, which included music, face painting, children's crafts, games, a family quiz and more.  

In partnership with Gaydio, iconic shopping, dining, and leisure destination, Bullring Presents, Late Night Out — an exclusive live music event featuring star guests on Friday 26th May.

With limited tickets set to sell out fast, visitors will get access to Bullring’s after hours event from 9pm until midnight, hosted by RuPaul's Drag Race UK star and fan-favourite, Ginny Lemon. The event will feature a stellar line-up including music producer and promoter, Jodie Harsh, with a DJ set and Girls Aloud member, Nadine Coyle, with a special performance. Music will also be provided by Ginny’s fellow Drag Race UK star, Black Peppa, and DJs from Gaydio.

A business based in the home of the industrial revolution, in Tipton in the West Midlands, is exporting a green revolution to the Middle East.

LetSanify, based in Tipton, has sent its first consignment of eco-friendly disinfectants and cleaning products to Qatar, where they will be sold into the Lulu group of supermarkets that has more than 200 outlets across the region. Proven to kill 99.9 per cent of bacteria and viruses, including Covid-19, E-COLI, MERS and SARS, the product is made entirely from natural products, salt and highly filtered water.

New homes provider Bromford is celebrating a successful partnership with Miller Homes, after all of the Shared Ownership homes sold out on the exclusive Keepers Field development in Codsall.

Keepers Field, located off Keepers Lane between the A41 and the M54, is being built by housebuilder Miller Homes, and comprises two and three-bedroom Shared Ownership properties. All of the homes, designed with modern living in mind, and now sold out, were built specifically to meet the needs of local people, meaning priority was given to those who have a connection to South Staffordshire Council.

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