Business News

The Midlands Internationalisation Fund is open for applications from SME businesses that have high international growth potential and a product or service suitable for export.

Match-funded grants of between £1,000 and £9,000 are available for future activity, subject to eligibility and availability. For eligibility criteria please visit https://www.great.gov.uk/campaigns/internationalisation-fund-for-english-businesses/.

A new charity which enables people with mobility issues to explore the countryside is building on its success with plans to take the scheme nationwide.

Access the Dales aims to secure funding which would allow it to extend the services it offers in the Yorkshire Dales to other parts of the UK. The charity currently runs four hubs from which people can borrow all-terrain mobility vehicles free-of-charge to enjoy the fells and dales of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Jutexpo have reached the 100 million bottle mark having been recycled and converted into reusable shopping bags. 

With nearly 1 million plastic bottles being sold every minute across the globe, and the average time for them to biodegrade being 450 years, Jutexpo have taken action, by quite literally taking the bottles from our oceans and converting them into the shopping bags we all use on a daily basis. 

GXO Logistics, Inc. the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider, will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the expansion of its partnership with innovative furniture designer and manufacturer Floyd that began in 2019. The new warehouse space, situated in a GXO Direct facility, a shared space solution in Horn Lake, Mississippi, is 120,000 square feet and will be used for picking and packing large furniture items as well as supporting kitting and returns management.

Using the government’s Value Toolkit and a review of the economic outlook of the fast-changing construction industry are two of the topics to be discussed by experts at the upcoming CE Midlands Construction Summit.

The annual summit, organised by industry collaboration organisation Constructing Excellence Midlands, will take place on 9 November at The Arup Campus at Blythe Park in Solihull.

The CISI’s November 2022 Global Wealth Summit series for Africa, London, Middle East and China returns, featuring 19 global experts on topics ranging from client trust to company culture.

This event series, hosted online and available to both CISI members and non-members, brings together a global community of wealth, investment management and financial services professionals.

Leading local independent logistics operator, Europa Worldwide Group, located at Minworth’s Prologis Park, continues to set the pace in the market, reporting a tripling in profits – up to £10m from £3.6m in 2020 – and a record £276m turnover for the 2021 financial year (ending 31 December).

The boards of medium sized businesses are being warned to step up and not be complacent about the risks posed by cybercrime.

The alarm call, from security specialists Digital Craftsmen, comes as cyber criminals are widening their focus to include not just large, listed enterprises but medium sized firms too. In fact, every business is now at risk from a cyber-attack - cyber criminals are not selective who they target.

Multi award winning broadcasters Sunny Grewal and Shay Grewal have been confirmed as the hosts of the annual dinner and awards ceremony of the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce. The awards ceremony is set to take place on Saturday, 19 November, at The National Conference Centre in Solihull.

Leading Midlands recruitment agency, Encore Personnel, is ensuring it does all it can to support its staff throughout the impending cost of living crisis. Birmingham-based Encore, located at Lower Temple Street, and with 10 other branches across the Midlands, is celebrating 20 years in business this year and is proud to be providing its staff with everything from money-saving top tips to free sanitary products.

A German-style national drive to reduce UK energy use by turning off lights and lowering heating temperatures could save households £400 and save the Treasury £9 billion, new analysis shows today.  

The Social Market Foundation, a cross-party think-tank, is calling on the Government to follow Germany’s lead and launch an information campaign that provides practical tips on reducing household energy demand.

Arc Inspirations, the award-winning operator of premium bar brands Banyan, BOX and Manahatta, has appointed hospitality sector veteran and leader, Mike Tye, as Chair.

He will support the senior team led by CEO and co-founder Martin Wolstencroft in the on-going development of the business – amid a significant growth phase for the company that will see Arc launch five new sites in the next 12 months.

Following the new interest rate rise, the Bank of England’s warning that people are facing the longest recession on record and some predicting house price falls of up to 30%, UK newswire, Newspage, polled 250 mortgage brokers and estate agents about how far they think prices will fall during the next 12-18 months. The results were:

Coalville-based developer David Wilson Homes East Midlands has sponsored an F1 engineering team at a secondary school in Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

The housebuilder has supported Ashby School’s Dragon Racing team with its entry for international STEM competition, F1 in Schools.

Passengers planning on travelling through London Euston station during strike action on Friday 4, Saturday 5, Monday 7 and Wednesday 9 November are being warned not to get caught out with trains finishing much earlier than normal.

Strike action by members of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) means that on Friday 4 November London Northwestern Railway will run a very limited service on its London Euston - Northampton - Birmingham route with services starting from 7:30am and finishing by 7:30pm.

A technology expert at Birmingham City University has said that Elon Musk’s proposals to charge verified Twitter accounts a monthly subscription fee will only generate a relatively minor amount of income for the social media giant.

The academic and industry professional said: “Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has been typified by chaos, including most recently the firing of a number of senior executives – amongst them the head of legal policy, trust and safety.