Business News

The Booksellers Association (BA) has announce additional events and bookshop openings ahead of this year’s Independent Bookshop Week, the annual celebration of independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland taking place between 18-25 June 2022 and with Hachette as the headline sponsor.

A former nurse at Selly Oak Hospital was the guest of honour at the official opening of a contemporary redevelopment of the 125-year-old building.

Valerie Arthur, who worked in the Rheumatology Department and is now author of a fascinating book on the history of the hospital, cut the ceremonial ribbon to officially open the last eight apartments at Ellis Court, bespoke one and two-bedroom properties within the original central block of the former infirmary.

Works on a major extension to a Midlands business park have been completed – with new occupiers expected to be announced in the coming months.

A further 60 acres of land has been added to the west side of i54 South Staffordshire, which is on the county border with Wolverhampton.

Birmingham City Council has appointed a major design and engineering firm to deliver the next phase of Our Future City Plan which will look at the city’s development to 2040. Arcadis will work with the city council and partners to look at how Birmingham will evolve as a city as it continues to transform into a location for sustainable regeneration. 

Charity law and governance expert Catherine Rustomji has been elected to sit on the Charity Law Association executive committee. As head of charities at Midlands-based law firm Shakespeare Martineau, Catherine’s position on the executive committee will see her play a leading role in improving knowledge and awareness of charity law issues, as well as working closely with the Charity Commission to pursue both technical and practical issues facing the sector.

Howes Percival has expanded its Commercial practice with the appointment of Max Windich, a commercial contracts lawyer specialising in the IT, technology, life sciences and academic sectors. He joins the leading regional law firm as a partner within its Corporate, Commercial, and Banking (CCB) practice.    

West Midlands businesses can find out how they can benefit from the huge opportunities presented by HS2 at a special online summit this week.

HS2 is the largest infrastructure project in Europe and the most important economic and social regeneration project in decades, with the West Midlands at the heart of the new high speed rail network.

Women who have a baby miss out on almost £70,000 in wages over the following decade, according to a new analysis of the impact of Britain’s childcare provision. The Social Market Foundation revealed the new figure as it launched a cross-party commission on childcare led by Conservative and Labour MPs. 

Residents across Haringey are set to benefit from better housing services after Homes for Haringey moved back under the direct control of the council.

From Wednesday 1 June, Homes for Haringey employees and services will be directly managed in-house after an overwhelming 81% of residents backed the move last year.

Benevity, Inc., a leading provider of global corporate purpose software, today released its second edition of The State of Corporate Purpose, a report from Benevity Impact Labs that takes a comprehensive look at proprietary data and research on the key industry trends shaping the future of corporate social responsibility (CSR); environmental, social and governance (ESG) and the future of work.

XPO Logistics, Inc., a leading provider of freight transportation services, today announced that it has filed a confidential Form 10 registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the planned spin-off of its tech-enabled brokered transportation platform.

HSBC UK has launched a £15bn lending fund for small and medium sized businesses with £1.5bn ring-fenced to support local economies, employment opportunities and drive growth across West Midlands.

Whilst concerns about the broader market remain, HSBC’s customers are thinking about growth via investment, acquisitions and capital expenditure.

Cybersecurity training platform Hoxhunt, Finland’s fastest-growing SaaS company according to Deloitte, announced it raised $40 million in its Series B round led by New York-based Level Equity Management, along with participation by existing investor Icebreaker.vc. The new funding will aid the development of Hoxhunt’s leading-edge technology and accelerate growth in new markets, particularly North America.

A rogue landlord that put tenants at serious risk has been fined for £4,808 for breaking housing regulations on a property in Wolverhampton.

The City of Wolverhampton Council prosecuted Maciej Piotr Zaremba, previously of Third Avenue, Wolverhampton, for breaching Management Regulations for a house of multiple occupation (HMO).

The Midlands corporate finance team of Azets, the UK's largest regional accountancy and business advisor to SMEs, has advised on the multimillion-pound sale of the Ernest Engineering Group. The Ernest Engineering Group is a family business and was established in 1970. Based in Coventry, it specialises in the manufacture of specialist brass and steel threaded parts and trades under the names of Anchor Inserts and Bailey & Wade.

Analysis from the UK’s leading equity release adviser Key Later Life Finance ahead of the Platinum Jubilee shows house prices have increased 138 times in value during the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.

Average house prices were £1,891 in 1952 at the start of her reign and are now £260,771 – which is an increase of 138 times.