Business News

The first-ever double decker hydrogen bus tour of the UK stopped off at National Express West Midlands to see the strides being made to decarbonise public transport in Birmingham.

The UK Hydrogen Roadshow, a partnership between bus manufacturer Wrightbus, hydrogen distribution firm Ryze Hydrogen, and hydrogen production company INEOS through its INOVYN subsidiary, set off from London on Monday October 18 on a 600-mile journey to Glasgow ahead of the UN’s climate conference, COP26.

More organisations have been officially recognised by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) for their work in actively promoting the health and wellbeing of their staff.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA, and Councillor Izzi Seccombe, WMCA portfolio lead for Wellbeing and Leader of Warwickshire County Council, joined a virtual event at which 32 employers received accreditation for their work under the Thrive at Work scheme.

In preparation for the construction of the northern section of HS2’s Phase One route between London and the West Midlands, main works civils contractor Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) have successfully demolished a disused bridge in Saltley near Birmingham.

The Heartlands Parkway bridge originally connected the A47 with a nearby industrial park, crossing over the busy Birmingham to Derby rail line and had been decommissioned for some time.

The Freemasons have signed the Armed Forces Covenant during a ceremony at Freemasons’ Hall in Covent Garden on 20 October led by His Royal Highness, The Duke of Kent.

The partnership aims to support members of the Armed Forces community and ensure they have the same access to government as well as commercial services and products as any other citizen.

A new partner has joined the Birmingham office of national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP.

Kim Klahn joins the corporate and commercial team and will advise on a broad range of corporate matters including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate reorganisations, private equity transactions, family investment companies and general company law and corporate governance issues.

From a beautifully restored Muswell Hill house, in London, to an outstanding sustainable build in Tottenham, the winners of the Haringey Design Awards 2021 were announced at the Alexandra Palace Theatre. 

The Green House was the big winner on the night, scooping the ‘Best House’ and ‘Sustainable Building’ awards, as well as the ‘Overall Winner’ prize. The Green House is a new build in the Clyde Circus Conservation Area of Tottenham.

City of Wolverhampton Council is to consult with the public on a proposal to make the current temporary 30mph speed limit on the city’s Ring Road permanent. The council believes that the change will keep people safer by reducing accidents and improve the environment by reducing harmful emissions and encouraging more people to walk and cycle.

The 30mph speed limit along the entire length of the Ring Road was implemented in June 2020 on a trial basis when councils were encouraged by the Government to implement transport schemes which promoted social distancing.

GXO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: GXO), the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider, today announced that the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (IKE), the United Kingdom's professional body for innovators, has awarded the ISO 56002 Investor in Innovations Standard to GXO’s Virgin Media logistics operations.

“We’re delighted to receive this prestigious innovation award,” said Gavin Williams, GXO’s Managing Director for the UK and Ireland.

One of the UK’s leading warehousing, manufacturing, logistics, driving, engineering and managed services recruitment agencies - which places more than 4,000 workers each week – has announced ambitious plans to expand its Professional division, which is based in the West Midlands and specialises in senior hires. Encore Personnel - which operates 10 branches, including one in Birmingham, and 22 sites across the UK and employs more than 200 staff, has relaunched Encore Professional, with a new website and new team, headed by seasoned recruitment pro Nick Green.

Global cyber security firm CSS Assure is joining legal and professional services group Ampa – which has a presence in Birmingham - projected to add more than £7m to the group’s turnover over the next three years.

The addition, which marks the first non-legal service provider to join since the launch of Ampa’s ‘house of brands’ strategy, will see CSS Assure continue to trade under its existing brand across the UK and internationally.

A fall in trade between the UK and EU shows SMEs are shunning EU exports, a leading Midlands tax expert is warning.

Latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows a second consecutive monthly fall in trade, with the effects of Brexit and the global pandemic resulting in the total exports of goods, excluding precious metals, falling by £1.3 billion (4.6%) in August 2021.

Commenting on the strategies, Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA, said: “As the home of the green industrial revolution we are already developing the solutions to achieve our own ambitious target of becoming a net zero region by 2041.

“So, we welcome the announcement of these two new strategies in which government sets out a clear path on how the UK can reach its national net zero target by 2050.

Green jobs need to be created at 25 times the current rate if the Government is get its 440,000 new jobs target in green industries by 2030, according to new analysis by the job site Indeed. The UK’s low carbon and renewable energy economy is in the spotlight as it prepares to host the COP26 international summit on climate change in November.

The Leader of City of Wolverhampton Council has called on the Chancellor to make the future of local government funding a priority at the forthcoming comprehensive spending review. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, is due to deliver details of future Government spending plans on October 27.

Council Leader, Cllr Ian Brookfield said he wanted to see a clear commitment that enough money would be made available to councils to fund essential local services and level up their communities as the country emerges from the pandemic and after more than a decade of austerity.

The UK government, trade bodies and multinational corporations must offer greater support to smaller businesses around making the transition to green manufacturing, academics have warned ahead of COP26 and following the publication of the UK’s net zero strategy today.

Steven McCabe and Beverley Nielsen, Associate Professors at Birmingham City University and co-editors of a new book featuring contributions from leading industrialists, industry body representatives, political commentators and academics on the topic, suggest much more must be done in order to enable and support SMEs in a UK-wide switch to environmentally sensitive production across sectors.

Severn Trent is opening its doors to its state-of-the-art Academy in Coventry to provide free employability sessions to its communities to support with more people getting back into work following the pandemic. To coincide with this year's National Family Learning Festival (16-31 October) the company is launching its employability offering, and now anyone can have free access digitally or in person, to valuable skills and training to support with those needing to find work, or who’s circumstances may have changed.