Business News

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Birmingham Airport has broken its record for the busiest July ever, handling more than one million passengers last month. The Midlands airport handled 1,071,259 passengers during the month, beating last July’s previous record by 2% and becoming the sixth record month in 2015 so far. Long haul traffic saw the biggest growth with almost 20% more passengers using these services compared to July 2014.

Farmers are declaring war against supermarkets as more milk price cuts are announced, with Morrisons being the target of recent disruption. A farmer quoted in a national paper said “There’s a crisis. People are selling the core of their business just to pay bills and the banks. It’s also a crisis for the consumer. They wish to buy British but if we don’t address this situation that’s going to be taken away from them by corporate greed.”

Reflecting on the last 18 months of his term of office, Black Country Chamber of Commerce President, Ninder Johal said: "During 2013 we embarked on the process of improving the impact of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce. As a result of consultation with our members and to reflect changes in the political landscape, we restructured to create a pan-Black Country Consultative Forum to replace our four local Boards which will both champion the policy priorities of the Chamber and act as the interface between the Board and members, ensuring that on all matters adequate consultation and feedback takes place.

The Green Party will be holding its biggest-ever Conference on 25-28 September in Bournemouth. Following the Greens’ best-ever performance in a General Election, in which the Party achieved one million votes for the first time, up to 2,000 Green Party members from across the UK will congregate for four days of policy-making, learning and networking.

John Tew, former President of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce and Chair of Sandwell College’s Board of Governors, has been appointed lead in increasing influence across the region. In response to the appointment he said: “This is a great opportunity to align all the great activity that is happening across the region.”

How many kids do you know who start their own company at the age of just 12? Not many. That makes Jaylen Bledsoe of Hazelwood, Missouri, is not only unique but also one of the youngest entrepreneurs. He began his company, Bledsoe Technologies, when he was 12 years old. With a dream and $100, he began marketing his technology services, and within two years he had 150 contractors working for him.

A 2,500 sq ft Intelligent Mobility incubator is the first confirmed quarter of Innovation Birmingham’s Serendip space within the new £8m iCentrum® building. Centro – the region’s public transport co-ordinator – and the Transport Systems Catapult, which is the UK’s innovation centre for Intelligent Mobility, have both signed up as joint partners for the specialist centre. It will launch when iCentrum®, located off the A38M Aston Expressway, opens in March 2016.

A major new business has opened in Wolverhampton with 80 per cent of the initial workforce recruited from the city. Wiggle, the UK's biggest online cycle and tri sports retailer, moved its distribution centre to Bilston earlier this year and has been working with Wolverhampton City Council, the City of Wolverhampton College and JobCentre Plus to fill some of the 140 warehouse roles it has created.

Almost 40 SMEs in Wolverhampton have benefitted from European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) cash as part of a Black Country scheme to help them expand. The Black Country GOLD initiative has been led by Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall councils, and the University of Wolverhampton.

Tesco is to introduce a brand new audio voice to its self-service and scan as you shop checkouts following feedback from customers.   Friendlier, more helpful and less talkative, the machines will no longer alert customers with the infamous phrase, 'unexpected item in the bagging area'. Introduced in 2003, Tesco now has over 12,000 self-service checkouts which play a crucial role for busy shoppers up and down the UK.

After 137 years of being based in its historic workplace in Birmingham’s Newhall Street, Assay Office Birmingham is now safely re-established and up and running in its new specialised contemporary headquarters in Moreton Street. It required many years of searching for a suitable site, deliberating what was required and planning a purpose-built facility to enable the Assay Office to develop new opportunities. This week, that vision has become a reality.

Leading Asian hospitality group Dusit International has entered into an exclusive agreement with South Africa-based eLan Property Group to manage several hotels and resorts in southern Africa and the Indian Ocean. The agreement was signed at a meeting held in Franschhoek near Cape Town, South Africa, where Thai Minister of Commerce General Chatchai Sarikalya was in attendance, alongside Dusit International CEO Mr Chanin Donavanik and CEO of eLan Property Group, Mr Mark Taylor.

The Institute of Asian Businesses (IAB), founded in 1987 in the wake of the Handsworth riots, will from today be known as the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce (ABCC). The move has been made to emphasise the close association the organisation has with Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC), a relationship forged 28 years ago by the late Om Parmar, who became honorary president.

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