Business News

City of Wolverhampton Council has named its first five-star landlord under the new ‘Rent with Confidence’ scheme. Lyndon Whitehouse, Director of L&A Lettings, owns several five-star properties in the city and has also been granted five-star agent status. The rating system is similar to the one used by the Food Standards Agency for restaurants and takeaways. It is hoped it will raise the bar for the quality of private sector rented housing in the city - improving the health and wellbeing of residents, and encouraging greater customer choice.

The chance to become a lifesaving paramedic has piqued the interest of no fewer than 10,000 people. The staggering figure shows how many people have logged onto NHS Jobs  to have a look at the person specification to become one of 300 student paramedics with West Midlands Ambulance Service in 2017. Of those almost 700 have either completed their application or started it.

In many areas, competition for each property on the market is extremely strong, so standing out from the crowd is a must for buyers who wish to secure their dream home. National estate agents Leaders has an average of 10 buyers for each available property, meaning serious buyers must be able to present themselves as attractively as possible to both sellers and agents. One key way to achieve this is to get pre-approved, which means being qualified by a mortgage lender prior to starting the search for a place to live.

Tesco appeals for food waste entrepreneurs to join new crowdfunding platform, BackIt. BackIt helps small businesses gain vital funding, in order to bring their food waste-busting products to market. Hannah McCollum, founder of ChicP, is the first food waste entrepreneur to join the platform, with her hummus made from wonky fruits and vegetables. A new hummus, made from wasted vegetables is set to take the foodie scene by storm, thanks to its launch on Tesco's new crowdfunding platform, BackIt.

The Birmingham Development Plan (BDP) setting out a 15-year strategy to deliver thousands of new homes and jobs can be formally adopted and approved by Birmingham City Council, the Government has confirmed. Housing Minister Gavin Barwell lifted a Holding Direction which prevented the BDP from progressing pending further investigation into proposals to earmark land in the Sutton Coldfield green belt for housing and employment purposes.

Business leaders in Greater Birmingham said the real test for the government will be on their ability to deliver “real results” following the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement in which Philip Hammond pledged £5 million for a Midlands Rail Hub. In a low-key statement, he announced a further £392 million for West and East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnerships without specifying how much each would get.

Full-service Midlands/local marketing agency Gough Bailey Wright (GBW) welcomed Bromsgrove MP, Sajid Javid to its offices to help celebrate the company’s 80^th birthday. The award-winning firm’s celebrations saw a Fish and Chip van arrive at St. Johns house, surprising everyone with a tasty lunch which was thoroughly enjoyed by the team and Sajid Javid. Founded as advertising agency Tom C Gough and Partners back in 1936, GBW has become the oldest independently owned agency in the West Midlands.

Award-winning management consultant specialist Rudi Page's appointment as Director of International Diaspora Relations for Countrystyle Community Tourism Network/Villages as Businesses (CCTN/VAB) is timely and fortuitous. He develops policy implementation for International Trade Support, Healthcare Management Systems, Workforce Development (Equalities) and Corporate Social Impact recently developing the Caribbean Diaspora Delivery System (CDDS), a facilitated framework for the digital transformation of the traditional Diaspora leadership, management and involvement model by providing strategic leadership in communication, governance, structure and implementation.

Christmas shoppers can park for FREE on Saturdays and Sundays at one of the most modern and spacious car parks in Birmingham city centre. B4 Parking on Weaman Street offers easy access to the city centre retail area and features the latest automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology, safe parking charter marks, toilets and free wi-fi.

Showing off the latest number plate to impress your neighbours is just so yesterday, according to a new study of car buyers’ habits. Drivers are now more interested in the car itself – and they care most about having the latest model updates with features like personalised paintwork and option combinations, rather than rushing to snap up the newest registration plate. According to interviews with almost 1,000 motorists, conducted by the specialist online car seller BuyaCar.co.uk, almost four in five drivers now say that they wouldn’t delay the purchase of their car for a new number plate.

The Gambia Experience has been announced as the winner of 'Best Small Holiday Company to Sub-Saharan Africa', receiving Gold in the prestigious 2016 British Travel Awards. The announcement was made on 23 November at a glamorous Gala Awards ceremony, held in London and attended by close to a thousand travel industry people. The Gambia Experience is one of six travel brands owned by Serenity Holidays, a family-owned Hampshire tour operator and specialist to The Gambia, offering year-round package and tailormade holidays.

Solutions to break down the barriers preventing Birmingham’s women from positions of leadership are set to form the focus of a summit in the city at the Council House on November 28. The Inspiring Birmingham Women in Leadership summit will explore a number of current challenges facing aspiring female leaders in the city – which lags at, or near, the bottom of many performance tables comparing the UK’s Core Cities.

Rising confidence in the UK’s property market has been emphasised once more by the increasing willingness of second-time buyers to make their next move up the ladder. Research shows 40 per cent of first-time owners are currently planning their second step, up from just 26 per cent at the same time last year.

A new report from global retail property experts, Colliers International, shows that while online shopping is growing rapidly, the way that people around the world shop and pay for their goods remains very diverse. The largest European e-commerce market is found in the UK with online sales currently running at around at £130bn ($160bn) annually. British seniors are among the most tech-savvy consumers in the world with 78 per cent of internet users over 65 now shopping online.

Business leaders in Birmingham have welcomed the Government's announcement of the second phase of HS2. The Government today confirmed its preferred route for phase two of the project, which will connect the West Midlands with Manchester and Leeds.  The first phase – which will run from London to Birmingham - is expected to gain Royal Ascent shortly. Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce chief executive Paul Faulkner said the northern part of the route is crucial to provide connectivity for all of the country’s major cities. 

A leading British security hardware and electronics business is expanding its operations to develop a state-of-the-art product development, manufacturing and distribution facility at its new i54 South Staffordshire headquarters. ERA, a division of Tyman plc, is consolidating its three Midlands based operations at the major regional business hub, developed by an award-winning partnership of Staffordshire County, City of Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire councils.