Business News

Landlords across the UK have been given an annual reminder of their responsibilities when it comes to ensuring the gas safety of tenanted properties. Gas Safety Week, which is running from 19th to 25th September, aims to raise awareness of gas safety and the importance of having gas appliances checked and maintained by a qualified engineer.

A growing number of people are choosing to reserve a new house months ahead of its expected build completion date in order to reap the benefits of off-plan homes, according to Bellway West Midlands. The national housebuilder’s West Midlands division believes benefits such as selecting a plot, having design input, and access to record-low mortgage rates are the main factors driving the increase in off-plan reservations.

Sydney has become Qatar Airways’ first destination in Australia to be served by the super-jumbo A380 aircraft, just six months after it joined the carrier’s global network. Following the route’s inauguration with the Boeing 777-300 on 1 March 2016, Qatar Airways has seen a steady growth in demand for its service on the route. The 517-seater A380 aircraft increases Qatar Airways’ current daily capacity by 44 per cent on this route to meet the growing travel and trade demand.

The first bricks have been laid for new homes on the first two plots of the multi-million pound Bilston Urban Village site. Kier is developing 78 units comprising one, two, three and four-bedroom properties located on the west side of Dudley Street, either side of the entrance to Carder Crescent. It is part of City of Wolverhampton Council’s push to deliver up to 450 homes on Bilston Urban Village, which sits south of the town centre and Black Country Route.

Birmingham has been named the ‘Most Enterprising Place in Britain’ by the 2016 Enterprising Britain Awards. The winning project saw Birmingham City Council team up with six Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to improve confidence, encourage investment, and attract and retain business talent. It supported 1,000 businesses, generating £87 million in private sector investment and creating or safeguarding 4,300 jobs, as part of the ambitious plans to build a Midlands Engine for Growth.

UK universities and education institutions will benefit from the ‘Brexit effect’ as studying in the UK is now much cheaper for international students, according to new research by Western Union Business Solutions (‘WUBS’). WUBS, a leader in global payment services, has analysed tuition fee payments data for the main overseas markets and found that tuition fees are up to a fifth (22.1%) cheaper than they were last year for some students.

Wolverhampton businesses will get the chance to tap into the latest technology as part of a free event during the city’s Business Week. World-leading business technology specialists, including Panasonic, NEC, Bosch, Honeywell, and Samsung, will be at Wolverhampton Racecourse on Tuesday, September 27, between 8am and 3.30pm.

Two thirds of SME house builders are struggling to identify land for development, according to new research from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). For the second year in a row, the FMB’s annual House Builders’ Survey has shown a lack of available and viable land as the biggest barrier to SMEs delivering more new homes.

As the deadline for clearing approaches (20^th September 2016), Best Western Great Britain has published the results of the Best Western Careers Index revealing what aspirations parents from Central England have for the careers of their children, uncovering some surprising results. The independent survey of over 1,000 parents revealed that despite recent strike action, medicine is the top preferred career, followed by accountancy and being an engineer.

British shoppers defied Brexit fears over the summer, as retail sales surged at the fastest rate in six months, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The CBI's survey showed that 35% of retailers reported higher year-over-year sales volumes in August, compared to 26% who said sales were down.

A major step towards the development of new homes at the former Royal Hospital site in Wolverhampton has taken place this week, with the submission of a planning application by Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) planning consultants Cushman and Wakefield for up to 146 new homes on the bus depot part of the site. The HCA acquired the former Royal Hospital site earlier this year to create new homes and a high profile gateway development into the city centre.

City of Wolverhampton Council’s new five-star rating system to improve the quality of housing in the city will go live next month. ‘Rent with Confidence’ will pioneer the way local authorities work with private landlords and is aiming to encourage greater customer choice and raise living standards. It will function in a similar way to the rating scheme used by the Food Standards Agency for restaurants and takeaways.

One in ten online shoppers abandons their online shopping basket at checkout, when they see how much they could be spending, according to a study commissioned by Royal Mail. The findings suggest UK adults could be experiencing cold feet associated with spending more than they have or more than they set out to spend online, leading them to abandon their shopping baskets altogether.The annual Delivery Matters report found that a third of UK online shoppers (34 per cent) frequently abandon their online shopping basket after loading it up with items.

Greater Birmingham business leaders say the UK economy is “defying pre-referendum predictions” after the Bank of England unanimously voted to leave interest rates unchanged. Paul Faulkner, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, hailed the decision as a sign that confidence in the economy is growing. The Bank of England today voted to leave the interest rates at an all-time low of 0.25 per cent, while its quantitative easing programme also remains unchanged at £435bn.

The forthcoming Chamber Expo at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham city centre will have ‘Connect, Support, Grow’ as its theme. The event, which takes place on 14 October, will include a major programme, of speakers, who will address each element of the main theme. Qasim Majid, founder and CEO of Jewellery Quarter web firm WowZone, will speak about ‘connect’, HS2 supply chain manager Robert Slater will cover ‘grow’, and author, speaker and strategist Moe Nawaz will discuss ‘support’.

Business leaders in Greater Birmingham said that Andy Street had been an “outstanding ambassador” for the region after he announced that he is resigning as chair of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership. Mr Street (pictured) said he is standing down because he had applied to be the Conservative candidate for the West Midlands Mayoral election next year. The party is expected to announce the candidate at next month’s conference at the ICC in Birmingham and should he be successful, Mr Street has agreed to stand down from his role at John Lewis.