Business News

The number of commuters in the West Midlands spending more than three hours travelling to and from work has increased by 87% over the past 10 years, according to a TUC analysis of official figures published. The figures – published to mark the start of Commute Smart Week organised by Work Wise UK – show that the number of people undertaking long commutes has risen sharply across the UK.

City of Wolverhampton Council officials this week welcomed their counterparts from China to the Civic Centre. Directors, engineers and researchers from the Changsha Urban Rural Planning Bureau made the long trip from Hunan Province to learn more about UK sustainable urban planning, and building knowledge and strategies.

City of Wolverhampton Council has confirmed the relocation of the city’s markets will be completed in March after appointing Speller Metcalfe as contractors to carry out the works. It signals another phase in the changing face of Westside, which recently went to market as a major development opportunity.

HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, Patron of the UK’s National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN), was the special guest at an exclusive New York lunch on board Queen Mary 2, sponsored by Cunard, in support of the world’s most iconic warship, HMS Victory.

Library customers will soon be able to log on to improved internet access. The City of Wolverhampton Council has been given £90,500 by the Arts Council to improve WiFi in the city's libraries. Work taking place over the next few months will see existing WiFi hotspots extended and upgraded in 11 libraries and WiFi installed for the first time in another five.

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Raymond Hassall, will lead Birmingham’s Remembrance Sunday service and parade at the Hall of Memory and Centenary Square on Sunday, November 8. Everyone is welcome to attend the event and observe the two-minute silence at 11am.

A series of schemes to improve cycling along main city routes and quieter “parallel” routes have been approved by Birmingham City Council. Almost £2.8million will be spent on the routes, the latest element of the Birmingham Cycle Revolution project – which aims to make the bike a more attractive and mainstream mode of travel.

Hundreds of properties in Wolverhampton that stood empty for years have been transformed into family homes thanks to the efforts of City of Wolverhampton Council. Its Empty Property Strategy, launched in 2010, has seen more than 1,000 privately-owned houses which had been left occupied – often in poor condition – brought back into use in the last five years.

A trade and investment deal being negotiated between the European Union and the United States – which is not expected to be finalised before next year – stands to bring massive benefits to the automotive industry in the West Midlands.

Business leaders in Greater Birmingham today called for additional measures from the government to support the growth of the economic recovery. This followed the announcement that GDP grew by 0.5 per cent in Q3 2015, compared with growth of 0.7 per cent in Q2. Services output increased by 0.7 per cent on the quarter, production grew by 0.3 per cent, but construction output plunged by 2.2 per cent

The arrival of HS2 in Birmingham will bring a “generation change” to the city and the wider West Midlands must start shouting more loudly and positively for itself to ensure the region is not passed over for future opportunities.

A charity which supports the life-saving work of babies and children suffering from some of the most severe immune conditions, today launches its biggest ever fundraising appeal – ‘Bubbles for the Bubble’. The Bubble Foundation UK works in partnership with the Children’s Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, and supports families from across the world out of its base at the Great North Children’s Hospital, Newcastle.

West Midlands companies with ambitions of going global or that want to expand their international reach are invited to a series of events during Export Week this November. Tickets are already being snapped up for the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) Export Week events, which run from November  9 to 13 and aim to offer advice on how to build contacts in new markets and boost export sales.

PwC in the West Midlands has welcomed 82 new recruits to its office in Birmingham, predominantly in the firm’s Tax and Assurance areas of the practice, including graduate level roles, student business placements, and undergraduate internships.

Birmingham was the national leader for approving applications to convert offices into flats under relaxed permitted development rights (PDR) between April 2014 and June 2015, refusing the fewest of any local authority outside London. These findings come on the heels of the government’s announcement that these relaxed permitted development rights will be made permanent.

Work is under way to demolish four underused maisonette blocks in Shard End to make way for 12 new family homes built by Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust (BMHT), Birmingham City Council’s award-winning house-building programme. The three-storey maisonette blocks, built in 1955, have been in low demand and are considered to be economically unviable to refurbish.