Business News

Sales at home and abroad for Greater Birmingham manufacturing companies have increased to levels not experienced for over 18 months. According to figures from the latest quarterly economic survey by Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC), half of the businesses surveyed increased sales and orders over the past three months.

A talented cluster of top Tottenham independent traders are boasting stunning new shop fronts after the finishing touches were done to Haringey Council project to transform them with bespoke designs. Around 25 shopkeepers on Tottenham High Road and West Green Road worked closely with architects to design the funky frontages – and are already reporting a boost in trade.

Developers at Wolverhampton Business Week this morning got first sight of what the City of Wolverhampton Council’s ambitious regeneration plans for Westside could look like. The ‘Developers Conference - Investing in the City’, at Molineux Football Stadium, focused on some of the key partners who are helping deliver new developments to regenerate the city.

A revolutionary, hi-tech system to help businesses report crime has been extended today by Birmingham Community Safety Partnership with the support of a range of partners to help businesses reduce crime and report incidents on-line. 11 of the city’s Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are set to receive the system which will then be made accessible to businesses within the individual BID areas.

Following the recent announcement of the stepping down of Black Country Chamber Chief Executive Margaret Corneby, the search is on for her replacement. Chamber President, Ninder Johal said: “We are embracing an outward facing culture focused on delivering our aim, growing our membership and working closely with our stakeholders.

City of Wolverhampton Council’s Civic Centre is playing host to Private Sector Housing Week this week. Council officers and representatives from partner agencies will be on hand to offer help and advice to tenants, landlords and home owners. The week of action is sponsored by local authorities from across the West Midlands. Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “This event proved extremely useful to a great number of people in Wolverhampton last year.

Business leaders in the region today welcomed the “outstanding” figures that show the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) is second in the UK for creating private sector jobs. The GBSLEP has already created 85,200 jobs, 72 per cent of its target to create 119,000 jobs by 2020. This gave them a 6 per cent higher growth rate than in any other core city LEP area, apart from the West of England.

Young Nigerians living in the Britain have set-up an organisation designed to promote enterprise and entrepreneurism. NewGen Nigeria UK, aimed at young people aged between 21 and 35 years old, will look to build business relationships among the next generation of Nigerians in the UK and breaking down negative perceptions. The not-for-profit start-up, programme of events will include business networks and cultural and educational services, including language courses.

Just a few days after the New Street Station launch, Grand Central, and the flagship John Lewis store, the largest outside of London, will open to the public today at 10am! Have you had a chance to see inside the new station yet? What are your thoughts? Get in touch with your views via our Facebook and Twitter pages with your images of your exploration of Birmingham's newest addition!

Margaret Corneby, Chief Executive of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, has informed the Chamber Board of her intention to step down. Margaret, who took over the role in autumn 2009, said: “I am very proud of what I have achieved. When I took over, the Chamber had been making regular financial losses. Now it has almost £1.5 million in reserves."

A unique project to help young people in Wolverhampton cope with the trials and tribulations of modern life has moved into new offices in the city.  Last year, the City of Wolverhampton Council was given £500,000 by The Big Lottery Fund to establish a series of pilot HeadStart projects which would test different ways of improving the mental health, well-being and resilience of 10 to 16-year-olds and giving them the best chance to do well at school and in life.

Farrington's Mellow Yellow welcomed HRH The Duke of Gloucester to view their newly expanded production facility and announced export deals to UAE and Asia. Farrington's Mellow Yellow unveils its production expansion and biggest investment to date, which sees a significant increase in production facilities to support continued domestic growth and new export deals to UAE and Thailand.

The European Court of Justice said that the shape of the KitKat alone was not distinctive enough for consumers to associate it with the snack. Cadbury has persistently fought to prevent Nestle obtaining the trademark and both Nestle and Cadbury said they were "pleased" with today's ruling. Nestle's next challenge will be to try and demostrate that the public identifies the KitKat only by its shape, not the name.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee report into the ‘Financial sustainability of police forces in England and Wales’ has highlighted the West Midlands as having been unfairly treated. The report highlights that “West Midlands Police had its initial funding allocations reduced by £132 million between 2010-11 and 2013-14 as a result of damping, while Northumbria Police received an extra £99 million in the same period.”

Sage and PwC have announced an alliance that will enable growing private business customers to combine cutting edge technology with support from leading professional services firm, PwC. The launch will combine the strength of Sage Live, the real-time social accounting solution and PwC's cloud based accounting service, My Financepartner.