Business News

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.

There are many reasons that people use an online estate agent: convenience, efficiency, a DIY attitude, affordability... but to save on estate agent fees in order to buy a herd of alpacas? In the case of one couple from Yorkshire, yes!

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 Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Raymond Hassell (Liberal Democrat), will be amongst a cross-party list of dignitaries at the Council House, this Thursday, to witness 80 teenage students, who have overcome personal and social barriers to education, graduate with diplomas in a range of vocational studies.

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.

Cabinet are being asked to approve plans to support a bid for lottery funding to regenerate part of Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, enabling the opening of new businesses and the creation of jobs.

Measures to deal with a projected over-allocation of renewable energy subsidies have been announced today. Reducing energy bills for hard working British families and businesses and meeting climate goals in the most cost effective way are Government priorities. The measures set out today will provide better control over spending and ensure bill payers get the best possible deal as we continue to move to a low-carbon economy.

Almost one million passengers passed through Birmingham Airport last month, making it the busiest June in the airport’s history. A record 988,916 people chose the Midlands airport throughout June, beating its previous record for the month, set in June 2014 by 2.8%. Long-haul traffic experienced significant growth in June, up 20% compared to the same period last year.

One of the key speakers at the next month’s Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) Expo event at the National Motorcycle Museum is well-known entrepreneur and innovator Simon Jenner. Simon runs a chain of coffee shops, Urban Coffee Company, which has three outlets in Birmingham and one in Coventry. He’s been running the chain with his business partner for four years, and the business now has a turnover of £1m.

The Birmingham Curzon HS2 Masterplan is set to be adopted by the city council at its cabinet meeting on the 27 July. The masterplan, which was launched for public consultation in 2014, sets out proposals to deliver a world class integrated city centre terminus station – Birmingham Curzon – along with major regeneration across Eastside, Digbeth and the City Centre Core.

Whilst house price growth has slowed down in the West Midlands in the last year, average house prices are expected to keep growing at around 5.5% for the rest of the decade, according to PwC analysis in its latest UK Economic Outlook report.  From a 5.9% growth rate in 2014, PwC predicts growth of 3.7% in 2015, 4.6% in 2016 and 5.5% in 2017-2020. Average house prices in the West Midlands are expected to rise from £195k in 2014 to £261k in 2020.

Underused and poor quality court and tribunal buildings are being recommended for closure in a consultation published by Courts Minister, Shailesh Vara. The buildings being consulted on represent 16% of hearing rooms across the estate in England and Wales, which are, on average, used for only a third of their available time. That is equivalent to fewer than two out of five days in a week.

National research tracking the actions of UK pension planners imminently affected by the April 6^th pension reforms has unveiled 73% of those aged 55+ (and financially eligible) have chosen not to withdraw any funds since the freedoms became available. This is despite 60.4% of the same survey sample intending to do so in April, 2015 - before the reforms went live.