Young traders are being invited to show off their stalls to hundreds of shoppers thanks to a free business opportunity organised by City of Wolverhampton Council.

As part of the national Young Traders Market programme, entrepreneurs aged between 16 and 30 can take advantage of special events being run throughout July and August.

Businesses across Solihull can now apply for the chance to be recognised in the Solihull Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Dinner and Awards ceremony, returning this October at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole hotel.

This year’s awards will take place on Friday 7 October from 6pm at the flagship hotel who became patrons of the Solihull Chamber of Commerce earlier this year.

Sandwell Leisure Trust (SLT) is heralding its latest independently verified success story of generating and delivering nearly £7 million of social value* back to the borough.

This figure for the 21/22 financial year has increased significantly from £1.8million in financial year 20/21 - highlighting the impact of COVID-19 closures on Social Value – plus the Black Country-based charity (which still runs nine leisure facilities for Sandwell Council across the borough) is well above standard for the industry.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has headed off on a transatlantic trade mission to beat the drum for the region with North American investors, business leaders and tourist chiefs.

With the Commonwealth Games less than 70 days away, the week-long trip to the USA and Canada will see the Mayor visit Chicago before travelling to Toronto where he will lead a West Midlands showcase event featuring the arrival in the city of the Queen’s Baton Relay.

At a time of global climate crisis, when nations are looking to governments for comprehensive plans to secure a green future, new research from Novuna Business Finance reveals that half of the UK small business community are sleepwalking into landfill by not yet recycling plastic bottles and tins cans (50%). Further, four in 10 enterprises (39%) are not recycling paper and, worryingly, only a third use confidential waste to process sensitive documents.

Water Saving Week, run by Waterwise, aims to raise awareness of the issues around water use and help people understand the value of water, so they can use it wisely.

Bromford, which is providing a range of properties for local people in the West Midlands, is committed to making sure its homes are water and energy efficient, in a way that is beneficial to both the environment and homeowners’ wallets.