BUSINESS NEWS BUSINESS NEWS


rank Cole, the former president of Birmingham Chamber who was


instrumental in creating the city’s National Exhibition Centre, has died aged 92. Mr Cole was president in 1968 and


View digital copy of Chamberlink


Chamberlink will in future offer a new dimension for members and advertisers by going digital on the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group website. From this month, the magazine,


distributed in traditional format to 3,000 member companies plus government offices, local authorities, universities and colleges, foreign embassies, hotels, offices, rail stations, the NEC, ICC and Birmingham Airport, can be used inter-actively by visiting www.birmingham-chamber.com Simply click on the link and you will be taken to the digital version with its easy page-turning device. It will feature live email and website links and will have the capability to include digital content such as video. Chamberlink editor John Lamb


said: “The digital edition is a natural development. It will enhance the hard copy of the magazine by providing an interactive experience for members and advertisers alike.”


Chamber hosts Lib Dem event


Birmingham Chamber staged a fringe event at the Hyatt during the Lib Dem conference at which delegates discussed securing growth and jobs in Greater Birmingham. Members of the panel were


(left to right): Simon Topman (Acme Whistles), Christine Braddock (president, Birmingham Chamber), Steve Hollis (deputy chairman, Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership), David Laws MP and Chris Handy (Accord Group).


See Editor’s View, page 4. Picture: Jas Sansi


6 CHAMBERLINK OCTOBER 2011


worked with the city council and the then Chamber director Robert Booth to establish a replacement for the city’s ageing exhibition centre, Bingley Hall.


Born in Manchester, Mr Cole was


involved in business in Birmingham for many years and became the general manager of the BSA motor cycle factory in the 1950s. He was then made managing


Frank Cole: 1919-2011


director of Vono, a Tipton bedding manufacturer. He remained in that role until 1967 and then worked with several Birmingham businesses as a director and chairman with particular expertise in finance, marketing and exports.


He became the first chairman of NEC Limited from


1970 to 1975 and signed the contract for building work to start in February, 1973. He led trade missions to Yugoslavia, Rumania and Hungary when export promotion was given high priority in government support for business initiatives. His speech at the 1969 Chamber Banquet gained national media exposure. He berated in courteous but firm terms the then Chancellor, Roy Jenkins. “I honestly doubt whether any of your advisers have any concept of the acute day-to-day financial difficulties facing the average businessman,” he said. Of the NEC, he said: “A number of us were involved


in exhibitions around the world and we were so conscious of how much better the exhibition facilities were abroad.”


‘Frank and Robert were instrumental in establishing the NEC in Birmingham’


LATEST NEWS FROM BIRMINGHAM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GROUP


NEC visionary Cole dies F


The NEC, he said “sparked the


renaissance of the Birmingham area. The beauty of the NEC was it saw the business community and the city council working in harmony.” Mr Cole was a keen tennis player


and took part in the 1990 and 1992 Wimbledon National Veterans Championship. His son John was PA to Robert Booth at the Chamber from 1969 to 1973 and became the marketing director at the NEC until 2005. John said: “Frank and Robert


were instrumental in establishing the NEC in Birmingham. At the time it was an extremely bold move and required a lot of courage on the part of many people and the council to battle with London for the right to build it here.


“They had to convince many sceptical people that it


was a worthwhile move and Frank was delighted to see the NEC go on to be the success it is today.” They identified the full potential of the farmland site


next to the then Elmdon Airport before the M6 had been completed and the M42 was only a dream. The Midlands had to fight hard to get Birmingham


International Station approved and funded. After the emergency 1973 Budget it required personal lobbying with the then Prime Minister, Edward Heath, to get this vital element back on schedule. Mr Cole led this and other key negotiations with the government during the pioneering phases. Mr Cole, who lived in Balsall Common and later


moved to Dorridge, married Gwen in 1940 and they had two sons, David and John, and a daughter, Elaine. There are three grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. Gwen died in 1981 and Mr Cole is survived by his second wife, Barbara.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56