BUSINESS NEWS
City united by business
Birmingham lawyer MICHAEL WARD succeeds Christine Braddock as Chamber president at this month’s annual meeting. Here he talks to JOHN LAMB about his aspirations for his year of office.
U
nity is very much on Michael Ward’s mind as he enters the presidency of Birmingham Chamber this year. The senior partner at law firm Gateley calls for the city’s business organisations to work together for the greater good of the city and their own members
as he prepares to succeed Christine Braddock. He says: “It’s important that the Chamber and organisations like Marketing Birmingham, the IoD, the CBI and Birmingham Forward work closely with the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership and the City Council. In the overwhelming majority of cases we are all aiming for the same goal and we should unite in a single purpose. “In order to ensure Birmingham is the place to do business, there is
now a big opportunity – through the LEP – for the Chamber to be at the heart of business in the city. I can’t think of a better placed business organisation to do this. And if this could be under one roof that would make the whole operation more efficient while displaying total unity. “We need to debunk some of the pre-conceived ideas about turf
wars – this has got to go. Let us not waste the current economic crisis. We need to work together to develop a city that people want to come to and do business in. “The council cannot do that on its own and we should get behind
them to drive the city forward while retaining our independence. I would like to make big strides in this direction during my year as president.
“I do not want to waste time. The Chamber is the heart of
business in the city and we must make our voice heard. “The Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP provides the landscape
and gives the private sector, with its 50 per cent representation, a big opportunity to ensure the interests of business are articulated. There are excellent people on the LEP board and if the Chamber and other organisations come together to support them that would be even better.”
Michael, who has 25 years’ experience as a corporate lawyer in the Midlands, was educated at the University of Birmingham and he has strong views on how the city is perceived globally. He says: “I cannot understand why some of our worldwide
institutions hide the fact that they are in Birmingham. “Edgbaston is a prime example. At the height of the riots in the city,
attracting adverse global publicity, we had about 25,000 people of diverse backgrounds gathering for four days at the cricket ground for the Test match between England and India. “There was hardly a police officer in sight and the match went ahead without trouble and in a spirit of great friendly rivalry. And yet those TV images that were sent round the world from the ground did not shout that the venue was in Birmingham while the riots did. “The same will apply to the Alexander Stadium when the US track and
field team arrive to start their Olympic build-up next year along with the Jamaicans. “I would like to use my term of office to try to change that – to ensure that Birmingham’s name is at the heart of everything that is great about the city.”
‘The Chamber is the heart of business in the city and we must make our voice heard’
Birmingham Chamber president: Michael Ward, head of Gateley’s corporate team
8 CHAMBERLINK OCTOBER 2011
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