BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF
A return to Villa Park by football legend Paul McGrath to help set a record for the most amount of money ever raised by football fans during a Premier League match has generated a final total of £7,500 for Acorns Children’s Hospice. He took to the pitch at half-
time to ask the crowd to get their mobile phones out and donate using the free text donation service, JustTextGiving by Vodafone. Every penny donated went directly to the charity and the service also allowed people to claim Gift Aid to increase their donation.
Serviced apartment operator Staying Cool has increased its investment in the iconic Rotunda building, after relocating its headquarters to Birmingham last year. Staying Cool managing
director Tracey Stephenson has announced that the company is opening a further seven apartments next month at the cylindrical tower, bringing the total from 19 to 26, including three penthouses. Tracey said: “Staying Cool
recently celebrated its third anniversary of welcoming guests to our wonderful apartments at Rotunda. We consistently achieve outstanding occupancy levels and we felt the time was right to increase our presence in the city so that more visitors can enjoy the Staying Cool experience.”
A Coleshill-based firm has staged an initiative to find the business leaders of tomorrow – by asking a group of year-nine pupils to devise a maintenance programme for Birmingham Town Hall. The tough task was handed
out by building maintenance firm Norland to pupils from Oldbury College of Sport. Ten teams were given two
days to complete the task and they were given coaching by Norland staff, including business unit director Darren Smith. They were given was a crash
course in how to put together commercial and financial models, in order to produce a tender for the maintenance work. The pupils presented their
tenders to a panel which included Mr Smith and representatives from the 179- year-old Town Hall.
Mr Smith said: “Not only did
they have to organise themselves into teams, create their company logo and strategy, they had to delegate individuals to carry out certain roles, attend appointments and create a website.”
14 CHAMBERLINK NOVEMBER 2011
Aston Brain Centre opens A
brain scanner specifically for children – one of only three in
the world – forms part of pioneering new research facilities at Aston University in Birmingham. The newly-opened Aston Brain
Centre (ABC) brings together a suite of equipment and facilities for related areas of brain research, from child development to healthy ageing. The Centre specialises in areas including epilepsy, dyslexia, autism, ADHD, sleeping disorders and metabolic disease. The ABC will also provide a
referral service for the National Health Service (NHS), providing innovative diagnostic services unavailable within the NHS.
The facility will house: • A whole brain paediatric magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanner. This is the only MEG scanner of its kind in Europe and one of only three in the world
• A new human brain tissue lab with specialist electrophysiology rigs for the study of brain cell function
• Sleep Research Laboratories providing the first facility for the study of neurological and psychiatric sleep disorders, with particular interest in diagnosis and drug therapies
• A Dyslexia and Developmental Assessment Unit to provide a range of psychological assessments for dyslexia for both children and adults
• A Human Brain Tissue Laboratory, run in collaboration with the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and University of Newcastle.
The new £5m purpose-built Centre was officially opened by Tim Melville-Ross, chair of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
Crafting links with businesses
Craftspace are providing opportunities to create links between regional businesses and local creative talent by sponsoring prizes for young and innovative makers at next year’s Made in the Middle exhibition.
Made in the Middle, the Midland’s principal selling exhibition of contemporary craft, opens at mac
birmingham in February 2012 before touring to major galleries over a period of 18 months. The exhibition provides an opportunity to see the best contemporary craft from 27 of the region’s best makers and offers an insight into the skill, creativity and innovative practice within the region. Work will include ceramics, glass, metalwork, jewellery, textiles, wood
and mixed media. The exhibition will explore ‘Pathways to Craft’, featuring makers who have accessed the industry through higher education as well as those who have adopted alternative routes into craft careers. There is also a focus on the use of digital technologies in making. Among many other benefits this opportunity provides an opportunity for a business to reach an estimated 50,000 visitors across the Midlands and beyond. Craftspace is an award winning
organisation which supports contemporary craft makers and works with communities to grow skills and raise confidence through crafts.
Contact Linda Strain, on
l.strain@
craftspace.co.uk or phone 0121 608 6668 for a chat about opportunities for working together.
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