Chamber Patrons Chamber Patrons Greater Birmingham Chambers’ leading supporters The Curzon Building at the university


Willmott Dixon improve university


Birmingham City University’s (BCU) transformation of the city’s Millennium Quarter is taking another huge step forward with Willmott Dixon appointed for a £31m project to extend the Curzon Building. The new Curzon B extension will


house over 3,000 students and members of staff and feature more than 650-rooms, a Student Hub, lecture theatre and mock courtrooms. It adds a further 100,000 square foot extension to the Curzon Building. Curzon B is designed by


Birmingham based firm Associated Architects and follows Willmott Dixon’s completion of the £63 million Curzon Building in September last year, which is now a major landmark for hundreds of thousands of people arriving at Birmingham New Street by train. It brings the value of work


Willmott Dixon has completed for BCU at its new Eastside campus to nearly £150m. Peter Owen, managing director


for Willmott Dixon’s Midlands business, said: “We are delighted to be back working with BCU given our close relationship with the university. This latest project really does make Birmingham the university capital of England.”


HS2 Ltd, the company that is building the high-speed railway between London and the North West, via Birmingham, is going on tour to show local businesses how they can benefit. Its regional roadshow is aimed


at attracting potential suppliers, particularly from infrastructure sub-contractors, and engineering and manufacturing companies. The roadshow will be running


from now until September, and in the West Midlands it will call at Coventry’s Manufacturing Technology Centre on 7 July. Chamber senior policy and


patron adviser Stephanie Wall said: “The HS2 Supply Chain Roadshow provides a great occasion for businesses to explore and understand the supply chain opportunities available as part of the HS2 project. “The opportunities are diverse


and we encourage all businesses to get involved, to ensure they are aware of openings that could support their business to grow.” Among exhibitors at the


Coventry event will be Rail Alliance, Railway Industry Association and MSDUK, a membership organisation which promotes ‘inclusive procurement’. HS2 will be providing an update


at the roadshow on what HS2 will be buying and how they will procure materials and services.


EU In/Out or Digital – which may have the greater impact? The Brexit debate is now in full swing. Most business leaders are looking at the implications for their organisation. Paul Richards, Director of consultancy Re-envisageIT, suggests that how you address the on-going digital and consumer technology revolution may be even more significant for your organisations’ long term success. We have all seen the challenge faced by two well known brands, Austin Reed and BHS, who have struggled to keep pace in their competitive, fast-paced market, increasingly dominated by online retailers. Technology has made it easier to reshape customer centric propositions, create new lines of business, reduce capital investment and mitigate constraints such as location, language and asset-ownership. It enables smaller firms to compete with larger, more established companies. So, how are you responding?


To discuss further, contact: Paul Richards, T: 0800 001 6659 www.re-envisage.it


18 CHAMBERLINK June 2016 An impression of how the National College for High Speed Rail will look


‘The opportunities are diverse and we encourage all businesses to get involved’


The long-awaited National


College for High Speed Rail in Birmingham has taken a significant step forward– with construction officially underway at its two sites in Birmingham and Doncaster. The breaking-ground ceremony


launched the official start of construction on the two sites, in Birmingham’s Learning Quarter and at Doncaster’s Lakeside. The college is on track to open to students in September 2017. It is the latest milestone for the


new high tech training facility, which will provide Britain’s workforce with the specialist training, skills and qualifications required to build HS2 and future rail infrastructure projects.


Councillor John Clancy, leader


of Birmingham City Council, said: “This new college is a fantastic opportunity to build skills in this city and it’s really important that people across the whole of Birmingham benefit. “We have thousands of


talented young engineers and scientists and this will be their chance to access world-leading, cutting-edge rail technology.” Andrew Cleaves, Greater


Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) director for employment and skills, said: “The college will be a real game-changer for local people, which is why the LEP is proud to be investing £6m.”


Cold power heats up


A group of six Midlands universities – including the University of Birmingham and Aston University - are developing the next generation of ‘cold power’ technologies to help save millions of pounds in carbon fuels every year. Backed by £20m funding from the Government’s Thermal Energy


Research Accelerator (T-ERA), the collective has already made advancements in delivering liquid nitrogen engines aimed for the world’s food and medical transporters and are now looking at ways where this solution can used to replace inefficient air conditioning units. “Heating and cooling in our buildings, infrastructure and transport


accounts for more than half of our total energy consumption and is set to grow dramatically over the next 15 years,” said Professor Martin Freer, from the University of Birmingham. “In order to meet our climate and energy goals, we must sharply reduce


the energy we consume for thermal loads and specifically move away from the use of fossil fuels.”


Contact: Stephanie Wall T: 0121 607 1783


All aboard for the HS2 roadshow


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