Solihull
All the latest news, advice and events for the Solihull business community
Contact: Joan Smith T: 0121 678 7488
Growth hub plan will
boost local economy A landmark 20-year growth plan for the ‘Hub’ of UK Central Solihull has been unveiled. This plan will position the region as a major
driver of growth – delivering an economic boost of up to £4.1bn in GVA each year. The ‘Growth & Infrastructure Plan’, developed
by UK Central’s Urban Growth Company (UGC), sets out the growth ambitions to maximise the full potential of this ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity. The scale of the plan is unprecedented, with highlights including the potential for 775,000 sq m of new commercial and mixed-use floor space, up to 4,000 new homes and the delivery of a major economic boost worth up to £4.1bn in GVA each year. Through this vision, the UGC expects the
creation of up to 77,500 new jobs. Already home to global businesses and
strategic economic assets including Birmingham Airport, the NEC and Jaguar Land Rover, the Hub is the location of the HS2 Interchange Station, placing the area 38 minutes from London Euston and creating one of the best- connected places in the UK by rail, road and air. The Hub has already secured investment from
UK Government, the West Midlands Combined Authority, HS2 Ltd and Highways England, with an expected £1.5bn of infrastructure investment over the next 10 years. Connecting to the wider region and national
transport network, plans include developing a multi-modal transport interchange at Birmingham International Station, connecting the HS2 Interchange with the NEC and Birmingham Airport via an automated people mover and linking to mainline rail, Metro and Bus Rapid Transit. Councillor Ian Courts, deputy leader and
cabinet member for managed growth at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, said: “This plan allows us to showcase the truly global opportunity that is presented by the Hub. “Growth and development ambitions around the
HS2 Interchange and Arden Cross site, in addition to those of Birmingham Airport, the NEC and JLR combine to create a compelling international investment destination for the worldwide stage.”
Future learning: Joan Smith and Mick Westman
Looking to the future
A Solihull not-for-profit venture is aiming to help find the apprentices of the future for local businesses. The venture is Quick Code Labs, which is
based at Solihull College, and one of its key aims is to future proof apprentices so they can successfully tackle the jobs of tomorrow. QCL’s founder Mick Westman believes that the
current generation of 16 to 20-year-olds may have a wealth of digital skills at their fingertips, but that they have not been taught how to apply them in a meaningful way. He said: “Employers need people who can
demonstrate the three As – Attitude, Aptitude and Application – as well as a set of core skills specific to working in business, such as communication. These skills are what will be developed in all Quick Code Labs apprentices.” He believes that this approach will create
future employees that can add real value to their employers, and that are transferable in a job market that will become increasingly transitory. He said as the idea of a ‘job for life’ disappears,
the employee of the future will need to have skills which can be transferred elsewhere, depending on what jobs are needed at any given moment.
‘Employers need people who can demonstrate the three As – Attitude, Aptitude and Application’
The initiative is being backed by Solihull
Chamber, and director Joan Smith said: “Mick Westman joined Solihull Chamber around two years ago. He and I had a discussion around skills gaps and the rest is history. He has come from a corporate background with BT and decided to come out of the corporate world to make a difference. He believes that by working with our younger generation he can teach them to apply themselves in a meaningful way. “The biggest difference is the students work on
real business projects and apply their learning as they go along. Instead of just being taught in a classroom, they are working in teams with real life projects, which brings all their skills together. “These areas of learning can be IT, creative and
digital and business professional students. The benefits are far greater as they are learning from each other as they work through the projects.”
Midshire secures first international contract Monster contract: Julian Stafford
Solihull sales and service provider Midshire has secured an IT contract with Europe-based US Tax & Finance Ltd, the first international contract in its 27-year history. With offices in London, Geneva and Zurich, US
Tax & Finance has been providing both individual and corporate guidance to anyone subject to the US tax system for the past three decades. US Tax was running two entirely separate IT
infrastructures pre-Midshire, which proved to be expensive and made collaboration fragmented. Midshire is now providing a two-stage solution, IT support and integration onto Midshire’s hosted desktop solution, Desktop Monster. Kofi Owusu, head of technical support at US
28 CHAMBERLINK April 2017
Tax & Finance, said: “It was quite a change to meet with Midshire’s team and actually spend time discussing some of the issues we had, and our concerns going forward to try and reduce our IT spend, I was left feeling very confident.” IT support costs were incredibly high for US
Tax, they owned several servers in Switzerland Midshire’s new business manager Luke Wilson said: “Our main aim is to massively reduce US Tax’s IT costs without compromising on quality of service by improving their business processes with Desktop Monster.” Midshires managing director Julian Stafford
said: “I am hopeful that this is the first of many international installations by Midshire.”
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