Contents Contents Chamberlink April 2017


Business News 5 Picture gallery and round-up from the 2017 Chamber Dinner & Awards


8 Win VIP tickets to see Ed Sheeran 10 President’s Focus: Professor Julian Beer of the BABC Midlands Chapter


11 Interim council chief welcomed 12 Chamber’s Financial Director to step down after 22 years


14 The Griffin Report: Neil Snowball of Warwickshire County Cricket Club


16 ‘Super hospital’ will breathe new life into site of former factory


17 Charity link spices up Curry Club 18 Birmingham ranked highly in global quality of life report


Chamber Patrons 20 Birmingham Children’s Hospital rated outstanding in healthcare report


1813 Club and Premier Members 22 Fleet rental business earns accreditation from industry body


14 21


International Trade 24 Business leaders offer help to others through ‘Export Champions’ scheme


Chamber Group 26 Future Faces: Buddy Bag Foundation adopted as charity for 2017


27 BABC: Delegation heads for Chicago 28 Solihull: Business seeks apprentices 30 Lichfield & Tamworth: David Tomalin to head up local BID scheme


31 Burton & District: Chamber President urges firms to take feedback on board


32 Chase: Children’s hospice needs help to expand remit


37 Sutton Coldfield: Chamber appoints Katie Hale as vice president


38 ABCC: Organisation celebrates three decades helping Asian businesses


56 Features


The Hub 33 Pull-out calendar of events taking place across the Chamber network


Sector Focus 50 Finance: SMEs say Germany is most important international trade partner


51 Retail: Customer service will always be crucial to retail success


52 Property: Plans unveiled for major industrial development in region


54 Business Travel: National Express leads fight against global warming


56 Sports: Blues supporter gets dream job as club’s apprentice ambassador


58 Manufacturing: Autogyro firm to soar after night flight permission granted


60 Skills: Apprentices host speed dating event for local students


Member Section 62 Competition:Win use of a room at Harborne pub for up to 10 people


Exhibitions & Conferencing 40 Environment aids the delegate experience 42 Planning a corporate away day 44 Differentiating your offering from the rest


Growing your business 46 Make marketing your focus to ensure ongoing growth and success


48 Don’t let skills shortage hinder expansion


63 Chamber Insight: Curium Solutions 64 New Members: Chamber welcomes new members


66 Appointments: Who’s moving up and moving on


April 2017 CHAMBERLINK3


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