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the progress the Chamber has made over the past two years


I write this as I am currently sitting on the Sifnos (in the Greek Cyclades) ferry leaving from Piraeus. For me, it has been a pretty momentous year both professionally and personally. I have just been informed that our city has just been chosen as the preferred candidate city for the UK’s bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Before I write anything else, I want to congratulate Team Brum and the wider supporting organisations for delivering this opportunity. As I look back some 12 months to the AGM of 2016,


I could not have thought that I would find myself on this particular vessel on its way to one of the lesser known Greek Islands and one without an airport, which means sea travel is the only way in and out. My vacation comes as a bit of a coincidence in that


And that’s where some of the


biggest challenges lie. With a huge amount of uncertainty externally, the biggest challenge for the Chamber remains to myth-bust what the Chamber is and what we can offer. We shall continue to reinforce that


we are a private organisation working with all business sectors and sizes, and with a team of 75 staff based in Birmingham focused solely on connecting, supporting and growing Greater Birmingham businesses. We will continue to get involved


with local community initiatives, like Birmingham Jazz Festival, Velo Birmingham and Birmingham literature festival, to help reinforce the message that we’re accessible to everyone. We have achieved a huge


amount in the past two years, but this is just the beginning – there is still much to do in the months and years ahead. Watch this space!


the sponsor of an airport management conference said if I ever got the opportunity to go I should. That opportunity was presented to me as a result of me standing down as CEO of BHX and the fact that after nine years of service there, I find myself with some spare time to relax and mix my non exec work with my other favourite pastime – travelling. It was on another boat, one to Antarctica, at the beginning of the year that led me to think about options for the future. They say, if you visit, Antarctica, it will change your perspectives on life. It did. When it was announced that the BHX chairman, John Hudson, was standing from the role after 20 years, I thought that was a great time for me to go too. Working with a great chairman makes life so much simpler. John was an excellent chairman and I remember his


first words to me when we met – “You run the company and I’ll run the board”. And it worked. The changes we made and the performance we achieved was phenomenal but that was also down to a great team in support. The one downside I guess is that our success caused us a few growing pains which resulted in some operational performance issues. However, it was comforting to note that BHX wasn't


the only airport in the UK in that position and coming after the award of the world’s most punctual airport bar none in 2016 made this year all the more challenging. Still, the problems are easily surmountable and the team have the plans in place to make the passenger journey a lot smoother.


‘World connectivity is going to be even more important in the future whether its rail, air, roads or broadband’


Business News


...the time was right for a new challenge


Good luck to the new leadership as they help to


make this great city region even better connected. World connectivity is going to be even more important in the future whether its rail, air, roads or broadband. A connected Brum is good for the UK. We will still be promoting our place in the world as a great city region and a great place to do business over the next year. My stepping down as chief executive of the airport


occurred at possibly one of the most difficult times for the UK. There is great economic uncertainty, exposing fractures in the business community over the direction of travel with regards to Brexit and, to some extent, the direction of the Government, with its perilous tiny majority. Events can blow any Government off track. Brexit plus continuing financial fragility and the potential of thermonuclear war is not the greatest basis for long-term decision making. However, here’s where opportunities can be made.


There are three options open to us all – one is remain negative and try to find obstacles in everything one does, the second is to bury one's head in the sand and pretend nothing is happening and the third - the one I favour - is to accept the changes, seize the moment and deliver, albeit in a different fashion or direction from the one you first thought about. I urge all Chamber members to respond to the challenge because, no matter what happens next, it will not be as it was before. If we all invested in our people, plant, training and


products it would be a winning formula, no matter what the world economic situation was. Being adaptable was what Darwin suggested gave the strongest survivors. In an uncertain world, being great at just a few


things will serve us well. What’s happening around the GBCC area will put us all in a great position for the future. All we have to do is deliver on the great opportunity presented to us. And over the next 10 years, we have been gifted an opportunity to change like never before – carpe diem!


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October 2017 CHAMBERLINK7


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