Business News Business News Latest news from Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce


‘Mr McDonald’s’ clinches double awards victory


The winners of the second annual Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield & Tamworth Chambers’ New Year Business Dinner and Awards have been unveiled at a glittering event at the world famous The Belfry hotel. The Business of the Year winners were:


Pickerings Solicitors (Tamworth), Wright Restaurants (Sutton) and Crown Highways (Lichfield). ‘Wright Restaurants’ owner Douglas Wright also won the Sutton Coldfield President’s Award The three were chosen by a panel of judges


chaired by Birmingham Chamber chief operating officer Russell Jeans and which included Solihull Chamber president Kevin Johns, Future Faces president Sian Averill and Asian Business Chamber vice-president Manjit Kang.


‘A great reminder of the quality of businesses in these parts of the region’


The event was hosted by former Aston Villa


TV presenter Jack Woodward, and HSBC and Fairway Training Healthcare were the headline sponsors. Bracebridge Corporate Finance sponsored the


Sutton Coldfield Business of the Year award, while Power Minerals – whose managing director is Sutton Chamber president Nigel Waldron – backed the Sutton Coldfield President’s Award. The print sponsors for the event were Tamworth- based KEP Print. Pickerings is a Tamworth-based law firm


which was founded 20 years ago. The firm, based in Bonehill Road, employs 50 people. It started with just 12 employees, but today, no less than 18 of its lawyers are listed in The Legal 500, the ‘bible’ of the legal industry.


Douglas Wright (centre) with Paul Kehoe (left) and Paul Faulkner


The Sutton winner is Wright Restaurants,


which operates the largest McDonald’s franchise organisation in the UK. Owner Douglas Wright started as a part-time


employee at McDonald’s back in 1981. After working for the firm for 22 years, he resigned and set up his own limited company in 2002. Wright Restaurants has expanded significantly


in the last three years, with turnover practically doubling, from £21m to more than £41m. The Lichfield winner is Crown Highways of


Chasetown, which has 130 employees and works for Highways England and various local authorities on the maintenance of the road system. Among new markets for the firm is electric


vehicles, where it will be involved in the installation of charging points.


BABC conference comes to town


Birmingham is set to host a major transatlantic business conference this summer. The city has been chosen as the venue


for the British American Business Council (BABC) annual conference which will take place from 6-8 June. It is the first time the conference has


been held in the city for five years, and will attract delegates from Britain and North America. The conference will be another boost for


local businesses seeking new markets in the post-Brexit era. The decision to host the conference


follows the success of Birmingham’s high- profile presence at the same event in Chicago last May.


• For the full story about the 2018 conference, turn to page 33.


Podcast brings you the latest local issues


Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce has taken to the airwaves with the launch of its official podcast. The Chamber Podcast provides a weekly


discussion on the hottest topics affecting the Greater Birmingham business community. Topics covered in early episodes have included congestion in Birmingham, Brexit negotiations and the current state of the Greater Birmingham economy. As well as being able to access the


podcast via the Chamber’s website, listeners can subscribe and download through audioBoom and iTunes.


February 2018 CHAMBERLINK5


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