Business News
Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce annual awards 2018
The awards shortlist has been extended to cope with the record number of entries. John Lamb takes a snap-shot look at those businesses, focusing on what makes them believe they should win their chosen category.
Shortlist
Excellence in Contributing to the Community Sponsors: B&M Waste Services
Acorns Children’s Hospice: Provides palliative care and support for life-limited children and their families. Their teams provide a range of specialist, holistic care services across the region from their three hospices in Birmingham, Walsall and Worcester. The hospice will end 2018 in sound financial health having overcome challenging economic conditions over the past three years.
Auriga Services: The not-for-profit company, which supports individuals and families who require financial and specialist assistance, has grown its turnover significantly in the past three years. Auriga raises funds by working with partners who share their beliefs – a challenge they have met by expanding services and attracting new clients. During the past year, they organised 20 activities to raise £20,000 for WaterAid.
Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity: This treasured institution joined forces with Birmingham Women’s Hospital last year – the first NHS Foundation Trust of its kind. The Charity followed up its Big Hoot campaign with The Big Sleuth– a collection of “bears” posted on a trail across the region – to raise awareness. They again teamed up with Wild in Art and the campaign is expected help the charity raise £6.4 million by the end of 2018.
Birmingham Museums Trust: In association with Sole City Arts, the Trust created a community project Knights of the Raj, telling how the curry became Britain’s favourite dish. The three-month exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery was extended by two weeks. There was strong involvement with the Bangladeshi community and Sole City Arts transformed the BMAG into an Indian restaurant to host a performance and launch dinner.
6 CHAMBERLINK April 2018
Birmingham St Mary’s: The hospice provides care and support to individuals and families across Birmingham and Sandwell living with terminal illness. Their team of nurses, doctors, counsellors and volunteers provide expert care. Their Satellite Clinics take care into the heart of diverse communities and Support at Home, launched last year, takes volunteers into homes to offer companionship and support and to combat isolation.
Cure Leukaemia: The charity raises funds to help blood cancer patients by funding specialist nurses. The team of only five people succeeded in raising an additional £1 million in 2017 to fully fund the £3.4 million expansion of the Centre for Clinical Haematology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. The charity also secured national support from Deutsche Bank.
Services for Education: Established in 2012 and part-funded by the Arts Council, the charity delivers education and training, including music tuition, in Birmingham schools to pupils, teachers and staff. It is now regarded as one of the leading organisations contributing and developing the rich cultural and artistic fabric of the city. It engages with 37,991 children – 19 per cent of the school population - every week.
SIFA Fireside: The charity works to prevent homelessness and provide welfare for homeless people and rough sleepers. SIFA Fireside has experienced a huge demand for its services, with the number of people visiting their drop-in centre increasing from 90 a day in 2014-15 to 160 this year. They have provided homeless services for 35 years, overcoming a difficult funding period in the last three years.
Excellence in Customer Service
Sponsors: South & City College Birmingham
ACUTEC Limited: The company provides small businesses and charities with IT support and
software development. Increasing customer service is at the heart of its operations and credits its projected growth this year to its service strategy. It has ensured that its 24/7 service is world-class and has made significant investments to make sure clients continue their operations without disruption.
A-Plant: The plant-hire business hires out a wide range of construction and specialist equipment such as excavators, dumpers, generators and tools. The company has invested heavily in staff training to maintain high quality customer service. Their dedicated Customer Experience team drives the correct behaviours across the company and ensures that all customer concerns are addressed within an hour.
Conference Aston: The venue offers a conference and meeting facility with a four-star standard hotel. Their international client base includes academic associates, corporates, charities and independent companies. Their commitment to customer service is reflected in a high customer satisfaction rating compared to the industry average.
CV Library: Every client receives a detailed Service Level Agreement and is assigned a dedicated Client Response Co-ordinator, who offers site training, advice on job posting and tips on how to research the company candidate database effectively. They have experienced consistent year-on-year growth and last year increased revenue substantially. They are continually looking for new ways to target both job hunters and potential clients.
eSpares: The home appliance spare parts company, which was launched from a back-garden pigsty, operates as Connect Distribution Services Ltd from a 240,000 sq ft national distribution centre in Birmingham. It now employs 600 people across its two sites and attributes its growth to their market-leading service. Their on-site Advice Centre of 600 articles helps readers to replace faulty parts.
Go Ape Cannock: A forest adventure site providing excellence in customer services. This is supported by their on-line scores – Tripadvisor 5.0; Facebook 4.8; Google 4.7, among others. They say staff are at the core of their success and are central to their aims of exciting, surprising and delighting customers and are central to the business ethos of living life adventurously.
Open Study College: Specialises in distance learning, education courses and qualifications and the company has worked hard to ensure the quality of their work exceeds their peers. They strive to help people back into work by making courses more affordable and accessible. In 2018 they are introducing a scholarship scheme, which will offer 50 per cent fund for those who cannot afford to study.
Wealth Design Group: The financial planning company offers independent advice in planning for retirement, investments, financial,, trust funds, tax, inheritance, protection as well as personal injury and clinical negligence. Their commitment to customers is demonstrated by continually challenging themselves to deliver the best quality service experience aided by questionnaires, a personalised welcome pack, a pro- active social media presence and an app among other initiatives.
Excellence in Hospitality Sponsors: Pure Data Centres Group
Audley St George’s Place/Three church Road at St George’s: Created in 2017, this luxury retirement village and haute cuisine restaurant is located in Edgbaston. Its exclusive restaurant is open to the public as well as villagers and has a policy of supporting local suppliers. Audley Retirement Villages. established in 1991, say they aim to “change the perception of retirement living…”
Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre Trust: This Birmingham institution is more than just a theatre. The half a
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