Business News
Celebrating the diversity of Birmingham
The main theme of the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) dinner on Saturday, 17 November, will be diversity. Here ABCC president Qasim Majid, chief executive and founder of digital agency Wow Zone, explains why diversity is the core of the ABCC’s strength.
Many organisations will be in full flow executing their plans made earlier in the year, to maximise on the Golden Quarter (the period between September and Christmas). This time of year is also crammed with events, which means the award season is in full swing. But I can’t help but think back to
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when we had that amazingly hot summer. A distinct moment for me was during an evening in early August. I’d just happened to walk through Birmingham city centre. The sun was low in the sky, the temperature was in the mid-20s and it felt as though I could have been walking through any major European city - the likes of Barcelona, Prague or Lyon, ones that we all rave about. As I made my way up New
Street, heading towards the ICC, past the Council House, the museum and walked alongside Baskerville House and the iconic Library of Birmingham, I had to take in the dusk view, of how beautiful the city, that has been my home for the past 16 years, looked. It took my breath away. The transformation that was going on around me was simply
rguably, we are now in the middle of the busiest period of the business calendar.
spectacular; you could not only see it, but you could feel it, too. For the first time since living in the great city of Birmingham, I could sense that something truly special was happening around me. It was at that moment when my
thoughts turned to how amazingly well the ABCC is positioned. A city that is in full transformation; a city that is diverse, young and in a region which has the highest rate of start-up businesses, many of which form the Asian business community. Our annual dinner this year will
be celebrating all that is great about Birmingham, and most importantly, how diversity is the core of our strength, both now and for the future. To me it’s quite a simple formula:
Diversity is inclusion and inclusion is diversity. From a business perspective, it
should not be deliberate, nor should it be by design. Diversity is all about picking from a talent pool that is available to do the job at hand, irrespective of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. I believe that small businesses
are an example to larger corporate organisations, because in the main, the SME business owner recruits looking at ability and aptitude before anything else. That’s
‘At the ABCC we are proud to have launched our Diversity Pledge, which is specifically targeted for the larger organisation’
Inspiration: Qasim Majid outside the City of Birmingham Library
certainly how we recruit in our digital agency and because of it we are much stronger. This is because it brings together people from varied backgrounds, sharing different opinions, resulting in well- rounded solutions for clients. That’s why at the ABCC we are
proud to have launched our Diversity Pledge, which is specifically targeted for the larger organisation. And it’s a pledge with substance, not just a piece for paper that gets signed and stowed away. There are practical, tangible outputs in the form of seminars, workshops and consultancy for those who are serious about developing their knowledge and organisations. Birmingham reflects the changing demographic of the UK.
Its greatest strength is its diverse, young, tech-savvy, entrepreneurial- minded population. If large brands really want longevity, they need to understand what their customer demographic will look like in five to 10 years from now. Therefore, they need to employ, promote, develop and maintain a workforce that is symbiotic of its surroundings. Then and only then will they continue to keep their competitive edge.
• See Pages 46 and 47 for full details of ticket purchases plus sponsorship and advertising opportunities at one of the biggest and most important dinners in Greater Birmingham.
Looking after the health of your employees
Stephanie Byrom
A new healthcare company in Birmingham claims to be providing “a service that employees and businesses are genuinely crying out for”. Operations director Stephanie Byrom was talking
about Virgin Care Private, in Edmund Street, which provides an on-demand service, where health insurance or referrals are not needed to book an appointment. She said: “The team at Virgin Care Private are on a
mission to help employees be their best selves, at work and at home because the world is catching up and realising that businesses must look after employees’
16 CHAMBERLINK October 2018
health and wellbeing. We have admin-light operations with on-demand access to doctors, emotional wellbeing experts, physios and consultants that doesn’t replace health insurance - it either enhances insurance or stands alone as a different kind of health benefit. “Being able to provide a service that employees and businesses are genuinely crying out for is so satisfying.”
For more information on Virgin Care Private and to view the full service offering please visit
www.virgincareprivate.co.uk
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