1813 Club and Premier Members
1813 Club and Premier Members
Greater Birmingham’s leading companies
Airline adds new destination
The first Qatar Airways has launched the first of its new flights from Doha to Da Nang, Vietnam. Da Nang is the third
Vietnamese destination for Qatar Airways, and comes as its home country and the Far East destination celebrate 25 years of diplomatic relations. Qatar Airways chief
executive Akbar Al Baker was on the inaugural flight to Da Nang, and said: “Qatar Airways is very pleased to extend its reach into Vietnam by launching our third gateway into this beautiful country. “The addition of Da Nang to
our global network further demonstrates our commitment to the Far East region, a highly important market for Qatar Airways. “And we are excited for
passengers travelling to and from central Vietnam to experience our award-winning service and product for themselves. With 56 weekly passenger flights to and from Vietnam, we take great pride in our role in bringing passengers to and from this beautiful county and also being a trade enabler and connector for Vietnamese and international businesses.” Also on board was the
Vietnamese ambassador to Qatar, Nguyen Dinh Thao, said: “This year marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Qatar, and we are delighted to welcome Qatar Airways to Da Nang, its third Vietnamese destination. “The direct flight to Doha
will play a crucial role in connecting central Vietnam passengers and freight to the rest of the world. With the increased connectivity, we also look forward to welcoming more tourists to Da Nang, the tourist capital of South Central Vietnam.”
38 CHAMBERLINK February 2019 Retail sector must fight back
The recent troubles of Debenhams and Marks & Spencer have once again highlighted the problems being suffered by the high-street. Store closures and job losses are
always the headlines that accompany such stories, but real estate experts at law firm Trowers & Hamlins say that many more people stand to be affected. The firm, which has an office in Birmingham, said that what was often overlooked was that many of the high-street’s retail assets were owned by pension funds, and any loss of rents caused by closures had the potential to affect pensioners and savers. And while the major players are
the ones in the headlines, smaller retailers are also being hit – figures suggest that more than 11 per cent of the nation’s retail units are currently empty. Katie Todd (pictured), real estate
partner at Trowers & Hamlins, said that it was still possible for the retail sector to fight back. She said the first thing was to recognise that while there were
‘The high-streets that aren’t doing well need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis’
universal challenges for retailing, all retail centres were unique and would benefit from different solutions. She said: “The high-
streets that aren’t doing well need to be evaluated on a case-by- case basis because no two high- streets are the same. “Once differences, including the
demographic make-up of a catchment area have been understood, council leaders can tailor their strategies to suit local need.” Ms Todd said that another
element of a high-street recovery plan has to be an overhaul of the planning system, which needed to be ‘far less prescriptive about how buildings are used’.
“I think there needs to be more
flexibility so that when landlords are faced with empty units, you can change it to something that is a different use and don’t have to go into planning every time,” she said. Such a change would
be likely to require intervention from central government, with local planning authorities directed
through planning policy to amend use class restrictions. The firm said that those regional
centres which were viewed as having avoided the worst problems, such as Exeter, Bristol and Plymouth, had overseen a re- gearing of their retailing, based on focusing on a prime shopping zone while developing neighbouring areas into complementary dining, leisure and cultural quarters. This policy is being coupled with
an integration of residential accommodation, which is helping these areas turn into places to live, work and visit.
Funds raised for speciality hospital unit
A group of fundraisers from Cystic Fibrosis Care Swallowfield presented a cheque for £30,000 to clinicians at a specialist cystic fibrosis unit at Heartlands Hospital. Consultants Dr Joanne
Whitehouse, Dr Rafid Tashid and Dr Edward Nash were presented with
the cheque, which will go towards renovation of the unit. Cystic Fibrosis is a life shortening
genetic disease that slowly destroys the lungs and digestive system. It causes thick sticky mucus to
clog up the internal organs, especially the lungs and digestive
system damaging the organs. The Cystic Fibrosis Care charity
support patients and cystic fibrosis units in the Midlands in the form of individual grants for patients with welfare, medical equipment such as nebulisers, hospital transport costs, and emotional support in times of difficulty.
Premier Membership
Contact: Howard Blow T: 0121 607 1841
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