Solihull
All the latest news, advice and events for the Solihull business community
Contact: Lillian Elekan T: 0121 678 7488
Council welcomes
Ian Courts as leader Solihull Chamber of Commerce board member Ian Courts has taken over as leader of Solihull Metropolitan District Council, following the departure of Bob Sleigh. Mr Sleigh had been leader of the council
for five years, and had spent another eight as deputy leader. His successor was also previously the
deputy leader of the council and cabinet portfolio holder for managed growth. He represents the ward of Dorridge and Hockley Heath. He is a member of various business
bodies, including the Solihull Urban Growth Company, North Solihull Regeneration Company and Blythe Valley Park Innovation Centre. He is also a member of the West Midlands
Combined Authority, where Bob Sleigh had been deputy mayor and a key figure in the organisation. Councillor Courts was first elected to
Solihull Council in 2003 and was the town’s mayor in 2010-11. He had been deputy leader of the council since 2014. A qualified solicitor, Councillor Court’s
business career began at John Laing Group, where he became managing director of the trading division and then Laing Homes. He retired from Laing in 2004. His
interests lie in business and planning, the environment, natural world and ecology. Solihull Chamber manager Lillian Elekan
said: “We are really pleased with Ian’s appointment as leader of Solihull Council. “Ian has been a great supporter of the
Chamber, has spoken at a number of our events and opened a number of our events. “In his capacity as board member for the
Chamber, he has provided nothing but support and dedication. “His lengthy history and association with
the whole community in Solihull, especially the business community, makes him a great fit as leader succeeding Bob Sleigh.” Chamber chief executive Paul Faulkner
said: “Replacing someone that has been as successful and committed as Bob Sleigh is not going to be an easy task but Ian Courts possesses the leadership and other skills needed to thrive in the role. “He is a longstanding member of
Chamber and knows how it works and we look forward to working with him on an agenda to bring prosperity to the region as a whole.”
40 CHAMBERLINK June 2019
Up the Moors: Darryl Eales
Moors vow to mount new promotion bid
By Philip Parkin
Solihull Moors challenge for promotion to the English Football League (EFL) may have ended in glorious failure – but Birmingham’s third biggest club has vowed to continue to chase its dream. As part of this, the club will be ploughing
ahead this summer with a huge programme of improvements to the club’s infrastructure, even though the Damson Park ground is now fully compliant with EFL regulations. Moors finished second in the regular season,
just three points behind champions Leyton Orient. The club then narrowly lost Salford in the play-off semi-finals. Moors chairman Darryl Eales said: “The last
nine months has been an incredible experience, transformative in many ways and hopefully it is just the start of an exciting future for Solihull Moors. “What has struck me most, over this period, is
the wonderful community spirit at the club and the scale of the opportunity to build a genuine community based Football League club, of which the whole of Solihull can be truly proud. “Throughout the club, I’ve been impressed by
the commitment, and dedication of all the team and their buy-in to the art of the possible. “Tim Flowers, the coaching team and the
players have done us proud this season and deserve all the plaudits they have received. We now need to build on this fantastic foundation and we will be working hard to judiciously strengthen the squad over the summer. “It’s also imperative that the infrastructure to
support the development of the club keeps pace with our ambition on the pitch. “Over the last nine months, we have started this
process in earnest, improving our catering and hospitality facilities, establishing a welcoming reception area including our new club shop while also installing a new all-seater stand on the airport side of the ground and, of course, tarmacing the car park. “The ground is now fully compliant with
English Football League regulations, which has been a herculean achievement by all concerned.
‘The last nine months has been an incredible experience, transformative in many ways’
“The summer will see no respite and the ground
improvement programme will continue apace. “The centre piece of the summer upgrade will
be a new two-tier main stand along the full length of the pitch. There will be 20 executive boxes and a new family area together with a children’s play area. At the back of the stadium, we are installing a state-of-the-art 4g pitch together with a suite of classrooms and new changing rooms which will allow us to expand our community and educational activities. “The objective remains clear – to establish
Solihull Moors as a centre player and active participant in the local community and building a ground, team and infrastructure which can deliver on our ambition to one day be a Football League club. “The sense of excitement is tangible around
the place. We have a superb fan base which is growing week-by-week alongside increasing engagement from the local business community. “Everyone is welcome to get involved – the
‘Moor’ the merrier – and let’s really make the dream a reality.”
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