Business News
Bank makes £2.5bn pledge to Midlands’ businesses
Lloyds Banking Group expects to support firms in the Midlands with up to £2.5bn of lending this year as part of national pledge to lend up to £18bn to UK businesses in 2020. The funding, highlighting the
bank’s commitment to be by the side of British business whatever the future brings, is available to firms across the Midlands and will support entrepreneurs looking to start a new business, micro- businesses seeking to scale-up and small businesses considering trading internationally for the first time. It will also support established
mid-sized businesses and large, multinational corporations seeking further growth. This new lending commitment
for 2020 follows the group’s pledge in 2019, also for £18bn lent
Jo Harris, Lloyds Banking
Group Ambassador for the Midlands, said: “Continued investment in the Midlands Engine, and regeneration projects underway across the region, are just two things that will help to drive business growth this year. “We anticipate lending up to
£2.5bn to Midlands firms in 2020, as they take advantage of the prospects ahead.” During 2019, the group also
Driving growth: Jo Harris
nationally and £2.5bn available to the region’s firms. Despite the continuing challenging economic environment, the group is not lessening its backing for British businesses and is on hand to support their growth aspirations.
Linking Birmingham up with Bollywood
A new partnership between a Birmingham university and one of India’s most renowned creative institutions will give students the opportunity to collaborate on major projects in the Bollywood and UK film industries. Birmingham City University has formed a formal collaboration with Mumbai-based Ronkel Media Education Institute, which students will be handed real-world experience working on motion picture productions. Ronkel specialises in film industry training and its staff are internationally
renowned for their contribution to Bollywood filmmaking, while Birmingham City University has a history of creative education in the UK’s second city, which dates back more than 175 years. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the two, which
aims to support students in developing the valuable skills needed to help create, perform in or market a movie. It will also provide opportunities for students to study aspects of the
media, arts and entertainment overseas as part of exchange study programmes between Birmingham City University and Ronkel Media Education Institute.
Partners: Pro vice-chancellor and executive dean Professor Alison Honour and vice-chancellor Professor Philip Plowden of Birmingham City University, with staff from Ronkel
assisted its customers in becoming more sustainable. The group is on course to meet its ambitions to support existing and new customers with energy efficiency improvements for a further one million square feet of commercial real estate as well as delivering renewable energy projects capable of powering 3.5 million homes by 2020.
Departure lounge
set for extension The start of construction on Birmingham Airport’s £30m departure lounge extension has been officially marked by aviation minister Paul Maynard. The project will provide a
modern two-story extension with outdoor terrace area, growing the space by 45 per cent to create more natural light, circulation space, seating and toilets, plus five new catering units and three additional retail outlets. Mr Maynard, said: “Our second
city’s airport serves more than one million passengers every month, so it is vital that it has the world class facilities and state-of-the-art infrastructure it deserves. Airport chief executive Nick
Barton said: “The extended lounge forms part of a wider terminal transformation project, known as TE18, which will cater for the forecast growth in passenger numbers to 18 million per year by the year 2033.” The new extension is expected to be completed next year.
February 2020 CHAMBERLINK 21
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