Solihull
All the latest news, advice and events for the Solihull business community
Contact: Samantha Frampton T: 0121 678 7488
Ryan ready to put
the Boot in for Moors Solihull Moors are continuing with their plans for the 2020/21 season in the National League by extending the contracts of two key players, Ryan Boot and Tyrone Williams. Goalkeeper Boot has been a permanent
fixture at Moors since he arrived two years ago, and has now made 100 starts for the club. He’s also kept a clean sheet in a third of those games. As well as Boot, defender Tyrone Williams has
extended his contract for the 2020/21 season, with the option of a further year in place. Williams, 25, joined the club from Kidderminster Harriers in January 2018 and has gone on to make 85 appearances, scoring two goals. Young full back Melis Bushaj has signed his
first professional contract with the club. The 18 year-old has signed a one-year deal
and the club’s head of football development, Myles Cooper, said: “Melis has been brilliant over the last two years. His hard work and his desire to improve are key examples of why he deserves his first professional contract. It demonstrates clearly that with the right attitude and application alongside ability, there is a pathway into football. Meanwhile, plans are going ahead for the
2020/21 season, even though – at the time of writing – the final make-up of the 24 teams who will compete in the league had yet to be decided, and the fixture list had not been released. Despite this, Moors have gone ahead and
begun selling season tickets for the upcoming campaign, and have priced these at just £100. For 16-18 year olds the price will be half that,
and under 16s will get free admission if accompanies by a paying adult or season ticket holder. However, there were only have 500 of these
limited edition season tickets on offer when they went on sale last month. Moors will be hoping to challenge for
promotion during the new season, having finished ninth in the curtailed coronavirus campaign.
Networking returns
in digital format A wildly popular networking initiative is returning – virtually. Pro Solihull Networking, organised by Solihull Chamber, is a range of events whereby local professionals gather to discuss issues and challenges they are facing. This year’s events – all free – will be taking
place on 27 July and August, and 24 September, due the coronavirus crisis. Lillian Elekan, head of Solihull Chamber, said:
“We’re really pleased to start hosting Pro Solihull Networking again, as networking is something that our members have really missed during lockdown. Although it will now take place online, these events will still be fantastic opportunities for our members to make new connections and get to know more people in the diverse and vibrant Solihull business community.”
38 CHAMBERLINK August/September 2020
‘Investment boom’ is predicted for Solihull
Solihull is set for an investment boom which will see the town bounce back faster from Covid-19 than many Midlands towns. That’s the view of the developers of Elevate
Property Group, developer of a residential scheme at Princes Gate in Homer Road. Predictions of a boom are also born out by a
new report, ‘Why buy in Solihull’, produced by national property experts Savills. Savills is also the estate agent for Princes Gate. Elevate has built 100 apartments at Princes
Gate in two phases. The first phase of 30 in Consort House sold out very quickly earlier this year and the second phase, Royal House, of 70 flats is selling fast too. The development is now more than 85 per
cent sold, with five flats sold in the first week after the lockdown on estate agents was lifted, with two bought by first time buyers, and three by investors.
David Hofton, Elevate’s sales and marketing
director, said: “We believe that the surge of interest in buying and renting at Princes Gate, alongside the extremely upbeat report produced by Savills, means that Solihull stands poised at the start of an unprecedented period of growth and job creation. ‘Why buy in Solihull’ lists a number of reasons
why Solihull is a magnet both for investors and buyers. House prices in Solihull saw an average
increase of 24 per cent between January 2015 and January 2020. The year to March 2019 saw a 5.04 per cent increase. Weekly earnings are 14 per cent higher than the national average and disposable income is nine per cent higher. Gross value added (GVA) is 34 per cent higher
than the UK average, and between 2012 and 2017 GVA in Solihull increased by 40 per cent – £2.3bn – double the UK average.
Online platform launched
Coventry-based disability arts organisation Radical Body has launched of an online platform aimed at connecting and supporting disabled and chronically ill artists and audiences. Hosted on Facebook, the ‘Radical Body Network’ will provide a
virtual space for housebound and nearly housebound performing artists to meet, collaborate, share their work and offer each other feedback and support. The initiative has been set up by performance poet Katie Walters,
and is supported by the Belgrade Theatre’s ‘Springboard’ talent development programme, which supports to new companies and emerging performing artists. Katie Walters said: “As an emerging artist, I found it
incredibly difficult to access resources designed to support people starting out in their career. “My aim with the Radical Body Network is to build a
community that helps disabled artists to overcome these challenges, listen to them and respond to their needs, and ultimately we want to produce their work.”
Katie Walters:
Overcoming challenges Credit: Nicola Young
Digital support for local charity
A Solihull-based marketing agency is helping a homeless charity by building a new website and shaping its communications strategy. Jask Creative, based at Olton Wharf, has
provided a range of digital support to the Good Shepherd charity in Wolverhampton, which provides food and other support to the homeless and vulnerable. The Good Shepherd – which started out as a
food bank in 2003 – moved to new premises on Waterloo Road at the start of this year, coinciding with receiving support from Jask, whose staff have also volunteered at the charity.
The charity’s head of operations Tom Hayden
said: “At the Good Shepherd, our priority is always going to be those people who access the charity for food and other support, but we also realised this overriding aim could also be helped by telling our story more widely to raise awareness of our services. “The whole team at Jask have been absolutely
fantastic, building us a new website, helping with communication and social media strategies, and generally providing us with a range of pro-bono digital support which we simply would not have been able to benefit from without them.”
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