Opinion CHAMBER
The official publication of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce
LINK Cannock Chase
Chamber of Commerce
Editor’s View
By John Lamb
Adapting to a new future I
nnovation and a willingness to change have always marked the characteristics of business in Greater Birmingham. And this has been starkly demonstrated as
Sutton Coldfield
Chamber of Commerce
Greater Birmingham
Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce
businesses have fought to come up with new ideas in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. And, as I write, the region is holding its breath
waiting to hear if it is to be placed at the highest Tier 3 levels restrictions level. Our main story in this issue of Chamberlink
Greater Birmingham
Transatlantic Chamber of Commerce
Front cover: Chamber president Steve Allen with Fiona Allen (left) and Judith Greenburgh from the Hippodrome. See page 6
Editor John Lamb 0121 274 3237, 0797 1144064
j.lamb@
birmingham-chamber.com
Deputy Editor Dan Harrison 0121 274 3239, 0797 1144052
d.harrison@birmingham-chamber.com
Reporter Jessica Brookes 0750 8317356
j.brookes@
birmingham-chamber.com
You can now read the latest issue of CHAMBERLINK and view back issues online at:
www.greaterbirminghamchambers.com
shows what the Hippodrome has done to prevent the theatre from being dark during these trying months and they are among many other institutions in the West Midlands who are doing similar things. In the same sector, the Belgrade Theatre is
keeping open with Covid-compliant performances and there are many examples of businesses of all sizes, including Jaguar Land Rover, who switched their normal operations to producing personal protection equipment. Only 12 months ago we were reporting that the
West Midlands was booming. In the third quarter of 2019 the Birmingham Economic Review, produced by Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) and University of Birmingham’s City-Region Economic Development Institute (REDI), recorded widespread optimism. Visitor numbers were soaring in Birmingham
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4 CHAMBERLINK November 2020
and the West Midlands, putting us on the brink of a “triumphant return to the world stage”. We were also the UK’s leading region outside of London and the South East for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), according to figures from the Department for International Trade. Today’s world is very different from the words
in that report in October last year. And we are in the midst of a more challenging time than
anyone could have imagined. The economy of this incredibly vibrant city
was one of the strongest in the UK but today it languishes in limbo as Covid restrictions are imposed. And that’s why the Chamber’s chief executive
Paul Faulkner joined forces with Cllrs Ian Ward and Brigid Jones, leader and deputy leader of Birmingham City Council, to send a statement to the Chancellor warning of the detrimental impact Tier 3 would have on the city. The statement was backed by 30 other
signatories, including the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce president Jason Wouhra, Sutton Coldfield Chamber president Phil Arkinstall and Commonwealth Chamber president Joel Blake. The city’s leaders warned that many
businesses in Birmingham's £13bn hospitality sector would not survive the winter without financial support. It called for urgent support for that sector backed by an evidence-based approach to the crisis. And they pointed out that the hospitality
sector had invested in making their premises Covid-safe and that there was no evidence to show that they had any impact on the rising infections in the city. And the issue was brought home forcibly by
Ann Tonks, managing director of Birmingham city centre restaurant Opus. She pointed out that hospitality businesses like hers could lose at least 60 per cent of bookings as a result of the Tier 2 restrictions alone, let alone Tier 3. But now we must face up to the reality of Tier
3 and business like the Hippodrome and Opus might have to accept that their efforts have been in vain. But we live in hope...
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