Opinion CHAMBER
The official publication of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce
LINK Cannock Chase
Chamber of Commerce
Editor’s View
By John Lamb
Look ahead with optimism W
ell, with apologies to the Sixties satirical show of a similar name, that was the year that was.
As we approached Christmas 2019 a year ago Sutton Coldfield
Chamber of Commerce
Greater Birmingham
Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce
who would have guessed that 12 months later we would be in the middle of a global pandemic threatening to cripple life as we know it and shutting down most businesses? While no-one pretends that recovery from the
Greater Birmingham
Transatlantic Chamber of Commerce
Covid-19 crisis is going to be quick, we can now at least look forward to this Christmas and 2021 with some optimism. Amazing progress has been made by
Front cover: Air Ambulance Charity is crowned overall winner at the ABCC awards See page 11
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
scientists to come up with a vaccine in record time. Some of that research has been carried out at the University of Birmingham and we can be proud of their endeavours. The Chamber has also played a large part in
its lobbying of local and national government on behalf of business interests in Greater Birmingham. The resilience of our businesses has been remarkable and they have been helped in no small part by the leadership the Chamber has taken in its interests. This was reflected at the Chamber’s annual
Published by
meeting, held for the first time as a virtual event. But like many Chamber events this year the whole thing went seamlessly. In fact most of our landmark events, like the annual dinner and awards of Birmingham Chamber and all the divisional Chambers even managed to go ahead with some ceremony and remarkable pizzazz. And it was fitting that the largest and one of
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4 CHAMBERLINK December 2020/January 2021
the smallest companies were celebrated at the Birmingham Chamber awards. Jaguar Land Rover received president Steve Allen’s award, marking their continual presence as the heart of the region’s business scene.
And then behind the title of Excitation Engineering Service Ltd (EES) we discovered an amazing little Tamworth company that was fulfilling an important global role. We named them our business of the year and,
at the same time, learned a new meaning for the word excitation. Some of us remembered it being used in the lyrics of the Beach Boys Sixties hit ‘Good Vibrations’. But EES gave us a more meaningful definition as we discovered that excitation was the result of generating a magnetic field by means of an electric current. This meant that their expertise was called on around the globe to sort such things as malfunctioning oil tankers and nuclear power stations. They were a welcome cause for celebration
during a year which offered little joy. However, through the work of brilliant scientists and a business support organisation chivvying politicians to look after the wellbeing of our myriad of businesses, we can at least look forward to a better 2021. The Chamber wishes you prosperity and happiness during the year but assures you that the organisation will here to support you, as it has for the past 207 years. Chamberlink is taking a short break in January
but will be back in February. Please contact any of the personnel on the left side of this page to discuss editorial and advertising opportunities. And throughout Christmas and the New Year
we will be keeping you up to date through our daily news bulletin ChamberlinkDaily. For advertising opportunities in the daily, which goes out to more than 15,000 businesses and individuals every morning, please contact the Chamber’s advertising manager Russell Ashman at
r.ashman@
birmingham-chamber.com
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