Opinion CHAMBER


The official publication of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce


LINK Cannock Chase


Chamber of Commerce


Editor’s View


By John Lamb


Optimism returns to the city W


hat better news could our readers have than our popular “Where do you fancy..?” eating out feature is back (see page 15)?


Sutton Coldfield


Chamber of Commerce


Greater Birmingham


Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce


We suspended it in the dark days at the beginning of the lockdowns but now we are confident that things can only get better. In fact, the problem now lies in securing a table – excellent news for those pubs and restaurants back in demand but not for we would-be diners. However, the return of “Where do you fancy..?”


Greater Birmingham


Transatlantic Chamber of Commerce


Front cover: Colmore BID chair Nicola Fleet Milne along with (inset, from top) fellow Birmingham BID bosses David Pardoe, Mike Olley and Lawrence Barton


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


Reporter Claudia Congrave 0775 7798567 c.congrave@birmingham-chamber.com


You can now read the latest issue of CHAMBERLINK and view back issues online at: www.greaterbirminghamchambers.com


is far from the best news in town as we emerge blinking into the post-Covid atmosphere. In this edition, Chamberlink has devoted several pages as a follow-up to the Chamber’s successful “Keep Business Moving” campaign with many stories and features on how we are fighting back. Among them is the fantastic news that the


merchant bankers Goldman Sachs Group intends to open a new office in Birmingham later this year. Among the reasons for the move, the firm says, is: “…the city’s proximity to our London office will allow for easy travel between UK offices for our people to stay closely connected with other divisions and clients”. And, of course, that advantage will become


even more meaningful when HS2 is running. The announcement of the group’s intentions


Published by


has rightly been met with universal acclaim, hailing it as a demonstration on confidence in the future of the city. It has also added to the growing sense that optimism is picking up to the point where we might recapture the high we were on pre-pandemic when everything seemed to be going so swimmingly for Greater Birmingham. Engineering will be Goldman Sach’s first


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4 CHAMBERLINKMay 2021


division in Birmingham with a mix of hiring and employee transfers. “Similar to other strategic locations, multiple areas of the firm will also


leverage this opportunity and we expect to have a headcount of several hundred across a number of divisions over time,” the announcement added. When the normally London-centric ‘Financial


Times’ devotes its page three to the news, you know that this is indeed a major development. “Birmingham remakes itself as an alternative


to London,” it trumpeted, and added: “Goldman decision to open an office confirms second city’s rise as a finance and tech hub”. The New York-based group is a big global


player, providing a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm maintains offices in


all major financial centres around the world. And Birmingham can be proud that it is now among those “major financial centres,” a move initiated a few years ago when HSBC and Deutsche Bank set up headquarters here. The group says its Birmingham office is “an


exciting opportunity to build on the successful expansion of other strategic locations and technology hubs in Europe in recent years, including Warsaw and Stockholm”. And Richard Gnodde, chief executive officer for


Goldman Sachs International, said: “Establishing a new office in Birmingham will diversify our UK footprint and give us access to a broad and deep talent pool in the local area. We see tremendous opportunity to enhance our UK presence and continue delivering for our global clients.” What a refreshing change it is to report new


and exciting opportunities for the city region, which are reflected in this edition of Chamberlink as we emerge from one of the worst crises since World War II and the recession.


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