Midlands Business News

The second estimate of the GDP figures which grew by only 0.3 per cent over the last three months would be boosted by major infrastructure projects, such as HS2, say West Midland business leaders.

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Over 1000 employees from across the West Midlands swapped their usual job at work for a day giving something back to their local community and schools recently.

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Clean Slate, one of the region’s largest independent commercial cleaning companies, has reported a 18% rise in turnover from £1.36 million to £1.6 million. The bumper start to the 2013 has seen Clean Slate secure thirteen new contracts with an annual worth of more than £340,000. And with even more new contracts in the pipeline, [...]

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Derby-based insurance brokers and risk management specialists, Franklands, has become the first insurance broker in Derby and Nottingham whose entire commercial team is fully qualified to industry standards.

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A former star of BBC’s The Apprentice is set to bring her successful women’s leadership academy to Cannock to help inspire local businesswomen.

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The Team GB ball hockey team will support the name of a Coventry business on its kit as it takes part in the Ball Hockey World Championships this June.

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A former newspaper executive who specialises in working with the business community has joined the team at Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, based in Telford.

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Small and medium sized businesses from across the West Midlands are attending an exclusive event, held at the Warwick Arts Centre, part of the University of Warwick, on 23 May to celebrate and promote exceptional business growth across the region. The Santander Breakthrough Live event will give local entrepreneurs the opportunity to hear from successful [...]

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After an exciting, eventful year, the Invest in Nottingham Club has appointed five, new board members to push the city to the forefront of inward investment.

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Darren Boocock, Birmingham-based partner at the business advisory firm Deloitte, has managed the sale of Giles Foods Limited, a leading speciality bread and pastry manufacturer, to Warburtons

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Holidaymakers could find themselves hundreds of pounds out of pocket – even if they have travel insurance cover in place.

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With over 12 years’ experience offering a range of accounting, taxation and business advisory services to small and medium sized businesses, as well as the self-employed across Leicestershire, Rob Howell, director at Howell & Co in Lutterworth, emphasises the importance of formal written contracts for all employers.

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A unique pioneering scheme to find 200 of the next generation of the midlands business leaders and entrepreneurs has been launched. great200leadersis a personal performance and business growth scheme, which has been created by Birmingham City Council as part of the Business Development Programme and being delivered by Winning Moves Limited. The scheme is aimed [...]

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Three major projects in Coventry and Warwickshire are set to benefit from funding to the tune of over £21 million through the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). The CW LEP has been awarded around £24.4 million from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) which has now been approved and is available to spend. The money will [...]

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Thieves are targeting commercial properties across Shropshire in a bid to steal valuable metal wherever they can find it. Rising metal values mean criminals know they can make money from a substantial haul, and now a local insurance broker has offered advice on how to reduce the risk of your company’s building being attacked. Bryan [...]

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Deloitte has admitted to partnership Claire Evans, previously with PwC, as a new private client partner in its rapidly expanding tax practice in the Midlands.

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A team of fitness enthusiasts with a head for numbers will need to figure out how to walk a distance the equivalent of two marathons in just 24 hours.

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The fall in inflation has been greeted with caution by business leaders following today’s announcement that consumer prices index inflation has fallen to 2.4 per cent from 2.8 per cent in March.

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A company which specialises in improving the performance of East Midlands businesses has taken on a new recruit to cope with a growing workload.

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Businesses in Boston can learn how to make their company more digitally savvy with a free conference this month.

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Fourteen East Midlands directors have been recognised for their business excellence and entrepreneurial skills in the Institute of Directors (IoD) East Midlands Directors of the Year awards.

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The environment and competition from the East were the key challenges identified for the future of aviation on both sides of the pond, by speakers at an American/UK business conference. Paul Kehoe, chief executive of Birmingham Airport spoke at the British American Business Council transatlantic conference about the major transformation currently affecting the industry. He [...]

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Business owners in the Marches are being urged to sign up for an innovative, fully-funded programme that aims to unlock the economic and job creation potential in their companies.

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Private residential landlords in Shropshire face a “double whammy” from new Government legislation, warn property experts.

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Boosting the employment opportunities for people in Notts is the aim of an event being held for careers professionals.

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A Warwickshire MP has urged the region’s manufacturers and engineers to come together to help drive forward the economy. Chris White, the MP for Leamington and Warwick, has agreed to speak at a major event organised by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce on Friday, May 24. The breakfast event – ‘Masterclass – Supporting [...]

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Business leaders in Greater Birmingham have urged the government to press ahead urgently with the development of the High Speed Rail (HS2) despite a report released today which expresses reservations about the Department for Transport’s (DfT) business case. But Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group (BCCG) welcomed the news that the development will include a tunnel [...]

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Two new directors have been appointed to the board of BHSF Occupational Health Limited based in Birmingham.

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Nottingham city centre has once again seen higher footfall figures compared to nearby regional cities as well as other towns and cities in the UK, according to the latest information from Springboard. This is great news says Neil Fincham, a director of the Nottingham Business Improvement District (BID). Footfall in Nottingham city centre was up [...]

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Altodigital, one of the UK’s leading independent suppliers of digital print and document solutions, is celebrating after one of its young apprentices has been selected for a national award recognising his academic and vocational excellence, beating 5,000 others along the way. 20 year-old Jake Williams, who joined Altodigital’s Kingswinford office as an apprentice at the [...]

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Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent companies are playing their part in the West Midlands manufacturing boom, over 90 delegates were told at an inaugural LEP-backed event this week. The Funding, Finance and Manufacturing Futures event at Burton’s Pirelli Stadium gave company representatives the opportunity to learn more about accessing funding, new technologies and how they can increase [...]

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Cyber crime is a growth industry with both Government and business as prime targets.

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A Shropshire-based enterprise organisation today welcomed a new report to the Prime Minister recommending the removal of the age cap on start up loans to encourage the launch of more owner-operated businesses.

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East Midlands’ intermediaries need to work together to help local firms break into new international markets, according to the Director of Strategic Partnerships for RBS, David Houghton MBE.

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The Midlands has an opportunity to prosper on the back of a resurgent manufacturing sector, Dennis Turner, former UK chief economist at HSBC, has predicted.

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A dearth of debt to support transactions hit the values being paid for private equity deals hard in the first three months of 2013, according to BDO’s latest Private Company Price Index/Private Equity Price Index (PCPI/PEPI). The index, which compares the EV/EBITDA ratios being paid on the sale of private companies to trade (PCPI) and [...]

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Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership has commissioned a major survey of manufacturing across the County.

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Northampton businesses are setting their sights on growth, according to the latest business confidence report from Regus, the global workplace provider with a centre on Brackmills Business Park. The report shows that a quarter of firms (24%) plans to increase their headcount by between 2% and 5% in the reminder of 2013, and a further [...]

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Deleg8 it is a virtual assistant service for busy business owners who don’t have the capital, premises or enough work to justify employing someone.

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Business Secretary, Vince Cable put the official Government seal of approval on a new Access to Finance Scheme for Black Country businesses during a visit to UK Steel Enterprise this week.

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Midlands manufacturers are calling on the Prime Minister to hold good his promise of leading a proper, informed debate about Britain’s relationship with the EU. Making the call ahead of the vote on an amendment in Parliament on an EU referendum, EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation believes the current debate is ‘letting British business down’ with [...]

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More than £0.3 million in grant funding has been awarded to 21 businesses in the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership area – stimulating total investment of some £0.6 million and helping to create or safeguard 135 jobs. The Business Development Programme has, in its first 6 months of operation, funded more than £0.6 [...]

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A new and exclusive entrepreneurs and investors club has met for the first time for its inaugural Dragons Den-style event. The Longbow Business Club aims to become recognised as the premier East Midlands-based group of like-minded successful entrepreneurs who share knowledge, skills and experience to benefit enterprise and the community. Founded by Nottinghamshire entrepreneur Chris [...]

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Specialist Insurance Broker, Heartland Events Limited has launched an innovative insurance policy aimed at protecting businesses and other organisations against the effects of the (not so) Great and often unpredictable British weather. Policies are designed to cover against a business’s additional costs and/or reduced turnover which has occurred due to the weather conditions over a [...]

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Dr Ralf Speth, Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Land Rover, will be among the high profile speakers at the British American Business Council (BABC) transatlantic conference in Birmingham this week. The conference, from May 15 to 17 at the International Convention Centre and other locations in Birmingham, will include a series of special events and [...]

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Businesses across Telford may have no idea just how vulnerable they are to both physical and online threats. So Telford Business Partnership has brought together three local experts who will host a masterclass that explains how to keep company secrets safe with security systems that really make a difference. The event will be held on [...]

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A Northampton firm is helping Colombians grow bigger tomatoes, an announcement which comes during UK Trade & Investments (UKTI) Export Week – High Growth Markets. Derby Road-based Agentra has secured a licence to sell its special organic fertiliser in Colombia where it is being used to grow tomatoes 85 per cent bigger than before, as [...]

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As Birmingham’s most valuable overseas market, the US was responsible for nearly a third (27%) of all foreign direct investments into Birmingham during 2012/13*. Aiming to replicate the city’s success in attracting American investment this year, inward investment programme Business Birmingham has joined forces with transatlantic business network the British-American Business Council (BABC) to welcome [...]

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Government Minister Nick Hurd will outline how public sector bodies and social enterprises can work together to add ‘social value’ to their communities next month. Mr Hurd, who is Minister for Civil Society, will give a keynote speech on the Social Value Act and its impact at the SEWM Social Value Conference in Brindleyplace, Birmingham, [...]

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Business advisors at RSM Tenon’s Birmingham office are the first in the firm to complete training with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) on all aspects of exporting. The training will enable them to offer up-to-date and in-depth guidance to clients on what is a core growth area for UK businesses. Following the successful completion of [...]

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