BQ Yearbook 2014

YEARBOOK 2014

WEST MIDLANDS

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WEST MIDLANDS In association with

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WEST MIDLANDS EDITION

WELCOME I’m really pleased at how many top business leaders, experts and academics have agreed to take part in examining the West Midlands economy for this inaugural BQ Yearbook.

And I’m delighted at the detailed quality of their contributions, all written exclusively for this annual extra edition that offers valuable analyses of the year past and the year to come for the region.

As the title suggests, we’ll be publishing the Yearbook every 12 months as well as our quarterly BQ magazines, so that we can provide you with even more understanding of commerce and industry across the area.

Why? Because on top of an economic snapshot every three months, and as well as our daily BQ Breakfast email service, it’s sometimes necessary to sit back and take a longer view of what has happened over an entire year.

This more considered approach enables our knowledgeable partners to draw upon emerging trends, and to offer authoritative predictions for the future.

That’s what’s been provided in our first main feature on the West Midlands economy, penned

by Sean Raftery, of investment managers Quilter Cheviot. His thorough overview of the positive signs of recovery shown by the region’s industrial giants is fascinating in its detail.

This theme is then developed in a four-page special with two separate academic views of the manufacturing and export sectors. Lord Professor Kumar Bhattacharyya, the founder and chairman of the Warwick Manufacturing Group, gives a fascinating insight into the performance of Jaguar Land Rover, and the role he played persuading Tata, its Indian owners, to stick with the brands.

Then Professor David Bailey, of Aston Business School, takes a wider look at the importance that reshoring will have to the UK’s recovery.

Elsewhere in the Yearbook, you can find a

valuable overview of financial services from Ian Holder of Mazars, explaining in plain English the most important aspects of book-keeping and accountancy for SMEs. Meanwhile, Jerry Blackett, the top man at the Birmingham Chamber Group, writes about some of the forthcoming improvements in business support for SMEs, and Adam Ramshaw, of LSH, tells how the commercial property world is looking up.

We also have an economic update from Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis and chair of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP, who lists various major projects being worked on by the region’s business chiefs and local government leaders.

The urgent need for better skills training is highlighted by Semta’s Christian Warden, while Professor Simon Collinson, of Birmingham University’s Business School, highlights how close partnerships between universities and businesses are helping regional economic growth.

We also take a detailed look at DBS Law, the main sponsors of this Yearbook. DBS Law is an expanding firm of local solicitors headed by Rob Bhol, and the firm’s own history and the way they are returning to the high street through strategic acquisitions is an interesting read.

Not all is well in the legal world, however, as Bhol explains in his overview of the sector, where he also calls on the government for specific action to help businesses.

Finally, I want to bring your attention to our Third Sector feature by the Bishop of Birmingham, David Urquhart. As Bishop David says, if we’re really building economic momentum, let’s not forget to share some of it with those less fortunate.

Steve Dyson Editor

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cont 08 west midlands economy

The region’s manufacturing and industrial output is gathering momentum – and that’s good news for investors, says Sean Raftery

10 manufacturing & export

14 06 third sector editorial

We have a responsibility to work towards social inclusion – and it’s

In association with:

Firms must capitalise on new opportunities to ensure manufacturing’s revival continues, explains Lorraine Holmes

19 law

good for business, says the Bishop of Birmingham David Urquhart

In association with:

’Merger mania’ is an inevitable response to the damage caused by cuts to legal aid, explains Rob Bhol

07 SPONSOR’s welcome

26 Who’s who

In association with:

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In association with:

Rob Bhol, CEO of DBS Law, outlines the challenges businesses face in the year ahead

Sponsor logo

Invaluable information on some of the region’s most prominent private and public sector players

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tents 36 economic update

Great strides have already been made when it comes to driving growth, but 2014 will be a crucial year, explains Andy Street

37 Financial services

In association with:

41 commercial property

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As the economic revival gathers pace, what measures do you need to take to ensure you can cope with the unexpected?

46 infrastucture

HS2 can put the West Midlands on a fast track to regeneration,

In association with:

argues Geoff Inskip, chief executive of Centro

After a lot of pain – and very little gain – investors are finally waking up to the region’s potential, says Adam Ramshaw

44 TRaining

Semta’s Christian Warden on why training has a vital role to play

48 business support

Help is on the way for small businesses in the form of new Growth Hubs, explains the Chamber of Commerce’s Jerry Blackett

50 education

How the University of Birmingham’s economic impact outplays

in the future of manufacturing

the region’s top football clubs

Sponsor logo

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third sector editorial we all have a responsibility to work towards social inclusion As the economy starts to recover, businesses in the West Midlands can help lift the region out of poverty. David Urquhart, the Bishop of Birmingham, reports us to task on this at a time of drastic cuts in local authority provision.

Emerging from a strong local strategic partnership between statutory, community, voluntary and private sector leaders, the White Paper ‘Making Birmingham an Inclusive City’ faces the intractable and unacceptable inequalities in the largest UK city outside London. Readers can access the white paper at http://fairbrum.files.wordpress. com/2013/04/white-paper-march-2013_final.pdf Commitments and recommendations include: supporting families and children out of poverty; connecting people and places; and embracing super-diversity. There is also great concern for

It may help if you identify your preferred sphere of influence, and the policy, practical or pastoral level you might want to impact.

Recent examples of practical and pastoral action include: Smurfit Kappa providing primary school pupils with a reading book per month for a year; Aston Villa FC entertaining asylum seekers to a Premiership match; and RBS offering business enterprise support in an outer estate.

These are signs of powerful business organisations and talented employees taking society’s needs seriously and tentatively testing new corporate responsibilities with a multiple bottom line in measuring success. (See more details in The New

The British way of life has long attended to the needs of the most vulnerable, particularly children, the elderly, sick and disabled Bishop David Urquhart believes combating inequality will benefit business One of the undergirding principles of social inclusion is that growing inequality is not just bad for the poor and bad for society. It’s bad for business too.

There are not only the moral arguments of caring for our neighbour and doing to others as you would be done unto, but also the simple point that everyone should have the opportunity to participate fully in the economy for the fulfilment of their own responsibilities and the good of all.

The British way of life has long attended, with greater and lesser success, to the needs of the most vulnerable, particularly children, the elderly, sick and disabled.

Giving Hope Changing Lives, the risky ambition of Birmingham’s Social Inclusion Process, keeps

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those in work or available for work, but still in poverty traps because earned income is inadequate to sustain a basic family or household lifestyle. Those looking for work have the challenge of matching skills to better-resourced jobs in a sophisticated economy.

For women and men currently running businesses, these wider matters can seem too much. Yet your expertise can help to turn social inclusion ideas into action. I invite you to engage immediately with items in the White Paper that you can influence, and point out areas you can help deliver.

In the past year, much has already been done.

Good practice examples include: new apprentice schemes; the Youth Jobs Fund; welfare reform guidance; and establishing ‘places of welcome’.

A myriad of activity and mutual support can also be found street by street, community by community – often led by faith groups.

Brand Spirit: How Communicating Sustainability Builds Brands, Reputations and Profits, by Conrad and Thompson, published by Gower.)

Will our regional business people go further and participate fully in social and economic capacity building? They could do this not only with world-beating products and services, but with more – and more well-resourced – jobs, and by ensuring we have better schools, a network of libraries accessible to all, and essential life-giving community facilities such as the POD in Nechells, Birmingham. I’d welcome news of how you are doing. n Bishop David Urquhart was ordained after a commercial management career with British Petroleum. He’s the Church of England’s Parliamentary spokesman for the economy, tax and business, and can be contacted at bishop@birmingham.anglican.org

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west midlands economy SPONSOR’S WELCOME Welcome to the first BQ Yearbook for the West Midlands, which DBS Law is proud to be supporting There are some huge opportunities in 2014 for Greater Birmingham and the wider region, but I fear these could be missed if they are not grasped in the right way by banks, the Government and business leaders themselves.

Banks need to be more helpful to industry in the

cost of business rates, which is why DBS Law launched its campaign to persuade ministers to freeze them until a proper revaluation of property values has taken place.

This could help protect high street traders across the West Midlands who will otherwise face a

We strongly believe that without a change in the rules for setting business rates, many traders providing services could be at risk year ahead. At DBS, we have recently changed our bankers to Barclays, because we were unhappy with the service we were previously getting.

The result has been transformative. It’s not just about finance, although that’s important, but it’s also about banks giving businesses other growth opportunities like networking, training and education.

We’ve experienced the positive results of a bank taking us more seriously, and I would encourage other banks to do the same – and for all business leaders to demand a better service from their finance providers.

My next challenge is to the Government to stop what has become a relentless onslaught of regulatory and financial change. The legal profession is suffering from this, and I’m sure that similar bureaucracy has hindered other industry sectors.

If we all know what we’ve got to work with and what we’ve got to pay, then we can all get on with it. But the constant chopping and changing of rules and regulations, and the continued imposition of archaic taxes, creates huge confusion and problems. That’s why we all need to demand greater clarity from Government.

Nowhere is this needed more than with the

3.1% rise in business rates in April, following years of increases that have already hit them hard – rising by 30% since 2008. We strongly believe that without a change in the rules for setting business rates, many traders providing local services could be at risk.

Despite the above challenges that need to be better met by banks and government, there are great opportunities across the region – as shown by progress from top players like JLR, East End Foods and the M&B brewery, to name just three successful examples.

But other business leaders need to show their own confidence by investing in the people of the West Midlands as well. While the economy is showing signs of recovery, there are many people still out of work – especially young people, those from ethnic minorities and women.

We need to have a fairer representation in our workforces, growing in a way that better reflects the communities we serve. And businesses need to pay their staff a living wage – not just the minimum wage.

If people across the West Midlands are paid a living wage, then businesses will soon discover that the quality of their services and products increase as a result. If we can all do that, then I

Rob Bhol wants business rates to be frozen believe that sustainable, meaningful recovery is within the region’s grasp.

I’m confident that DBS Law can continue growing, and if we can, anyone can – but only with the right level of determination to overcome the challenges we face. n Rob Bhol, CEO, DBS Law

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west midlands economy

great expectations will give investors renewed confidence

A revival by the West Midlands’ manufacturing and industrial giants is helping to boost the whole UK economy – and making the region itself shine.

Sean Raftery, head of Quilter Cheviot’s Birmingham office, reports

The latest Purchasing Managers Index, a key indicator of the economic outlook, is good news for investors, says Sean Raftery of Quilter Cheviot

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west midlands economy The latest UK manufacturing data from the Office for National Statistics showed manufacturing and broader industrial output gathering momentum, with manufacturing up 2.8% yearon-year at the end of 2013 The West Midlands’ manufacturing strength remains a key asset for UK Plc, so signs of a modest resurgence is good news for both investors and the real economy.

Companies such as IMI, Jaguar Land Rover and Melrose represent unequivocal success stories and make a significant contribution to the regional economy in direct and supply chain jobs.

They also do much to enhance the international reputation of the West Midlands as a place to invest and as a hub where companies can access high value skills and expertise.

The latest UK manufacturing data from the Office for National Statistics showed manufacturing and broader industrial output gathering momentum, with manufacturing up 2.8% year-on-year at the end of 2013.

The important insight for investors comes from the forward indicators as expressed by the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), in which industrial managers give a three-month view of expectations. Any result above 50 indicates expansion and any result below 50 contraction.

The PMI trends have been positive for many months, especially in the UK and the US. The December UK PMI was near an all-time high at 57.3 – albeit slightly lower than the 58.1 seen in November which was a 33-month high. This takes the average UK manufacturing PMI for Q4 of last year as a whole to 57.2, the highest since Q1 2011.

Before we get carried away, it’s worth noting that the sector remains about 9% shy of its pre-crisis peak.

New order levels are improving and backlogs of work falling. Perhaps more importantly, bearing in mind that manufacturing only

represents 10% of UK GDP, manufacturing exports are growing, a trend that has been maintained for nine successive months.

The issue for investors is that current sector valuations are looking full, with the relative level of the UK industrial engineering sector to the FTSE350 rising by more than 240% over the past five years. Current valuation multiples now trade above the underlying UK market average.

So is there any further upside for investors?

The key will be earnings upgrades. Over recent years, whilst industrial company earnings have grown, expectations going forward have been flat. This has resulted in some fears of multiple contraction but this may prove to be limited.

With underlying GDP growth positive and Europe having passed the trough, there is a decent possibility that company earnings can do likewise.

When you consider that many companies have healthy balance sheets, indicating an increase in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and/or returns to shareholders, and that capital investment is overdue a rebound, there is cause for optimism.

Of course, more M&A activity and increased spending brings a degree of risk which could impact on margins. The quality of the management therefore becomes an important factor for stock investment decisions.

In the West Midlands, there are two relatively large capitalisation industrial companies – IMI and Melrose. These companies operate in different ways but both have margin enhancement as a core objective.

IMI is no longer the ‘metal basher’ of Imperial Metal Industries days but is a focused fluid technologies business with strong operations in severe service valves, fluid power and indoor climate (thermostats). It recently divested its retail operations and has a new CEO, Mark Selway, formerly of Weir Group and Boral. The focus is on ‘sweet spot’ activities of high growth and high margin – set to account for over 75% of group revenues over the next three years. Sweet spot activities will expand both organically and by acquisition with IMI able to take advantage of long-term mega-trends such as demographics and energy demand.

Melrose has taken a different approach by acquiring under-performing industrial assets, improving them, selling them and returning the

proceeds to shareholders. This has been a success.

Recent sales have included ex-FKI assets whilst Elster, a European smart metering company, was acquired in 2012 for £1.8bn. The turnaround at Elster has already been evidenced with margin targets reached two years early. Another major acquisition is possible this year.

The purchase by Tata of Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford for just over £1bn almost six years ago has seen sales and manufacturing at its West Midlands bases thrive.

Losses in 2009 were reversed as turnover trebled by 2013, and Jaguar Land Rover has recorded billion pound-plus annual profits for the last three years, adding around nine thousand employees to date with plans to recruit 1,700 more. The wisdom of investing in the businesses via Tata Motors stock is less clear-cut, however, than the fortunes of the marquee brands. Whilst JLR is the jewel in the Tata Motors’ crown, its interests elsewhere – Nano and trucks – are performing less well and total Tata Motors sales were down some 42% in December 2013 compared to December 2012. n Investors should remember that the value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up. You may not recover what you invest. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. This article is not intended to constitute financial advice; securities referred to may not be suitable for all recipients.

Quilter has it covered Quilter Cheviot is one of the UK’s largest independently owned discretionary investment firms, which can trace its heritage to 1771. The firm is based in thirteen locations across the UK, Jersey and Ireland and has total assets under management of £15bn. Quilter Cheviot focuses primarily on structuring and managing bespoke discretionary portfolios for private clients, charities, trusts, pension funds and intermediaries. The Birmingham office, which houses Quilter Cheviot’s largest regional team, is at 39 Bennetts Hill, Birmingham, B2 5SN, tel: 0121 212 2120. www.quiltercheviot.com

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manufacturing & export Making the most of the manufacturing revival Can West Midlands manufacturing continue its upturn in fortunes? The Manufacturing Advisory Service’s Lorraine Holmes believes all the ingredients are there, but responsibility still lies with our firms to make the most of the new opportunities

Lorraine Holmes, area director of MAS Just like fashions come and go, it appears that certain parts of the economy have the ability to reinvent themselves…often when many experts had long since written them off.

The most striking revival of 2013 was the resurgence in fortunes of UK manufacturers. For too long the poor relation of the stockbrokers, the IT crowd and the service sector, the traditional heartbeat of the country has finally rediscovered its swagger and is enjoying a halcyon period of investment, growth and job creation.

It’s not happened overnight. A lot of things have changed since the global economy fell off the cliff in 2009 and the lessons learnt during this painful period have been part of a blueprint that have seen our companies begin to lead the world again.

Last year really brought this activity to the fore.

New opportunities in aerospace, medical and more than £2.5bn of investment by international car manufacturers threw the sector firmly in the media spotlight and made it the talk of the town.

Throw into the equation surging export markets and the promise of low carbon and the

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fledgling offshore wind market and it’s not difficult to feel fairly positive about the fortunes of UK manufacturing.

The start of 2014 has done much to strengthen this belief. Just a few weeks into the New Year and the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT) revealed that more than 2.26 million cars were registered in the UK, a near 11% rise on the previous year and the biggest number since 2007.

Good news continues to flow, with the EEF adding fuel to the flames by tipping the UK to enjoy the strongest growth of any country in Europe – 2.7% compared to Germany’s modest 1.6% and France’s stuttering 0.7%.

Lorraine Holmes, area director for the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), believes the good times could be here to stay.

“This is a very exciting time to be involved in industry and one that could well shape our sector for many years.

“A mix of traditional and new markets are all taking off nicely and export levels are slowly growing thanks to a very favourable exchange rate. However, now is not the time to rest on our laurels; instead we need to capitalise on this by investing in skills, new technology and the growing desire to place work here in the UK or what is commonly referred to as reshoring.”

She continued: “Another major plus in our favour is the depth of academic resource we have available to us in this country and, encouragingly there now seems to be a willingness for industry and education to work closer together.

“For instance, we’ve got the outstanding Warwick Manufacturing Group and High Value Manufacturing Catapult at the MTC and, only recently, have we had investments announced to build a National Automotive Campus and

new aerospace and 3D printing technology hubs.”

Lorraine is responsible for the delivery of MAS in the West Midlands, North West and North East, providing strategic support and assistance to more than 2,000 SME manufacturing firms each year.

She looks after a team of 30 manufacturing advisors, who assist companies with developing long-term strategy, process improvements and bringing new products to market.

2014 will also see a new supply chain offer launched, whereby the Manufacturing Advisory Service will be working with larger companies to increase the capacity and capability of their suppliers.

“All this investment going into the major OEMs and tier 1s will flow down the chain if we can make sure our SMEs deliver world class performance and are in a position to cope with increases in demand,” explained Lorraine.

“We’ve got new sector leads in key priority areas to drive this approach and all of these are now in place and ready to engage with the region’s large manufacturers.”

She concluded: “Our last Barometer measuring SME manufacturing confidence showed that 74% of firms were expecting to grow in the first four months of 2014.

“If this comes true it will represent a very strong start to the year and bodes well for us hitting the EEF’s bold prediction of manufacturing growing by 2.7%.” n

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manufacturing & export invest in skills to keep ‘makers’ on the march Recovery, reshoring and exports are key themes for the recovering West Midlands manufacturing sector, with skills the crucial enabler. Professor David Bailey reports

A shortage of engineering skills could hamper the region’s recovery, warns Professor David Bailey

Good news: the much-delayed ‘march of the makers’ is picking up speed at last, with the UK manufacturing sector finally enjoying a more broad-based recovery.

Many hope that in 2014 it will outperform the rest of the economy and help ‘rebalance’ it.

But remember this is from a low starting point.

The sector’s output is still around 10% below where it was in 2008 and even lower than in 2000. Indeed, recent Office for National Statistics figures show that manufacturing fell as a share of economic output in all UK regions since 1997, with the West Midlands especially hard hit.

The West Midlands also saw the biggest output fall and unemployment rise in the last recession, partly because of a collapse in trade, and because manufacturing demand and output was quickly scaled back as credit dried up.

However, since then the region has bounced back faster than other regions, rooted in better performance across all sectors (except the public sector, given austerity cuts).

Manufacturing in particular has spurred growth, with sectors such as automotive, aerospace, power-generation and specialised precision components all powering ahead.

Order books and identified demand extend well beyond 2016 and, as one boss of a major local manufacturer told me recently: “There’s never been a better time to be in manufacturing.”

Improvements to transport and logistics infrastructure, notably Birmingham Airport’s runway extension, the upgrading of the M6 and M54, and the Birmingham New Street development, should further boost growth.

Accordingly, rising demand for labour should be a key feature of 2014, with the West Midlands Economic Forum estimating that nominal regional Gross Value Added (GVA) growth will exceed >>

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manufacturing & export national performance by at least two percentage points this year and next.

The performance and flexibility of the region’s automotive industry could set an example for other sectors. After more than £6bn of investment during the past two years, much of that in the West Midlands via Jaguar Land Rover and supply chain firms such as GKN, the UK’s automotive sector remarkably now has a trade surplus for the first time since the mid-1970s.

The region’s manufacturers are leading the way in re-shoring, rebuilding the supply chain, innovating and boosting output and jobs. At last, there’s a growing sense of confidence in several manufacturing sectors. But there’s still lots of work to be done to rebuild a supply-chain damaged by underinvestment, a low-skilled workforce and lack of investment in high value-adding manufacturing, including environmental and medical technologies.

Many think the region is in a strong position to drive forward the UK on the road to recovery, but there’s a fear that skills shortages might block a faster recovery as labour demands increase.

It’s therefore no surprise that a spokesman for recruitment firm Hays said that “in two years’ time, if demand continues, it will be a huge challenge. I do not think we foresaw the demand for mechanical and electrical engineers in the energy sector, for example.” He’s right.

It’s this skills issue, along with access to finance (especially for smaller firms) and high energy costs

university leading the way David Bailey is professor of industrial strategy at the Aston Business School (ABS) in Birmingham.

ABS is recognised worldwide as a leading centre of business education, and its academics are sought out for their understanding of what creates companies’ successful growth. ABS’s placement model and work-based learning makes its graduates sought out for their employability.

Aston University is also committed to supporting staff, students and graduates in developing enterprise through the Aston Enterprise entrepreneurial support hub, which started 75 graduate and student businesses last year alone. www.aston.ac.uk/abs/

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Many think the region is in a strong position to drive forward the UK on the road to recovery, but there’s a fear that skills shortages might block a faster recovery as labour demands increase

which provide the biggest barriers to an even faster manufacturing upturn and growth.

The same factors were prominent in our recent research with SGH Martineau on the reshoring of the region’s manufacturing base. We found 16% of the region’s manufacturers are reshoring and 5% actively considering it. The trend is less pronounced than some have claimed, but something’s happening.

Top drivers are transport costs and quality issues overseas, followed by supply chain resilience, then exchange rate shifts, rising wages overseas, the need for rapid turnaround, and the need to offer a service alongside manufacturing.

On barriers to further repatriation, labour costs are unsurprisingly the top issue, along with the availability of skilled workers, access to finance, and energy and raw materials costs.

So the good news is that manufacturing in the region is on the up, reshoring is indeed happening and many of the region’s firms are doing the heavy lifting of exporting the UK out of trouble.

The West Midlands is on course to report an export surplus for the first time in 15 years this year as international trade soars and manufacturing recovers, led by Jaguar Land Rover.

This would represent an impressive turnaround for the region; in 2012 it imported £11 billion-plus more goods than it exported and trade deficits grew year-on year as competitiveness ebbed.

But boosted by a devalued sterling (let’s hope that exchange rate depreciation doesn’t unwind too quickly), the region’s exports have grown by 30% since 2011, way above the UK’s 2%.

Indeed, without the West Midlands, UK exports would actually have fallen. So much for a

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manufacturing & export

A pro-active industrial strategy is the key to success, says Professor David Bailey

broader rebalancing in the UK. Remarkably, West Midlands’ exports are set to outpace those of Germany over the next five years, as the region’s manufacturers ride a wave of growth in emerging markets from Brazil to China and India, and a desire for a ‘Made in Britain’ stamp – but this time with real jobs here in the region.

According to an Ernst & Young report, the region’s exports will increase by 8% a year by 2017, as against 2.3% for Germany and 0.3% for the UK. Here, exports account for more than a fifth of the region’s GVA, and the region sells 12% of UK goods shipped abroad. The rise in West Midlands exports has been driven by over 40% from the automotive sector.

Much is a JLR effect, but other manufacturers like JCB are also seeing huge success. JCB now sells 75% of its UK production overseas, and is especially successful in India, where it set up a joint venture over 30 years ago.

Yet again, though, a shortage of engineering skills may undermine the region’s growth potential.

We need to train far more engineers right through from school level to university (something that Aston University’s new Engineering Academy is already doing).

Remember that rebalancing and export growth isn’t going to continue automatically – we need a more active industrial strategy, including greater attention to skills, access to long-term finance and support for exporters.

Only then will we really accelerate the ‘march of the makers’. n

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manufacturing & export

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manufacturing & export our car industry has gone from doom to boom Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya reports on the strengths and weaknesses of the West Midlands manufacturing sector in 2013 – particularly the car industry – and looks at the challenges ahead

WMG is making outstanding progress in automotive innovation in partnership with JLR and its Indian parent Tata. Yet not so long ago I sometimes felt I was one of a very few people battling to save what most considered a doomed sector

Tata stepped in at a vital time to save Jaguar Land Rover and – to its great credit – stuck with it throughout the recession, says Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya

Manufacturing in the West Midlands went from strength to strength in 2013, led by the automotive sector, and this year is set to be even better. And, of course, it’s all being powered by the explosive growth of Jaguar Land Rover.

2014 will see further notable landmarks for the company with its i54 engine plant near Wolverhampton about to open and its new China factory at Changshu near Shanghai launching in the late summer.

Built under a joint venture with Chinese car manufacturer Chery, the latter will produce up to 130,000 cars a year, rising to 200,000, with the best-selling Evoque ‘Baby Range Rover’ the first car to roll off the production line. This will put it on a par with JLR’s operations at Solihull and Halewood.

China is already JLR’s biggest market. Late last year, the group confirmed plans to build a £240m car plant in Brazil capable of producing 24,000 vehicles a year. It also signed a letter of intent with the government of Saudi Arabia. The target is to produce one million cars a year by 2020.

This incredible growth is feeding through into JLR’s figures. For the first half of the 2013/2014 fiscal year, the company reported revenues of £8.71m, up 26%, and profit before tax was £1.08m, up 42%. This growth is accelerating. Second quarter revenues hit £4.6m, up 40%, with profit before tax up to £668m.

And last month the company reported that 425,006 vehicles were sold in 2013 – up 19% and its best ever full year for global sales.

This reflects strong demand for the new and refreshed Jaguar and Land Rover line up: the likes of the F-Type, Range Rover Sport and the Evoque; a constant and ongoing new model production line; and massive research and development. The result has been thousands of new jobs.

Investment, transformed management-union relations, quality improvements and strong leadership have seen the automotive sector thrive in the Midlands, producing cars the world wants to buy at a price it’s prepared to pay. And the spinoff has given the supply chain new impetus.

The MIRA enterprise zone is pulling in companies such as Swedish group Haldex. The Black Country enterprise zone split between i54 and the former James Bridge copper works in Darlaston is doing the same.

Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) is making outstanding progress in automotive innovation in partnership with JLR and its Indian parent Tata.

Yet not so long ago I sometimes felt I was one of a very few people battling to save what most considered a doomed sector.

Rewind less than a decade and the Midlands car industry was facing catastrophe. Rover had collapsed, Ford was retrenching, Peugeot pulled out of Coventry, van maker LDV went bust.

Thankfully I helped persuade Tata, then headed by my boyhood friend Ratan Tata, now retired, to buy JLR from Ford. Hardly was the ink dry on the deal than the world was in the depths of a massive recession. At the bottom, sales collapsed, pleas for government help fell on deaf ears, there was talk of axing the Castle Bromwich factory and Tata questioned whether it had done the right thing.

But to their great credit, Tata stuck with it. Today the contrast is staggering, so staggering one can only think that, given such a transformation, Rover, LDV and the rest with hindsight represent tremendous missed opportunities.

Yet that was before the great banking collapse, when manufacturing was being written off and the service sector was the new god. Today it’s generally accepted there must be a rebalancing.

There’s no great secret to all this. It is down >>

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manufacturing & export they become cheaper if sterling rises.

The other question is – will petrol stay dominant?

JLR and all major manufacturers have spent big sums researching and developing electric vehicles and hybrids, but few consumers are yet persuaded. So manufacturing does face significant issues.

But the good news is that it’s prospering, with the car industry to the fore. But what if Tata had thrown in the towel back in 2008? The thought is frightening – tremendous damage to the regional economy, mass unemployment, industrial wastelands.

The importance of manufacturing and the well-paid jobs it creates is fundamental to the West Midlands. 2014 will be a productive year for the sector. Of that, I’m convinced. n

to sticking with a strategy, providing leadership, investing, encouraging skills development, nurturing and working with suppliers, and producing cars that the market wants.

The leadership has come from Tata along with a willingness to guide rather than be hands-on, getting the right people in place, and leaving managers to manage.

JLR chief executive Dr Ralf Speth has managers who are focussed, behind a successful blueprint, with engineers at the forefront, designing cars they want to design, with belief in where the company wants to go. The workforce has seen this leadership, investment, new jobs, and want to be part of that success.

It’s backed up by a big research and development budget: JLR’s Advanced Research Group is based at WMG’s International Digital Laboratory.

Tata Motors’ European Technical Centre is also at WMG. Midlands manufacturing is not just JLR – other icons include aerospace giant Rolls-Royce, GKN and digger maker JCB, who recently announced 2,500 jobs in a £150m expansion.

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Sadly, manufacturing still represents just 10% to 12% of UK GDP. There are simply too few major players such as the JLRs and JCBs. Equally, the Midlands has too few tier – one suppliers, making it hard for the supply chain to benefit to the full.

A major problem remains skills shortages – manufacturing companies continue to report great difficulty in attracting skilled labour despite regional unemployment.

The skills issue is matched by the worryingly low level of SMEs in the region exporting, not helped by the rise in sterling against other denominations, including the dollar, during the latter part of 2013.

One of the Coalition Government’s unheralded achievements has been to keep the pound low, so manufacturing is entering ‘new territory’.

Actually not so new in an historical context – earlier jumps in sterling, making exports more costly to buy, did great damage to previous Jaguar ownerships.

Could it happen again? It’s less of a danger because JLR has a better balance of where its components are sourced. Some 40% are brought in from outside the UK, which means

A major problem remains skills shortages – the issue is matched by the worryingly low level of SMEs in the region exporting, not helped by the rise in sterling against other denominations, including the dollar, in the latter part of 2013

a talent for innovation Professor Lord Bhattacharyya founded the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) in 1980 to help reinvigorate UK manufacturing. An academic department of the University of Warwick, WMG improves the competitiveness of businesses by applying innovation, new technologies and skills, bringing academic rigour to industrial and organisational practice. For more information visit: www.wmg.warwick.ac.uk

bq-magazine.co.uk

manufacturing & export company profile

MAS WORKED FOR ME Regional growth funding helps Petford Group open £2.9million mould facility Dudley-based Petford Group has enjoyed a major growth surge after landing a string of prestigious contracts in the automotive sector.

This meant the specialist toolmaker for injection, compression and composite moulds had reached capacity at its Pear Tree Lane facility so had to make a strategic decision about opening an additional facility to cope with the new opportunities and ensure it maintained its world class delivery performance.

• Opened a £2.9m mould facility • Secured £5.75m of funding to support continuing growth • Set to create 30 new highly skilled jobs The Manufacturing Challenge A number of the contracts recently won by Petford Group required significant investment up front to get the tooling right and the parts produced to the standards expected by the major car manufacturers.

This in itself is a major challenge for a growing SME and, when you combine it with a factory that is fast running out of space, the issue can become critical.

The management team knew they had to act quickly to address the situation and ensure they not only fulfilled existing orders but also created the right platform to take advantage of new model launches.

With demands on their time and resources rising, the management team turned to the Manufacturing Advisory Service for external support on managing the expansion and identifying possible funding channels.

map out the next five years, looking at existing contracts, new opportunities and what needed to be done in order to maximise the anticipated growth.

The outcome focused on identifying a second site that would become its dedicated mould facility, which would also free up much needed capacity in the tool room.

At £2.9m the additional plant was a big ask for Petford Group and it was quickly agreed that Government support would be required to make it happen.

MAS action MAS’ Automotive Supply Chain Lead Rachel Eade held a long-standing relationship with Petford having supported the company on its environmental management systems and accessing quality and management training.

She immediately sat down with the firm to

Results MAS used its contacts and industry knowledge to help the company develop a Regional Growth Funding bid that eventually landed it £720,000 of vital support.

This was used to fit out the mould plant, which is one of the most advanced in the

(l-r) Nick Howard (Petford Group), Rachel Eade (MAS) and Mel Sinar (Petford Group) world and will eventually create 30 new jobs.

At the same time, Rachel worked with the management team to secure a further £5.2m from the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI).

This money will be used as working capital to finance the set-up of tooling for new components for the automotive and aerospace sectors.

With the new mould facility now open, Petford Group is expecting sales to increase to £19m by £2015. n

www.mymas.org advice@mymas.org @mas_works 0845 658 9600

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law ‘merger mania’ is the legal sector’s way of minimising the damage done by politicians The Coalition Government’s swingeing cuts to legal aid have left many firms facing difficult decisions as the industry contracts, explains Rob Bhol, CEO of DBS Law In 2013, the legal services sector was hit by a perfect storm: the Jackson reforms ripped the guts out of the personal injury market, legal aid cuts took away thousands of ordinary people’s access to justice; reform delays created uncertainty, preventing businesses’ investment plans; a flat economy hit revenue in even the biggest firms; and extra regulation added a distraction that none of us needed.

Are the prospects any better for 2014? Well, as we haven’t really felt the full extent of the loss of

Rob Bhol, CEO, DBS Law

revenue from the Jackson reforms yet, and there are more legal aid cuts to come, this year is likely to be just as challenging.

Despite the legal sector’s contribution to the economy of £4bn a year, the Government seems determined to damage it in favour of other interests. The insurance industry lobby has been entirely successful in winning favourable legislation to protect its profits against legitimate claims for damages by members of the public injured through the negligence of others.

This has been achieved through the propagation of the myth of mass fraud around whiplash. The answer was apparently to make it much riskier for lawyers to take any personal injury cases on ‘conditional fee’ agreements, by reducing fees, recoverable costs, and abolishing success fees.

Our response in DBS Law was to continue to guarantee 100% to our clients. This position is only sustainable with an increase in volume and this has to come at the expense of other firms.

There is now a battle on between the big budget advertisers, who will take 25% of successful clients’ compensation, and those determined to continue to support victims completely, hoping this will resonate commercially as people shop around for the best deal.

Many firms have already been caught out by the new regime. Some carrying debt raised on work in progress and struggling to secure reasonablypriced insurance have hit the wall. Midlands’ casualties include Cobbett’s, Challinors, and Blakemores. They won’t be the last.

Others have sought sanctuary in mergers and acquisitions. ‘Merger mania’, as it has been referred to, has seen big boys like Slater & Gordon and Shakespeares devour some household names in the Midlands. We too have taken the opportunity to grow through acquisition, bringing

in two other firms. Consolidation, our equivalent of circling the wagons, is clearly set to continue through 2014.

Criminal law firms will struggle in the face of the legal aid cuts in 2014, the promise of which brought thousands of protesting lawyers onto the streets at the turn of the year. Under the cloak of austerity measures, £220m will be cut from the budget, thousands will go unrepresented in court, the guilty will walk free, and just as easily the innocent will be incarcerated. Thousands of jobs will be lost and criminal practices will close.

The Government seeks to justify the cuts saying the UK has the highest legal aid budget in the western world. In truth, our system is only Europe’s 13th most expensive. Similar spin was used against personal injury lawyers: castigated for making successful claims before the introduction of the LASPO reforms, then attacked again for reacting to the consequences of the reforms by claiming fees from clients’ compensation.

The industry’s one consolation is the absence of the predicted tsunami of commercial competition from non-lawyers. The Co-op’s recent troubles have brought some comfort to law firms and provided a salutary warning to potential market entrants. Not that this should cause us to lapse into complacency. The key to survival must be to prepare, innovate and consolidate. Keep calm and carry on. n

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the new legal landscape will favour those who recognise that problems can be opportunities By focusing on their specialist expertise and predicting where increases in demand will come from, law firms can remain resilient in the face of fresh challenges, says Nick Brown, MD of Shakespeares The outlook for the West Midlands legal sector is more promising than it has been for some time.

But there is still more to do to ensure providers of legal services are properly geared up to support local businesses as they begin to grow more rapidly.

In the past year, much of the groundwork has been done to consolidate legal services in the region. The winners so far have been firms that have succeeded in growing at the same time as investing in strengthening their specialist expertise.

To a large extent, these changes have been supported by the innate resilience and diverse nature of the region’s business community – with its notable strengths in property, construction, manufacturing and financial services. It has also been helped by the export bravery of some local businesses as they have up-scaled to reach into international markets.

To date, the focus at Shakespeares has been to consolidate its position as the region’s second biggest law firm. The firm has concentrated on gaining ground through strategic acquisition and enriching its capabilities in areas where there are exciting opportunities to meet growing demand.

As well as making key enhancements to its existing services through growing teams and adding expertise, the firm completed two key mergers last year with the addition of Leicesterbased planning specialists, Marrons, and Coventry-based social housing practice, Newsome Vaughan.

Nationally, it is promising that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has predicted a 2.4% growth in UK GDP this year and recently upgraded GDP growth figures for the last quarter of 2013 to 0.8%. However, this upbeat outlook doesn’t automatically reflect the regional picture. For example, parts of the UK that are reliant on a

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specific sector or industry are clearly at the mercy of how well (or badly!) that particular area is performing. However, within regions like the West Midlands, the diverse nature of businesses means that the economy is in a much stronger position.

In recent months, there has been a marked upturn in demand for property law services in relation to residential development helped by the Help to Buy initiative. The firm has also been acting on a number of significant retail development opportunities. In addition, the firm has seen a recent upturn in demand for corporate law services, indicating that businesses are beginning to look again at mergers and acquisitions as a means of growth and gaining access to new markets. With some significant deals in the pipeline, the outlook for the firm’s corporate finance team in particular is more optimistic than it has been for some time.

An important knock-on effect of a more buoyant local economy is that it creates a positive image of the region and helps to attract investor attention.

A key example of inward investment is the construction of the city’s first ‘supercasino’ at a cost of £150m. Resorts World, next to the LG Arena at the NEC, opens in 2015 and will be owned and run by the UK division of the Malaysian Genting Group, demonstrating that Far Eastern investors are already looking outside

London in search of commercial property opportunities. Progress towards HS2, while controversial, is helping to put the Midlands on the investment map and has the potential to create significant levels of employment.

Anticipating shifts in client demand should be part and parcel of the approach taken by any successful law firm operating in the West Midlands. The ability to predict where any increase in demand will come from next and to ensure the firm is positioned to supply the required services to meet that demand is key to their ability to compete in the new generation legal services marketplace.

For full-service legal providers, the Jackson reforms, introduced last year, have undoubtedly created some challenges for personal injury lawyers. Those that were able to respond positively and swiftly to these changes will be rewarded.

Anticipating the changes by ensuring that teams are properly structured and house the right level of expertise sends a confident message to the marketplace, reassuring clients that they are working with the right people.

Success stories like Jaguar Land Rover, which has recently reported record sales of nearly half a million cars a year, help to demonstrate the increasing need for high-quality legal services in the region.

For full-service legal providers, the Jackson reforms, introduced last year, have undoubtedly created some challenges for personal injury lawyers. Those that were able to respond positively and swiftly to these changes will be rewarded

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opinion

Staying focused and adapting to meet clients’ demands is vital, says Shakespeares MD Nick Brown

For the West Midlands, where there is an intricate network of businesses and services feeding into the local economy, strength is about far more than a performance snapshot at a given moment in time. Overarching this is the region’s resilience and the recognition that from problems come opportunities.

The entrepreneurial outlook of the business community sees that a decline within a specific sector could trigger an even greater renaissance for the region, as the opportunities left behind

get picked up and capitalised on by others.

The start of the year is a key moment for any professional services provider, and for law firms particularly it is a time to review the state of the local economy and analyse existing and projected demand for services. In 2014, the most successful law firms will be those that continue to grow where there is scope to do so, while staying focused on adapting their offering to match client demands and staying one step ahead of the competition. Not much then! n

Shakespeares is the second largest law firm in the Midlands, providing legal services for businesses, public sector organisations and private clients across the UK. The firm operates from eight offices including Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham, Stratfordupon-Avon, Solihull, and Milton Keynes.

The firm has won a string of awards in recent years including being ranked third best law firm in the UK in The Lawyer Awards 2013. www.shakespeares.co.uk

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interview

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interview

team builder’s rescue mission transformed the fortunes of a struggling firm of solicitors Listening to staff, recruiting the right experts and investing in rebranding helped Rob Bhol turn a loss-making law firm into a profitable, fast-expanding business. Steve Dyson reports When experienced lawyer Rob Bhol arrived at Davy Bal Solicitors in August 2007, he found the Birmingham firm in “a lot of distress”.

The business had a decent income from personal injury claims work, with revenues in the region of £2m a year; but it was trading at a substantial loss, with profit margins of minus 11% and debts of more than £1m.

“There were all sorts of problems with finance, the regulator and tax,” recalls Bhol. “And there was a severely disgruntled workforce. This was a lot to sort out from an operational point of view, but working positively with the main shareholder we were committed to rescuing it.”

Bhol became a director very quickly and, by the beginning of 2008, was made managing director, decisively “building on what was a good team” to turn the business around. The company was soon returned to profitability and by the year ending March 2013 reported revenues of £5.4m, with profit margins of 12% – and this was after substantial investments in acquisitions, new IT systems and rebranding. Bhol is keen to stress that figures do not include any work in progress or debt which is the situation in many other firms.

The number of staff employed has also grown from around 30 to more than 80. And today’s healthy balance sheets include no overdrafts or borrowings – all debt has been cleared.

So how did he and the team manage such a transformation of fortunes?

“The first task was to stabilise the business, and part of this meant staff engagement and then diversification. We asked staff what they wanted, and the clear message was higher levels of investment internally. This helped shape our rebranding as DBS Law, with the slogan ‘bringing law to life’.

“When I arrived, 99% of Davy Bal Solicitors’ work

was personal injury claims. As we rebranded into DBS Law, we found people to set up different areas, recruiting good lawyers from top firms. Our head of property came from Shakespeares, our head of corporate from Hammonds, our head of commercial from Pinsents, our head of family from a high street firm, and barrister Adrian Barnes became head of employment.

“Each of these new departments were start-ups – they had no work and were built from scratch in terms of setting up systems, compliance and income. And this was when our new marketing and PR came in, to establish and build the new DBS Law brand. Despite the recession, we’ve had reasonable organic growth, with some departments performing better than others.”

On top of this internal investment and expansion, DBS Law also went on the acquisition trail in 2013, taking over Hearne & Co, a family high street law firm from Smethwick with revenues of £500k a year, and then Andersons, a Nottingham firm with revenues of £1.5m.

Bhol says: “The Hearne investment has moved us into the residential market, serving the local community, and trying to turn the high street into profitable growth. We see revenues in this part of the business quickly growing to £1m and then £1.5m as our marketing and PR kicks in. Andersons was a bigger move and our first outside of Birmingham into the East Midlands.

This only happened in October 2013, and so 2014 is the major push.”

These two firms now operate as DBS Hearne and DBS Andersons, with DBS the controlling partner of both, and have resulted in new departments for the parent company: will and probate; contentious probate; property litigation; and intellectual property. Andersons business has also strengthened DBS’s employment department.

“As a result, the proportion of personal injury work has now changed from 99% to around 65%, and in the next three years will become 20%,” says Bhol. “This means risk will be shared between departments, but with no income dips.

The only change is in proportions of work, but we’ll be working hard to maintain revenues in personal injury as well.”

The expansion of DBS Law will not end there: already Bhol says he’s working on acquisitions in Manchester, Bedford and London worth nearly £4m in revenues, with other Midland prospects at early stages. This, he predicts, will see DBS’s revenues grow to £10m by March 2015, and then to £30m by March 2017, with an eventual staff growth to around 250.

“The plans are ambitious because as we grow we’ll be able to afford bigger and bigger acquisitions. At the moment we’re targeting firms with turnovers of between £500k and £2.5m; >>

The first task was to stabilise the business, and part of this meant staff engagement and then diversification. We asked staff what they wanted, and the clear message was higher levels of investment internally

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law rob’s route to the top Rob Bhol was born in Harborne, Birmingham, in 1969, one of five children to Indian father Pijush Bhol and Welsh mother Dylis Leader.

His father came from the West Bengal village of Manusmuria, 150 miles south west of Calcutta, and had initially arrived in Britain to study.

His parents met in Worcester and soon married, ending up living in Harborne for most of Bhol’s childhood. They named him Rabindranath Bhol, after the Indian poet and Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore, although this name was quickly shortened to Robin and now Rob. Schooled at Harborne Primary and then Lordswood Boys, Bhol left at the age of 16 to become a trainee legal executive at Pinsents. He found that he enjoyed law and so, after a stint at Rowley Ashworth, now part of Thompsons Solicitors, he joined Russell Jones & Walker, now part of Slater & Gordon Lawyers, from where he studied part-time for a law degree at what was then the University of Central England.

But by the age of 26, and without the usual student experiences, Bhol yearned for travel, taking a year off to visit the Far East and Australia with his partner, Sophie. When the pair returned, he found a job back at Rowley Ashworth, completed his legal practice exams, and was made a partner by the age of 29.

Then, in 2003, Bhol set up the Trinity Law Partnership with two colleagues, quickly learning all about entrepreneurship, management and operations until he left for David Bell Solicitors in 2007. Bhol’s was an unusual way into the legal profession, especially given that he’s risen to become head of a multi-million pound, expanding business.

Bhol says: “It was a different route into a legal career, and hopefully that should encourage others. It is possible, but only if the opportunity and access is given.” With this in mind, Bhol plans for DBS Law to one day offer legal traineeships to pupils from his old school, Lordswood Boys.

Bhol and Sophie now have three children themselves – James, aged 15, Molly, 13, and Sam, nine – with the family home back in the Harborne suburb where both parents grew up.

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interview

next we’ll be looking at bigger firms with up to £10m in revenues. Our overall turnover and profitability will grow with the right opportunities and perseverance, and having one back office will help contain costs.”

Despite the speed of growth at DBS, Bhol and his management team are determined to make three areas key to its future: staff engagement, community and customer service. The company was the first in the Midlands to become a patron of the Prince’s Trust, providing £100k in funds for the charity in 2012, which was then doubled by match-funding from Europe.

DBS staff also support the Midlands Air Ambulance, Brake – the road safety charity, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), working with the last two to create a road safety musical that will be performed to 3,000 primary school children across Birmingham over three days this February.

Bhol is honest about the role DBS plays, admitting that it creates important commercial branding. But he adds: “Although personal injury claims are part of our business, there’s no pleasure representing an injured child or a bereaved family. If our charity work reduces risks and saves just one life it will have been worth it.”

This sort of work has helped DBS staff to feel more fulfilled, as shown in 2011 when the company came 82nd in the Sunday Times’ Top 100 ‘Best Small Companies’, based on an employee survey.

This found that 69% of DBS staff felt they had a good balance between work and home life, with 80% saying managers were quick to respond to signs of stress, 86% reporting that their colleagues were also keen to help and 83% sharing a sense of family.

“In 2008, staff morale was poor, and we wanted a better understanding of how staff were feeling,” says Bhol. “The Sunday Times 100 showed us what they genuinely thought, giving us a lot of feedback about the good and bad, and we’ve sought to improve what was bad.

“A lot of it’s about communications, and developing the personality of leadership to be about listening. A bit like the old Green Cross Code, I said to everybody: ‘stop, look and listen to people before we start doing things’, and that’s worked very well.

“Of course sometimes you have to just get on

with things, but wherever possible our ‘stop, look and listen’ approach has become a principle for DBS Law, and for the way we treat and involve staff. This staff liaison is currently informal, but as we get bigger we may put this on a more formal basis.

“A good example of the way this brings positive results is the way our staff have worked on the ‘Million Makers’ fundraising challenge for the Prince’s Trust. They’re doing it all – planning, engaging, working and developing the project.

We as a management are not leading it. It’s about real staff involvement, which results in genuine feelings of achievement.

“For the business, I strongly believe that keeping staff happy and engaged means they get even better at what they’re doing, ultimately increasing our profitability. We invest in training, education and in developing staff careers, and we like to give them the opportunity to do whatever they want – like trying new work in different departments.

“It’s all about listening to staff. Sometimes you can get a bit cynical, but you need to try to accept that the views of employees are going to be different, and by listening you’re engaging, with the result that things can often improve both for staff and the business.

“I understand that there is no such thing as a complete leader, you need strong capable people around you with skills you don’t possess, and you need to trust their judgement to modify your own decisions.”

Looking back on what’s been achieved at DBS Law in the last six years, Bhol struggles to single out any real ‘bad’ times, simply because he and his team have enthusiastically turned these into opportunities for positive change and growth.

Instead he’s diplomatic: “Back at the start, different types of leadership skills coming from different directions were potentially causing a lot of harm.

“Ensuring that we listened to staff views of problems, meant what might have been ‘bad’ moments were always positively advanced, growing and building the business.”

“This resulted in discretionary efforts from staff beyond what we were paying for because they respected the leadership of the business. And this has led to all sort of accolades – including the Sunday Times 100 listing, being shortlisted

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interview

for ‘Law Firm of the Year’ in the Birmingham Law Society awards, coming second for ‘Excellence in Client Service’ in the national Law Society awards, and winning the coveted ‘Customer Service Excellence Standard’ from the Government’s Cabinet Office.

“All this is helping to build the DBS Law brand and image, but it’s the people who work for us who’ve done it, as their happiness in the workplace has increased our customer focus significantly. It all starts with staff: if they receive education, training and are treated well they

then understand the importance of the client.”

DBS Law is a limited company, and the original Davy Bal is still the majority shareholder, while Bhol himself has 20% shareholdings.

As the business enters 2014 with its plans for

growth, Bhol describes the company’s vision: “We want to be a national, iconic legal brand with our people at the heart of the business.

How we deliver on that and maintain that focus is the next stage of DBS’s challenge.” n

For the business, I strongly believe that keeping staff happy and engaged means they get even better at what they’re doing, ultimately increasing our profitability

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who’s who Silvie Adams

Adrian Barnes

HOSPITAL DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Spire Little Aston Hospital

HEAD OF EMPLOYMENT MAIN BUSINESS: Legal Services

Spire Little Aston Hospital, Little Aston Hall Drive, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B74 3UP 0121 353 2444 silvie.adams@spirehealthcare.com www.spirehealthcare.com/littleaston

3 Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1BQ 0121 374 2422 07792 772540 adrian.barnes@dbslaw.co.uk www.dbslaw.co.uk

Tom Addyman

Paul Bassi CBE

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Corporate & Commercial Banking

CHIEF EXECUTIVE MAIN BUSINESS: Real Estate

Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking 1 Cornwall Street, Birmingham, B3 2DX 07808 116629 thomas.addyman@santander.co.uk www.santandercb.co.uk

Emine Ahmetoglu REGIONAL COMMERCIAL MANAGER, BIRMINGHAM MAIN BUSINESS: Airlines Turkish Airlines Inc. Birmingham Airport, Diamond House, Room DH125B, Birmingham, B26 3QJ +44 121 782 80 11 / Ext:42552 bhx.marketing@thy.com www.turkishairlines.com

Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya KB, CBE, FREng CHAIRMAN MAIN BUSINESS: Warwick Manufacturing Group

International Manufacturing Centre, The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom +44 (0) 24 7652 3155 s.k.bhattacharyya@warwick.ac.uk www.wmg.warwick.ac.uk

Tim Andrews

Rob Bhol

MANAGING DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Signage & Graphics

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER MAIN BUSINESS: Legal Services

The Studios, Redfern Parkway, Tyseley, Birmingham, B11 2BF 0121 764 3222 tim.andrews@hollywoodmonster.co.uk www.hollywoodmonster.co.uk

3 Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1BQ 0121 374 2266 07918 732467 rob.bhol@dbslaw.co.uk www.dbslaw.co.uk

David Bailey

Joanne Brain

PROFESSOR OF INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY MAIN BUSINESS: Academic: manufacturing, auto, industrial and regional policy

DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING MAIN BUSINESS: Hotels

Economics & Strategy Group Aston Business School The Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK +44 (0)7981 925713 or +44 (0)121 204 5262 d.bailey@aston.ac.uk http://www1.aston.ac.uk/abs/

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Real Estate Investors Plc, Cathedral Place, 3rd floor, 42-44 Waterloo Street, Birmingham, B2 5QB 0121 212 3446 paulbassi@reiplc.com www.reiplc.com

Hyatt Regency Birmingham, 2 Bridge Street, Birmingham, B1 2JZ 0121 643 1234 joanne.brain@hyatt.com www.Birmingham.regency.hyatt.com

bq-magazine.co.uk

who’s who Gursharan Bunger

Charles Cook

HEAD OF PRIVATE CLIENT MAIN BUSINESS: Legal Services

OFFICE MANAGING PARTNER MAIN BUSINESS: Global Law Firm

3 Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1BQ 0121 374 2336 gursharan.bunger@dbslaw.co.uk www.dbslaw.co.uk

DLA Piper UK LLP, Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B2 4DL 0121 262 5808 charles.cook@dlapiper.com www.dlapiper.com

Richard Butler

Megan Cooper

REGIONAL DIRECTOR, CBI WEST MIDLANDS & OXFORDSHIRE

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER MAIN BUSINESS: Spire Little Aston Hospital

MAIN BUSINESS: Business lobbying organisation CBI, 14th Floor Cobalt Square, 83 Hagley Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B16 8QG 0121 450 8970 Richard.butler@cbi.org.uk www.cbi.org.uk

Spire Little Aston Hospital, Little Aston Hall Drive Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B74 3UP 0121 353 2444 megan.cooper@spirehealthcare.com www.spirehealthcare.com/littleaston

Kevin Buttress

Margaret Corneby

DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Rapid Prototyping and Casting, Low Volume Production, Scale Models, Optical Artwork

CHIEF EXECUTIVE MAIN BUSINESS: Business support services

CMA Moldform Limited, Unit 17, Spitfire Road, Spitfire Park, Birmingham, B24 9PR +44 (0)121 350 7707 k.buttress@cmamoldform.co.uk www.cmamoldform.co.uk

Chamber of Commerce House, Ward Street, Walsall, West Midlands, WS1 2AG 0845 8724 278 margaretcorneby@blackcountrychamber.co.uk www.blackcountrychamber.co.uk

Caroline Castle

Adrian Davies

SENIOR EMPLOYEE BENEFITS CONSULTANT, CHARTERED FINANCIAL PLANNER

CEO OF WINNING MOVES MAIN BUSINESS: Business & Consultancy Support Services

MAIN BUSINESS: Independent Financial Advisers – Wealth Management, Auto Enrolment, Employee Benefits.

Torquil Clark, St Mark’s, Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton, WV3 0TZ 01902 576707 caroline.castle@torquilclark.com www.torquilclark.com

Wolverhampton Science Park Wolverhampton, WV10 9TG 01902 838 300 adriand@winningmoves.com www.winningmoves.com

Professor Fiona Church

Richard Davies

EXECUTIVE DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF EDUCATION, LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCES MAIN BUSINESS: Higher Education

MANUFACTURING ADVISOR (SUPPLY CHAIN SPECIALIST) MAIN BUSINESS: Manufacturing Business support

Birmingham City University, City North Campus Perry Barr, Birmingham, B42 2SU 0121 331 5000 fiona.church@bcu.ac.uk www.bcu.ac.uk

Wolverhampton Science Park, Wolverhampton WV10 9TG 07957 378704 richard.davies@mymas.org www.mymas.org

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bq-magazine.co.uk

who’s who Susan Davies

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Residential Property Agency Services in Birmingham

Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking 1 Cornwall Street, Birmingham, B3 2DX 07809 493678 susan.davies2@santander.co.uk www.santandercb.co.uk

FleetMilne Property, 85-89 Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 2BB FleetMilne Property, 24 Waterfront Walk, Canal Wharf, Birmingham, B1 1SN 08452 968 688 / 07766 766 125 ben@fleetmilne.co.uk www.fleetmilne.co.uk

Debbie Day

Dr Phil Extance

MANAGING PARTNER - BIRMINGHAM MAIN BUSINESS: Insurance Broker

PRO-VICE-CHANCELLOR, BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS & KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER MAIN BUSINESS: Higher Education

45 Church Street, Birmingham, B3 2RT 0121 232 4555 debbie.day@uk.lockton.com www.lockton.com

Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET 0121 204 4648 p.extance@aston.ac.uk www1.aston.ac.uk

Muneeb Dean

Angela Fitzpatrick

HEAD OF CORPORATE MAIN BUSINESS: Legal Services

HEAD OF PERSONAL INJURY MAIN BUSINESS: Legal Services

3 Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1BQ 0121 374 2334 07854 148633 muneeb.dean@dbslaw.co.uk www.dbslaw.co.uk

3 Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1BQ 0121 374 2310 07969 274290 angela.fitzpatrick@dbslaw.co.uk www.dbslaw.co.uk

Rachel Eade

Mario Flanagan

NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR LEAD MAIN BUSINESS: Manufacturing Business Support, Supply chain specialist

GENERAL MANAGER MAIN BUSINESS: Hotels

Wolverhampton Science Park, Wolverhampton, WV10 9TG 07968 025 406 rachel.eade@mymas.org www.mymas.org

Hyatt Regency Birmingham, 2 Bridge Street, Birmingham, B1 2JZ 0121 643 1234 mario.flanagan@hyatt.com www.Birmingham.regency.hyatt.com

Craig Errington

Nicola Fleet-Milne

CHIEF EXECUTIVE MAIN BUSINESS: Financial Services

OWNER & MD MAIN BUSINESS: Residential Property Agency Services in Birmingham

Wesleyan Assurance Society, Colmore Circus, Birmingham B4 6AR 0121 200 3003 enquiries@wesleyan.co.uk www.wesleyan.co.uk

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Ben Evans

DEPUTY REGIONAL DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Corporate & Commercial Banking

FleetMilne Property, 85-89 Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 2BB FleetMilne Property, 24 Waterfront Walk, Canal Wharf, Birmingham, B1 1SN 08452 968 688 / 07903 700 328 nicola@fleetmilne.co.uk www.fleetmilne.co.uk

bq-magazine.co.uk

who’s who Liz Foster

Gill Hamer

MANAGING DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Independent Insurance Brokers

PARTNERSHIPS DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Stakeholder management & contracts

The Old Dispensary, Worcester Street, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY8 1AN 01384 37 55 55 fosterl@ihnsure.co.uk www.ihnsure.co.uk

Wolverhampton Science Park, Wolverhampton WV10 9TG 07775 670288 gill.hamer@mymas.org www.mymas.org

Dr Mark Gillett

Mike Hammond

SPORT AND EXERCISE MEDICINE CONSULTANT MAIN BUSINESS: Spire Little Aston Hospital

CHIEF EXECUTIVE MAIN BUSINESS: Raising money to buy life-saving equipment, fund ground-breaking research and improve facilities at the Queen Elizabeth Hospitals

Perform at Spire Little Aston Hospital, Little Aston Hall Drive, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B74 3UP 0121 580 7131 birmingham@spireperform.com www.spireperform/birmingham.com

QEHB Charity, 5th floor, Nuffield House, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Edgbaston.

B15 2TH 0121 371 4852 mike.hammond@uhb.nhs.uk www.qehb.org

Michael Graham

Dr David Hardman MBE

RELATIONSHIP DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Corporate & Commercial Banking

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER MAIN BUSINESS: Science Park

Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking 1 Cornwall Street, Birmingham, B3 2DX 07720 734034 michael.graham2@santander.co.uk www.santandercb.co.uk

Innovation Birmingham Ltd, Faraday Wharf, Innovation Birmingham Campus, Holt Street, Birmingham Science Park Aston, Birmingham, B7 4BB. 0121 260 6000 info@innovationbham.com www.innovationbham.com

Brian Hall

Mark Hart

MANAGING DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Health cash plans Employee benefits & HR support services BHSF Services Limited, Gamgee House, 2 Darnley Road, Birmingham, B16 8TE 0121 629 1210 sales@bhsf.co.uk www.bhsf.co.uk

PROFESSOR OF SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP; PROGRAMME DIRECTOR GOLDMAN SACHS 10,000 SMALL BUSINESSES MAIN BUSINESS: Education/ Small Business Support Aston Business School, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET 0121 204 3225 10ksb@aston.ac.uk www.aston.ac.uk/10ksb

Richard Halstead

Dr Clive Hickman

REGION DIRECTOR - MIDLANDS MAIN BUSINESS: Manufacturing

CHIEF EXECUTIVE MAIN BUSINESS: Manufacturing Technology Research

EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, St James’s House, Frederick Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 1JJ 0121 456 0220 (ext 2220) rhalstead@eef.org.uk www.eef.org.uk

The Manufacturing Technology Centre, MTC, Pilot Way, Ansty Park, CV7 9JU 02476 701600 www.the-mtc.org

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bq-magazine.co.uk

who’s who Lorraine Holmes

Veronica Kumeta

AREA DIRECTOR OF MANUFACTURING ADVISORY SERVICE – NORTH & WEST ENGLAND MAIN BUSINESS: Business and Consultancy Support Services

CHAIRMAN AND CO-FOUNDER MAIN BUSINESS: Charity

Wolverhampton Science Park, Wolverhampton, WV10 9TG 01902 838 300 Lorraine.holmes@mymas.org www.mymas.org

Monique Hope-Ross

Suzanne Linton

OPHTHALMOLOGY CONSULTANT MAIN BUSINESS: Spire Little Aston Hospital

MANAGING DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Digital Agency

The Spire Eye Centre, Spire Little Aston Hospital Little Aston Hall Drive, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B74 3UP 0121 580 7366 denise.crowther@spirehealthcare.com www.spirehealthcare.com/spire-eye-centres/

Freestyle Interactive, Harwoods House Banbury Road Ashorne Warks CV35 0AA 01926 652832 suzanne.linton@freestyleinteractive.co.uk www.freestyleinteractive.co.uk

Andrew Jones

Richard Lowe

MANAGING PARTNER MAIN BUSINESS: Supply Chain and Operations Improvement

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Core Partners Management Consultants Ltd 43 Temple Row, Birmingham B2 5LS, England 0121 237 6030 andrew.jones@corep.co.uk

Wolverhampton Science Park, Wolverhampton WV10 9TG 07788 340969 richard.lowe@mymas.org www.mymas.org

Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham Kt. CROSSBENCH PEER AND BUSINESSMAN MAIN BUSINESS: Advisory and NED & International Business Speaker

MAIN BUSINESS: Manufacturing Business support

Jayne Magee DIRECTOR OR OPERATIONS, WEST MIDLANDS MAIN BUSINESS: Responsible Business/ CSR

digby@digbylordjones.com www.digbylordjones.com

Business in the Community, 83 Bournville Lane, Birmingham B30 2HP 0121 451 2227 jayne.magee@bitc.org.uk www.bitc.org.uk

Paul Kehoe

Leon Marklew

CEO MAIN BUSINESS: Airport

REGIONAL DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Corporate & Commercial Banking

Diamond House, Birmingham Airport, B26 3QJ 00 44 121 767 7100 paul.kehoe@birminghamairport.co.uk www.birminghamairport.co.uk

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LFBC Appeals Office, Floor 7, 75 Harborne Road, Birmingham, B15 3DH 0121 607 1892 veronica@ladiesfightingbreastcancer.org.uk www.ladiesfightingbreastcancer.org.uk

Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking 1 Cornwall Street, Birmingham, B3 2DX 07718 121370 leon.marklew@santander.co.uk www.santandercb.co.uk

bq-magazine.co.uk

who’s who Clive Martell

Dave Munton

CHIEF EXECUTIVE MAIN BUSINESS: Manufacturing (CADCAM) software

REGIONAL MANAGING PARTNER MAIN BUSINESS: Audit, tax and specialist advisory services

Small Heath Business Park, Birmingham B10 0HJ 0121 766 5544 cpm@delcam.com www.delcam.com

Grant Thornton UK LLP, Colmore Plaza, 20 Colmore Circus, Birmingham, B4 6AT +44 (0)121 212 4000 www.grant-thornton.co.uk

Zeeshan Masood

Calum Nisbet

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER MAIN BUSINESS: Legal Services

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR CORPORATE RELATIONS MAIN BUSINESS: Legal Services

3 Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1BQ 0121 374 2255 07894 450677 zeeshan.masood@dbslaw.co.uk www.dbslaw.co.uk

3 Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1BQ 0121 374 2333 07949 861048 Calum.nisbet@dbslaw.co.uk www.dbslaw.co.uk

Jo Miners

Brian Norton

WEST MIDLANDS PM FORUM REGIONAL DIRECTOR AND MARKETING CONSULTANT MAIN BUSINESS: A professional membership organisation for marketers working in professional services worldwide.

MANAGING DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Manufacturer of Paint and Specialist Coatings for the Aerospace Industry

PM Forum, PM Forum Headquarters, 422 Salisbury House, London Wall, London, EC2M 5QQ 07739 515809 jo@stonehouse-marketing.co.uk www.pmforum.co.uk/westmidlands

Steve Mitchell RELATIONSHIP DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Corporate & Commercial Banking Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking 1 Cornwall Street, Birmingham, B3 2DX 07715 088269 steve.j.mitchell@santander.co.uk www.santandercb.co.uk

Indestructible Paint Limited, 19-25 Pentos Drive Sparkhill, Birmingham, B11 3TA 0121-702-2485 sales@indestructible.co.uk www.indestructible.co.uk

Ray O’Donoghue

MANAGING DIRECTOR, MIDLANDS & WALES CORPORATE BANKING BARCLAYS MAIN BUSINESS: Financial Institution Barclays, One Snowhill, Snowhill Queensway, Birmingham, B4 6GB 07775 540741 ray.o’donoghue@barclays.com www.barclayscorporate.com

Dr. Chris Moore

John O’Reilly

PARTNER MAIN BUSINESS: Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys

CENTRAL ENGLAND DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Youth Charity

11 Waterloo Street, Birmingham, B2 5TB 0121 644 4960 hgf-birmingham@hgf.com www.hgf.com

Unit 6 Faraday Court, Conduit Street, Leicester, LE2 0JN 0116 204 5595 john.o’reilly@princes-trust.org.uk www.princes-trust.org.uk/

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bq-magazine.co.uk

who’s who Robin Oxley

Rob Price

BIRMINGHAM OFFICE MANAGING PARTNER, PATENT ATTORNEY MAIN BUSINESS: Intellectual Property Services

DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Wine Education

Alpha Tower, Suffolk Street Queensway, Birmingham, B1 1TT 0121 643 5881 roxley@marks-clerk.com www.marks-clerk.com

Ann Palmer

Roy Pulley

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Training and Apprenticeships

NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST MAIN BUSINESS: Manufacturing Business Support

The Intraining Group Limited, 722 Prince of Wales Road, Darnall, Sheffield, S9 4EU 0114 289 8400 www.intraining.co.uk

Wolverhampton Science Park Wolverhampton, WV10 9TG 07919 168 339 roy.pulley@mymas.org www.mymas.org

Colin Parker

Neil Rami

DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Developing skills in high value manufacturing in the Black Country

CHIEF EXECUTIVE MAIN BUSINESS: Strategic Marketing Partnership

Black Country Skills Factory, BCC Ltd, The Deckhouse, Waterfront West, Dudley Road, Brierley Hill, DY5 1LW 07944 268709 Colin_Parker@blackcountryconsortium.co.uk www.blackcountryskillsfactory.co.uk

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Birmingham Wine School, Eagles, Chapel Row, Cropredy, Oxon, OX17 1NS. 0121 270 7359 info@birminghamwineschool.com www.birminghamwineschool.com

Ground Floor, Baskerville House, Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B1 2ND 0121 202 5115 NeilRami@marketingbirmingham.com www.marketingbirmingham.com

Debbie Partridge

Adrian Roberts

RELATIONSHIP DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Corporate & Commercial Banking

PARTNER AND UK ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR LEADER IN THE MIDLANDS MAIN BUSINESS: Professional Services

Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking 1 Cornwall Street, Birmingham, B3 2DX 07917 554253 deborah.partridge@santander.co.uk www.santandercb.co.uk

No.1 Colmore Square, Birmingham B4 6HQ +44 (0121) 535 2064 aroberts@uk.ey.com www.ey.com

Miles Plumb

John Russell

DIRECTOR, WEALTH MANAGER MAIN BUSINESS: Banking & Wealth Management

CHAIRMAN OF WMMC MAIN BUSINESS: Business Support and consultancy services

45 Church Street, Birmingham B3 2RT 0121 607 8486 miles.plumb@coutts.com www.coutts.com

Wolverhampton Science Park Wolverhampton ,WV10 9TG 01902 838 300 johnrussell619@btinternet.com www.mymas.org

bq-magazine.co.uk

who’s who Dani Saveker

Andy Street

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO) MAIN BUSINESS: Family business support

CHAIR MAIN BUSINESS: Economic Development

Families in Business (FiB) Limited, Allerton, 5a New Church Road, Sutton Coldfield, B73 5RT 0121 663 0705 / 07812 992726 dani@fibcommunity.com www.fibcommunity.com

Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, Baskerville House, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2ND 0121 303 4369 gbslep@birmingham.gov.uk www.gbslep.com

Richard Skan

Lucy Tarleton

GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Mobility & engineered solutions for industry

REGIONAL DIRECTOR, UK EQUITY PRIMARY MARKETS MAIN BUSINESS: IPO Origination

Balliol Business Park, Wobaston Road, Wolverhampton, WV9 5EU 01902 397216 r.skan@oldburyuk.co.uk www.oldburyuk.co.uk

London Stock Exchange Group plc 10 Paternoster Square, London, EC4M 7LS 0207 797 4672 ltarleton@lseg.com www.lseg.com

Jonathon Smith

David Terry

DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Provision of Recruitment Services

OFFSHORE WIND ADVISOR MAIN BUSINESS: Manufacturing Business support

Pertemps Network Ltd, Meriden Hall, Main Road, Meriden, Warwickshire, CV7 7PT 01676 526396 jon.smith@networkgroupholdings.co.uk www.networkgroupholdings.co.uk

Wolverhampton Science Park, Wolverhampton WV10 9TG 07919 168341 david.terry@mymas.org www.mymas.org

Mark Smith

Paul Thandi

CHAIRMAN OF THE MIDLANDS PRACTICE AND SENIOR PARTNER FOR THE BIRMINGHAM OFFICE MAIN BUSINESS: Professional Services, including assurance, tax, deals and consultancy services.

PwC, Cornwall Court, 19 Cornwall Street, Birmingham, B3 2DT +44 (0)121 232 2299 http://pwc.blogs.com/midlands/

CHIEF EXECUTIVE, NEC GROUP MAIN BUSINESS: Live Events The NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT 0121 767 3891 fiona.brighton@necgroup.co.uk www.necgroup.co.uk

Mike Smith

Fiona Tooley

COMMERCIAL AND IP MANAGER MAIN BUSINESS: Healthcare

DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Public Relations: investor & stakeholder relations, financial & corporate communications

Office 6, Level 1, Education Centre Research & Development University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre, Birmingham, B15 2TH 0121 371 4222 Michael.smith3@uhb.nhs.uk www.uhb.nhs.uk

Regent Court, 68 Caroline Street, Birmingham, B3 1UG Dunston Business Village, Dunston, Staffordshire, ST18 9AB +44 (0) 7785 703 523 +44 (0) 121 309 0099 info@tooleystreet.com www.tooleystreetpr.co.uk

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bq-magazine.co.uk

who’s who Peter Turnock

Jon Weston

MANAGING DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Rapid Prototyping and Casting, Low Volume Production, Scale Models, Optical Artwork

MANAGING DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Independent Jewellers

CMA Moldform Limited, Unit 17, Spitfire Road, Spitfire Park, Birmingham, B24 9PR +44 (0)121 350 7707 p.turnock@cmamoldform.co.uk www.cmamoldform.co.uk

Dr Steve Walker

Andrew Whiting

CHIEF EXECUTIVE MAIN BUSINESS: Business Loans

WEALTH MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT MAIN BUSINESS: Financial Advice

ART (Aston Reinvestment Trust) Faraday Wharf, Holt St, Birmingham Science Park Aston, Birmingham, B7 4BB 0121 359 2444 ART@reinvest.co.uk www.reinvest.co.uk

Andrew Whiting Wealth Consultancy LLP St. James’s Place House, Central Boulevard Blythe Valley Business Park, Shirley, Solihull B90 8AR 0121 2150926 Andrew.whiting@sjpp.co.uk www.andrewwhiting.co.uk

David Walsh GROUP CEO AND CO-FOUNDER MAIN BUSINESS: Corporate Security Netwatch UK, Harwell Innovation Centre, Building 173, Curie Avenue, Harwell, Oxford, OX11 0QG 0800 917 9909 davidwalsh@netwatchsystem.com www.netwatchsystem.co.uk

David Woakes RESOURCE AND OPERATIONS DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Resource management and Project Services 7 Mill Pool, Nash Lane, Belbroughton, Worcestershire, DY9 9AF 01384 221133 david.woakes@mneglobal.com www.mneglobal.com

Claire Walters

Chris Woolridge

MANAGING DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Innovative Supply Chain Solutions

MANAGING DIRECTOR MAIN BUSINESS: Hot Dip Galvanizing

Unit 12 Hamilton Way, Bermuda Park, Nuneaton, Warwickshire. CV10 7RL +44 (0) 2476 648100 claire.walters@unipart.com www.utl.co.uk

Wedge Group Galvanizing Ltd, Stafford Street, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 1RZ 01902 630311 chris.woolridge@wedge-galv.co.uk www.wedge-galv.co.uk

Carmen A. Watson

Abdul Zaheed

CHAIRPERSON MAIN BUSINESS: Provision of Recruitment Services

DIRECTOR & HEAD OF PROPERTY LAW MAIN BUSINESS: Legal Services

Pertemps Recruitment Partnership Limited, Meriden Hall, Main Road, Meriden, Warwickshire. CV7 7PT 01676 525000 Carmen.watson@pertemps.co.uk www.pertemps.co.uk

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JJ Rudell and Co Ltd, 89 High Street, Harborne, B17 9NR 97 Darlington Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 4HB 0121 427 1904 / 01902 423308 info@rudells.com www.rudells.com

3 Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1BQ 0121 374 2246 07792 772623 abdul.zaheed@dbslaw.co.uk www.dbslaw.co.uk

bq-magazine.co.uk

bq-magazine.co.uk

economic update Great strides have been made in driving growth – but 2014 will be even more crucial Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis and chair of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP (GBSLEP), reflects on progress in 2013, and looks at the year ahead On reflection, 2013 was a year in which significant progress was made on our journey as a LEP. With the year just a few days old, a hastily convened audience of stakeholders and partners gathered at KPMG for the launch of the Greater Birmingham Project.

Lord Heseltine, myself and the leader of Birmingham City Council, Sir Albert Bore, were among the speakers as we began what was originally intended as a three-month review of how his proposals for a Local Growth Fund could be applied here in Greater Birmingham.

As it turned out, the deadline was brought forward to meet political deadlines and the report was published in late March.

The collaboration demonstrated that work by partners across public, private, academic and the voluntary sectors has left us well placed for our bid to the Local Growth Fund.

At the end of last year, we submitted the draft of our Strategic Economic Plan which will go well beyond the Local Growth Fund in our future dialogue with government.

You’ll hear more about that in the months to come as it forms the basis of our efforts to deliver on the jobs and growth we outline in the Strategy for Growth.

Aside from the strategic frameworks necessary to drive growth, there was also a great deal to celebrate in terms of delivery.

The momentum of the Birmingham City Centre Enterprise Zone has been encouraging with the launch of the prospectus by the Chancellor George Osborne in February.

Not long afterwards we secured approval from Birmingham City Council to start the investment in infrastructure necessary for, among other things, the redevelopment of Paradise Circus and the Midland Metro extension.

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And early this year, we received approval for a £15m fund to kick-start development on sites across the Enterprise Zone which we will quickly take to the marketplace to get work started.

Along with Arup and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, we launched the master plan for UK Central, a project which already provides great economic value in Greater Birmingham, regionally and nationally and has the potential for even more, if resources can be focussed in the right way.

We’ve also taken great strides in work on Greater Birmingham’s spatial plan and expect to publish this soon.

We’ve seen a surge in the number of apprenticeships and, crucially, unemployment in Greater Birmingham decreased from 65,798 in January 2013 to 53,348 in the latest figures in November.

And we’ve seen no shortage of progress with business support schemes, including the Business Development Programme, Growing Places fund, Green Bridge and Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative.

But 2014 will be an even more crucial year in GBSLEP’s journey. n

Andy Street, MD of John Lewis, believes growth initiatives are beginning to take effect

We’ve seen a surge in apprenticeships and, crucially, unemployment decreased from 65,798 in January 2013 to 53,348 in November

new blood on board as team looks to the future We recently appointed Anita Bhalla to our Board and, as the Chair of both Performance Birmingham and the Midlands Arts Centre, her experience and contacts will be invaluable in our efforts to drive our work with the creative and digital industries.

I am also delighted that in addition to new blood, we have been able to secure significant continuity – with the extension of myself, deputy chair Steve Hollis and skills and employment director Alan Volkaerts – at a time when we are at such a crucial stage on our journey.

We hope this will give stakeholders and government the assurance that we have continuity for the next three years and can continue to make progress as the efforts to rebalance the UK’s economy continue.

bq-magazine.co.uk

financial services as your business grows, do you have it covered?

Recent figures released by the Chancellor show the UK economy is now growing more quickly and solidly than at any time since the financial crisis began in 2007. Official figures show it rose by 0.7 per cent in the last quarter of 2013, meaning growth of 1.9 per cent for the whole year The West Midlands is at the heart of this economic growth. Businesses across the region are seeing an upturn in the region’s economy with priorities for the next six months including recruitment, staff training and development, and business growth of up to 10 per cent. There is also a higher level of confidence as more businesses report signs of wider economic recovery.

Economists have demonstrated that economic growth and insurance development are interdependent and that insurance positively promotes economic development: • Insurance reduces the uncertainty faced by businesses, encourages increased investment and reduces the capital which firms need to operate.

• Insurers invest significant amounts of money into the economy and so promote the development of financial markets while increasing businesses’ access to capital.

• Insurance provides additional security to that offered by the state, thus reducing the potential burden on government finances. Insurance protects balance sheets from sudden shocks, frees-up savings for investment and promotes sustainable economic growth.

• Insurers are long-term and diversified investors in finance areas such as infrastructure development, government securities, and social sector funds, promoting growth in the wider economy.

• Insurance enables businesses and individuals to embark on higher risk, higher return activities, that they would otherwise not be able to undertake, supporting growth and financial inclusion.

• Insurers are solid partners for the development of a workable supplementary system of social protection, in particular in the field of retirement and health provision.

• Moreover, in a global economy characterised by rapid social and demographic change and by the emergence of new risks such as climate change or technological developments, and new needs such as health care and pensions, co-operation between private insurance and public institutions is essential. This co-operation can bring benefits in many fields, for example, health of the working population, accident prevention, compensation for agricultural risks, international trade, etc.

1.9% 2013

Insurance should be a key factor for any business for a number of reasons: • Adequate limits of sums insured are essential to address increased activity, stock, working machinery etc. It is also necessary to meet the requirements of any funding institutions such as lenders or banks.

• The ability of a business to survive major loss is often dependent on the adequacy of its Business Interruption insurance cover. Having a realistic period of indemnity is crucial.

• Management Risk Liability is provided in three parts: Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance; Corporate Legal Liability; and Employment Practice Liability.

• We are seeing an ever increasing number of actions brought against Directors and senior staff personally in relation to claims arising out of their management of the business.

Insurance Brokers are experts who will impartially examine your individual circumstances and suggest the best options.

Use your Insurance Broker to protect this opportunity presented by economic upturn.

IHN Insurance Brokers are based at The Old Dispensary, Worcester Street, Stourbridge, DY8 1AN. Tel: 01384 375 555 Website: www.ihnsure.co.uk

0.7% Q4 2013

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bq-magazine.co.uk

financial services there’s a thin line between success and failure – stay on the right side by watching cashflow What are the banking, finance and accountancy needs of SMEs in 2014? Ian Holder, audit and advisory partner and specialist in owner-managed businesses at the Birmingham office of Mazars, reports Signs of recovery are there … but watch out.

SMEs are generally in a positive frame of mind, looking to expand and grow. But the early stages of recovery can be the most dangerous period for them if they don’t keep a very close rein on cashflow.

No one ever thinks that ‘over trading’ is a problem. What’s wrong with ‘too much’ work?

But it can take a firm down just as easily as not enough business. In fact, they need just as much advice coming out of recession as they do going into it.

There can be a thin line between success and failure. Around 400,000 new businesses start up in the UK annually, but a third cease trading within three years. It’s not a lack of customers or products that destroy businesses – it’s a lack of cash.

That said, I believe most SMEs said farewell to 2013 confident about the future. The UK economy is much improved, inflation is falling, jobs are being created, and the liquidity crisis is easing.

The downside is that a lot of current activity is funded by credit. Nevertheless, in 2014 I am predicting SME growth of 3% to 5%. My advice to companies is not to get hung up on the supposed need for rapid advances in turnover.

Better to progress solidly and securely than race ahead madly – I have seen too many firms who have collapsed despite full order books.

SMEs in the West Midlands are seeing a trickledown effect from big corporates, albeit the recovery is very sector specific. Doing best is automotive – the likes of Jaguar Land Rover.

The JLR story is simply amazing – a sales boom, thousands of new jobs, huge investment, quality cars which people want to buy and a packed new model pipeline. Some achievement given the company was in desperate straits in 2008.

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Audits enable businesses to identify problems before they become a crisis, says Ian Holder This growth is feeding into the auto components industry as suppliers strive to meet burgeoning volumes. It’s all a terrific boost for the region … apart from one hiccup.

SMEs from Birmingham to Redditch, Stoke to the Black Country, are complaining they are losing skilled engineers to JLR, attracted by higher wages.

Of course, this is not all JLR’s fault. And, to be fair, JLR has a massive programme to develop its own recruits, creating apprenticeships galore, highlyfocused on skills. Equally, SMEs have to look at themselves and admit that during the last five years of austerity they’ve cut back on education and training, if only to survive.

It’s starting to come back. But this simply turns a spotlight on the wider skills crisis in the region.

The need to improve skill levels is probably the

number one challenge, defined by substantial numbers of poorly-qualified people in the labour market, and relatively high levels of economic inactivity.

Employers have long complained that it’s difficult to recruit people with the right skills and attitudes to work. This has affected businesses’ ability to innovate and take advantage of new business opportunities.

SMEs continue to be held back by such considerations. Conversely, and encouragingly, the banks are loosening the purse strings. Many are now active in the marketplace and prepared to lend. A number had in theory been open for business, while in practice did not seem to be – but that’s changing.

It’s still comparatively early days for this renewed lending – though not as yet showing up in official figures to any great extent, I believe it’s just a matter of time. It will be hugely important in 2014 that the banks build on their liquidity improvements.

The willingness of SMEs to take professional advice is also under the microscope. Many SMEs are now able to opt out of audits. Currently companies are exempt from audit if they meet two out of three qualifying criteria – a balance sheet of less than £3.26m, turnover below £6.5m and fewer than 50 employees.

And this is set to be extended. As part of the EU’s Accounting Directive, member states have the option to increase the size of businesses that no longer require audited financial statements to those with a turnover up to £10.3m and a balance sheet up to £5.04m. The Government is expected to go out to consultation this year.

The first question for SMEs is: should they voluntarily opt for audits anyway? Audits, it is

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financial services argued, are good for business discipline. It’s the one opportunity in the year to pull everything together, see exactly where the company stands financially, and focus on what’s been achieved and what still needs addressing. Problems can be identified before they become crises.

And there are implications in not opting for audits.

Users of financial statements such as customers, suppliers and credit agencies may otherwise take a company’s performance and prospects with a distinct pinch of salt.

Firms who nevertheless decide not to bother with audits will find themselves asking how to spend the saving? Financial advice and business planning is one option – from innovation to exporting.

It’s important that firms have clear business plans, know where they’re going and how to get there. Advice from professionals who’ve nurtured many businesses down the years can provide

perspective, make it easier to seize opportunities, and warn of danger ahead.

Talking of exports, it’s a great pity so many SMEs don’t export at all. It’s been estimated that only one in five UK SMEs export. Intriguingly, businesses are 11% per cent more likely to survive if they do.

So why this reluctance? Often it’s a lack of knowledge about foreign markets and a fear of taking measured business risks in unfamiliar territories.

While English still remains the language of international business, there are often tales of those who’ve fallen on their face because of an inability to navigate cultural or linguistic differences. There’s also the danger of having the right product but at the wrong time or in the wrong channel, particularly with new technologies.

Not even giant supermarket group Tesco could crack the US. Exporting is a challenge. But help is available – from your international accountant to UK Trade & Investment.

SMEs should look into the possibilities, put out feelers, perhaps venture along to a trade show abroad via an organised visit. The Government is very keen for SMEs to give it a go.

It won’t be for everybody but a significant number of West Midlands firms who’ve taken this route have prospered. Fingers crossed then – 2014 should prove a decent year. n Mazars, the international accountants and business advisers, are based at 45 Church Street, Birmingham, B3 2RT. Tel 0121 232 9500, email birmingham.contact@mazars.co.uk or visit www.mazars.co.uk.

Pere molecul lectiament experro cuptaque pa doles www.suttonsandrobertsons.com voles ea dellupta sin cusam in ex eum quas qui nectur aut ut et vit maximi.

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commercial property After much pain and little gain, investors see value-for-money potential beyond the capital As confidence returns to commercial property, Adam Ramshaw, director in capital markets and head of office in Birmingham for Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), reports on the region’s 2014 prospects

Confidence in the property sector is returning, says Adam Ramshaw of Lambert Smith Hampton

There’s no denying it has been a tough few years for almost everyone involved in commercial property since the name ‘Lehman Brothers’ hit the headlines.

There has been plenty of pain, very little gain, and a great deal of collateral damage as UK Plc has battled through more than four years of economic turmoil.

When the crash occurred, there was an identifiable point in time when it began. However, with the recovery it isn’t that clear. It is more difficult to define but there is a combination of factors that is generating momentum. All the signs are that at last a corner has been turned and the property sector is improving as confidence grows.

The highlight of last year for me was the >>

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commercial property massive increase in regional activity and the investment market, particularly from UK institutions and funds. Birmingham and other major cities across the Midlands have been attracting significant levels of interest and will continue to do so.

Some 70% of all regional investment activity involves institutions such as Legal & General, Prudential, Standard Life, Axa and so on. They are investing in the Midlands for several reasons.

These include the fact that London and the South East now appear to have become expensive and they can see that there is better value in the regions. There is also more confidence in the regional market that companies aren’t about to go into administration and rents have stabilised. The days of rental decline seem to be over.

With a huge influx of cash for the institutions to spend, and a general improvement in confidence in property market, they are now putting money into property rather than into equities.

While more money enters the market, the number of properties available is diminishing due to a lack of development. This means that investors are chasing a limited supply and therefore prices have increased.

We will continue to see activity in the prime investments, along with increased activity in secondary but this will still be price sensitive. The debt market appears to be freeing up and this will also assist investors. Overall, it is all looking positive and, if the confidence in the occupational market aligns itself with the investment market, then it will be a very good 2014.

The industrial and warehouse sector is a good barometer of sentiment within the marketplace.

Last year we had speculative development for the first time in a number of years. London & Cambridge Properties, IM Properties and Pro Logis all began speculative developments in warehouse and distribution, which is both a sign of confidence in the market and of scarcity of the product. There is also far more activity in the pre-let marketplace.

Problems are now being caused by the welldocumented lack of supply of Grade A stock and there is a recognised bottleneck of demand.

I predict that the sheds market will show growth, and this year we will see more speculative

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developments and greater activity in the prelet market. Much of the focus will be around Birmingham and the greater Midlands hot spots such as the M6, M42, M5 and M1 corridors. The area from Milton Keynes to Leicester along the M1 corridor will see increased activity, as will the northern quadrant.

Turning to offices, if the current supply of Grade A continues to be taken up then it will give investors further confidence to invest in the refurbishment of other stock. At the moment it is still a tenant-led market but it won’t be too long before it becomes a landlord market.

There remains a lot of requirement for stock but very little good quality stock is available. As long as we have this imbalance in demand and supply the market will continue to improve.

Everything seems to be moving in the right direction. The property market is just a small section of the economy but it is an important one.

The Midlands auto sector is gathering pace and other sectors are following it.

I can’t remember there being so much positive news for a long time. We seem to have so much momentum now that it is going to take something major to knock the recovery off course.

What Birmingham now needs, and this applies to other key cities in the region, is genuine net inward investment.

Our research – UK Investment Transactions Q3 2013 – showed that regional investment across the UK was then at its highest level since Q1 2011. At £3.71bn, regional investment in commercial property right across the UK was at a two-and-a-half year high and 14% up on Q2 2013, when investment was at £3.24bn.

The South East saw the highest level of investment outside of London in Q3 2013 at £1.6bn, followed by the West Midlands at £799m and the North West at £545m. Significant deals in the West

Midlands included: Gracechurch Shopping Centre in Sutton Coldfield, Mell Square in Solihull, and 1 Brindleyplace, Birmingham.

Despite higher regional investment levels, London remained the biggest market for commercial property investment, taking £7bn of the £11.6bn national total this quarter. At £11.6bn, national investment levels were at a six year high – 50% above the post-2010 market average and 40% up on the Q2 total of £8.24bn.

UK investors are still the biggest investors in the regions ahead of overseas investors at a 65:35 split. Overseas investors continue to concentrate their attention on Central London, accounting for 75% of the market in Q3.

However, we are predicting that UK buyers will this year make up a greater portion of the total market activity as conditions in the regions continue to improve.

As we forecast at the beginning of 2013, there has been a distinct change in investor attitude towards the regional markets. Increasing confidence should feed through to the markets as companies look to move or upgrade premises and consumers have more disposable income to spend at high streets, retail parks and shopping centres.

Improvements in the economy should also encourage investors to take on more risk as they see a greater upside in terms of rental growth and the ability to enhance returns through refurbishment, redevelopment and speculative development.

As a result, we remain optimistic over the prospects in the regions for the next 12 months and expect to see even more improvement and a further rise in investment levels. n Find out more about national commercial property consultants Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) at http://www.lsh.co.uk/

I can’t remember there being so much positive news for a long time. It is going to take something major to knock the recovery off course

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commercial property plenty cause for optimism as confidence returns One of the top property firms in the West Midlands has revealed an upbeat outlook on the back of a strong lettings improvement. Meanwhile, a Black Country property agent had a flying start to 2014 with a series of exciting deals. Andy Skinner reports Real Estate Investors (REI) is predicting good rental growth in 2014 on the back of an improved regional economy The optimistic outlook came as the West Midlands-based property investment company issued a pre-close trading update for the year ended December 13.

The group completed significant lettings during the second half, with a strong pipeline for 2014.

The update highlighted latest figures showing the annual take-up of office space in Birmingham in 2013 was 664,147 sq ft, an increase of almost 33% on 2012 figure, and “pointing the way for a better 2014”.

The regional economy had gained in confidence and activity, in particular the motor trade,

exemplified by Jaguar Land Rover creating 1,700 new jobs with a £1.5bn investment in Solihull and record-breaking global sales of 425,000 new vehicles. In addition, house prices in the West Midlands saw the biggest annual increase outside London and the South East, with 4.4%.

REI chief executive Paul Bassi commented: “We are experiencing an improving regional investment and occupier market, and saw an excellent year of progress in 2013.

“During 2014/15, we anticipate continued activity across our portfolio, capitalising on our market reputation and knowledge with further

opportunistic acquisitions, sales and lettings.”

Recent acquisitions included properties at Waterloo Street/Bennetts Hill in Birmingham and Bridge Street, Walsall. The company’s property portfolio in Birmingham has seen 180,000 sq ft acquired during the economic downturn. Further acquisitions are anticipated during 2014.

REI completed significant lettings to the Royal College of Surgeons, Shaw Trust and Sandwell Inspired Partnership Services. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh has taken a ten year lease for the fifth floor at 85-89 Colmore Row, at a rental of £74,320 per annum. Sandwell Inspired Partnership Services Ltd has taken just under 25,000 sq ft on a ten year lease at Guardian House in West Bromwich, representing one of the largest deals in West Bromwich for a number of years, at an annual rental of £251,792.

Black Country property agents Bond Wolfe have had a flying start to the New Year with a series of exciting deals Managing partner James Mattin said it was further evidence of the improving market conditions in the sector with demand at its highest since 2008.

“We have closed three pieces of business and in addition just the first week back secured three industrial property instructions, two sales and one letting, as confidence returns.

“We are looking for a strong 12 months as the economy continues to improve,” he said.

First up was the sale of 56 Pinfold Street, Wednesbury, for £210,000 to a private buyer who will be relocating his classic car parts business to the premises.

The property comprises a two storey building incorporating offices, trade counter, warehouse and workshop facilities. It totals 0.24 acres and 3,370 sq ft, and is conveniently located just a mile and a half from Junction 9 of the M6.

Next came the sale of 52a Harrison St, Bloxwich, for £325,000 to Birmingham-based 24/7 Electronics. The group, one of the UK’s top online retailers of consumer electronics and home appliances, with 34 years of experience in the trade, is opening another outlet there.

The new premises comprise a substantial 10,307 sq ft warehouse/showroom in the town centre.

In addition there are 2,690 sq ft of first floor offices and a further 4,842 sq ft storage area.

The third transaction saw Bond Wolfe complete the letting of a unit at Sterling Park, Woodgate Valley, to training provider Envirohort on a three-year lease.

We are looking for a strong 12 months as the economy continues to improve

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training training is the key to growth in manufacturing Christian Warden, UK operations manager for Semta, reports on engineering and advanced manufacturing training issues in the West Midlands There’s no doubt 2013 was a pivotal year in the continued slow but sustained revival in engineering and advanced manufacturing in the West Midlands.

We have seen the success of companies like Jaguar Land Rover create new employment opportunities within its business and the wider supply chain, while there has been significant growth in the leading-edge technology and science industry sectors.

Such rapid growth in itself has created challenges, particularly around skills and training. An ageing workforce coupled with projections suggesting the need for more flexible, highly-skilled workers puts training at the heart of economic priorities.

In 2011, Semta’s research showed nearly 57,000 employees – that is half of those working in technical roles in the West Midlands – required upskilling by the end of 2016 to be at world class levels.

Over the same period, 4,500 people per year were needed just to replace those engineers, scientists and technologists retiring.

Thankfully, as a region, the West Midlands hasn’t stood still and is making progress towards meeting these requirements. More businesses are taking on apprentices and graduates – though not enough. And there is still work to be done to persuade young people – especially girls –

that engineering is exciting, rewarding and with long term career prospects.

Training in 2014 and beyond needs to focus on a number of key areas. Among them are: • Improving management and leadership skills.

• Lean manufacturing and Business Improvement Techniques.

• Hard-to-fill vacancies and skill shortages.

• Skill needs and future skill needs for emerging technologies and advanced manufacturing (eg, low carbon, renewable energy supply chain, composites, printed electronics).

• Shortage of technicians and future requirements for technician level staff.

• Retirement and ageing of the qualified/skilled workforce, and tackling an ageing workforce’s skills issues.

• Encouraging more of those aged 16-24 into engineering, science and manufacturing.

• Upskilling the existing workforce and recognition of employers’ demand-led training programmes.

• Supply of STEM skills, school subject choice and Further Education/Higher Education choices that influence the supply and suitability of new entrants.

It’s encouraging to see businesses working together to meet training needs. Small firms which could not afford to do it on their own

More businesses are taking on apprentices and graduates – though not enough. And there is still work to be done to persuade young people – especially girls – that engineering is exciting, rewarding and with long term career prospects

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are clustering and working with colleges and larger employers to deliver cost-effective training benefiting the firm, the individual and the wider sector.

For example, Semta has worked with employers to produce a unique, flexible, programme of Master’s level training – the Advanced Skills Accreditation Scheme (ASAS).

The modules address priority skills gaps identified by employers, allowing individuals to gain the higher level skills they need without having to register for a full Masters programme – and enables SMEs to access individual modules as and when required.

It’s essential these employer-led initiatives continue to be developed, refined and delivered for the West Midlands to remain a leading force in advanced manufacturing and engineering, not only in the UK, but among traditional global competitors and those who are emerging in the low cost economies of countries such as India, China, Russia and Brazil. n Semta is ‘Engineering Skills for the Future’, an employer-led body responsible for equipping the UK’s vital engineering, science and manufacturing technologies sectors with the skills to compete on the global stage. It represents 128,000 companies with a 1.66m-strong workforce, which generates annual UK revenues of £309bn. Read more at www.semta.org.uk, and follow Semta on Twitter @SemtaSkills.

Addressing skills gaps with focused training is vitally important, says Christian Warden, of Semta

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infrastructure hs2 can put us on a fast track to regeneration High speed trains, Metro extensions and new rail stations are just some of the transport projects happening in the West Midlands. Geoff Inskip, chief executive of Centro, reports These are exciting times for public transport in the West Midlands.

Rail, tram and rapid transit schemes play an important part in the economic future of the region and, despite the continuing debate over the proposed HS2 line, we have recently confirmed a £2bn public transport package to secure the maximum economic benefits from it.

The Local Connectivity Package (LCP) will enable this region to more than double the potential benefits of HS2 by best connecting and feeding into the high speed rail line.

Here in the West Midlands we are at the heart of plans for HS2, with stations at Moor Street in Birmingham city centre and Birmingham Airport.

With the right local transport connections we can secure more than 51,000 new jobs and boost the local economy by more than £4.1bn a year, benefitting people right across our region.

The LCP includes extensions to the Midland Metro tram system in Birmingham and the Black Country, new and upgraded rail stations, opening up rail freight lines to passenger services and the electrification of other key rail routes.

We have already secured more than £320m towards this package so we can press on and build several of the schemes over the next five years or so.

The High Speed lines will bring a huge boost to the West Midlands’ regeneration prospects, competitiveness and national and international transport connections, while phase one (London to Birmingham) alone will deliver an estimated 22,000 extra jobs to the region.

HS2 will free up space on our congested rail lines and Centro has drawn up plans to use this extra capacity to introduce more passenger and freight services. Increasing rail freight will also help cut road congestion which currently costs the West

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Public transport has a key role to play in the region’s economic revival, says Geoff Inskip Midlands economy more than £2.3bn per year.

Making sure passengers can access HS2 stations easily, proposals for rail, tram and bus links connecting HS2 with existing infrastructure are also being advanced.

Work is well underway on the extension of the Midland Metro from Birmingham New Street to Centenary Square whilst a similar scheme is about to start, taking the tram from St George’s in Wolverhampton to the city’s rail station. Other schemes in the LCP include: • capacity improvements on the Snow Hill lines; • the introduction of rail passenger services on the Camp Hill line in south Birmingham; • Midland Metro tram extensions from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill and through Birmingham’s Eastside district to the city’s HS2 station; • a rapid transit link between the HS2 station at the airport/NEC and Coventry; • electrification of the Walsall to Rugeley and the Coventry to Leamington Spa rail lines; • building a new rail station and providing

services at Kenilworth; • expanding park and ride sites at local rail stations; • introducing a tram-style bus rapid transit system called SPRINT along the Hagley Road; • upgrading the area between New Street and Moor Street Stations to create a ‘one station’ environment; and • improving cycle links.

Potential funding sources for the schemes include Network Rail’s control period 6, the Single Local Growth Fund, Enterprise Zone, private sector developers, local and national government and HS2 Ltd. These schemes would be delivered over a 10-15 year period, the equivalent of a £167m a year investment in the West Midlands.

Readers will have noticed how rail plays a prominent part in our future plans. More than 44 million passengers use our rail network each year.

Our Regional Rail Development Plan identifies the importance of our local and regional rail connections in advance of High Speed 2 coming to the West Midlands. It shows what action is needed to tackle network-wide issues such as reliability and access and the development of services. Further investment in our rail services, such as platform extensions to cater for longer trains, is integral to ensuring that the West Midlands – and the national rail network – do not become even more congested.

Underpinning our approach is our belief that Centro should take responsibility for local rail stations and services.

Working in partnership with local authorities in the region and with cross-party support, our aim is that the devolved railway takes responsibility for West Midlands services currently being operated

by London Midland when the franchise is re-let in 2017, leading to local democratic accountability

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Further investment in our rail services, such as platform extensions, is integral to ensuring that the West Midlands – and the national rail network – do not become even more congested for rail services in the region. This will allow the delivery of an integrated high quality public transport network with investment directed at growing the West Midlands and contributing to a low carbon economy.

Centro submitted a proposal to the Secretary of State for Transport at the end of last year outlining the key benefits we believe devolution will bring, including increased economic performance; a rail network responsive to local needs with better integration; improved customer facilities; lower costs and reduced carbon through modal shift.

Millions of pounds of investment is to be made to the Midlands’ rail infrastructure, as a result of our representations directly to the Secretary of State.

Investment by the Department for Transport for the five year period between 2014 and 2019 will see the Chase Line between Walsall and Rugeley electrified, a scheme Centro has calculated is worth £113 million to the West Midlands economy and will generate 1,370 jobs.

The Leamington Spa-Coventry-Nuneaton line will also be electrified, while the Birmingham-Tamworth line will be upgraded with improved signalling.

This line will form part of an ‘Electric Spine’ as a high capacity, passenger and freight, corridor.

And of course, Birmingham New Street Station is being transformed in a £600m scheme.

Work continues apace on the redevelopment

of what remains of the old station and the transformation of the Pallasades shopping centre into Grand Central Birmingham.

This will feature the largest John Lewis store outside London which will create 650 new jobs when it opens in 2014, complementing the 3,200 new employment opportunities the wider redevelopment will realise.

The last few years have been a tough time for all of us but, for the reasons I have outlined above, I believe that public transport is going to play a major part in the regeneration of this region. n Centro is the West Midlands public transport authority. www.centro.org.uk

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business support hubs will help firms to achieve their potential New help will soon be available to assist the growth of businesses in 2014. Jerry Blackett, chief executive of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, reports It’s hard to remember the decade of growth through to 2008. Gordon Brown luxuriating in the boast to have banished the ‘boom and bust’ of previous generations. For a moment, it felt like Brown was right. Then Lehman Brothers went under and the rest of the financial system across the world came close to melt-down.

Businesses reacted very differently to their behaviour in previous recessions. Whilst costs were cut, they found inventive ways to hang onto their employees. Short-time working, pay cuts and freezes ensured unemployment didn’t rise as feared. Many businesses re-evaluated just what business they were in and found new ways of working.

We entered a deep-freeze. Business investment plummeted and consumers snapped their purses tight-shut. Whilst access to finance became an early casualty of the banks needing to rebuild their balance sheets, wholesale insolvencies were avoided. The banks worked hard to keep businesses going, to the point that we worried there were too many ‘zombie’ businesses (with no long-term future) consuming scarce working capital lines and starving better businesses of credit. Although recent evidence suggests the zombie issue did not become the problem we feared.

Government reacted by committing to massive cuts in public spending. Most of these cuts took a number of years to filter through and even now the Chancellor says only 50% of the required savings have been identified. However, some cuts were immediate and felt very acutely by small businesses in the West Midlands. The demolition of the Regional Development Agency removed around £300m per annum from the regional economy. This included the cancellation of Business Link, the one-stop shop business

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Analysis by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in 2010 calculated as many as 30% of businesses in the UK were not reaching their growth potential – a long tail of underperforming businesses not seen in competitor economies such as Germany and Japan

support service that Chambers of Commerce had been delivering.

The great strength of Business Link was its role in sign-posting businesses to sources of help, both publicly-funded advice and that available from the private sector. Whilst its funding limited the extent and reach of its service, I have met a huge number of businesses grateful for the help they received.

Five years on, the absence of a sign-posting service has been recognised as contributing to the productivity gap seen in British business. Analysis by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in 2010 calculated as many as 30% of businesses in the UK were not reaching their growth potential – a long tail of underperforming businesses not seen in competitor economies such as Germany and Japan. Lord Heseltine’s research in his No Stone Unturned report in 2012 explained this gap as due in large part to the poor take up of business support. Heseltine calculated that only 50% of businesses were seeking outside help. Yet they were growing twice as fast as those businesses seeking no help at all.

It was clear that the problem was not so much a lack of advice and help. Rather, it was the absence of a simple one-stop, sign-posting service that would make it easy for businesses to find the help in the first place.

Five years on and parts of the region (specifically, the Local Enterprise Partnerships in Coventry and Warwickshire, Staffordshire and the Black Country) have been given new (modest) funding by government to create local ‘Growth Hubs’, with Chambers of Commerce playing prominent roles in drawing the existence of these hubs to the attention of local businesses. Growth Hubs will be primarily virtual (although there will be small co-ordinating physical offices in most cases) and they will be the collecting point for the business support services judged as being of most importance to delivering the economic strategies for the individual LEP geographies.

Chambers of Commerce will promote awareness of the services via a combination of on-line and face-to-face resource.

Although the level of funding for Growth Hubs and sign-posting will be considerably less than that enjoyed by Business Link in its heyday, there are reasons to be optimistic about the impact of the new service. Unlike Business Link, which was an overwhelmingly national service designed with little room for local variation, Growth Hubs will be creatures of the local team. What goes into a Growth Hub will be down to local determination.

The shape of national programmes included in Growth Hubs will be driven in future by the needs of local areas and a move away from the existing ‘one size fits all’.

The service will also be able to prioritise what support services get promoted to local businesses.

This means that if, for example, a LEP’s economic plan has a clear focus on a particular sector, then

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business support the Growth Hub can bring together the support services that will be of maximum relevance to the businesses involved in this sector. The sign-posting service can then target those businesses. The ability to make choices like this was much harder in Business Link days, when the provision of help was primarily driven by national thinking.

There is also the opportunity to develop a cocktail of funding for the service that reduces the exposure to public sector cuts. Discussions with a range of funders will be possible, including private sector bodies. Sponsorship deals can be done. Provided any commercial relationships are transparent to the customers of the service, it

will be possible to explore long-term sustainable income streams that will mean the service is here to stay.

The timing of this new wave of support is good.

The Chamber’s economic surveys are all pointing to significant increases in the confidence of West Midlands businesses in the strength of the recovery. LEPs and their partners have deepened the understanding of what makes the West Midlands tick. We have sectors and localities more clearly targeted for growth than ever before. By LEPs working with their Chambers and other partners to establish new business support help, we will be well-placed to give our local businesses

every chance of securing an above-average share of the growth prize.

Currently, there will be fifteen Growth Hubs / signposting services opening their doors across the country in April. Not all LEPs in the West Midlands have been funded (for example, the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP is still to be included).

However, there is a renewed commitment from Government to see every LEP eventually able to open such a service. We are on our way. n Read more about Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce at www.birmingham-chamber.com

The new Growth Hubs won’t have a ‘one size fits all’ outlook – instead, they will address needs at a local level, says Jerry Blackett

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education

opinion

even our top football clubs can’t match Universities in terms of economic impact Partnerships between universities and businesses are a strong driver for regional economic growth.

Professor Simon Collinson reports A recent estimate contained in the Witty Review of universities and growth suggests that Higher Education’s impact value on our economy is £70bn – around 4% of GDP. This includes direct employment, skills provision, knowledge creation and transfer, and the purchase and supply of products both directly and through staff and students.

A 2013 study by Oxford Economics showed that the University of Birmingham generates employment for 11,500-plus people and more than £1bn of regional economic activity annually (almost double the combined value-added impact of the region’s eight largest football clubs). With a £400m turnover, the University of Warwick directly employs over 5,000 staff and generates at least another 5,000 jobs in the local economy.

Part of this contribution (£3.4bn according to the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey for 2011-12) comes through direct services to business: the commercialisation of new knowledge and the delivery of professional training and consultancy. But universities connect more broadly with businesses large and small, promoting regional growth in various ways.

For example, joint Research and Development (R&D) and training with big firms: the Warwick Manufacturing Group has attracted investments of more than £85m in automotive R&D from Tata Motors; and the University of Birmingham has launched a £60m High Temperature Research Centre with Rolls Royce. These large-scale science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects focus academic knowledge and expertise on specific challenges, underpinning large firms’ capacity to innovate and compete more effectively.

Universities also create, incubate, mentor, fund – and transfer knowledge and expertise to – huge numbers of regional SMEs. Some 60%

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Professor Simon Collinson of Coventry and Warwickshire’s fastest growing companies are based at Warwick’s Science Park, with 150 companies employing around 2,000 staff. Coventry University’s Sustainable Building Futures project has assisted 100-plus SMEs, and its Enterprises Limited’s Innovation Networks project has assisted 300-plus SME networks with revenue or capital grants of £10,000 to support innovation.

Birmingham Business School hosts an Entrepreneurship and Diversity research cluster supporting high-tech entrepreneurship programmes in association with Alta Innovations and BizzInn, the University of Birmingham’s enterprise development agency and business incubator. Faculty also specialise in researching

A 2013 study showed the University of Birmingham generates employment for 11,500-plus people

and actively promoting ethnic minority businesses in the region, working closely with the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP. The cluster is part-funded by the regional Enterprise Research Centre (ERC), connecting Warwick, Aston and Birmingham scholars with small firms. The ERC is funded by the ESRC, BIS, the Technology Strategy Board and a variety of banks through the British Bankers Association. This network advances our understanding of what makes small firms grow and actively works to make this happen.

These activities’ net effect in 2012-13 can be seen in terms of regional growth in investment and jobs, and through measurable improvement in added-value economic activity. University engagement with business promotes the high-tech entrepreneurship, knowledge-based services and innovation that differentiate UK industry clusters from international competitors.

To compete effectively with China and other emerging economies, more of this is needed in 2014-15. n To learn more about how the University of Birmingham can help your business, visit www.birmingham.ac.uk/partners Simon Collinson is Dean of Birmingham Business School and Professor of International Business and Innovation at the University of Birmingham. He previously held faculty positions at the University of Edinburgh, Henley Business School (University of Reading) and Warwick Business School. He’s a Visiting Professor at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PRC China, a member of the UK ESRC’s governing council and the Executive Board of the Association of Business Schools. www.birmingham.ac.uk/simon-collinson.

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xytcrytxc

opinion

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