Tamworth & Lichfield
16th Quarterly Issue
Business E-Brief Sponsored by Q & A Management Services Ltd
16th quarterly issue delivered electronically to local businesses and public sector organisations
Welcome
In This Issue Page Business news
Welcome to the Business E-Brief I am Deb Baker, local business person and new Chair of the Business and Economic Partnership (BEP). As incoming Chair I’d like to thank my predecessor Peter Farmer for his hard work in setting the direction for the BEP.
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Grant funding £1,000 up for grabs from Think Local
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There have been two major pieces of work we have been focusing on recently; the second Pop Up Show held at Drayton Manor and the consultation on the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBS LEP) Strategy for Growth. Our second no frills Pop Up Show was a success and we intend to deliver another larger scale event next year. One of the most important things we have been involved in is writing a response to the consultation on the GBS LEP economic strategy. This level of interaction with local small businesses is rare across the LEP and is just the start of raising our and your profile across the LEP region. These activities and advances all require good partnership working and improved communications.
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Ask the experts sponsored by Q & A Management Services Limited 5 Xmas retail initiatives
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Business Networks Forum update
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In the New Year there will be quite a few enhancements to the BEP. The first of these will be a new website, which will go hand in hand with the Business E-Brief. We’ll be able to publish your news stories more regularly on the site, in more detail and use Twitter to promote them. If you would like any further information or have any suggestions please email me: d.baker@hawthornesresearch.co.uk.
Announcing Business Networking Awards
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On a personal note I want to thank retiring Lichfield District CEO, Nina Dawes, for all her sound advice and support of the BEP. I wish you all a happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2013!
Local businesses make their views count on Economic Strategy Deb Baker (Chair of the Business and Economic Partnership)
The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership recently held a consultation on their White Paper Strategy for Growth. The White Paper explained the LEP’s aspirations and vision, and the consultation allowed all the partners and stakeholders involved to input, challenge and discuss with them the things that matter most for regional growth. To create a globally competitive city region the LEP’s proposed strategy splits the economy into three ‘pillars’ – Business, People & Place. Under these pillars are a total of five major priorities. These are: •
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A new ecosystem for business support, enabling businesses to start and grow with locally relevant support and finance Clear leadership in key sectors where the LEP has existing
strengths and opportunities •
An overhaul of the skills profile across the GBS LEP, creating a UK-leading talent pool
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Substantially improved connectivity within the LEP, the UK and to international markets
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Better use of our physical assets and environment, supporting the development of vital housing and employment land
On November 13th the Business Networks Forum (BNF) held a meeting of local businesses, many of whom represented local Business Networking Groups, to discuss a response to the strategy. Opinions, issues and potential solutions were discussed resulting in an official BNF response. The main issues raised by local businesses were as follows: This article continues on page 8
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