XPO Logistics Named a 2021 Supplier of the Year by General Motors

XPO Logistics, Inc., a leading provider of freight transportation services, has been named a Supplier of the Year by General Motors in the transportation category. XPO is among a prestigious group of suppliers recognized by GM executives for outstanding performance in 2021.

This is the fourth consecutive year that XPO has been honoured as a GM Supplier of the Year.

Yodaplus shaping the future of industries with powerful AI integration

Yodaplus, a Mumbai-based IT services firm, is at the forefront of empowering organizations worldwide with advanced technological capabilities. Today, the company sheds light on the evolving global landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its growing adoption within its service portfolio.

With its wide range of services and deep industry knowledge, Yodaplus has been a game changer – enabling organizations to focus on their core operations and achieve sustainable growth. And now, by integrating AI into services, Yodaplus helps businesses navigate the complex digital transformation landscape more efficiently, creating a competitive edge.

Young entrepreneurs invited to compete in MAAC Moguls

Midlands Air Ambulance Charity in partnership with M6toll, is launching its ‘MAAC’s Moguls’ competition for schools, a Dragons’ Den-style challenge, designed to give secondary school pupils across the region the chance to develop their business skills.

Schools, and Year 10 students (academic year: 2021/22), in the West Midlands are being encouraged to register their interest in the competition before Monday 12 July 2021.  Teams of six will have the chance to pitch their entrepreneurial ideas to five local business leaders to request funding for their plans.

The successful teams from across the whole of the Midlands will be presented with £100 each for their concept, which they must grow into a £500 donation or more for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity. As part of the initiative, the teams will be mentored through the process by the business leaders, providing them with a unique experience to help make their CVs stand out from the crowd.

Pam Hodgetts, corporate partnerships manager for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is passionate about supporting young people and created the MAAC Moguls initiative. She said: “As well as operating our vitally important air ambulance-led service, we are also socially committed to the communities we serve. Our competition will help students develop skills in public speaking, teamwork, creativity, marketing and finance, as well as having the rare chance to be mentored by some of the region’s leading businesspeople, including members of the management team from M6toll.”

Sarah Loizou, CSR executive sponsor at M6toll, which is supporting the MAAC’ Moguls competition, adds: “At M6toll, we take our responsibility in the local community extremely seriously, and support dozens of local projects each year. We are also passionate about developing the talent of the future, which is why we are proud to support Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s MAAC Moguls initiative, helping youngsters embrace their entrepreneurial skills and help raise funds to save local lives in the process.”

To register your school’s interest, visit: midlandsairambulance.com/maacmoguls before Monday July 12. The competition will launch officially in September and students who pitch successfully will have 12 weeks to grow their £100 into at least £500 for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity. Judging will take place in November and an awards ceremony will be hosted in December.

Young entrepreneurs successfully show off their business brains

Budding business brains have successfully shared their talents with shoppers across Wolverhampton this summer – with two of the entrepreneurs making their way through to the national finals of a young traders' competition. 

Special young trader markets were held last month at Bilston Indoor and Outdoor Market, City Centre Market and Wednesfield Market to offer young people aged between 16 and 30 the opportunity to kickstart or grow their own business. 

Young people celebrate pioneering House Project’s anniversary

Young people who have been part of the Wolverhampton House Project joined staff and their peers from across the country to celebrate The National House Project’s fifth anniversary recently. The Wolverhampton House Project, a partnership between the City of Wolverhampton Council, The National House Project, Wolverhampton Homes and commercial partner Reconomy, was launched in 2019.

Young people in seaside community enjoy brighter future thanks to backing from local businesses

Young people in a seaside community have better opportunities thanks to businesses with a strong social conscience coming together to volunteer to revamp an activity centre.

Young professionals encouraged to apply for flagship awards

Young professionals are being encouraged to submit an application to win an award at the Future Faces Chamber of Commerce’s highly anticipated awards ceremony this summer.

Celebrating the region’s young professionals and their achievements, the Future Faces Annual Dinner & Awards 2022 will take place at the ICC in Birmingham on Friday 26 August from 7pm.

Your chance to be inspired by attending the Birmingham Black Business Show

Described as an unrivalled experience in connecting with professionals and businesses across a number of industries, the Birmingham Black Business Show returns for yet another unparalleled level of networking, with some of the biggest, famed business people in their fields on hand, to share and inspire as you hear and learn stories of success and experiences from their own mouths.

Zappos ex-boss and entrepreneur Tony Hsieh dies after house fire

Tony Hsieh, the former CEO of online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos.com, has died after a house fire in the US state of Connecticut.

The 46-year-old, who had been on a family visit at the time, only recently retired after 20 years leading Zappos, acquired by Amazon for more than $1bn. He also played a key part in the restoration of central Las Vegas.

Tributes poured in on social media. Zappos said that the world had "lost a tremendous visionary". Tony Hsieh also wrote the book Delivering Happiness, which set out his philosophy of focusing on both customer and employee care.

A statement from, DTP Companies, the company Mr Hsieh invested in to transform downtown Las Vegas, said he was with his family when he died on Friday. Details of his injuries and the cause of death have not been released.

"Tony's kindness and generosity touched the lives of everyone around him, and forever brightened the world," the statement said.

Zappos.com paid tribute on its Twitter feed:

Amazon acquired Zappos in 2009 but Tony Hsieh stayed on as boss, saying: "We think of Amazon as a giant consulting company that we can hire if we want."

Current Zappos chief executive officer, Kedar Deshpande, said Tony Hsieh's "spirit will forever be a part of Zappos".

His "Downtown Project" helped fund start-ups, restaurants and other ventures.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said Mr Hsieh's death was "a tragic loss".

ZIM and Shell complete first LNG bunkering in Jamaica

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd and Shell North America LNG LLC have announced the successful bunkering of the ZIM SAMMY OFER container vessel with LNG. This vessel was bunkered at Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL) on 26 March 2023.

This was a milestone operation for a number of reasons:

ZPMC introduces 14 new products and technologies at 2023 Smart Equipment & Technology Forum

Themed "Smart Green Future", the forum included a main session and two sub-forums, specifically addressing “Intelligent and Green Port Equipment” and “Offshore Engineering Equipment and Intelligent Manufacturing”.

£1,000 yearly tax cut now available for UK households

27 million people across the UK will benefit from a yearly tax cut worth hundreds of pounds, meaning a household with two average earners will save nearly £1,000 per year.

£1.5 billion fund launched to support smes across West Midlands

HSBC UK has launched a £15bn lending fund for small and medium sized businesses with £1.5bn ring-fenced to support local economies, employment opportunities and drive growth across West Midlands.

Whilst concerns about the broader market remain, HSBC’s customers are thinking about growth via investment, acquisitions and capital expenditure.

£1000 National Insurance cut boosts Britain’s paychecks

Millions of workers are going to start seeing a boost to their take home pay as January’s pay comes into bank accounts across the UK.

£11.3m battery production project fully charged after H1perchain success

A £11.3m project, designed to scale up the UK’s battery pack manufacturing and supply chain capability, has been hailed a resounding success.

£12m investment drive pays off as William King secures major Jaguar Land Rover quality award

One of the UK’s leading metals service centres is targeting further growth after it secured one of the automotive sector’s most demanding quality accreditations. William King Ltd, which specialises in high-tensile steel, aluminium, light gauge processing, electrical steels and niche metal coatings, received the Jaguar Land Rover JLRQ Award earlier this month in front of 150 staff at its Atlas Centre facility in West Bromwich.

£27 billion business tax cut takes effect as tax year begins

Businesses across the UK can take advantage of the Chancellor’s capital allowances package from today as the new business tax year begins.

The package, announced at Spring Budget, comprises 100% full expensing and a 50% first-year allowance. It will mean the UK has the most generous capital allowance regime in the OECD worth £27 billion over the next three years, amounting to an effective £9 billion a year tax cut for companies.

£30,000 innovation fund for professional services launched by the UoB together with the GBSLEP

The University of Birmingham, together with the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP), are launching a pilot fund to drive innovation across Business, Professional and Financial Services (BPFS). Building on consultation with regional BPFS leaders, the fund will capitalise on Birmingham’s rapidly growing business/academia/policy ecosystem, to support exciting new discoveries in the City Centre’s emerging innovation district.

Businesses, working with an academic lead, can apply for grants up to £4,000 to deliver innovation across products, services or processes. Pilot projects might include technology development and transfer, initiatives to support workflows, or programmes to support innovative approaches to employee diversity and wellbeing. The University of Birmingham (UoB) Business Engagement team will help interested businesses to form academic links in preparation of an application, where needed.

Applications are now open for twelve months. All projects will need to be completed within the year, with aggregate outputs informing how best to drive outcomes for successful innovation in the sector and region. Findings from the successful pilot programmes will be compiled into a white paper highlighting successes and providing case studies to be used as evidence in development of future regional innovation deals.

Tim Pile, Chair of GBSLEP comments “We are delighted to be working with the University of Birmingham to launch this pilot. GBSLEP’s collaboration with one of the region’s leading knowledge base reflects our unique structure of bringing together the academic sector, local government and businesses to create targeted projects that will drive forwards inclusive economic growth. This fund will help stimulate closer working to support innovation within our region’s largest sector - Business Professional and Financial Services. Crucially, by investing in innovation we are contributing to the attractiveness of the West Midlands as a global centre for next generation services, now and in the future."

Partner at Shoosmiths and LawTech lead for WM SuperTech, Tony Randle, adds: “Shoosmiths and the University of Birmingham have recently embarked on an ambitious project with AI technology specialist, ThoughtRiver. The initial outcomes from the proof of concept, focusing on AI in legal processes, demonstrated significant time savings and risk mitigation benefits. This case study is a prime example of how business and academia can work together to solve problems more effectively. Now, with Shoosmiths as a founding supporter of SuperTech – the first professional services technology (ProfTech) supercluster in the UK – we hope this fund drives similar technology-led productivity gains within BPFS organisations, as well as across service and process development.”

Simon Collinson, Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Regional Engagement at the University of Birmingham, comments: “This fund demonstrates how we are strengthening the University’s civic role in the region, focusing on innovative approaches to accelerate the region’s economic growth in an inclusive way. As the largest contributor to jobs and GVA in the region, the BPFS sector is particularly important. Our city centre presence, The Exchange, enables us to participate even more effectively at the heart of the city-region innovation ecosystem.”

To learn more about stimulating innovation in professional services in the region, insights into working with academia to drive productivity gains, and how to access the fund, join us at a webinar on July 21^st 8.30-9.30am with Anne Green, Professor of Regional Economic Development at City-REDI, and James Sharp, Business Engagement Partner, both from the University of Birmingham; Hilary Smyth-Allen, BPFS Sector & Modern Services Lead at the GBSLEP; Tony Randle of Shoosmiths; and Tim Pullan, CEO of ThoughtRiver. Full details of the fund, application process and eligibility criteria are available.

£31m Easter rail upgrades complete between London and Scotland

Network Rail has completed a range of essential upgrades to the railway between Euston, the Midlands, North West and Scotland over Easter.

Between Friday 2 and Tuesday 6 April, teams carried out vital work on the railway to improve passenger and freight services on the West Coast main line – the Backbone of Britain.

The £31m investment across the whole of Network Rail's North West and Central region as part of Britain’s Railway Upgrade Plan saw:

·         Ongoing work to upgrade Birmingham New Street station's signals – the complex system and traffic lights of the railway which keep trains running safely

·         Two new bridges installed at Warrington Bank Quay station

·         Two underpasses driven underneath the Chiltern main line in Bicester

·         Work to prepare Euston station for Britain’s new high-speed railway, HS2

Tim Shoveller, managing director for Network Rail’s North West & Central region, said: “Hundreds of frontline staff worked throughout the bank holiday to improve journeys for passengers and freight in the North West and Central region and I’m immensely proud of them and our contractors who helped Network Rail deliver these major upgrades.

“This is just the start of 2021’s work to make the West Coast main line more reliable for our passengers and pave the way for HS2, which will bring much-needed extra railway capacity as the country builds back better from the pandemic.

“Now our attention turns to the early May bank holiday when more essential railway improvements will take place. Because of the amount of work being done, passengers are being urged to travel either side of the bank holiday on Friday 30 April and Tuesday 4 May.”

Meanwhile, travellers are reminded they must continue to follow government guidance to control the spread of coronavirus.

£500,000 advanced skills boost for West Midlands manufacturers

Hundreds of workers across the West Midlands are being given the opportunity to upskill thanks to a new initiative by The Black Country & Marches Institute of Technology (IoT). Companies can now access specialist training for members of staff aged 19+ on one of three Level 4 technical courses in Automated Machining, Robotics and Quality Assurance.