Business News

Conrad Energy, the UK’s largest flexible power producer, and GE Renewable Energy are delighted to announce the signing of a major framework agreement for the design, manufacture, and supply of GE’s battery energy storage system in the UK. This agreement reflects the commitment of Conrad Energy and GE to supporting the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy and is the next step for Conrad Energy in the build out of their growing 500MW battery pipeline 

Make UK has partnered with support platform Next Gen Makers to develop a ground-breaking Engineering Apprenticeships Employer Kitemark, which will recognise companies who achieve a best practice benchmark, and thus endorse them as an exemplary employer of apprentices.

Launched on National Manufacturing Day (October 1st), the kitemark will be available to companies that are part of the recently launched Engineering Apprenticeships: Best Practice Programme – a Make UK backed initiative designed to support manufacturers to overcome skills challenges and build talent for future success.

Birmingham 2022, the organisers of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will be staged from 28 July to 8 August 2022, has officially signed the Race at Work Charter.

An initiative, which is designed to improve outcomes for employees from ethnically diverse communities, the Race at Work Charter was launched in partnership with the UK Government in 2018 and builds on the work of the 2017 McGregor-Smith Review.

West Midlands Pension Fund has become the latest organisation to become a tenant of the city’s new i9 development. It means the office space in the premium Grade A complex at the heart of the city’s commercial district and award-winning transport Interchange has been almost fully let within just seven weeks of construction of the building being completed.

West Midlands Pension Fund will occupy just under 20,000 sq ft on the second and third floors of the eye-catching development and it will be the base for 180 roles, with growth expected from emerging employment opportunities across customer, benefit, financial and investment services supporting the delivery of pension benefits to 340,000 members in the West Midlands.

Two months on from ‘Freedom Day’ new research shows that seven in ten (69%) former office workers are still working from home full or part-time.  

The rise in home working has seen the end of the 9-to-5 with 27% of home workers saying they work longer hours at home and 43% said they split their working hours across the day.

The BCBF (Black Country Business Festival) is now in its fourth year and has seen continued growth and support from the local business community.

The Black Country Chamber of Commerce, Talbots Law and Dudley Business First are partners for 2021.

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has set out a package of measures to help the region’s unemployed gain the skills needed to get back into work. With the Government’s furlough employment support scheme ending, and the region’s economy still recovering from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic, the WMCA is stepping in with £25 million worth of training support to help unemployed people across the region get jobs.

Working with the region’s colleges and providers, the WMCA’s support will be targeted at skilling up people for roles in sectors where jobs are being created - including digital, logistics, health and social care, rail, and construction.

The furlough scheme closes yesterday, with uncertain times ahead for people who have not yet fully returned to work.

Nearly one million workers were expected to be on the scheme at the end of September, according to estimates by the Office for National Statistics.

As the Job Retention Scheme (Furlough) is coming to an end in the UK, a paper published by the University of Birmingham concluded the government designed scheme preserves a worker’s job during the COVID-19 pandemic but it provokes substantial decline of their monthly income that may trigger financial distress.

Research led by Christoph Görtz, Danny McGowan and Mallory Yeromonahos of the Birmingham Business School used household survey data from the Understanding Society Database provided first-hand evidence on whether the UK furlough scheme has been designed effectively and whether it prevented household financial distress during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to a nationally-representative survey into 2,000 UK workers, conducted by corporate transport technology specialist Kura, an increase of just £5 to daily travel costs may hold the key to solving the UK’s car-led climate emergency.  

The research findings revealed that nearly half (45.3%) of employees would consider forgoing their cars in favour of an alternative transport method if daily costs increased.

Top chefs and restauranteurs owners from across the region have joined forces with Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce to voice concerns over the imminent reversal of VAT rate reductions.

In a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the Chamber and well-known hospitality industry figures such as Simpsons owner Andreas Antona and TV chef Glynn Purnell are calling for an extension to the rates reduction in a bid to drive consumer demand.

With the return to real life dating, singles across the UK are heading back to their go-to spots for first dates.

However, today, more than half (57%) of Black British people in the UK have experienced racism or racial bias on a date.

Coversure Dudley is launching a public awareness campaign to warn property owners of the risks of underinsurance. A recent report from Rebuild Cost Assessment found that 82% of UK properties are underinsured, a problem that could leave landlords and homeowners facing bills for tens-of-thousands of pounds in the event of claim.

The Renters Reform Bill consultation response, which is expected to be published this autumn, is rumoured to cover tenancy rights, deposits, standards of accommodation and social housing. 

The changes that are set to strengthen protection for tenants include banning ‘no fault’ evictions, the introduction of lifetime tenancy deposits, crackdowns on criminal landlords and implementing the charter for social housing residents.

City of Wolverhampton has kicked off its annual Business Week by announcing the launch of one of the largest city centre residential development opportunities in the Midlands.​

The Council through its delivery partnership with Canal & River Trust has assembled the site, which is being marketed as Canalside South for the development of a residential community that will see hundreds of new homes along one of the most historic stretches of canal in the country.

Analysis published today (Friday) by the TUC shows how the West Midlands’ economic recovery can be sped up by reversing cuts to key workers’ pay.

The analysis by the TUC and Landman Economics models the economic impacts of reversing cuts to the value of public sector pay that took place over the period 2010/11 to 2020/21.