I had the great pleasure of attending the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Awards Dinner 2012 last night. What a fantastic night! Held at the ICC in Birmingham the Chamber had 900 business people from around the city region in attendance. The whole evening was executed brilliantly including an address from a 15 year old cadet to encourage businesses to consider working with a) the TA and B) the Cadet Force.
Andy Street delivered a really positive speech to make all Birmingham business people feel proud. Lord Heseltine though was on outstanding form. With minimal notes his call for business to get behind the yes vote in the upcoming poll for a Mayor of Birmingham could not have been delivered with more commitment or passion. Lord Heseltine and Andy are both right in what they say, it’s time for strength to return to our great cities. That strength must then be used to benefit the neighbours to the cities through the routes already in existence. Business doesn’t recognise borders, its time for real power to come away from Whitehall and be used to the benefit of us all. Well done to the Chamber of Commerce on a great night celebrating the success of the region and taking its part in shaping the future.
LONDON, April 15 — Room77 has announced that it will offer hotel loyalty points for users that book through its site. In a break from the tradition of many online travel agencies, where earning points for discounted hotel rooms is normally not an option, the site revealed this week that it would allow users to pick up points for popular programs when they book using the site.
The booking tool, which made its name by allowing users to get details of specific rooms in hotels and request their favourite ahead of arrival, said that allowing users to collect points on bookings addresses one of the most common complaints travellers have about booking rooms online. FULL STORY HERE
REDDITCH is set to fill up its vacant shops after being awarded a £100,000 grant.
The borough council has been awarded the Government money as part of the Portas-Plus Plan to revive ailing high streets and will be working alongside the Redditch Town Centre Partnership, which has proposed a similar plan as part of its bid to become a Portas Pilot.
The money will be used to support new businesses by offering incentives, help with business rates and start-up packages.
Town centre co-ordinator Lyndsey Hadley said: “This is great news. Redditch is a thriving town but the high street is scattered with empty units.
“Attracting new businesses to the town centre will be a boost to the town, the local economy and our residents.”
Mumbai, March 26, 2012: The First Citizen Loyalty Programme of Shoppers Stop has now crossed a milestone of 2.5 million members. With a growing base of over 2.5 million members contributing over 72% to sales annually, Shoppers Stop First Citizen loyalty programme is the biggest and most successful programme in this category.
Under this programme, customers who sign up for the First Citizen membership with Shoppers Stop are treated to various offers and special privileges such as the exclusive First Citizen lounge at every store, facility to redeem their reward points directly at the cash counter, exclusive cash counters for Golden Glow members, exclusive preview of Sale and other annual offers to name a few. Commenting on this achievement, Mr. Vinay Bhatia, Customer Care Associate and Senior Vice President – Marketing and Loyalty, Shoppers Stop Ltd. expressed, “The First Citizen Loyalty Programme has now crossed 2.5 million members who contribute over 72% to turnover. Clearly, this denotes a base of thoroughly engaged, loyal and serious shoppers. Our First Citizen members are entitled to various special privileges. We have introduced numerous innovative benefits exclusively for First Citizens such as Choose Your Sale Date (an exclusive one-day sale for the customer). Full Story HERE
John Longworth handing the BCC Accreditation certificate to Graham Biggs of the naked creative, Chamber President
John Longworth – Director General of the BCC took time recently to visit businesses on a tour of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce. While delivering the key messages from the BCC John met businesses at the Chamber offices in Worcester as well as visiting award winners, Oakland International in Redditch and Malvern Instruments.
Great delivery from Chamber team today on #hfdexpo lots of stands, loads of visitors and importantly, people doing business.
Huge thanks to Lady Darnley for opening the event and reminding everyone about the Herefordshire Diamond Day on July the 11th, Please see www.herefordshirediamondday.co.uk
The Hereford Cider Museum is open today- Friday 9th March and again next Thursday 15th March for businesses to view and experience the meeting and conference facilities the museum has to offer. With an exhibition gallery facility, full catering and entrance to the museum it is a unique meeting venue. If you get the chance go along from 10.00am on either day.
The next Hereford City Forum is on March 5th (Monday) evening. With so many changes to shopping habits and the life of cities like Hereford, we will cover the Link Road, & Broad Street update, employment land and infrastructure and the High Street 2015/2018 a vision of future trading.
With speakers including Cllr Hubbard – member for Central Ward, officers from Herefordshire Council, John Jones of Philip Morris and Sons, Andrew Sanders of Station Autos and Savilles Estates it should be a really informative evening.
Please get in touch if you would like to attend. Please note this is not open to the public but is a business event.
“These sessions regularly sell out around the country. Working with Herefordshire Council as a Chamber President initiative we are pleased to be able to bring this to Chamber members free of charge.”
Graham Biggs, the naked creative,
Chamber President
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce will be holding a third session in our procurement series, which has looked at breaking down the barriers restricting small local businesses from winning public sector contracts.
Following an open question and answer session, the Chamber has moved on to workshop sessions designed to fully prepare local businesses for the criteria expected by Herefordshire Council’s Procurement team. The previous session in the series focused on the Pre-Qualification Questionnaires. The third in the series will now focus on the next stage of the process – the Invitation to Tender stage, which is offered to a section of businesses which pass the initial criteria in the PQQ.
For those members that missed the second session, a one hour refresher course will be offered beforehand.
Monday 16th January 2012
5.00 – 6.00pm Pre-Qualification Questionnaire refresher session
6.00 – 7.30pm Invitation to Tender session
Herefordshire College of Technology (Events Suite), Folly Lane, Hereford, HR1 1LS.
Members: FREE | Non-Members: £15.00+VAT
If you are interested in this session, please email policy@hwchamber.co.uk, or call on 0845 641 1641 Ext. 242
