Key figures on camera at Business Breakfast

Wolverhampton’s economic growth was celebrated during the city’s third annual Business Week Breakfast on Thursday.

Benson Elliot, owners of the Mander Shopping Centre, are investing £35 million in the redevelopment of the centre in a huge commitment to the city. It’s Director of Retail, Peter Cornforth, was one of the keynote speakers at the flagship event taking place at GTG Training and Conference Centre.

He spoke to us afterwards. Watch video

We also have interviews conducted by business broadcaster Declan Curry with Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Chairman, Stewart Towe (watch video), and Black Country Consortium Chief Executive Sarah Middleton (watch video).

Urban & Civic boss talks Westside at buyer event

Philip Leech, Property Director of Urban & Civic, this week provided an update on the progress of the £55 million Westside scheme.

He was speaking at this week’s Wolverhampton Business Week ‘Meet the Buyer Breakfast’, where he also explained the benefits for other city businesses of this huge development at the heart of the city, in terms of future contracts and jobs.

Watch the video… 

Mayor says thank you to investors

The Mayor’s Investors Reception at the Civic Centre brought together the organisations that have invested in the city over the past year, and those sponsoring Wolverhampton Business Week, to officially thank them for their continued support and investment in the city.

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Jeff Shi was among the guests. View the Flickr Gallery...

Help shape future of library service

If you use Wolverhampton’s libraries – or even if you don’t – your help is needed to help shape the service.

Like most places across the country, the way people use the city's libraries is changing, and Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: "We are really keen to hear what people think a vibrant and modern library service looks like, and we want to get opinions from people whether they currently use their local library or not, because it is just important for us to understand why people aren’t using their library as why they are.”

Over the next couple of weeks, a series of workshops are being held where people can join in the conversation – you can find details here. If you are unable to take part in a workshop, you can have your say by completing a short survey available through the link above.

September 30  |  Issue 30

Wolverhampton to establish city partnership with China's Anqing

History was made this week as Wolverhampton set about establishing an official city partnership with Anqing in China.

As part of Wolverhampton Business Week, senior figures from the city council hosted their Chinese counterparts at a Civic Centre reception.

City of Wolverhampton Council Leader, Councillor Roger Lawrence, and Anqing Municipal People’s Government Deputy Secretary-General, Ms Ye, put pen to paper on a ‘Memorandum of Understanding on Establishing a City Partnership through friendly discussions’. Read more...

Businesses put learning opportunities on the menu at inaugural skills dinner

Businesses from across Wolverhampton put learning opportunities firmly on the menu as part of the city’s inaugural skills dinner.

Stakeholders from across the city, including those from local industry, education, health and the voluntary sectors, joined forces at the annual dinner to discuss how to create a skilled workforce for the future. Read more...

Crime-fighting app Facewatch features among big names at technology event

The new crime-fighting app in Wolverhampton, Facewatch, featured at Wolverhampton Business Week’s Technology and Business Crime Prevention Event at Wolverhampton Racecourse on Tuesday.

Facewatch allows people to share images of suspected local criminals and upload digital evidence to the police on their smartphones and tablets. Read more...

MPs call for SMEs to join them at Making Tax Digital Event with HMRC

Wolverhampton MPs Rob Marris, Emma Reynolds, and Pat McFadden are inviting SMEs to meet representatives from HMRC to discuss government changes to the tax system through the Making Tax Digital plans and how they affect businesses.

The event takes place on Friday, October 14, between 8am and 10am, in Committee Room 3, Civic Centre, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SH.

It is also an opportunity to find out how to submit to the government consultations.

There will be a discussion with HMRC and other business owners, and there will be some time set aside for one-to-one conversations with HMRC should businesses wish to take advantage of this.

If you wish to attend please RSVP to rob.marris.mp@parliament.uk.