Prosper Autumn, Black Country Chamber of Commerce magazine

THE REGION’S LONGEST-RUNNING BUSINESS PUBLICATION 

BLACK COUNTRY 

PROSPER 

Communication 

and trust 

‘This is the Black Country’ Business Partners share 

their views on leading in times of economic uncertainty

WELCOME TO PROSPER 

Most business leaders have never experienced the chaotic times we’re 

living through, says Sarah Thompson, Editor, Prosper, but with help from 

Black Country Chamber, you can plot a course through the storms 

Good advice in the challenging times we all face 

It’s Autumn, a time which marks the 

transition from summer to winter, but this 

year, as the nights draw in and the 

temperatures drop, the season is tinged 

with a deepening uncertainty for many. 

A cost-of-living crisis and a return to 

levels of inflation not seen for 40 years, 

coupled with severe labour market 

disruptions, means that an extremely tough 

and uncertain economic environment has 

very much returned to the forefront of the 

public conscience. 

In recent weeks the support announced 

on energy bills, coupled with the fiscal 

statement, which included the reversal of 

National Insurance and corporation tax rises 

as well as the Annual Investment Allowance 

remaining at £1 million, may come as a little 

light relief for businesses, but there is no 

doubt that we are still facing an incredibly 

tough autumn and winter ahead. 

Companies face a challenging end to 

2022 with rising costs affecting both their 

operations and the lives of employees. Over 

and above the standard day-to-day issues, 

there are numerous challenges confronting 

business leaders including inflation rising, 

spiralling energy costs and political 

upheaval following the recent change in 

Prime Minister. 

Against this tumultuous backdrop 

Prosper speaks to the business partners 

from the Chamber’s current campaign, ‘This 

is the Black Country,’ and asks what’s in their 

inboxes and what are their priorities as we 

move through this challenging Autumn. 

Focusing on three main themes, People, 

Place and Power, our ‘This is the Black 

Country,’ campaign hits the road with a 

second Black Country Economic 

Conference in November, where we will 

hear the views of a host of well-known 

keynote speakers including Mayor of the 

West Midlands, Andy Street, Birmingham 

Airport CEO Nick Barton, Carmen Watson, 

chair of the Pertemps Group and Dr Julie 

Nugent, director of productivity and skills 

from the West Midlands Combined 

Authority. 

We also speak to the chairman and CEO 

of car maker Bentley Motors, Adrian 

Hallmark and ask him how the company has 

continued to break all records in a market 

for top-end luxury brands despite the 

current climate, and we’ve legal debate on 

the rise of workplace bullying and advice for 

firms as more workers demand action to 

tackle the cost-of-living crisis. 

We talk retirement plans with local 

businessman Kevin Rogers, CEO of 

Wolverhampton-based Paycare, and 

explore the number of businesses in the 

region run by female entrepreneurs. 

Plus, as Prosper marks its third anniversary 

since relaunch in the autumn of 2019, we 

take a closer look at how maximising 

membership of the Black Country Chamber, 

an organisation with a national reputation 

and extensive reach, can help your business. 

There’s also a round-up of all the events 

and training offers from the Chamber and 

we take a whistle-stop tour around the 

region’s businesses bringing you their news, 

views, opinion and debate. 

Enjoy this edition of Prosper and don’t 

forget to look out for the Chamber’s annual 

business award winners in our next issue… 

‘‘ 

A cost-of-living crisis, and a return to levels of 

inflation not seen for 40 years, coupled with 

severe labour market disruptions, means that 

an extremely tough and uncertain economic 

environment has very much returned to the 

forefront of the public conscience. 

PROSPER AUTUMN 2022 

‘‘ 

CONTACT: SARAH THOMPSON 

e: SarahThompson@ 

blackcountrychamber.co.uk 

@SarahT_BCCC 

linkedin.com/in/ 

sarah-thompson-83931813/ 

O3

CONTACTS 

Editor 

Sarah Thompson 

0330 024 0820 

07971 322693 

prosper@blackcountrychamber.co.uk 

BLACK COUNTRY 

PROSPER 

Marketing & Policy 

Neil Anderson 

Director of External Affairs 

0330 024 0820 

neilanderson@ 


Membership 

Karen Webb 

Director of Business Services 

0330 024 0820 

membership@ 


Publisher 

Chamber Media Services 

4 Hilton Road, Bramhall 

Stockport, Cheshire 

SK7 3AG 

Advertising 

Colin Regan 

01942 537959 

colinregan001@yahoo.co.uk 

Production 

Rob Beswick 

0161 426 7957 

07964 375216 

rob@chambermediaservices.co.uk 

Cover Photography 

Angela Grabowska, Andy Newell 

with thanks to Dr Euripides Altintzoglou, 

FHEA, Course Leader (Photography), Senior 

Lecturer (Fine Art) University of Wolverhampton, 

Wolverhampton School of Art 

Although every effort is taken to ensure 

the accuracy of material contained within 

this magazine, neither the Black Country 

Chamber of Commerce nor Chamber 

Media Services can accept any 

responsibility for omissions or inaccuracies 

in its editorial or advertising content. 

Black Country Prosper Magazine is the official magazine of the 

Black Country Chamber of Commerce. 

It provides news, views, interviews, opinion and debate along with 

information and insights. 

Prosper is the region’s longest running business publication . 

Produced on a quarterly basis, the magazine is supported by an array of the 

Black Country’s most influential business leaders and is read by business owners 

throughout the region and further afield. 

To find out more about advertising in Prosper, contact 

Colin Regan on 01942 537959. 

THE CHAMBER PATRON GROUP 

The work of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce is supported by these strategic 

business partners working together to make the region a better place for business. 

READ ONLINE 

We’re delighted that Prosper is back in a 

printed version, but you can still read it online. 

Go to blackcountrychamber.co.uk/news/ 

prosper-magazine/ 

The views expressed in this publication 

are not necessarily those of the Chamber. 

The carriage of adverts in this publication 

does not constitute an endorsement of 

the products or services advertised. 

All articles within this publication are 

copyright Black Country Chamber of 

Commerce. Consent from the Chamber 

and the publisher must be obtained 

before any articles are reproduced either 

in printed form or electronically. 

You can also follow Prosper at 

Prosper Magazine | Facebook @MagazineProsper 

https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/bcccprosper 

34 

28 

O4 PROSPER AUTUMN 2022

CONTACTS & CONTENTS 

CONTENTS 

Bentley CEO at President’s Lunch 

24 

12 

Boxing champ goes back 

to the gym to say thanks 

Kevin Rogers reflects 

on his time at Paycare 

and the future outlook 

38 

Chamber to lead on 

skills plan 

22 

20 

Platinum Group 

welcomes a 

new member 

Recruitment done 

differently 

10 

Members’ 

benefits 

18 

Even the 

barristers 

are on strike! 

46 

At 

the 

races 

44 

59 

REGULAR FEATURES 

Members’ News 10 

Business is Done Better Together 16 

including Membership benefits, Platinum 

Group, Meet the Cabinet, Skills Improvement, 

President’s Lunch and Awards 

This is the Black Country 28 

in conversation with our Business Partners, 

plus Black Country Conference 

Legal briefings 36, 42 

Catching up with Kevin Rogers, Paycare 38 

The Richardson approach 40 

Chamber Events 50 

Training / Professional Development 53 

Prosper People 58 


O5

WELCOME 

We’ve living through unprecedented times of upheaval and change, 

but moments like these give us the opportunity to reflect, review 

and respond accordingly, says Sarah Moorhouse, the new 

CEO of the Black Country Chamber, 

With challenge comes opportunity – and we 

must all be ready to embrace that 

I am delighted to welcome you to this 

autumn issue of Prosper, my first as the 

Black Country Chamber of Commerce 

CEO. 

The word ‘unprecedented’ has been 

overused to describe our current times, but 

it is also understandable at the moment as 

many of the events we’ve recently 

experienced usually occur infrequently, if 

not generationally. 

It has been unrelenting for business. 

Brexit and the pandemic still cast a shadow 

over many of us, and although 

governments in the UK are supposed to 

change every four or five years, in the last 

six alone we’ve had four prime ministers, 

each with a new administration and set of 

priorities. 

Last month we witnessed another of 

these political resets while also coping with 

the sad death of HM Queen Elizabeth II, a 

passionate public servant and supporter of 

Chambers of Commerce and enterprise. 

However, such moments of transition 

present us with the opportunity to reflect, 

review and respond though. 

For this Chamber, with its rich, centuryspanning 

heritage, now is the time to take 

great leaps forward towards a sustainable 

future as I take custodianship of the helm 

of our great organisation, renowned for 

being the Black Country’s most popular 

and vociferous champion. 

And I’m excited for our future. I join a 

team of highly professional and 

knowledgeable individuals who, through 

their hard work, passion, perceptiveness 

and dedication, strive each day to help our 

members grow and prosper. 

The challenge ahead is a huge one, but 

it is an exciting one. 

Over the coming months I hope to meet 

with as many of you as possible, and that 

together we can place the region’s business 

needs high on the new government’s 

priority list. 

It is rare for a single organisation to 

generate as much goodwill and positivity, 

but the Chamber does. We have done so 

since the 1860s and remain the partner of 

choice with our four pillars of lobbying, 

campaigning, support services important 

to our members. 

The guidance and signposting the 

Chamber provides alongside its hyperlocal, 

tailored help and national reach 

supports countless businesses respond to 

their own challenges and helps them to 

learn and innovate while showcasing the 

best the region has to offer 

There are exciting times on the horizon. 

Working with partners, we will be 

engaging with businesses to ensure that 

you have skills you need for now and the 

future. 

The Local Skills Improvement Plan (see 

page 22) is set to be a game-changing shift 

to rebalance the skills agenda and our 

involvement with other initiatives will 

hopefully have a lasting legacy. 

Meanwhile, our ‘This is the Black 

Country’ campaign continues, and I hope 

you will be able to join us in November for 

its flagship event, the second Black Country 

Business Economic Conference, which will 

feature speakers from the world of business 

and beyond discussing the local economy 

and actions needed to ensure it remains 

competitive and relevant in a fast-changing 

world (see page 34). 

Moving forward, I see the Chamber’s role 

as inspiring our members to achieve 

success, supporting them along the way 

and encouraging them to be bold. All of us 

in business today need to think differently 

and challenge ourselves, and that is what 

the Chamber will do under my stewardship. 

As an organisation, this is the moment 

for transformational change and I’m proud 

and honoured to be able to serve you, our 

members. 


O7

WELCOME 

Andy Street 

West Midlands Mayor 

Our track record for delivery has put the West Midlands 

at the front of the queue for investment 

The West Midlands is being put at the 

front of the queue for Government 

investment – and rightly so. 

In this column, I want to explain how our 

proven track record of delivering on the 

ground shows how our region can take full 

advantage of the new Investment Zones 

recently announced by the Government, as 

well as improved transport infrastructure. 

Investment Zones are to be set up across 

the country to boost business and aid 

growth. 

The West Midlands Combined Authority 

(WMCA) is in discussions about potential 

Investment Zones at a number of potential 

sites in the Black Country, such as the 

Wolverhampton to Walsall Corridor, as well 

as the HS2 Interchange site near the NEC 

and the site of the proposed Gigafactory at 

Coventry Airport. 

These zones would create areas where 

businesses would benefit from lower taxes, 

faster development and improved 

economic prospects. Crucial to this concept 

is unlocking significant new private sector 

investment – something else the West 

Midlands has a reputation for. 

Earlier this year, at MIPIM, the world’s 

leading real estate event, I launched a 

£15billion investment prospectus to 

investors, featuring more than 20 diverse 

development opportunities across our 

region. 

We also consistently attract big business 

players, with Goldman Sachs the latest 

global name to choose to make our region 

its home. 

So, the West Midlands has a raft of 

potential sites that could benefit from 

targeted investment, and we also have the 


know-how to make sure that investment 

delivers, by directing investment into 

specific areas. 

The huge audience that watched the 

Commonwealth Games was impressed by 

the backdrop of Birmingham City Centre, 

with its iconic buildings and striking public 

squares. While the Games took us four 

years to prepare, this eye-catching built 

environment in the heart of the city is the 

result of 12 years of investment and 

development, evidence of a successful 

enterprise zone working its magic. 

Across the region you can see many other 

examples of targeted, localised investment 

that has driven growth, of different sizes. In 

the Black Country, we are leading the way in 

Brownfield development, which is making 

use of the legacy of our past by reclaiming 

former industrial sites for commercial and 

housing use. 

In Brum, there is the vast project that is 

seeing the site of the Longbridge car 

factory regenerated. 

Private funding is vital, and the 

Government has shown its support for 

business by dropping the planned increase 

‘‘ 

The West Midlands has a raft 

of potential sites that could 

benefit from targeted 

investment, and we also have 

the know-how to make sure 

that investment delivers, by 

directing investment into 

specific areas. 

‘‘ 

in corporation tax, as well as placing a cap 

on wholesale energy bills. 

Transport 

Another driving force behind the renewal 

of the West Midlands has been our approach 

to transforming transport, which has seen a 

seven-fold increase in investment since I took 

office. We have now received a tremendous 

vote of confidence in our transport plans, 

with the news that a number of vital regional 

projects will be fast-tracked. 

These include the Wednesbury to 

Brierley Hill Metro tram extension, phase 2 

of the Sprint rapid bus network, a new 

railway station at Aldridge and important 

priority measures on our buses, which 

remain the workhorse of our public 

transport network. 

All of these projects will have the 

important effect of reducing car use, 

improving air quality and helping us hit our 

net zero targets. But in terms of growth, we 

know that creating a first-class transport 

network connects communities across the 

region, helps residents access job 

opportunities and opens up new areas for 

business investment. 

With the Government’s plans to help us 

fast-track these projects, we can expect 

diggers in the ground on the majority of 

them by the end of 2023, and I cannot wait 

to see local lives changed for the better as a 

result. 

The fact is that successful investment 

zones and improved transport infrastructure 

go hand in hand. To make proposals like 

this work, you have to provide the land 

assembly and infrastructure to attract 

investors and developers. In the West 

Midlands, we have shown we can do this. 

O9

NEWS IN BRIEF 

Doocey Group, a local civil engineering 

and utility contractor, based in Tipton, 

has teamed up with Sandwell College 

to create a bespoke Pre-Apprenticeship 

/SWAP which is aligned to construction 

and multi-utilities. 

The partnership kicked off in June 

with an open day at Doocey head office 

and showcased the apprenticeship 

opportunity to over 200 attendees, with 

a lucky 100 securing interviews. 

Doocey has always utilised 

apprenticeships to strengthen and 

develop its workforce from the ground 

up, however, the partnership with 

Sandwell College will deliver its biggest 

cohort yet, with 18 young people 

selected and offered employment with 

the group under the apprenticeship 

programme. 

College launches ambitious 

apprenticeship programme 

Export move by 

Burke Bros 

Specialists in removals to France, Midlands 

based international removal and storage 

company Burke Bros Moving Group has 

announced one of the biggest partnerships 

within the French property market. 

The international moving company has 

joined forces with Leggett Immobilier, a 

French property agent which has a 600-plus 

strong network of agents spread 

throughout France. 

Both Burke Bros Moving Group and 

Leggett Immobilier are the go-to 

organisations for anyone considering a 

French property purchase and move to 

France, and are involved with many of the 

highest-profile France-related exhibitions 

and shows all across the UK. 

As expert advisors to the Place in the 

Sun, both are also mainstay exhibitors and 

advisors at the French property shows. 

Historic manufacturer posts record year 

with a little recruitment help from MET 

A Black Country manufacturer that has its 

products installed in the new Tottenham 

Hotspur Stadium, on The Shard and in 

Birmingham’s iconic Rotunda building has 

posted a record year. 

Isaac H. Grainger’s, which is a market 

leader in the manufacture of raised access 

flooring pedestals, has seen a rise in sales 

after securing a surge of reshoring successes 

from abroad. 

The 158-year-old Cradley Heath business 

has extended its long-standing relationship 

with MET Recruitment to help it meet 

increases in demand from customers in the 

UK and overseas. 

This means that, at any one time, the firm 

could have tens of temporary workers 

sourced by the Dudley recruitment 

specialist, with some candidates vetted and 

supplied within a few hours’ notice. 

10 PROSPER AUTUMN 2022

BUSINESS FINANCE SPOTLIGHT 

Plans outlined for 

major rail route 

improvements 

A full business case has been submitted 

outlining plans to enhance the Shrewsbury 

- Black Country - Birmingham rail route. 

The project from Midlands Connect is 

expected to provide about £23m of 

economic benefits, relating to journey time 

improvements alongside improved air 

quality, environmental benefits and reduced 

congestion on local roads. 

The track would have minor realignments 

in two places, within the railway corridor to 

improve the route for the train and 

passengers, as well as improvements around 

signalling on the line. 

If approved by the government, work on 

the scheme could begin as early as 2025. 

CSCM Ltd celebrating 

two new partnerships 

with sporting bodies 

CSCM Limited has recently added to 

its growing list of sports and 

hospitality clients after being 

appointed as official technology and 

cloud partners to Ipswich Town 

Football Club, as well as to the 

prestigious Edgbaston Priory Club 

in Birmingham. 

Crowe welcomes further funding 

for Made Smarter programme 

The head of manufacturing at audit, tax, 

advisory and risk firm Crowe has welcomed 

the government’s decision to fund the Made 

Smarter scheme for a further three years. 

Johnathan Dudley, Midlands managing 

partner, said an additional £2.3 million 

meant that the West Midlands Combined 

Authority (WMCA) has now secured nearly 

£7 million from government to help the 

region’s businesses embrace digital 

technology and supercharge their growth. 

The announcement was made by Andy 

Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, as he 

opened the British Manufacturing 

Showcase which was hosted by Crowe at its 

West Midlands 

mayor Andy Street 

with Crowe’s 

Johnathan Dudley 

and Nigel Bostock 

Midlands office in Oldbury. 

Made Smarter has already helped more 

than 200 SMEs in the West Midlands 

digitise their work, improve employees’ 

skills and become more productive since 

the scheme was launched across the region 

in 2021. 

Because of this success, the Department 

for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 

(BEIS), which funds the scheme, has agreed 

to commit a further £2.3 million to continue 

the programme for another three years. 

More than 150 businesses have already 

signed up to benefit from this second 

phase of the scheme. 

Fast-track expansion planned as 

EnPro opens Scotland office 

Established in 2017 by career railway professionals Craig Speed and 

Daniel Cartwright, Wolverhampton-based EnPro goes from strength-tostrength 

with the opening of a new office in Scotland and a planned 

recruitment drive. 

The business offers bespoke project managed solutions for the rail 

industry across five key sectors: railway projects, train presentation, 

support services, facilities management and security provision. 

Projects undertaken by the company have included fleet modifications, 

fitting CCTV to locomotives and carrying out deep cleaning for entire 

train fleets, with EnPro contracted by GB Railfreight to keep cabs clean 

and safe on more than 100 locomotives during the height of the Covid-19 

pandemic. 

PROSPER AUTUMN 2022 11

NEWS IN BRIEF 

Council sets out seven steps 

to bring Sandwell success 

Sandwell Council has launched an Inclusive 

Recovery Action Plan aimed at accelerating 

business growth and creating a wealthier 

Sandwell. 

With a £6.5bn economy and twice the 

number of manufacturing firms to the 

national average, Sandwell is home to 

fast-growing, high-employment and 

high-turnover businesses, including East 

End Foods, Steel & Alloy and Hadley 

Industries. 

The Sandwell Council’s Inclusive Recovery 

Action Plan is a five-year plan setting out 

the council’s seven priorities to grow local 

businesses while addressing long term 

challenges. 

1. Make Sandwell the home of the 

start-ups, bringing new businesses into its 

town centres and high streets 

2. Accelerate growth in higher value 

businesses, tapping into the growth of the 

West Midlands economy, to stimulate wider 

investment and opportunity 

3. Deliver net zero carbon emissions in 

Rapid Pack, a third-party 

logistics (3PL) company founded 

in 2021 has recently moved to 

brand new warehouse facilities 

in Oldbury. 

Working with e-commerce 

sellers and taking care of 

storing, picking, packing and 

shipping, the rapidly growing 

company works with a variety of 

business sectors including 

fashion, shoes, beauty and 

cosmetics, toys, ambient food 

and drink, furniture, tech and 

art. 

Director Ben Slater is now 

looking forward to offering 

future employment 

opportunities to people from 

the local area. 

Matt Warman, Minister for Media, Data 

and Digital Identity in the Department of 

Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has 

toured the sight of an exciting new project 

at the University of Wolverhampton. 

The new £5 million Wolverhampton 

Sandwell by 2041, helping businesses 

achieve energy efficiency and adopt a 

circular economy model 

4. Increase new inward investment and 

investment from existing businesses to 

create good jobs, and more of them 

5. Establish Sandwell as a growing centre 

of health and care innovation, with the new 

hospital development a springboard 

6. Improve the amount and quality of 

work available, focused on raising wages 

and skill levels 

7. Make community wealth-building a 

reality through local procurement and social 

value processes. 

Screen School has been transformed with 

investment in industry-standard, state-ofthe-art 

equipment with the aim of 

boosting skills in the digital arts and media 

industries. 

It has a new production space, an 

World champ Katie 

visits the gym 

Minister on hand to check out university’s new film studio 

You’ve been a 

knock-out, 

boxer tells gym 

A Black Country boxer has praised the gym 

which helped her to become world 

champion. 

Katie Healy from Bilston became the new 

WBF Super Bantamweight champion in 

South Africa in July and said it was the 

strength and conditioning work she had 

done with Santino and Carlo Sellick at 

Ironmasters Gym in Bilston that had been 

the difference in her successful title fight. 

Gym owner Santino Sellick said he had 

watched the fight with his family and spoke 

of how proud he was about Katie’s success, 

“When she lifted that belt, I felt so proud for 

her, first and foremost, but also for the gym 

and for Bilston having a world champion,” 

he said. 

equipment media store, a video studio 

with movable partitions and a large 

multi-purpose studio. There are also new 

Mac labs, edit suites and a production 

base room, as well as a green-screen, 

three-camera TV studio. 


MEMBERS MILESTONES 

Qualifications duo 

merge to offer 

greater choice to 

academic clients 

AIM Qualifications and Assessment Group 

has merged with Open College Network 

West Midlands to form a much larger, 

stronger organisation that is now 

developing qualifications and awarding 

certificates to learners in schools, colleges, 

training providers and centres across the 

UK. 

With over 80 years’ experience of 

developing high-quality regulated 

qualifications for the education and training 

sector between them, the AIM Group is now 

a leading Awarding Organisation and, more 

recently, a registered End-Point Assessment 

Organisation (EPAO). 

The two organisations, both based in the 

Midlands, now operate under the AIM 

Qualifications and Assessment Group name. 

The merger means that colleges, centres, 

and training providers now have access to 

almost 600 regulated qualifications for their 

learners, and employers will have an 

expanded network of support when looking 

for an end-point assessment organisation 

for their apprentices. 

College lands top 

digital award 

City of Wolverhampton College has won a 

prestigious national award for its 

commitment to empowering students, 

apprentices and staff to develop their 

digital skills. 

The college beat off tough competition 

from three other further education colleges 

to be crowned FE College of the Year at 

the national Edufuturists Awards 2022, in 

June. 

Since 2020, the college has embraced 

the use of the national Inspiring Digital 

Enterprise Award (iDEA) programme, which 

enables participants to complete online 

challenges to earn digital badges, with 

students and apprentices achieving over 

86,000 badges to date. 

No one moves 

quite like Jagger 

Albert Jagger Limited, the leading 

manufacturer and supplier of commercial 

vehicle components, is celebrating 135 

years of business. 

Founded in 1887, Albert Jagger was 

originally known as makers of coach and 

motor body fittings, but fast-forward 135 

years and the company is now associated 

with innovation, excellent service, and the 

highest quality products for vehicles of all 

types. 

An expansive range of products 

covering everything from body hardware 

to hinges and fasteners, has ensured 

distribution across 70 countries over the 

last 135 years. 

The versatility and flexibility of 

operations means Albert Jagger’s portfolio 

Filling the VOiD for 

a decade 

Celebrating 10 years in business, 

VOiD, an agency which started 

out as an idea in the minds of 

four graduates from 

Wolverhampton University, has 

blossomed into one of the city’s 

leading digital dgencies. 

The company, which originally 

started as VOiD Games, releasing 

mobile games on the iOS and 

Google Play App Stores, now 

boasts a vast portfolio that 

weaves in and out of many 

different sectors, with clients such 

as Cox & Plant, Carwood Brise, 

Ritchie, Aproderm & Skinny Dips. 

of products can be used in a multitude of 

applications, from commercial vehicles 

through to aerospace. 

The Walsall-based company has been 

family-owned since 1945, with the fourth 

generation still involved today. 

Championing innovation and forward 

thinking has allowed Albert Jagger to 

maintain its position as market leaders by 

using the latest technologies and 

equipment to develop the next generation 

of hardware. 

As well as working with the in-house 

design and manufacturing team, Albert 

Jagger works with some of the biggest 

suppliers in the world of components and 

fittings, including Bansbach, Kommerling 

and LAGO. 


BUSINESS VOICES: PERTEMPS ON HR 

THE GREAT RESIGNATION 

A quarter of businesses have already lost valuable talent 

unnecessarily, so Prosper asked Richard Bourne from recruitment 

experts, Pertemps for his thoughts on the subject. 

The equivalent of 1.3m UK SMEs have 

unnecessarily lost talent this year by 

making employees feel undervalued. 

Research commissioned by digital 

gifting company Prezzee highlights that 24 

per cent of UK SMEs have lost undervalued 

talent in the past 4-6 months, directly 

feeding into the ‘Great Resignation’, which 

has seen people leaving their jobs at the 

highest rate since 2009. 

In organisations of more than 250 staff, 

four-in-10 HR directors say they’ve changed 

or are looking at alternatives to reward staff 

– regardless of the changes to where their 

staff work. 

Despite the Great Resignation, over a 

third (35%) of SMEs say all employees get 

the same rewards, regardless of location, 

job title or other contributing factors, 

despite differing hobbies and passions. 

Much of the budget laid aside for 

rewarding staff isn’t used to its full potential 

as two-thirds (66%) said their team didn’t 

attend events or rewards weren’t received 

how they would like. 

The research also highlighted why so 

many employees don’t engage with reward 

schemes and events, as 80% of HR 

directors acknowledged that they don’t 

understand their interests well enough. The 

data also highlights that there’s too much 

impetus put solely on the shoulders of HR 

directors to get this right. Only 16% of 

SMEs use a team within the business made 

up of employees at multiple levels to 

decide the rewards and incentive strategy 

to drive increased happiness and staff 

retention. 

Richard Bourne, regional manager at 

Pertemps Network Group told Prosper, 

“employee engagement, retention and 

motivation are the most important factors 

for the success of any business big or small. 

“People are the cornerstone of any 

successful business, and it is important to 

reward and recognise accordingly. We have 

experienced an extremely turbulent jobs 

market over the last two years which has 

led to an ever-increasing number of vacancies 

and increased competition between 

companies to secure the best talent. 

“A heavy emphasis is currently placed 

upon pay rates with the cost of living at the 

forefront of the news. However, salary and 

pay rates are not the only factors for 

employers to consider. To achieve the 

goals of retention, engagement, and as 

previously mentioned, a motivated 

workforce, a more holistic approach is key. 

“The overall package on offer should 

include a competitive basic salary but also 

consider other financial rewards such as 

‘‘ 

To achieve the goals of 

retention, engagement 

and a motivated 

workforce, a more 

holistic approach is key... 

‘‘ 

company shares schemes, perks such as 

discounts, potential bonus and 

commissions. 

“Tailoring packages to fit an individual’s 

needs will help boost engagement 

between employee and employer to cover 

a number of factors which motivate and 

appeal to your workforce.” 

He added: “The workplace culture 

determines longevity of staff and 

engagement levels. A friendly, workfocused 

culture gives a sense of teamwork 

and camaraderie, which people value as an 

important factor when choosing a 

long-term position. Team socials, 

collaborating well with your colleagues 

day-to-day and management support are 

all part of the ethos nurturing a fantastic 

workplace culture.” 

Perhaps that’s why Pertemps has been 

listed in the Times’ Top 100 companies for 

16 years running. 

“At Pertemps we offer learner-led 

training and development for our staff 

which empowers employees to recognise 

what support is needed. A development 

and training programme allows staff to 

structure progression within the company 

in a way that is suited to the individual. 

Opportunities are achievable for individuals 

to progress quickly and own their career 

path with the business. Responsibilities and 

personal development empower our staff 

to increase earning potential. 

“Open communication between line 

managers and staff is important to identify 

what key motivating factors and rewards 

matter most to enhance staff welfare. It’s 

important to ensure it is in line with an 

overall strategy, enabling the flexibility to 

address the cost-of-living crisis and the 

support you as an employer need to offer. 

An example of this would be whereby 

naturally an employer thinks financial 

support is the only benefit they can offer. 

However, in some instances, an employee 

support line offering direct links to trained 

counsellors to deal with stress may be a 

more viable and welcome option.” 


Businesses have had a tough time over the 

past couple of years, but unfortunately this 

trend looks set to get worse not better as 

we see the impact of the cost of living 

hitting the economy and our customers 

hard. To survive, and thrive in an increasingly 

competitive market, businesses need to be 

investing in their customer experience (CX), 

as the value of service and the importance 

of making a human connection with 

customers has rarely been starker. 

What is CX? 

CX is the overall perception – the 

thoughts and feeling – a customer gets 

from interacting with your business. We can 

all think of positive and negative 

experiences we have had as customers. 

Good or bad, these interactions shape our 

opinions of brands, products, and services 

we interact with. 

Why is it so important for a business to 

get it right? 

Delivering a positive customer experience 

will make your customer(s) happy but also 

increases the likelihood they will return, remain 

loyal or recommend you to others. Crucially for 

businesses, great customer experience will 

positively impact the bottom-line. 

You don’t know what you don’t measure 

We know that 94% of customers will look 

at a businesses reviews before they 

purchase so I always start by asking a client; 

are you passive, proactive or reactive in 

asking customers for feedback? Most will 

look at me rather blank! 

Proactively asking for customer feedback 

and then actively managing the responses 

– communicating back to customers and 

making positive changes – is a great place 

to start on your CX journey. 

Without quality insight and data, you 

can’t truly understand how your customers 

view your business and if you are delivering 

on the promises you make. 

Your local CX specialist 

Having lived, studied and worked across 

Wolverhampton and Telford my whole life, I 

know the business and customer landscape 

very well and I’m looking forward to 

working with faces new and old. 

I’m a leader and motivator by trade and 

love to help people meet and exceed their 

business goals. I’m looking forward to helping 

businesses develop and grow through 

improving their customer experience. 

CX is one of the best and simplest ways 

ADVERTORIAL SPOTLIGHT 

The best investment a business can make right 

now is in its customer experience (CX) 

We asked our local customer 

experience specialist, Ian Phillips, for 

his views on the outlook for 

businesses over the next 12 months 

About the author 

Ian left a long career as 

a regional manager 

within the financial 

service sector to help 

businesses across the 

Black Country improve their customer 

experience and convert more leads. 

to improve any business. By taking people 

out of the day-to-day and helping them to 

see their business through the customers’ 

eyes, we can pinpoint any blind spots and 

implement new mechanics. 

Want to find out more? 

If you would like to find out what your 

customers think about your business or 

improve your CX strategy, speak to me 

about insight6 and its world-class review 

platform, instantinsight or leading CX 

Reviews. 

• Contact Ian on 07808 064134, email 

ian.phillips@insight6.com or visit 

www.insight6.com for more details. 


BUSINESS IS DONE BETTER TOGETHER: CHAMBER MEMBERSHIP 

The Black Country Chamber of 

Commerce has a national reputation and 

extensive reach, possessing the ability to 

deliver hyper-local support to businesses 

across the Black Country. As the natural 

partner for many during the challenges 

of Brexit and COVID-19, the Chamber’s 

campaigning and lobbying activities 

have helped keep supply chains moving 

and businesses operating. We’ve helped 

members raise their profile, make 

connections and tackle the issues 

limiting growth and productivity, while 

working with stakeholders to ensure that 

the spotlight stays firmly focused on the 

region so that, collectively, they can 

share in future opportunities and 

potential. Now regarded as one of the 

most progressive, forward-thinking, 

innovative and diverse Chambers in the 

country, leading on major campaigns and 

initiatives, our team continues to provide 

their experience and expertise to 

businesses across the region and beyond. 

Above, the Chamber’s leadership 

team. From left, Neil Anderson, 

Calum Nisbet, Karen Webb and 

Lorna Taylor. 

Maximise your membership 

Are you accessing all your benefits? 

NETWORKING & EVENTS 

You’re going to mix, mingle and rub 

elbows with other members of the 

professional community at the various 

events we organise every year. This can 

lead to opportunities you never 

imagined and might even score you 

early access to further business wins 

and major contracts. 

Lobbying 

for Black 

Country businesses 

Black County Chamber 

takes on the tough issues 

and speaks up for the 

interests of local 

businesses. 

EXPAND YOUR NETWORK 

The Black Country Chamber develops and delivers over 70 events each year which are 

attended by over 4,000+ people from across the region and beyond. 

These events are a superb way for members to make new connections, network and 

explore a range of topics and themes which matter to local businesses. 

Make new connections, explore topics and themes which matter to local firms and 

meeting potential prospects and customers are all part and parcel of proactive 

networking. 


Airport parking 

Black Country Chamber members receive a 

range of discounts for airport parking and 

hotels along with the use of VIP lounges at 

APH franchised airports, including Birmingham. 

Trading globally? 

If your business trades globally, 

Chamber members can access: 

• 50% off our trade 

documentation services with 

expert advice from the team 

• Access to translation services 

for contracts, marketing 

materials and more 

• Savings on foreign exchange 

Raise your profile 

No one is going to know you exist if you don’t put 

yourself out there. The Chamber allows you to 

showcase your offers and promotions, share your 

news or blogs on the Chamber website, promote 

your products and services, book priority stands at 

regional exhibitions and there’s a chance of featuring 

in Prosper Magazine. 

As one of the region’s largest sources of 

information for businesses, the Black Country 

Chamber website receives over 200k unique 

impressions each year. 

As a member, your business can enjoy unlimited user accounts attached to 

your business profile. Each member can then start accessing Chamber 

members, services and start connecting with others. 

Enjoy savings on training 

The team at the Black Country Chamber 

have developed a range of training 

programmes which support the 

development of business owners, leaders 

and their teams. Chamber members 

benefit from discounts on all training 

courses and can enjoy a third off selected 

courses for their first booking. Take a 

look from page 53 in this issue of Prosper 

for further details on all of our director 

development workshops and management 

development training courses. 

Foreign Exchange 

Uncover the best way to manage your 

business’ foreign exchange and 

international payments with Halo 

Financials’ award-winning currency 

solutions. 

Halo Financial provides a better way for 

the most globally active and ambitious 

companies to transfer money across 

borders. Its experienced team of currency 

consultants are focused on mitigating 

foreign exchange risk associated with 

international trade. By applying bespoke 

solutions, Halo Financial will protect 

revenues and profit margins, helping your 

business trade successfully across borders, 

and grow with confidence. 

Working with Halo Financial as a Black 

Country Chamber member you can access: 

• A dedicated Currency Consultant 

• Free currency health check 

• Multiple currency holding accounts 

• Expert market guidance and analysis 

• Free external treasury function to 

support your business 

• Grow your business with Halo 

Financial 


BUSINESS IS DONE BETTER TOGETHER: CHAMBER MEMBERSHIP 

Maximise your membership: 

Save on business essentials 

As a member you have: 

Unlimited access to HR, Legal, Tax & VAT 

and Health & Safety advice lines. 

QUEST COVER provides 

HR, Legal, Tax and Health 

& Safety advice, and gives 

Black Country Chamber 

members access to an 

extensive document library 

with almost 800 downloadable documents 

that can be used in business. 

• CHAMBER HR: Vital support for 

recruitment, advice and a range of reading 

materials 

• CHAMBER LEGAL: Provides unlimited 

access to experienced legal advisors who 

can help with contract disputes, debt 

recovery, property issues, commercial 

problems and more. Includes 200 key legal 

document library 

• CHAMBER TAX: Access to tax and VAT 

advisors who can help with problems and 

answer any questions 

• CHAMBER HEALTH AND SAFETY: 

Access to advice on issues including, risk 

assessments, fire safety and more. 

Including a library of over a hundred 

documents 

An advice line, knowledge hub, 

newsroom and a legal expenses insurance 

cover are all included as part of the cover. 

All Black Country Chamber members are 

also entitled to a free one-to-one review of 

their business support requirements. 

Bring your energy 

costs down with 

Commercial Energy 

Business Breakdown Cover from the AA 

Running a company with vehicles at its heart 

means that staying still isn’t an option. The 

AA’s Business Breakdown Cover will make 

sure your drivers get back on the road 

quickly – and with minimum disruption – if 

the worst happens. All you need to do is 

choose the right level of cover for you. 

Which vehicles can be covered? 

The AA can cover your cars, vans, trucks 

and more from a single vehicle to a whole 

fleet – as long as they’re 3.5 tonnes or 

under. For details on eligibility, you can call 

the AA on 0800 55 11 88 to check. 

What does cover include? 

You can choose from the following 

options for your company’s vehicles: 

• Roadside (compulsory): Repair or 

recovery to the AA’s choice of appropriate 

local repairer. 

• Home Start (compulsory): For 

breakdowns at or within ¼ mile of your 

home address. 

• National Recovery: Transportation of 

vehicle, driver and up to seven passengers 

to a UK mainland if prompt local repair not 

possible. 

• Relay Plus: Extended Relay service to 

include one of three alternative 

arrangements for driver and passengers; car 

hire, accommodation or public transport. 

• Accident Management: Arrange repair, 

recovery and insurance claims after an 

accident or vandalism. 

• European: Breakdown and recovery 

options for drivers in Europe (territorial limits) 

Up to 67% off breakdown cover for 

Chamber members. 

Here’s a scheme that you might be 

keen to access: speak to an advisor 

about cutting your energy bills! 

Discover how to best manage your 

business’ energy costs, both in terms 

of negotiating ongoing supply 

contracts and exploring opportunities 

for retrospective refunds. 

Working with Control Energy Costs 

(CEC), as a Black Country Chamber 

member you can: 

• Discuss your energy requirements 

with a dedicated expert at CEC in 

order to assess potential savings to be 

made 

• Explore a range of new technology 

to enhance your business’ energy 

efficiency 

• Attend quarterly interactive 

seminars at company sites to learn 

more about efficient energy and utility 

management 


Looking to improve 

ISO certification? 

Are you a small business looking to 

grow and improve through ISO 

certification? 

Full certification may seem out of 

reach, but if you answered ‘yes’ to the 

above, ISO Lite is the perfect first step to take. 

The ISO Lite Toolkit is the first stage of becoming ISO 

certified and is specifically designed for smaller businesses. 

Being ISO certified for any standard is beneficial as it means 

widened market potential, tender requirements met, higher 

levels of customer satisfaction and staff engagement and 

motivation, and improved efficiency and cost savings. 

This DIY-style approach is flexible, non-obligatory and 

provides all the documentation you need. 

ISO Quality Services will take you through the full 

certification. They’ll give you advice and recommendations 

through consultancy and support visits and make sure your 

certificate remains valid through annual re-certification audits. 

If you’re part of Black Country Chamber of Commerce, 

you’ll have a community around you with your best 

interests at heart, and work alongside other like-minded 

business owners who want to succeed. 

Chamber Finance 

Finder 

The Chamber Finance Finder simplifies 

and speeds up the funding process, 

matching members’ businesses with 

the right funding opportunities across 

loans, equity investment, grants and 

commercial mortgages. 

Register an account for free and 

within minutes, you could be matched 

to all available finance opportunities on 

the market, including the Recovery Loan 

Scheme (RLS). 

Check your eligibility and track your progress 

via the Chamber Finance Finder, with a team of 

experts readily available to support you 

throughout the process. 

Chamber members also have access 

to several exclusive benefits, including: 

• 5 days a week Chamber Finance 

Finder hotline 

• Free financial health check 

• Templates and tools to aid your application 

• Finance updates and alerts 

• Access to a finance newsroom 


BUSINESS IS DONE BETTER TOGETHER: PLATINUM GROUP 

Platinum Group welcomes 

revolutionary manufacturer 

LETSANIFY, the company producing 

revolutionary, renewable, natural and 

advanced, antiseptic and disinfectants, has 

joined the Chamber’s growing number of 

Platinum Group members. 

The Tipton-based manufacturer, headed 

up by Jag Jaigirdar, joins other Chamber 

member companies tapping into the group 

which this year has marked a decade of 

collaborative working across the region. 

Mr Jaigirdar told Prosper: “The Platinum 

Group membership provides us with an 

important business network and the 

opportunity to work with like-minded 

businesses. It means we can learn and also 

contribute our own experience. 

“The group also allows us to meet and 

mix with key business directors, helping us 

to increase our skills and bring them back 

into our organisation and grow. 

“We are really looking forward to 

working shoulder-to-shoulder with the 

Chamber and our fellow members over the 

coming months.” 

Established in 2020, the business, based 

on Bloomfield Road, manufactures and 

bottles its bacteria and virus-killing 

products onsite, providing protection 

against viruses such as SARS, E. COLI, 

MRSA and, according to leading UK lab 

MELBEC, CoV-2 and COVID-1 C/. 

With no alcohol or harmful chemicals, 

and with the key ingredient of 

hypochlorous acid (HOCL), a natural 

particle created by the human immune 

system to eradicate invasive organisms and 

fight infection, the safe and effective 

multi-purpose liquid can be applied 

without the need for protective clothing. 

Gail Arnold, head of premium 

membership at the Black Country Chamber 

said, “Over the last decade, The Platinum 

Group has gone from strength to strength, 

and it’s been an absolute thrill to 

collaborate with new members all the time. 

“I’m looking forward to working more 

closely with Letsanify and introducing them 

to businesses across our network. The 

Platinum Group has grown into a powerful 

collective of peers growing their own 

businesses and the region’s economy.” 

If you are interested in joining 

The Platinum Group, 

you can contact Gail Arnold 

on 07810 377819. 

Let’s talk Levelling Up 

Members of the Chamber’s external affairs team hosted a visit from 

the Department of Levelling-up Housing and Communities recently, 

who were visiting the region to understand the story behind, and the 

future opportunities for, levelling up in the new home of the 

department’s HQ in Wolverhampton. 

The visitors met with business leaders working closely with the 

Chamber as part of its This is the Black Country campaign. 

The itinerary included a trip to see the National Brownfield Institute 

at the University of Wolverhampton’s Springfield Campus along with a 

visit to the new collaborative working initiative at the city’s IGNITE 

centre, a working hub that provides co-working space and business 

support for growing businesses. 


Meet the new cabinet ... 

Following Liz Truss’ appointment as Prime Minister, a new cabinet is in place 

which will be setting and influencing the business agenda. Listed here are the 

ministers will strongest links to the business world 

Treasury 

Kwasi Kwarteng, Chancellor of the Exchequer 

Andrew Griffith MP, Financial Secretary 

Felicity Buchan MP, Exchequer Secretary 

Richard Fuller MP, Minister of State (Economic 

Secretary) 

Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 

Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, Secretary of State 

Graham Stuart MP, Minister for Climate 

Jackie Doyle-Price MP, Minister of State 

Nusrat Ghani MP, Minister of State 

International Trade 

Kemi Badenoch MP, Secretary of State and President 

of the Board of Trade 

The Rt Hon Conor Burns MP, Minister of State 

James Duddridge MP, Minister of State 

Levelling Up, Housing and Communities 

Simon Clarke MP, Secretary of State 

Paul Scully MP, Minister of State (Minister for 

London) 

Dehenna Davison MP, Parliamentary Under 

Secretary of State 

Lee Rowley MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State 

Environment 

Ranil Jayawardena MP, Secretary of State 

Alok Sharma MP, has been reappointed Cop26 

President 

Transport 

Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, Secretary of State 

Kevin Foster MP, Minister of State 

The Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC MP, Minister of State 

And our Black Country MPs…… 

Wendy Morton MP moves from her previous role as 

Transport Minister to become Chief Whip and 

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 

James Morris MP moves from the Whips office to 

become Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the 

Department of Health & Social Care. 

Stuart Anderson MP has been reappointed as an 

Assistant Government Whip 

Work and Pensions 

Chloe Smith, Secretary of State 

Victoria Prentis MP, Minister of State 

Suzanne Webb MP was appointed Assistant Whip in 

July and continues in this role 

Education 

Kit Malthouse MP, Secretary of State 

Kelly Tolhurst MP, Minister of State 

Jonathan Gullis MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary 

of State 

Eddie Hughes MP stepped down from his previous 

role as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the 

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and 

Communities. 

PROSPER AUTUMN 2022 O7 21

BUSINESS IS DONE BETTER TOGETHER: SKILLS IMPROVEMENT PLAN 

Chambers to lead on implementing 

skills improvement plan 

Businesses in the West Midlands are 

being placed at the heart of skills provision 

in the region in what is being described as 

a “game-changing shift” to help solve the 

skills crisis. 


Commerce, Coventry and Warwickshire 

Chamber of Commerce and the Greater 

Birmingham Chamber of Commerce have 

been selected by the Department for 

Education to lead on the region’s Local 

Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP). 

LSIPs have been designed by 

Government to put employers at the centre 

of the skills system in their region and to 

build a stronger, more dynamic partnership 

between employers and further education 

providers. It will mean skills provision can 

be more responsive to the local labour 

market needs. 

The Chambers across the West Midlands 

will now carry out a detailed research 

exercise – including online surveys, 

roundtable events, telephone calls and 

one-to-one meetings with employers. 

Crucially, that research will go beyond 

Chamber membership and will include 

businesses affiliated to other representative 

organisations in the region as well as 

companies that are not members of a 

business body. 

It will result in a report that identifies the 

true needs of employers in the region and 

will set out a plan to work with education 

and skills providers to help deliver 

provision that businesses require. 

That report will remain ‘live’ so that 

shifting needs are identified and addressed. 

Neil Anderson, Director of External 

Affairs of the Black Country Chamber of 

Commerce, told Prosper:“This is a hugely 

positive and significant opportunity for the 

West Midlands. For too many years, 

leading local firms have repeatedly 

emphasised a disconnect between skills 

policy and the needs of businesses. 

“Building on the strength of the 

Chambers as connectors at the forefront of 

business sentiment, the research will 

provide powerful evidence for partners and 

decisionmakers to ensure that businesses 

acquire talent with the right skills and build 

collaborations to power the region’s 

economy.” 

Former Black Country Chamber CEO, 

now heading up Coventry and 

Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, 

Corin Crane said: “This is a game-changing 

shift in the way we look at the skills need of 

the economy as it will put employers in the 

region at the centre of what is required and 

what is delivered. 

‘‘ 

This is a hugely positive and significant 

opportunity for the West Midlands ... it will 

ensure businesses acquire talent with the right 

skills and power the regional economy... 

Neil Anderson 

“That provision has previously been 

decided by Whitehall, but Government 

recognises that employers know what is 

needed and, through the Local Skills 

Improvement Plan, Chambers across the 

West Midlands will be diligently gathering 

the information and then presenting a 

report. 

“It’s vital that the report isn’t a static, 

one-off piece of work. It will remain live 

because everyone in business knows the 

skills need evolves and can change quickly. 

The plan must be able to respond to that.” 

22 PROSPER AUTUMN 2022 

‘‘

ADVERTORIAL SPOTLIGHT: AMETHYST ACADEMIES TRUST 

Hands-up, who 

wants to give 

young people 

with disabilities a 

helping hand? 

Multi-Academy Trust launches Make a Stand for a 

Grand campaign as it looks to change the face of 

employability for people with additional needs and 

disabilities 

The Amethyst Academies Trust, 

working in partnership with Penn Hall 

School, has begun an exciting and 

extensive development project at Penn 

Hall in Wolverhampton. 

The ambitious scheme will repurpose 

and refurbish Sedgwick College, a beautiful 

Grade II* listed hall situated next to Penn 

Hall School as a flagship vocational 

learning and development provision for 

14-19-year-old students with special 

educational needs and disabilities (SEND) 

from across the West Midlands. 

Austine Gavin, Executive Director at 

Amethyst Academies Trust, said: “Our 

mission is to enrich, to educate and to 

inspire young adults with additional needs 

to flourish, empowering them to create 

their own bright futures and discover a 

world of opportunities. 

She continued: “With only five per cent 

of people with SEND gaining paid 

employment nationally, there is an 

immediate need for the West Midlands to 

take action in creating better educational 

and business partnerships and opportunities 

for young people with additional needs.” 

The college aims to create lasting 

change in the employability of people with 

SEND by giving students daily access to 

practical and vocational experiences across 

a wide range of specialist career pathways, 

enabling them to develop innovative 

skills-based training and well-preparing 

them for the workplace and independent 

futures. 

As part of the plans, the Amethyst 

Academies Trust is creating exciting work 

experience settings within the college that 

will be open to the public, including a 

charity shop boutique; a café/restaurant; 

training kitchen; vegetable allotment and 

garden centre; a florist; and opportunities 

in animal husbandry. 

Austine Gavin added: “The commercial 

outlets will give students the chance to 

develop their practical knowledge and 

employability skills rapidly, as well as 

helping them to build their confidence in 

communications and interactions with 

members of the community. 

“The aim is to ensure students leave the 

college with a toolkit of skills that will enable 

them to live and work independently.” 

Sedgwick College is seeking 

partnerships with local businesses across 

the West Midlands who are dedicated to 

inclusion and equality and share the same 

passion in widening horizons and 

opportunities for people with SEND in 

both funding and educational capacities. 

With projected costs of approximately 

£400,000 for the five-year development, the 

Amethyst Academies Trust is on a 

fundraising mission to enable it to carry out 

the works needed and purchase accessible 

technology and resources. 

Its ‘Make A Stand With A Grand’ 

campaign hopes to raise up to £1,000 or 

more from individual companies who seek 

to make a real difference to the workforce 

of the future. 

For more information about the 

project and to get in touch to provide 

your support, visit 

www.sedgwick.aatrust.co.uk or email 

agavin@aatrust.co.uk. 


BUSINESS IS BETTER DONE TOGETHER 

Bentley boss Adrian 

Hallmark joins 

Chamber members 

to talk all things 

corporate, as he 

reveals oustanding 

sales and revenue 

forecasts for the 

luxury car maker 

Adrian with, from left, Black Country 

Chamber’s Gail Arnold, Sarah Moorhouse 

and Sarah Thompson 

Adrian’s driving Bentley to new heights 

The Chairman & CEO of car maker 

Bentley Motors, Adrian Hallmark, joined 

the Chamber’s new CEO, Sarah Moorhouse 

along with Chamber Patrons and Platinum 

Group members at the annual President’s 

lunch earlier this month. 

A Wolverhampton-educated mechanical 

engineer, Mr Hallmark attended Deansfield 

High and Wolverhampton Polytechnic 

– now the University of Wolverhampton – 

before enjoying a glittering career in 

engineering, culminating in his role as head 

of one of the world’s largest luxury car 

brands where he has presided over a 

period of sequential crises, rapid growth, 

and technological transformation. 

But despite a cost-of-living crisis, supply 

chain disruption, geopolitical turmoil and 

soaring inflation, Bentley has continued to 

break all records in the market for top-end 

luxury brands. Indeed, he told the national 

press recently that “the company order 

book is historically high!” 

It has been a formidable resurgence for 

Bentley since the former Black Country 

educated businessman returned to the 

company in 2018, having left 13 years 

earlier to work at Volkswagen, Saab and 

then Jaguar Land Rover. 

Starting his career in NEI Thompson as a 

design engineer, Adrian quickly moved to a 

commercial role in automotive retail. 

He enjoyed ten years at Porsche GB, 

latterly as its CEO, before moving to 

Bentley in 1999 to define and launch its 

breakthrough strategy, and stayed within 

the group by moving to the US as CEO of 

Volkswagen of America. 

A move to Germany as Executive 

Director for Asia was followed by a brief 

stint at Saab before joining JLR in 2010 as 

Jaguar CEO, and latterly Group Strategy 

Director, heading back to Bentley as 

Chairman and CEO in 2018. 

On his arrival, Bentley’s annual car sales 

were just above 10,000 and its revenue less 

than £1.5billion, but under Adrian’s 

leadership sales have increased and the 

industry veteran has boosted revenue to a 

whopping £2.45billion in 2021, and close to 

£3billion for 2022. 

To celebrate the success, the company 

announced a special £2million bonus in 

June for the direct workforce, many of 

whom are born and bred in Crewe, where 

Bentley’s Pyms Lane site remains the town’s 

largest employer with 4,500 workers. 

Chamber members from across the 

region joined Mr Hallmark at The Mount 

Hotel in Wolverhampton as he spoke about 

how Bentley readied the business for the 

impact of Brexit, closed for 12 weeks 

during Covid-19 and developed core 

competence at risk and crisis management 

plans while accelerating a three-year plan 

into six months. At the same time it 

developed an innovative and radical future 

strategy to secure £3billion of investment in 

the Crewe factory. 

Touching on the lockdown in China, the 

war in Ukraine, the energy and cost of living 

crisis, while Bentley continues to maintain 

growth rates with a record of full year profit 

in 2021 and in the first six months of 2022, 

Adrian spoke about the company’s bold 

strategy, ‘Beyond 100’, and its progressive 

and radical plans to become carbon neutral 

and 100% battery electric vehicles by 2030. 

Asked how he turned the business 

around his answer is characteristically 

candid. “We have cut our costs by more 

than 24%, lifted revenue per car by 40%, 

grown our volume by 50% and managed 

four successive crises in four years – one 

internal and three externals-driven”. 

But despite the prospect of a looming 

recession, Adrian is confident the business 

model is now more sustainable, the 

customer base will keep growing in 

numbers and net wealth, and if a downturn 

does occur, Bentley aims to be damaged 

less, and better prepared for growth, than 

its core competitors. 


BUSINESS IS DONE BETTER TOGETHER: CHAMBER AWARDS 

New date for Chamber Awards 

Our winners the last time the 

awards were held live, in 2019 

Date: October 14 

Venue: Wolverhampton Racecourse 

Time: from 7pm 

After the sad news of the passing of the 

Queen, Black Country Chamber took the 

decision to postpone its annual awards 

ceremony, scheduled for September 16, as a 

sign of our deep respect for Her Late 

Majesty. 

After talks with our venue hosts, 

Wolverhampton Racecourse, and the event’s 

sponsors and nominees, we have rearranged 

the awards for Friday, October 14. 

This sell-out event will shine a spotlight 

on individual businesses and people 

working in vital parts of the region’s 

economy while championing innovation, 

collaboration and outstanding practices 

which put the Black Country on the map. 

The Black Country Chamber Business 

Awards, delivered by the region’s longest 

established business support organisation, 

are supported by a judging panel of industry 

representatives along with a distinguished 

list of business sponsors. 

The Chamber Awards are now sold out. 

Please contact calumnisbet@ 


for more information. 

2022 Award Categories… 

Large Business of the Year 

– sponsored by Ignite 

Family Business of the Year 

– sponsored by Azets 

Small Business of the Year 

– sponsored by Sandwell Council 

Start Up Business of the Year 

- sponsored by Black Country 

and Marches Institute of Technology 

Excellence in Professional Services 

– sponsored by Walsall Council 

Excellence in Manufacturing and Engineering 

– sponsored by CK Chartered Accountants 

Third Sector Business of the Year 

– sponsored by Sandwell College 

Excellence in International Trade 

– sponsored by Birmingham Airport 

Black Country Businessperson of the Year 

– sponsored by the University of Wolverhampton 

Business Commitment to the Community 

– sponsored by Thomas Dudley 

Marketing or Communications Campaign of the Year 

– presented by This is The Black Country 

Excellence in Diversity and Equality 

– sponsored by Dudley First 

Excellence in Tech and Innovation 

– sponsored by EBC Group 

Outstanding Support to the Armed Forces 


ADVERTORIAL SPOTLIGHT: THURSFIELDS 

Keeping it hush-hush 

Hannah Clark of Thursfields Solicitors looks at the issue of 

confidentiality in the workplace and considers what 

information can be safely described as ‘confidential’ – and 

what businesses can do to keep their secrets safe 

Information is one of a business’s greatest 

assets. There are lots of reasons to keep 

certain information confidential and they 

are largely based on the financial integrity 

interests of the business. 

Knowing how the product is priced, who 

the suppliers are, who the customers are, 

how the product or service is created, etc, 

can all be vital to the financial integrity of 

the business. 

There are four types of information: 

Public information – this is information 

that is in the public domain and can be 

accessed on a non-confidential basis. For 

example, the information about your 

company that is filed with Companies 

House – who your shareholders are, who 

your directors are, your annual accounts. 

You cannot generally protect this – it’s 

already out there for the world to know. 

Knowledge and skill – this is 

information that a person picks up “on the 

job” which is confidential but it is in their 

head just by virtue of being used. For 

example, an engineer uses a method of 

repairing a machine that is only known by 

your business but because they are 

regularly carrying out your processes, it’s in 

their head and they would naturally take it 

with them if they left. 

Mere Confidential Information – this is 

confidential information which is more 

easily protected. Employees only have a 

duty to keep mere confidential information, 

confidential during their employment, so 

you should consider including specific 

confidentiality clauses in their contracts of 

employment so the information is 

protected post-employment, too. 

Trade Secrets – “Need to Know” “For 

your eyes only!” – the most confidential of 

confidential information. 

That is why it is very important to protect 

that information. There are some practical 

steps you ought to take, such as password 

protecting confidential information, 

restricting access to only those who need 

to know, and actually marking it as 

“confidential”. 

All of these steps practically 

demonstrate you value the information and 

are serious about its protection. 

You would find it very difficult to argue 

that information should be classified as a 

trade secret if you leave it lying around the 

office (or server) for anyone to read, copy, 

access or take. 

The big danger areas arise when that 

information has to be shared. That is where 

contractual safeguards can assist. There is 

merit in having in place a non-disclosure 

agreement at the point that negotiations 

begin. It can be hard to evaluate whether a 

commercial relationship will work without 

sharing some information. 

The commercial relationship may 

generate information which needs to be 

protected, either because a consultant is 

advising and making recommendations or 

the research and development is 

identifying new product or service 

methodologies, new market data, etc. It’s 

important therefore to also ensure that 

there are appropriate confidentiality 

protections in your terms and conditions. 

The timing of the protection can also be 

crucial. Most confidential information has a 

shelf life – marketing strategies or pricing 

information may become obsolete after 12 

months. Other information may need to 

remain confidential forever – the secret 

recipe for KFC or Coca Cola, for 

example. It’s important that any 

protections put in place, are in place for 

a sufficient period to provide the 

necessary protection. 

Thursfields’ Commercial Team can 

assist you in protecting one of your 

most valuable assets. For more 

information contact Hannah Clark on 

0345 20 73 72 8, email info@ 

thursfields.co.uk or visit 

www.thursfields.co.uk. 


THIS IS THE BLACK COUNTRY: SPOTLIGHT ON TODAY’S CHALLENGES 

‘This Is the Black Country’ is the Chamber’s latest campaign. Focusing on three 

main themes, People, Place and Power, the campaign aims to raise awareness of 

the issues limiting growth and productivity and highlight the needs and 

successes of regional businesses that power the Black Country’s economy. 

With inflation rising, energy costs spiralling and following the recent change in 

Prime Minister, Prosper speaks to the campaign’s business partners on what is in 

their inbox and their priorities, as we move through the Autumn period. 

Communicate the challenge 

and trust your people 

Answering our questions are: 

Sarah Williams, Interim Director, 

University of Wolverhampton 

Business School 

Johnathan Dudley, Midlands & South 

West Managing Partner and Head of 

Manufacturing Business, Crowe UK 

Sophie Wardell, HR Director, Higgs LLP 

Carmen Watson, Chair of Pertemps 

Network Group 

Richard Lane, CEO/Founder, EBC 

Group 

Many working in businesses today will 

not have managed or led businesses 

during times of such economic 

uncertainty. What challenges do you 

think are unique to your sector/ 

business? 

Sarah Williams (S Will): We face a 

constantly changing regulatory 

environment, which challenges us to not 

only provide a high level of education and 

an excellent student experience, but also 

to guarantee employment outcomes for 

our students. Consequently, we need to 

work more closely with businesses to 

identify their needs and to better prepare 

our students for the world of work. 

Johnathan Dudley (JD): In the 

accounting and audit sector there 

continues to be a high demand for 

high-quality people and as cashflow gets 

tougher, regulations too; this isn’t likely to 

reverse any time soon. 

Automation is and will be, part of the 

answer. That’s why we are investing heavily 

in digital processes, but there is no 

substitute for experience. 

Similar issues arise in my specialist 

advisory area of manufacturing and 

engineering where the commercial need to 

drive continued efficiencies, innovative 

processes, and the need to compete in a 

time of rising costs determines a need for 

lean processes and capability that requires 

experience and a solutions-driven 

approach as well as a ‘can do attitude’. 

Sophie Wardell (S Wdl): Recruitment 

and talent retention are at the heart of our 

people strategy and pose the greatest 

challenge to our success. Although ‘The 

Great Resignation’ hasn’t hit us in the same 

way it has in some larger firms we have 

experienced a huge shift in candidate 

expectation and are constantly evaluating 

the key elements of our positive culture so 

that we can do more of the same. 

Flexible and hybrid working, 

empowerment and development are all 

vital, but firms shouldn’t assume that 

everyone is equipped to adapt and support 

people in these new ways of working. 

Failing to embrace and adapt to these 

changes will present issues when fighting 

the war for talent against businesses that 

do. 

Law firms need to meet the digital needs 

of their clients. Expectations are higher 

than ever before and offering technological 

solutions as well as first-class legal advice is 

crucial if law firms are to futureproof their 

long-term relationships. 

Carmen Watson (CW): Over the years 

we’ve seen turbulence of one sort or 

another and we’ve weathered many 

challenges. The key challenge throughout 

has always been ‘managing change.’ 

It’s somewhat ironical that change is the 

only constant. 

The recruitment market is buoyant now 

with the highest level of vacancies for many 

years. It will stay like this for the foreseeable 

future, so our challenge is finding the right 

people to fill the glut of vacancies for our 

clients. 

We have a significant talent pool to draw 

from but it is important clients work with us 

to ensure their company is an attractive 

one to work for. It is not just about salary 

but a range of things including perks, 

flexible working and employee support. 

A landmark change will come either from 

employers recruiting contingent workers as 

opposed to the current trend of hiring 

more permanent people or a switch from a 

candidate-led market back to an employerled 

market. Either way it will be a busy and 

challenging period. 

Richard Lane (RL): The energy issue is 

hugely important to us. We run three data 

centres which house all our servers, and 

these are a critical part of our clients’ 

infrastructures. We serve national bodies 

such as the police, the Ministry of Defence, 

national government, all with their IT 

running through our servers. 

Our energy costs have risen by three, 

nearly four times, and we can’t absorb 

these rises forever. We’re at the point 

where we need to sit down with our clients 

and have a sensible conversation about 

putting their fees up, to compensate for 

the rise in our energy costs. 

Continued on page 30 


Standing, Richard Lane and 

Johnathan Dudley. 

Seated from left, Sophie Wardell, 

Sarah Williams and Carmen Watson


“Employers need to have a 

workforce plan with built-in agility to 

adapt to an ever-changing market. 

It’s not just about the skills needed 

today, but those that will be 

required in the future” 

Carmen Watson (left) 

Continued from page 28 

What insights/recommendations 

would you give to business leaders 

faced with the current set of 

challenges? 

S Will: We are working with businesses 

to find opportunities for our graduates and 

plug skills gaps; this is key to the success of 

the Business School and to businesses in 

the region and it should be a priority. 

There are lots of opportunities to engage 

with students in the university and I would 

encourage organisations to get involved. 

JD: There is a need to manage costs at a 

level that fits the market rate, in order to 

control and, if possible, reduce overheads. 

Most importantly - get paid. 

Competing purely on price will likely 

mean a ‘race to the bottom’, especially in 

an environment of increasing costs/ 

inflation. It is far better to have a smaller 

sized business in terms of sales, but with 

higher margins and lean overheads. 

Consider automation of processes as 

much as possible, especially in ‘repetitive’ 

areas and where data management and 

handling are involved. The mantra of ‘we’ve 

always done it that way’ can often be the 

limiting factor for positive change, or even 

the reason behind business failure. 

S Wdl: From a business perspective, you 

need to ensure you understand your unique 

differential. At Higgs LLP we have spent 

time articulating who we are and that 

authenticity resonates throughout the 

business. Organisations often fail by trying 

to position themselves as something they’re 

not. It sounds obvious but you need to know 

your proposition and let it flow through 

everything you do – your workforce are 

consumers and choose whether or not you 

are the right brand for them. 

In addition, trust your people. Manage 

by output rather than input. Inspire people 

to do their best work and avoid adding 

more controls to compensate for 

management capability. 

CW: Employers need to have a 

workforce plan that has built-in agility to 

adapt to an ever-changing market. It’s not 

just about the skills needed today, but also 

those that will be required in the future. We 

specialise in this and can advise clients on 

what may lie ahead. 

In a 2020 report, the World Economic 

Forum (WEF) estimated that, by 2025, 85 

million jobs will have been lost to machines 

– but 97 million new roles may emerge. It 

also reported there was a need for 54% of 

exiting workforces to be upskilled and 

retrained in the same time period. 

It is a constantly changing landscape and 

businesses need to make sure they have an 

eye on the horizon. 

RL: For me the secret is to communicate 

with your people, especially in times of 

challenge. We had a meeting a few Friday 

afternoons back, over sandwiches, at which 

we explained where we were as a company, 

what help we could give our people but 

what we needed them to do. 

People appreciate where the business is; 

they don’t like being kept in the dark. If 

there are challenges, explain them and 

trust your people to help you solve them. 

What do those managing businesses 

in such conditions need to be aware 

of / consider? 

S Will: There are unique challenges in 

education at the moment, and in focusing 

on them business schools should not lose 

sight of their role in supporting local 

business. It is easy to become consumed 

by the internal environment and the 

challenges of the sector, but business 

schools have a unique role in the regions 

they serve. 

JD: I know it’s boring but get your 

budgets up-to-date and keep them ‘rolling’ 

as a regular business tool. Know what the 

key dynamics are and measure them 

- weekly, daily, hourly if necessary. These 

KPIs are your early warning system and it’s 

proven that, in tough times, early action 

pays dividends. 

S Wdl: Be creative when considering 

solutions to resource and recruitment 

issues. Engage in social media to raise the 

profile of your business and use the 

apprenticeship levy to grow talent rather 

than relying upon lateral hires. 

Talk about mental health and wellbeing 

at all levels of your organisation rather than 

relying on HR and equip managers with the 

knowledge and skills to identify concerns 

and have the right conversations. 

CW: From my vantage point, it remains 

all about people. People make a business. 

You need the rights ones to increase 

productivity and growth. The new 

Employment Trends Survey we have 

undertaken with the CBI shows 75% of 

businesses have been impacted by labour 

shortages – and nearly half of those said it 

had affected their ability to deliver for 

customers. 

Every company should have an 

understanding of the demographics of its 

own local workforce. These vary, and what 

works for a specific sector in one area may 

struggle to make an impact in a different 

part of the country, 


What pitfalls are they likely to find? 

S Will: Building relationships and 

creating effective collaboration takes time 

so the challenge is to ensure that initiatives 

and communication is consistent and 

sufficiently frequent to build trust. 

JD: Desperate times call for desperate 

measures; so look for changed payment 

patterns in even the most loyal customers - 

even the big ones. 

The size of a business doesn’t necessarily 

make it financially secure. A bad debt hits 

the business hard. You lose money, and you 

lose a customer too. All too often in 

retrospect, you know the signs were there 

already so don’t ignore these changed 

behaviour patterns. Stick to your credit 

control process and limit your risks. 

CW: There will always be a certain 

resistance to change and doing things 

differently, but it is essential for a business 

to succeed. We can never stand still but this 

is not a comfortable place for everyone. 

The speed of change, or lack thereof, can 

have consequences. Of course, it relies on 

leadership teams to recognise the 

challenges and opportunities and change 

business practices accordingly – but always 

bring your people with you. 

Any change needs to happen fast to 

position the organisation in the right lane 

for the road ahead. 

“You need to ensure you understand 

your unique differential... 

organisations often fail by trying to 

positions themselves as something 

they’re not ” 

Sophie Wardell (right) 

Are your business plans being held 

back by skills shortages and a lack of 

qualified staff, do you have concerns 

that your plans could be hampered by 

the limited pool of labour currently 

available to you? 

S Will: Not specifically, but we are 

acutely aware of our role in helping to plug 

the skills gaps in the region. We are keen to 

work with business to review what is needed 

and adapt our curriculum accordingly. 

JD: There’s always a shortage of 

experienced finance professionals and that’s 

why we continue to invest progressively in 

people - this year more than ever. 

S Wdl: I don’t think our business plans 

are being held back by skills shortages 

since as a full-service firm, there are always 

opportunities to grow and distribute the 

balance of work. 

We are much more alive to succession 

and actively consider new ways to 

accelerate people’s careers or satisfy 

knowledge or technical gaps. Moving away 

from the more traditional routes into the 

profession has been a shift for us and one 

that will hopefully avoid future skill 

shortages whilst creating diversity of 

opportunity for a broader range of people. 

CW: Though we are a recruitment 

specialist, we are not immune to candidate 

shortages! 

Our focus is always on helping our clients 

achieve the staffing plans they need. We 

spend significant time and resource 

ensuring we meet their demand. 

The reality is that there is a wealth of 

“The skills shortage is a massive 

issue for the IT industry... there is 

nowhere near enough ‘fresh blood’ 

coming through...where is the 

conveyor belt of talent?” 

Richard Lane (left) 

untapped talent out in the marketplace, 

which could add up to £24 billion to the 

economy. 

Through our Levelling Up and social 

mobility agendas, we are working hard to 

ensure we find the right fit tailored to 

unique business needs, while reaching out 

and engaging with harder-to-reach groups 

of candidates. 

RL: The skills shortage is a massive 

problem across the entire IT sector so 

finding, training, and retaining staff with the 

right skills is a real challenge. 

We provide our clients with the highest 

level of IT expertise and customer service 

and therefore require team members with 

the right experience, skills, and attitude. We 

have an exciting vibrant place to work, we 

pay really good salaries, however attracting 

the right talent can still be difficult. 

The other issue is that we have nowhere 

near enough ‘fresh blood’ coming through. 

Where are the young school, college and 

university leavers looking to join the IT 

industry? 

What I need is to know that every year, 

there will be 20-30 young college leavers 

who I can look at and bring in to train up. 

But it’s just not happening. 

The conveyor belt of talent has stopped. 

Continued on page 32 



“We need to address long-term 

problems in the UK economy, such 

as low productivity, skills shortages 

and unequal growth across the UK” 

Sarah Williams (left) 

Continued from page 31 

Do you believe that the recent 

support announced for businesses in 

terms of energy costs went far 

enough? 

S Will: I don’t think it did, no. I think it is 

good that Government recognised the 

pressures on businesses caused by the 

energy cost crisis, but I think more could be 

done to support business. 

JD: Short answer? No. 

S Wdl: No. For many sectors the shortterm 

solution will make it difficult to create 

future certainty. 

CW: The Government has offered a 50 per 

cent reduction for six months. My concern 

is: what happens in March? Will companies 

hold back now for fear of uncertainty, 

making short-term decisions to get through 

the current challenges rather than having 

longer-term objectives? Will they play it safe? 

RL: In a word, No. The promise to cap 

prices for the next six months is welcome 

but as a business, we need stability and 

clarity over a much longer timeframe – at 

least 12 months, preferably two years. 

What more would you like to see? 

S Will: I think more could be done to 

support SMEs and freelancers specifically. 

JD: Support has to be for longer than six 

months and we need incentives in the 

form of grant aid for green investment. 

S Wdl: We need clarity on what happens 

at the end of the six-month period. Longterm, 

businesses need to be incentivised to 

become energy efficient and there must be 

a plan for secure, clean and affordable 

British energy. Britain can go green, but 

businesses must work together. 

CW: Clear and concise communication 

about the energy plan from Government, 

specifically in relation to next steps and 

achievable timescales for businesses to react. 

Also, they should be discussing that 

longer-term view. 

RL: The recent announcements have given 

us some understanding of the landscape 

over the next few months but for my 

long-term planning, it’s not enough. The 

problem we all have is, if prices rise from 

one of my other suppliers, I can take steps 

to get round them: source a new supplier, 

or change what I buy. I can’t with energy; 

no matter where I go, the costs are the 

same. We have no control over the price. 

What are your priorities towards 

achieving net zero in your sector and 

what is limiting any impact? 

S Will: Sustainability is one of the Four 

Pillars which underpins all activity within the 

Business School. We have a sustainability 

policy which is managed by a working 

group to drive change and sustainability 

features highly in our curriculum. We are 

working on research and projects relating 

to waste management, recycling and the 

circular economy. 

JD: Crowe UK has committed to set 

near-term company-wide emission 

reductions in line with climate science with 

the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). 

We are currently identifying opportunities 

and implementing actions to reduce direct 

and indirect emissions. 

S Wdl: Our Green Committee lead the 

firm’s environmental and sustainability 

initiatives. As members of the Legal 

Sustainability Alliance, we are committed 

to reducing the impact of our operations 

and services on the environment and 

running as sustainably as possible. We 

encourage behaviours that reflect this, 

inside our business and with our suppliers, 

clients and contacts. We take an holistic 

approach with regards to sustainability but 

our priority is to look at the infrastructure of 

our property and the supply chains in which 

we operate. 

CW: What a company does on the 

environmental front is increasingly an 

important consideration for would-be 

employees. They want to know a company 

is doing the right thing. 

Pertemps has made a commitment to be 

net zero by 2030, and we’ve undertaken a 

number of initiatives to achieve this. We 

report performance under the Streamlined 

Energy & Carbon Scheme, we’ve switched 

more than 50 per cent of our vehicle fleet 

to hybrid or electric and through internal 

policies, we have saved three million pieces 

of paper which equates to saving 312 trees. 

Additionally, by joining the Woodland 

Carbon Scheme, Pertemps has supported 

the planting of 2,377 UK native trees which 

will sequester around 557 tonnes of carbon 

throughout their lifetime. 

RL: We’ve approached the Net Zero 

challenge from a number of directions. Our 

priority is to install solar panels on our 

head office and run on renewable energy, 

putting excess power back into the grid, 

while at the same time we’ve focused on 

our operations and reduced energy use 

where possible. All staff are now in electric 

vehicles, but even then we’ve asked them 

to cut down on road mileage and always 

consider whether the journeys are 

necessary. In addition we’ve introduced a 

salary sacrifice scheme for those who want 

to cycle to work. 

What other areas do you think 

government should be prioritising at 

the moment? 

S Will: We need to address long-term 

problems in the UK economy, such as low 

productivity, skills shortages and unequal 

growth across the country. Without 


significant movement in these areas, the 

economic outlook of the country will not 

improve. 

JD: I would like to see grant incentives for 

businesses investing in new and green 

technologies and reducing their supply 

chains with a reduction of their COVIDbased 

debt by way of set off. 

S Wdl: Investment in the NHS and 

increase spending with UK small businesses 

to enhance economic growth. 

CW: We were pleased to see the recent 

announcements around revising the 

Workforce Regulation Scheme (Visa 

Allocation process), childcare reform, which 

will be helpful to parents returning to work 

and allowing them to work more hours, and 

the Apprenticeship Levy. On this latter 

point, we have long called for more 

flexibility on its use and we await with 

interest the detail around this. 

A four-day week is an interesting 

proposition and we know this is being 

investigated. However, the Government 

must consult with business on this from the 

start and ensure that a robust impact 

assessment is undertaken. Can all 

businesses really accommodate this while 

striving to remain competitive and profitable? 

RL: I’m not a massive political animal but I 

know that in addition to the inflation/ 

energy/skills crisis we face, there is a 

feeling that the government is delaying 

balancing the books for too long. 

We understand the issues with Covid 

and paying back the debt built up by that, 

but now it seems like we’re kicking the 

energy crisis bill into the same long grass. 

We’re storing up trouble for the future. 

As a business man I know I need to 

balance the books; the Government isn’t 

looking to do that and there’s too much 

negativity building up around it. 

“Competing purely on price will 

likely mean a ‘race to the bottom’, 

especially in an environment of 

increasing costs and inflation...” 

Johnathan Dudley (right) 


BLACK COUNTRY CONFERENCE 

Pat McFadden MP Nick Barton Dr Julie Nugent Andy Street 

Major conference for Black Country 

businesses announced 

The Black Country Chamber 

of Commerce has announced 

plans for its second annual 

Black Country Economic 

Business Conference. 

Planned for Thursday 3rd November, 

the Conference will be the flagship event 

for the Chamber’s latest campaign, ‘This is 

the Black Country,’ and provide a platform 

for well-known speakers from across the 

region and beyond to discuss the local 

economy and the actions required to tackle 

the barriers limiting growth, productivity 

and competitiveness. 

Featuring contributions from the 

campaign’s business partners, national 

audit, tax and advisory firm Crowe UK, 

recruitment experts Pertemps, Dudleybased 

legal firm Higgs LLP, IT experts EBC 

Group and the University of Wolverhampton’s 

Business School, the event will provide a 

platform to promote the region as a 

dynamic and innovative place to do 

business and bring together experts to 

discuss the work of the campaign. 

Neil Anderson, the Chamber’s Director 

of External Affairs said: “This is the Black 

Country celebrates and champions our 

‘‘ 

great region. We are a region of makers, 

innovators, and dreamers, and the 

Conference has a fantastic line-up of 

leaders who will help shine a spotlight on 

the great work taking place across the 

region and debate the issues affecting 

businesses today. 

“We will be tackling the skills gap, 

recruiting and retaining talent, driving 

innovation, accessing green power and 

ensuring that the region remains connected 

to modern infrastructure to get its goods 

and services to the world.” 

Speakers on the day will include West 

Midlands Mayor Andy Street along with 

campaign business partners, Johnathan 

Dudley, Midlands & Southwest Managing 

Partner and Head of Manufacturing 

Business, Crowe UK; Richard Lane, 

Managing Director & Founder, EBC Group; 

Nick Taylor, Managing Partner, Higgs LLP; 

Carmen Watson, Chair, Pertemps Network 

Group; and Prof. Paul Sissons, Head of 

Management Research Centre, University 

Of Wolverhampton Business School. 

They will be joined by: 

n The Rt Hon Pat McFadden, MP for 

Wolverhampton South-East and Shadow 

Chief Secretary to the Treasury 

n Nick Barton, CEO, Birmingham Airport 

The Conference will shine a spotlight on the 

great work taking place across the region as 

we debate the skills gap, recruitment, 

innovation and green power 

‘‘ 

n Dr Julie Nugent, Director of 

Productivity & Skills, West Midlands 

Combined Authority 

n Paul Faulkner, Chief of Staff & 

Operations, RCL Partners 

n Dr Michela Kendall, CEO, UK Mission 

Innovation Hydrogen Champion 

n Matthew Rhodes, Repowering the 

Black Country 

n Andy Medler, Corporate Partnerships 

Manager, Halo Financial 

n William Baines, Head of International 

Trade, British Chambers of Commerce 

n Liam Conway, Control Energy Costs 

n Janette McFarland, Assa Abloy 

Further speakers will be announced in 

the coming days……. 

The FREE event kicks off at 9.30am at the 

University of Wolverhampton Business 

School and businesses are now being 

encouraged to sign up and book places to 

join the discussions. 

To book your place at this year’s 

event visit the Chamber’s website: 

www.blackcountrychamber.co.uk 


BUSINESS VOICE: SKILLS IN THE SPOTLIGHT 

Skills are the foundation stones 

of economic and societal success 

Skills sit at the heart of regional 

growth and success says 

James Norris, Assistant Principal 

at Walsall College 

Skills: an omnipresent item in the news 

agenda. Those which are in demand; those 

in decline; and the industries suffering a 

skills gap. 

The inherent links between skills and 

individual employability, and skills and 

business productivity, are indisputable. 

However, the importance of nurturing a 

strong focus on, and commitment to, skills 

development goes far beyond simply this. 

A meaningful focus on appropriate skills 

development drives aspiration and 

encourages potential. It empowers which, 

in turn, impacts positively on health, crime 

and more generally an individual’s 

opportunity to contribute to wider society. 

In short, skills sit at the heart of a town and 

a region’s growth and success potential. 

Walsall and the wider Black Country has 

a rich heritage born from its central role in 

The Industrial Revolution. The Black 

Country of the 18th and 19th centuries, 

however, is in stark contrast to that of the 

21st century. The demise of coal mining, 

coupled with the decline in most heavy 

industry has created a region that is today 

widely recognised as among the most 

deprived – both socially and economically 

– in the country. Not only has the industrial 

landscape changed, but so too has the 

high-street with a significantly declining 

retail offer. 

Full-time workers in Walsall earn, on 

average, £518.50 gross per week compared 

to £550.80 across the wider West Midlands 

region and £587 nationwide. Full-time 

female workers, meanwhile, earn £100 less 

per week compared to male workers, and 

there is a similar trend for part-time workers. 

Levels of poor mental health in Walsall 

(19.4%) are higher than the regional 

average (18.8%), and 1 in 8 children aged 

5-19 in Walsall are estimated to have at 

least one mental health problem. 

Academic achievement in Walsall schools is 

also below average: 36% of pupils here 

achieve maths & English grade 4-9, 

compared to 43% average nationally. 

Indeed, as part of the Government’s 

Levelling Up agenda, Walsall has been 

identified as one of three ‘pathfinder areas’ 

where the intention is for local employment 

and skills services to be more closely aligned to 

tackle the conundrum of high unemployment 

coupled with high vacancy levels. 

This paints a gloomy picture and 

whether it’s perception or empirical fact, 

there’s no denying that Walsall has many 

deeply entrenched challenges. These 

aren’t, however, insurmountable. 

Skills development has a vital role to play 

in addressing these challenges and here at 

Walsall College we’re acutely aware of our 

responsibility in this respect. Our students 

today are tomorrow’s employers and 

employees. They need us now more than 

ever. Indeed, the whole Walsall community 

needs us. But we can’t achieve this alone 

and here I call on the business community 

to support us in our mission. 

As a community-wide institution, we’re 

already working closely with the Black 

Country Chamber, our local authorities, the 

West Midlands Combined Authority and, of 

course, employers in both the public and 

private sectors to provide the skills 

necessary to increase regional and national 

economic prosperity and contribute to the 

success of our communities. But there’s 

always more to be done. 

The importance of future workforce 

planning cannot be underestimated, and 

the value to be gained by driving greater 

levels of innovation is undoubtable. As a 

college, we are committed to growing our 

Level 3, 4 and 5 provision; we will continue 

to offer flexible curriculum pathways from 

entry level courses through to Higher 

Education; and we will facilitate smooth 

and seamless transitions for students 

progressing through differing course types. 

But to deliver this successfully, it is 

imperative that the region’s businesses 

recognise their responsibilities too. 

Valuing apprenticeships and other 

vocational pathways is a must and there is 

no room for sitting on the fence. 

Workplace readiness can only be achieved 

when young people are given a chance to 

experience the workplace as part of their 

studies and training. This requires the 

support of employers. A college can 

provide the technical knowledge, but it 

‘‘ 

Our students today are 

tomorrow’s employers and 

employees. They need us now 

more than ever. But we can’t 

achieve this alone and the 

business community must 

support us in our mission. 

‘‘ 

cannot provide the experience, and until 

more employers step forward to help with 

this, we’ll remain in stalemate. 

This is not a point for discussion: it’s an 

immediate need for action. Indeed, if we 

address this now, if we get this right now 

and continue to get skills delivery right, 

then not only are we doing all we can to 

drive forward the economic potential of the 

region, but we’ll also witness a positive 

upturn in the region’s aspirations and, in 

turn, crime levels, health and prosperity. 

If you’re a business leader wondering 

what you can do, there are a multitude of 

ways to get involved and the best first step 

is to get in touch with your local training 

provider or FE college. 


ADVERTORIAL SPOTLIGHT: EBC 

Need some relief from 

rising energy prices? 

Why cloud solutions could help your business reduce its energy costs 

With the hike in energy costs this 

autumn and winter, many businesses are 

having to find new ways to reduce their 

electricity consumption across the board. 

Previously, most businesses have probably 

not been particularly focused on the running 

costs associated with their on-premises 

hardware and software. Your business may 

not even have looked into exactly how much 

you are spending on electricity to run your 

servers 24 hours a day, as well as the lighting 

and air-conditioning needed to keep 

everything at the right temperature. 

However, the amount of energy required 

to power this equipment represents a 

sizeable overhead. One way of reducing 

your costs is by moving from an on-premises 

IT infrastructure to a cloud solution, which 

could decrease your energy consumption 

significantly and could save you money. 

Benefits of cloud over on-premises IT 

If you have an on-premises IT 

infrastructure, your organisation’s electricity 

costs are likely to increase substantially due 

to the amount of energy required to run all 

of your software. Moving your storage to the 

cloud and outsourcing to a specialist cloud 

provider will allow you to transfer the 

responsibility of running your own hardware 

and software over to your provider. 

According to Microsoft Corporation and 

WSP Global Inc., cloud computing is 93% 

more energy-efficient than on-premises data 

centres. Furthermore, research by Berkeley 

Lab and Northwestern University, funded by 

Google, found that businesses could save 

between 60% and 85% in energy costs when 

they change over to cloud-based services. 

Due to the current energy crisis, the 

supply of energy may become unstable, 

particularly over the winter, with the 

possibility of blackouts in the worst case 

scenario. If this does happen, a cloud 

provider is more likely to have better 

resilience in terms of back-up generators 

and equipment, ensuring your business 

stays working. 

How do cloud providers keep costs 

down? 

As specialist cloud providers are dealing 

with numerous customers, the cost of the 

energy that they are using to run their 

servers is shared between their customers 

so they benefit from economies of scale. 

They are also likely to get wholesale energy 

rates which means their energy will be less 

costly per unit than the average business. 

Since their business is IT, they will be more 

likely to be using the latest energy efficient 

servers within their data centre. 

Moving to the cloud reduces the amount 

of hardware your business requires, lowers 

your energy consumption and saves your 

business money so it is certainly worth 

considering making the move before the 

next energy price increase hits. 

At EBC Group, we provide the full range 

of cloud hosting services including private 

cloud hosting, hybrid cloud hosting, 

managed cloud services and enterprise 

cloud services. 

EBC Group will help you explore all of the 

cloud options available to you and assess 

what will work best for your business, 

whether that is hosting a few of your 

systems with us or all of them. 

For more information, visit www.ebcgroup. 

co.uk, email us at hello@ebcgroup.co.uk or 

call us on 0121 3680119. 

‘‘ 

Research by Berkeley 

Lab and Northwestern 

University found that 

businesses could save 

between 60% and 85% 

in energy costs when 

they change over to 

cloud-based services. 

‘‘ 


PROSPER SPOTLIGHT: KEVIN ROGERS, PAYCARE 

‘The Chamber is a key part of 

our marketing strategy’ 

Kevin Rogers, Chief Executive of Paycare, is stepping down from his role at the 

end of the year, when he will be replaced by the current commercial director 

Anthony Burns. Prosper caught up with Kevin for a chat about his time at the 

company and why he has developed such strong links with Black Country Chamber. 

Kevin, have your plans to step down 

from your role at Paycare gone 

according to plan? Is this ‘retirement’? 

Yes. It’s been a long-term strategy for me 

to exit at the end of the year, and the 

succession planning has been in place for 

three years. Anthony Burns is ideally placed 

to step into my shoes and will really take 

the business forward. 

I can’t use the word ‘retiring’ to describe 

my own situation, mind: I’m going to spend 

more time with some charities that I have 

links with, and I’ll still be involved at 

Paycare on a consultancy basis, though the 

day-to-day work I’ll be leaving well behind! 

You were at Paycare for 14 years; you 

must have seen some major changes 

in that time. 

Yes, the landscape the company 

operates in is very different from when I 

arrived. The changes have been driven 

largely by the way we’ve embraced 

technology, but in addition the regulatory 

framework we have to operate within has 

become increasingly challenging. 

Paycare provides healthcare cash 

programmes to support employees or 

individuals when they need medical 

treatment, so we fall under the auspices of 

the insurance industry’s regulations. We 

also have to work with Bank of England 

proportionality rules, so the sector is 

complex. 

But despite the challenges we’ve grown 

the business over the years. We’ve got plan 

members in more than 900 businesses, and 

our geographical spread is much wider 

now. Previously we operated predominantly 

in the Black Country area and up through 

Staffordshire, but our reach is now far 

greater than that. 

What was the toughest decision you 

had to take while at the helm? 

I’m an accountant, and the thing that 

struck me from the start was the cost of our 

external sales agents, who were out in the 

field bringing in new business. The 

problem was, while they were working 

hard, the numbers just didn’t stack up. 

They weren’t bringing in enough new 

business to justify the expense. 

I took the big decision early to let them 

all go – it shocked the boardroom, I can tell 

you. But from that point on we relied solely 

on the internal team and our reputation to 

attract new business. 

Without the external sales team, how 

did you look to keep the company in 

the public eye? 

We focused a lot of energy on our 

marketing and networking. Black Country 

Chamber was key to this. From the start we 

could see it was an ideal vehicle to meet 

other businesses, establish stronger 

networks and generally raise our profile in 

the region. 

In many ways Paycare had lost its identity 

in Wolverhampton over the years. The 

organisation was well known to the public 

as the Patients Aid Association, but when 

we changed the name to Paycare in 2005 

we lost a little of that local awareness. 

By teaming up with the Chamber, and 

then by adding to our membership by 

becoming a Patron, we’ve re-established 

our name in the city. 

The Chamber’s role in Black Country 

business life was perfectly aligned with our 

needs. It gave us a great opportunity to 

work with other members and our fellow 

patrons to create internal networks that 

have reaped dividends for us. 

It’s also been great for information 

distribution, tapping into the knowledge of 

our fellow patrons and members. 

Has the Chamber connection proved 

cost-effective? 

As an accountant I always challenge 

spending, to make sure we are getting 

value for money. The first time we 

discussed becoming a Chamber Patron I 

was asked, ‘how can we justify the spend?’ 

That’s a great question – but every time we 

have reviewed our relationship with the 

Chamber, we’ve been able to see the value 

it generates for our business. 

It’s not just in terms of brand awareness 

or profile either: the ‘hidden’ benefits of 

Chamber membership are brilliant. I’m 

thinking here specifically of the HR helpline 

‘‘ The Chamber’s role in Black 

Country business life was 

perfectly aligned with our 

needs. It gave us a great 

opportunity to work with 

other members and our fellow 

patrons to create internal 

networks that have reaped 

dividends for us. 

‘‘ 


members can access, or the Energy 

Solutions programme. 

The Chamber package we have saves us 

money every year, as well as generating 

income through new business. 

What other measures did you use to 

raise Paycare’s profile? 

People know us as sponsors at Wolves, 

and as part of our plan to broaden our 

geographical spread even further we’ve also 

teamed up with Motherwell FC in the 

Scottish Premier League. 

How does the future look for Paycare? 

We are in a very strong position. We 

receive a lot of new business through 

recommendations from existing clients, 

both members of the public and businesses, 

which is always good news. 

Our healthcare cash plans are very 

popular with corporate customers as they 

offer a low-cost staff benefit that employees 

appreciate. While the NHS remains ‘free at 

the point of care’, in the real world we all 

know it isn’t. The costs of, say, opticians or 

dentists are going up all the time, and our 

plans help cover those fees. We also help 

our members with other medical costs, such 

as professional therapy and hospital 

inpatient and outpatient visits. 

Being able to offer this help for a low 

monthly cost per employee is an 

increasingly popular benefit that businesses 

can see offers real value. 

What is really heartening is that a lot of 

our new business comes from HR people 

leaving one of our clients to go to a new 

role, and once at their new employer they 

recommend us as an employee benefit. 

That shows we’re doing something right 

and the cover we offer is valued. 

And what’s next for Kevin? 

Well, as I said at the start, I’m not retiring: 

I’ll keep up my charity work, and will 

continue to support Paycare. But I’ll have 

more time on my hands for travel – and for 

golf! 

I took up the sport about a year ago – I’d 

never had time before then – and really love 

it. It’s incredibly frustrating but I love the 

challenge, and I’ve now got enough time to 

work on my game. 

Prosper caught up with Paycare’s 

incoming chief executive Anthony 

Burns to see how he feels about 

stepping into Kevin’s shoes. 

“I’m proud as punch to be taking over 

from Kevin,” Anthony said. “He is a hard 

act to follow, but I’m really excited about 

taking over from him and leading what I 

think is a fantastic business. 

“We’ll all miss him, though. He’s not just 

been an inspirational leader for the 

organisation, he’s a great bloke too, a 

close friend and he’s unbelievably kind: he 

really does have the best interests of all his 

people at heart. I’ll miss seeing him around 

every day. We’re all delighted he’s going to 

maintain strong links with us, on a 

consultancy basis.” 

Anthony has been with Paycare for a 

decade, though his links go back further 

than that! “I never realised until I joined 

but when Paycare was the Patients Aid 

Association, the head office was at the end 

of the street where I grew up, and my dad 

worked round the corner from the office for 

20 years. Perhaps it’s fate I’ve taken over!” 

He sees a bright future for the forwardthinking 

business: “I love the fact that 

we’re a not-for-profit body; it allows us to 

tailor our products to match public and 

business needs. 

“The way the government is providing 

healthcare is changing and I see us as 

positioned centrally between the NHS and 

the private care sector. For businesses 

looking to improve the wellbeing of their 

people, we have some great products that 

are superb value-for-money and really 

appreciated by your staff.” 


PROSPER SPOTLIGHT: CARL RICHARDSON 

West Midlands businessman Carl Richardson, who jointly leads the Richardson 

family’s international business with his brothers from their Midlands HQ, 

encourages businesses to accept the current wave of uncertainties and 

embrace the opportunities that exist on the flip side of the same coin. 

Businesses need long-term 

thinking if they are to succeed 

“It’s a state of mind” 

These simple words have been used in 

recruitment campaigns for the Royal 

Marines for many years, emphasising the 

power of mental resilience and fortitude in 

overcoming adversity and consistently 

achieving goals in the face of what can 

seem like overwhelming obstacles. 

Right now, with the world facing what 

feels like a whole series of generational 

threats, challenges and changes to the 

post-war international order, these words 

feel more apt than ever. 

At the same time, a 40-year high 

inflation rate is impacting on businesses 

and households alike, and rising interest 

rates are changing many economic 

calculations for the first time in nearly 15 

years. Household budgets will be under 

huge pressure, with many people having to 

make really difficult choices, so how can 

businesses navigate this period of 

uncertainty and protect the jobs on which 

those families depend? 

News about war, industrial disputes, 

record-setting climate change and a 

cost-of-living gordian knot dominates the 

airwaves. On the back of a global 

pandemic, navigating this wave of 

uncertainty with a ’can do’ state of mind 

feels more important than ever for our 

country and the business community which 

powers our economy, and let’s never 

forget, ultimately helps to pay for our 

public services. 

The Royal Marine’s world-class 

reputation has not been established simply 

by possessing this powerful mindset. 

Rather it is under-pinned by setting a 

strategy, adapting the appropriate tactics 

to achieve that goal and ensuring that 

adequate training has been done to have 

an outsized chance of success, an approach 

which has much to commend it to a wider 

audience. 

Back ourselves 

It is, of course, imperative to 

acknowledge the series of significant 

challenges facing policy makers at this 

time, which can stymie more strategic 

long-term planning. 

Equally, it also important to provide 

some balance to the all-too frequent 

headlines which may well follow the old 

adage of ‘bad news sells’ in order to 

achieve ‘clicks and sales’ in an evercompetitive 

media marketplace, and 

instead set out why an opportunistic state 

of mind should be achievable. 

To support such an attitude, we should 

recognise that the UK has many significant 

in-built factors that work in favour of the 

country and our businesses, and which can 

sometimes be overlooked or taken for 

granted. This list is long, but a few 

examples could include: 

• The simple fact that English is the most 

widely spoken language in the world, and 

certainly the language of choice for 

business. 

• Greenwich Mean Time’s position as the 

optimum time zone for conducting 

business with both the East and West. 

This underpins London’s position as a 

key global financial centre, which can do 

business with Tokyo at the start of the day 

and LA at the end and reinforces the UK’s 

reputation as a world leader in business 

services. 

• Our ‘rule of law’, dating back to Magna 

Carta in 1215, which provides a renowned 

and attractive legal system. 

While much remains to be done on 

matters of equality and diversity in the UK, 

long strides have also been made in these 

areas, and the rate of constructive change 

is setting an example that many other 

countries are seeking to follow. 

These examples may seem like ‘givens’ 

but should not be taken for granted, as 

they all help to underpin the appeal of the 

UK around the world, as evidenced by the 

top-ranking consultancy firm EY’s recent 

‘attractiveness survey’ which ranked the UK 

as the most attractive destination in Europe 

for foreign investment in 2021, ahead of 

both France and Germany. 

Planning is crucial 

It was Winston Churchill who said, 

“Those who fail to plan are planning to 

fail”. Good plans help businesses to create 

jobs and prosperity, as well as generating 

tax revenue to build better schools and 

hospitals. 

Yet, if we ask the question, ‘what does 

success look like for the UK in 10 years’ 

time?’, how many people would know the 

answer, or even the measure of success? 

Are we looking at economic growth in 

terms of gross domestic product (GDP), 

productivity, employment figures, retained 

membership of the G7 group of the world’s 

most advanced countries, or a 

measurement far more intangible than any 

of those? 

In recent months the Centre for Policy 

Studies has felt compelled to set out a 

10-point plan for government to help the 

economy grow out of its current malaise, 

while the Resolution Foundation has 

accused ministers of a “lack of long-term 

thinking in economic strategy”. These are 

think tanks that lean in opposite ways on 

the political spectrum, yet the theme 

around the current lack of an economic 

plan to help business thrive is clear. 

Bucking the trend for quick win 

economic solutions that might appeal to 

voters, Tom Tugendhat’s pledge for a 

10-year plan for growth during his recent 

unsuccessful leadership campaign, was to 

move the UK into position as the most 

investment-friendly tax regime among 


Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor of the Exchequer 

Kwasi Kwarteng during a visit to Berkeley Modular in 

Northfleet Kent, to coincide with the Government’s new 

Growth Plan. But is it the long-term strategy business needs? 

OPEC countries within five years. This would 

allow businesses to plan with a greater 

degree of certainty and for a range of 

initiatives to take effect and bear results. 

We must now wait and see what the new 

Prime Minister may do with such an approach. 

The importance of delivery 

One of the challenges of our electoral 

system of government is that our 

democratic leaders are encouraged to vie 

for media coverage by announcing new 

policies or initiatives. Relatively speaking, 

the responsibility for the successful delivery 

of a plan comes with less glitz and coverage 

and can therefore become less of a priority 

than the announcement itself. Given this, 

could it perhaps be timely to look at 

altering how our excellent Civil Servants are 

measured, with a greater emphasis placed 

on the delivery of policy? 

The nature of the democratic beast? 

The obvious challenge for any long-term 

political initiative is the nature of our 

political cycles. These increasingly seem to 

result in a series of short-term initiatives 

designed to appeal to focus groups and 

voters, rather than recognising the value of 

long-term overarching strategy. 

Significant ‘political churn’ clearly helps 

to fuel a more short-term approach to 

strategy. Two examples to illustrate this are 

the fact that three of the UK’s last four Prime 

Ministers have held office for little over 

three years, while 12 individuals have held 

the post of Minister of State for Housing 

and Planning over the past 10 years. 

Consequently, it is unsurprising that there 

has not been greater consistency in our 

planning and economic development 

priorities over that period. 

Paradoxically, business flourishes when it 

has sufficient certainty to look ahead, and 

so surely it is worth exploring ways to 

remodel our systems to allow a more 

consistent ordering of national economic 

priorities regardless of political changes. 

Strategies for the future 

In the past we have floated ideas such as 

appointing a Minister for FAANGs 

(Facebook/Amazon/Apple/Netflix/Google). 

This is based on the fact that their market 

capitalisation would rank them among the 

top 20 countries in the world by GDP. We 

have also advocated keeping Trade 

Ministers in role for the duration of a 

Parliament so they can become experts on 

their briefs. Furthermore, we have proposed 

looking beyond Westminster when making 

ministerial appointments to bring the 

experience of leading business leaders into 

Cabinet. This is with an aim to encourage a 

constant review of how things are done to 

ensure the UK’s approach to driving the 

economy keeps pace with an ever-evolving 

world. 

Need for a Royal Commission? 

The challenge, of course, is to build a 

cross-party consensus around agreed 

national economic priorities. This would be 

no mean feat coming at a time when 

political parties seem to be struggling to 

find a common approach on their own 

benches, let alone across the political 

divide. Maybe this is a perfect opportunity 

for a Royal Commission to circumvent that 

impasse? 

From the perspective of the wealth 

creating community, it would certainly seem 

to be worth trying to establish a political 

accord around the prize of thinking and 

planning longer-term at a national level, 

allowing greater certainty and more 

business-friendly conditions. 

As businesspeople well know, a failure to 

innovate and evolve can be fatal. However 

difficult it may seem, as a country we should 

not let a desire for perfect be the enemy of 

good in terms of outcomes. 

Rather, we should think long and hard 

about letting the nature of political cycles 

hamper such fundamentals as having a clear 

national plan to help businesses create jobs 

and wealth, and generate tax revenue. This 

is all the more important when many of our 

global competitors are thinking, planning 

and acting in a far longer timeframe. 

For more information on Richardson 

please visit www.richardsons.co.uk 


LEGAL BRIEFING: WHAT’S MAKING THE HEADLINES ACROSS THE LEGAL SECTOR 

Workplace bullying hits record high: 

are digital comms to blame? 

Allegations of workplace bullying 

have rocketed in the past year, with 

shifts towards remote working and 

digital communications playing a 

key part, new data indicates, 

Prosper asks This is The Black 

Country business partner, Higgs 

LLP for their perspective. 

The dramatic overhaul of the workplace 

environment triggered by the pandemic has 

considerably altered the landscape of 

working practices. 

Hybrid or even fully remote working has 

become commonplace and employers 

across all sectors are – either out of choice 

or necessity – displaying greater flexibility in 

the way they operate. 

However, one unwelcome by-product has 

been the rise in workplace bullying cases. 

Recent analysis has revealed that the 

number of claims containing allegations of 

bullying lodged at the Employment Tribunal 

had increased by 44 per cent in the 12 

months up to March 2022, from 581 to 835. 

Tim Jones, Head of Employment at 

leading regional law firm Higgs LLP, 

believes the shift to remote working may 

have prompted the apparent surge in cases, 

with the bullying often manifesting in more 

subtle and insidious ways. 

He said: “There are genuine concerns 

that the increased trend towards remote 

working has contributed to the additional 

cases of workplace bullying surfacing. 

“This may be because individuals feel 

less accountable for their comments hiding 

behind their screens. It is certainly harder to 

identify bullying through digital channels 

than it would be in-person in the office. 

“There is also a growing trend for people 

to interpret comments or behaviours in 

different ways. What one person may see as 

workplace banter, another may view as a 

deeply hurtful and bullying. 

“It is clear the rise in workplace bullying is 

something that employers must take 

seriously and there is a real risk that 

employers may be facing an increase in 

claims from employees.” 

Higgs LLP HR director Sophie Wardell 

believes that having a five generation 

workforce, coupled with changes to 

practices accelerated by the pandemic, 

have increased the chance of conflict 

appearing the workplace. 

“The motivations and needs of people 

entering the workforce for the first time are 

very different to those that have gone 

before them,” said Sophie. 

“They want their work schedule to fit into 

the bigger picture of their daily lives. 

“Employees have come to expect 

flexibility and are increasingly prepared to 

call out employers, or even move jobs, if 

they can’t get it. 

“Given talent shortages, power is most 

definitely with the employee and, in some 

cases, employers are trying to wrestle that 

back which increases the risk of conflict. 

“Communicating with their teams 

remotely is a new experience for managers 

and the need for regular and good quality 

interaction has never been higher.” 

The HR leader stressed that, where 

allegations of bullying do arise, businesses 

should have a very clear strategy of 

attempting to reach an amicable resolution. 

Sophie added: “If it becomes clear that 

the issue can’t be resolved through informal 

discussions, then mediation should be high 

on the agenda. 

“Many people see mediation as a last 

resort, but I strongly believe in saying it 

should be one of the first ports of call to 

resolving a workplace dispute and 

businesses should have it as part of any 

grievance procedure, not as an afterthought. 

“For the process to be effective, it should 

be an independent mediator and someone 

from outside the business. Resolution is 

better than compromise and that is the 

Companies 

should 

commit to a 

strategy of 

zero 

tolerance of 

harassment 

and bullying 

and adopt 

an antiharassment 

and bullying 

policy, to 

cover all 

digital 

comms 

intended outcome of any mediation.” 

Recently recognised as one of the 

leading workplace mediators in the country 

by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500, Tim 

confirmed that mediation can be an 

extremely powerful tool in resolving 

disputes. 

He said: “We know when cases go to 

mediation, a huge number are resolved. 

“Statistics show that close to 80 per cent 

of cases are resolved in a day and another 

10 per cent within a month. 

“Those are impressive stats and there is 

no doubt that, used in the right way, 

mediation can save a great deal of time and 

money.” 

Tim believes there is a four-pronged 

approach that employers should look to 

adopt to help ensure workplace bullying 

does not become part of their environment. 

These are: 

• Commit to a strategy of zero tolerance of 

harassment and bullying and adopt an 

anti-harassment and bullying policy, which 

should be brought to the attention of all staff. 

• Promote an awareness of antiharassment 

and bullying in the workplace 

through regular training sessions and 

awareness days. 

• Support and encourage employees to 

report harassment or bullying by any of 

their colleagues or third parties, and take 

appropriate action on every complaint. 

• Appoint workplace equality champions 

who can advocate for, and monitor, equality, 

including overseeing training and offering 

support to individuals who experience 

bullying or harassment in the workplace. 


ADVERTORIAL: EXHIBITIONS & FESTIVALS 

Bringing the community together 

through the power of bread 

Businesses call out for Bread Winner festival, 7-20th November 

The flour power project has brought diverse 

communities together for five years through 

sharing different cultural bread with an 

educational art exhibition. 

BREAD WINNER festival will have an 

atmosphere of an exciting multi-media art 

exhibition on the theme of the birth of wheat 

in the Middle East and the beginnings of 

civilisation. There will be a seating area with 

doughnut cushions, interactive lava lamps and 

magical magnets. 

Free bread tasting of the ancient grain 

breads with public discussions on: money and 

mindfulness; finance and your faith; realities of 

working from home; and many other issues. 

There will be art workshops for business 

people and the public led by Sophie Phillips 

and Rachel Arnold, as well as paper-craft 

models of new ways to manage resources 

within a circular economy and the future of 

civilisation by local citizens. 

There will also be a chance to explore how 

The Battle of Tettenhall & Wednesfield in 

910AD could be developed into a tourist 

attraction that could put Wolverhampton on 

the map. Raymond Fellows of Wednesfield 

History Society and a potter, Helen from 

Newhampton Art Centre itself will help 

explore with plasticine and metallic paper 

what the Vikings and Anglo Saxons looked like 

on a giant 3D map of Wolverhampton. 

Child-like openness and a collective 

business head is needed. Which industries 

would benefit in the area? A future tourist 

attraction could be made with: metal, glass, 

3D printed plastic and ceramics. Large 

outdoor sculptures or indoor museum pieces. 

A chance for your business to reach new 

customers and market yourself. Be part of the 

discussions with the public, as spending time 

together improves problem solving. 

A festival programme will be issued nearer 

the time. 

EVENT DETAILS 

Costs: 

Business Stall fees £20 a day or £100 

a week. If you make less than £20, 

keep it. 

Charities – free. 

Artists – donation. 

Business deadline to 

complete application: 

Thursday, October 27, 5pm 

Admission Fees 

Working £4. Student £2. 

Pensioners £1, Job seekers 50p 

Children, disabilities, asylum seekers 

and refugees, people in debt, FREE 

Paid Work: People to take money on 

the door 10am-6pm. 

£100 or less takings, 20%. Over £100, 

is 30%. 

Contact Rachel Arnold to 

book a place on 

flourpowerproject 

assistant@gmail.com 


ADVERTORIAL SPOTLIGHT: MET RECRUITMENT 

It’s recruitment, but 

not as you know it 

A tale of how three Black Country recruitment experts are rewriting 

the rule book when it comes to finding staff. Prosper finds out more… 

It’s safe to say that the world of 

recruitment hasn’t always had the best 

reputation and, in most part, it’s a 

reputation richly deserved. 

For too long the sector has been all 

about the next sale, treating candidates as 

numbers and undercutting rivals by a few 

pence per hour if it meant snatching the 

contract off a local challenger. 

In other words, things could be done a 

whole lot better. 

“That’s what really motivated the three of 

us to make MET Recruitment different to 

your run-of-the-mill agency,” explained 

Nella Share, who joined the business in 

2014 to launch its commercial offer. 

“Founder Robin Tong and fellow director 

Matthew Hunter and I had all worked for 

another high-street agency and, while the 

business was successful, there were lots of 

processes that didn’t sit right with us and a 

real lack of culture and social impact. We 

wanted to be part of something different.” 

MET Recruitment has come a long way 

since it was first formed as Mechanical 

Electrical Trades 14 years ago. 

Robin, who had been in the sector for 

ten years, took the plunge to go on his own 

first and operated from a one-man office in 

Pensnett, supplying predominantly 

manufacturing workers to several nearby 

employers. 

The business was bolstered by Matt’s 

arrival in 2012 to work alongside Robin and 

to pursue more industrial clients and, with 

Nella overseeing the launch of the 

commercial and permanent arms of the 

firm two years later, the platform was set to 

create one of the leading independent 

recruiters in the Black Country. 

“I’m not sure we’re there yet, but the 

development of our company has been 

beyond our wildest dreams, with year-onyear 

growth since we started. Better still, 

we’re doing it in the right way, which is 

really pleasing,” added Robin. 

“What I mean by that is we’re building 

long-term strategic relationship with our 

customers, who span the length and 

breadth of the West Midlands. It’s not 

about profit margins, it’s about getting to 

know them and their labour needs and 

‘‘ 

Matthew, Robin and Nella bring 

something very different to the 

recruitment table 

The development of our 

company has been beyond 

our wildest dreams... better 

still, we’re doing it in the 

right way, which is very 

pleasing... 

‘‘ 

ensuring we can provide solutions. 

Sometime those solutions aren’t evident to 

managers dealing with day-to-day issues.” 

He went on to add: “We always had the 

vision of being a small business with a big 

heart and so charity work, giving back to 

the local community and ensuring it thrives 

is very important to us. 

“To this extent, we launched MET’s Black 

Country Trust, which has already raised 

over £5,000 for charities, with the target of 

doubling that by the end of the year.” 

Today MET Recruitment is a £11m 

turnover, 23-strong agency operating 

from a dedicated head office on 

Wolverhampton Street in Dudley and 

The Permanent Staffing Hub on the 

Waterfront. 

Investment in its 360 degrees recruitment 

solution for clients and an industry-best 

support infrastructure for candidates has 

helped it secure a strong client base across 

engineering, manufacturing and 

professional services. 


MEMBERS’ CHARITY APPEALS 

‘‘ 

Our approach isn’t rocket 

science... it’s about getting 

the right people in to deliver 

the best possible service to 

our clients, building trust and 

understanding on the way... 

‘‘ 

This includes supplying over 100 staff to 

Dreams to help them overcome a national 

shortage of staff, providing 400 remote 

workers for the Government’s Test & Trace 

campaign during the pandemic, and a 

14-year relationship with Isaac H Grainger, a 

market leader in the manufacture of raised 

access flooring pedestals used in Tottenham 

Hotspur’s stadium, The Shard and 

Birmingham’s iconic Rotunda building. 

The latter is based very much on trust, 

partnership and understanding the business 

culture, with MET supplying more than half 

of its 65-strong workforce, many of whom 

progress to permanent jobs after a 

successful temporary trial. 

Rebecca Grainger, sales and marketing 

director designate at Isaac H Grainger, 

picked up the story: “We’ve worked with 

MET for 14-years and they really have been 

incredible. Their advisors know our business 

better than anyone and this is reflected in 

the quality of staff they find and send to us. 

“They were superb during the pandemic, 

and we’ve built a strategic partnership with 

them that stretches beyond the shopfloor 

and into working together to support the 

local communities we both operate in.” 

Nella Share concluded: “Our business 

approach isn’t rocket science. It’s about 

getting the best people in to deliver the 

best possible service to our clients, building 

trust and understanding along the way. 

“We want them to look at us as an 

extension to their HR department and not a 

dreaded recruitment agency. That’s the MET 

difference.” 

With demand continuing to rise, MET 

Recruitment is currently looking for three 

new staff to bolster its operations, ranging 

from experience consultants to people 

looking for a career change. 

To find out more about 

Met Recruitment, see 

https://metrecruitment.com 

e: info@metrecruitment.com 

or call 01384 451880 

From little Acorns... 

A Black Country-based charity’s thriving 

Business Club is celebrating its first year of 

success, with members generating £150,000 

to support local children and families. 

Acorns Business Club raises funds for 

Acorns Children’s Hospice and its care for 

life limited children and young people. 

Since its launch in summer 2021, the 

club, which boasts renowned figures and 

business leaders from across the region, 

Cycling superstars 

Compton Care’s Round the Wrekin cycling 

event has raised an incredible £48,935 

towards supporting patients with incurable 

conditions. The event was sponsored by 

Carvers Building Supplies and proudly 

fronted by Compton’s patrons, Hugh Porter 

MBE, and his wife Anita Lonsbrough MBE, 

who have played a fundamental role in the 

creation and continued success of the event. 

Zombie runners 

deliver for Leslie’s 

Care Packages 

MET Recruitment’s charity team 

had the pleasure of handing over a 

giant cheque for £5,000 to Leslie’s 

Care Packages recently after 

surviving six months of personal 

challenges for the team, including 

a zombie run and charity football 

match. 

has gone from strength to strength – with 

another five big names in business 

revealed as Acorns Ambassadors recently. 

The Ambassadors play a key role in 

raising awareness of the charity within the 

business community and vital funds 

towards its children’s hospice care. Each 

member joins the charity in a two-year 

partnership and commits to raising £5,000 

each year. 

Theatre’s delight as it’s 

back to the golf course 

After a hiatus of two years, the Wolverhampton 

Grand Theatre Golf Day returned in triumph 

in July at The South Staffordshire Golf Club, 

sponsored by PIA Wealth Management. 

The day raised a total of £7,200 which will 

be invested into the theatre’s award-winning 

community events programme and services. 


LEGAL BRIEFING: INDUSTRIAL ACTION 

All out – from black gowns 

to donkey jackets 

You can’t have failed to spot the growing discontent in some workplaces as employees 

from bus drivers to barristers, postman to railway workers take industrial action as they 

demand a fair settlement to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. Prosper asked Amy 

Brokenshire, HR lawyer and a Partner at Black Country law firm, George Green LLP, 

whether this trend would continue – and how best to tackle it 

The Manchester Evening News reported 

recently that Sir Cary Cooper, a professor of 

organisational psychology at the University 

of Manchester, has warned the current 

situation of rising inflation, rocketing 

household bills and stagnant wages could 

lead to the most widespread industrial 

action in decades, possibly even worse than 

the national discontent of the 1970s. 

“I think the time is slightly different to the 

1970s because there are so many adverse 

factors at play here,” said Prof. Cooper. 

“When we had the strikes before it was 

partly about inflation and bad industrial 

relations between unions and management. 

“This time it’s much more complicated. 

Complicated by Brexit, the war in Ukraine 

and the impact on energy prices. It’s the 

cost of living, and I also think general 

instability in leadership at the moment is a 

very important psychological factor. People 

are thinking they have to take care of 

themselves and their families and they feel 

they will have to take action. 

“If we look at the percentage of people 

voting to take strike action in some cases, it is 

extremely high. It was never this high in the 

1970s. We get the manifestation of the 1970s, 

but I think it’s a lot worse now and people are 

probably more prepared to strike.” 

Strike action grips the nation 

A growing list of workers across the UK 

are staging walkouts in recent weeks. In 

June, workers at one of Coca-Cola’s UK sites 

threatened to down tools amid a pay row 

and accusations of bully tactics from bosses. 

Approximately 60 workers at the soft 

drink giant’s bottling plant in Wakefield, 

Yorkshire, unanimously rejected the 

company’s latest pay offer, and subsequently 

prepared to stage an industrial action ballot. 

That same month, thousands of railway 

workers launched the biggest rail strikes the 

country has seen in decades, bringing many 

parts of the country to a standstill. The RMT 

union, which represents rail workers, said 

the first general strike since 1989 is being 

held in response to below-inflation pay rise 

offers and the threat of compulsory 

redundancies – which the union warns would 

create safety risks on Britain’s railways. 

Elsewhere, pay and working conditions 

also saw barristers across England & Wales 

stage pickets outside courthouses across 

the country. Barristers say real earnings have 

collapsed, dropping 28% since 2006, with 

junior barristers earning a median income of 

only £12,200 in their first three years, forcing 

many to give up their career. They voted for 

action over the summer with more than 80% 

of its 2,055 members backing walkouts. 

Meanwhile, one of the most famous 

retailers in the country, Harrods is preparing 

to use agency workers to replace staff who 

could go on strike – which would make them 

the first major firm to take advantage of 

controversial new laws which MPs approved 

in July. 

Controversial changes to the law allow 

agency workers to fill in for staff on strike, 

partly in response to the growing number of 

sectors, such as rail workers, staging strikes 

over pay disputes and working conditions. 

But what does the law say about industrial 

action? On its website, Unison explained 

that, in addition to strikes, industrial action 

can include ‘go-slows’ or ‘working to rule’. 

Although there is no positive legal right 

to strike in the UK, strike action organised 

by a trade union is legal provided some 

tough conditions are met. 

For example: 

• The union must have conducted a lawful 

ballot of all the members it believes will be 

called upon to take part. 

• The action must be over a trade dispute 

between workers and their employer over 

an issue such as terms or conditions of 

employment and as defined in s.244 of the 

Trade Union and Labour Relations 

(Consolidation) Act 1992. 

• The general secretary or someone else 

authorised by the union’s rules, must 

authorise any industrial action. 

• The person named on the ballot paper 

must make a call for action before industrial 

action can take place. 

There are very strict rules about the ballot 

and the notice that must be given to the 

employer about the action. 

Unison also said it is “automatically 

unfair” to dismiss someone who’s taken part 

in any lawful industrial action within 12 

weeks of the action. Employers can deduct 

pay for striking workers, but this can be no 

more than one fifth of weekly pay for a day’s 

strike action. 

HR lawyer Amy Brokenshire told Prosper, 

“In the current economic climate, it is 

reasonable to think that the UK labour force 

will be more inclined to look to trade unions 

for support and protection than they may 

have been in recent years. This in turn could 

result in an increase in industrial unrest. 

“This was readily apparent during the 

‘Summer of Discontent’, with large scale 

strike action in various industries hitting the 

headlines in recent months. 

“Trade unions will be liable in tort if they 

induce their workers to take part in industrial 

action unless it is ‘protected’. 

“Certain conditions must be met in order 

for industrial action to be protected, 

including specific conditions around 

balloting for strike action. As such, an 

employer faced with the prospect of 

damaging strike action may wish to take 

specialist advice from an employment 

lawyer to understand their options and 

what, if any, legal action may be appropriate 

in the circumstances.” 

“It is also worth remembering that strikes 

aren’t the only way that workers and unions 

are able to cause disruption to an 

employer’s business. 

“Workers can also decide to take action 

short of a strike, such as working to rule or 


efusing to work voluntary overtime, for 

example. Provided that the worker is not 

acting in breach of contract, there is a little 

that an employer can do to prevent a trade 

union from promoting such action. 

“The decision to take part in strike action 

is not without consequence for workers. An 

employer is entitled to deduct pay from 

those workers that chose to take part in 

strike action. That is the case even if the 

worker is prepared to perform part of their 

duties. The employer may insist that they 

perform their role in full if they are to be 

paid in full”. 

However, in July MPs approved 

controversial plans to allow employers to 

utilise agency workers while staff are on 

strike, despite strong opposition and 

concerns about safety in certain industries. 

If approved by the House of Lords, 

legislation will be altered to allow 

employers in vital public services including 

education, transport and healthcare to 

replace striking staff with agency workers to 

ensure shifts are covered. 

The proposals had received significant 

opposition from bodies including the TUC 

and the Recruitment and Employment 

Confederation, which in a joint letter said, 

“involving agency workers in disputes would 

sour industrial relations even further and risk 

the safety of workers and the public”. 

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady 

said the decision to approve the proposals 

was a “shameless attack on working people”. 

Ms Brokenshire said: “The absence of 

workers on strike will, of course, cause 

disruption to the employer’s business and 

they will therefore want to plan to enable 

the business to continue to operate. One 

option that may be considered is the use of 

replacement workers to cover their duties, 

such as agency staff. 

“Until recently the law prohibited the use 

of agency staff to perform the duties of 

striking workers. However, this legislation 

was overturned in July (although not in 

Wales). 

While this means that employers are no 

longer restricted from employing 

temporary staff to cover striking workers, 

doing so may still be controversial and, at 

the very least, may exacerbate the already 

tense relations between the employer and 

the workforce. 

“We understand that Unison will seek 

judicial review of the recent legislative 

changes and so this matter is far from 

settled as things stand.” 

Could industrial action hit your firm? 

The current strikes across a number of 

industries are unlikely to be the last in the 

coming weeks and months. Recent media 

coverage of walkouts, coupled with the 

growing cost-of-living crisis, has led to 

more employees calling for more financial 

support from their employers. 

In fact, analysis of Google search data 

reveals that UK searches for ‘join union’ 

exploded 184% in the days after the RMT 

announced its strike action. The research 

by Workello also found that searches for 

‘how to strike’ rose by 135%. 

Workello said, “The public have been 

faced with trains coming to a standstill as a 

result of these strikes by RMT, leading to 

great difficulties. 

“However, the strikes have also 

encouraged a surge of online interest in 

joining a union, indicating the massive 

impact that strikers are having. With more 

strikes rumoured to take place in the future, 

it will be interesting to see whether these 

searches continue to rise, especially if 

strikers achieve their desired outcome.” 

As working conditions and the economy 

become more volatile, the prospect of 

being supported by a union could well 

become more attractive to workers. 

Unionised or not, all bosses currently 

face the prospect of workers being able to 

vote with their feet. Not only are many 

employees seeking more financial 

compensation to help them through the 

cost-of-living crisis, but they also want more 

flexible ways of working – and they’re able 

to move on to another, more lucrative, 

employment if they don’t receive this, 

because of the tight labour market. 

HR leaders would therefore do well to 

listen carefully to their workforce’s concerns. 


PROSPER SPOTLIGHT: THE GENDER INDEX 

New report sees positive change 

for women in enterprise 

A Black Country and West Midlands Perspective 

Following the publication in 

March of the Gender Index 

Report 2022, a report with a 

clear and accurate picture of 

the UK company landscape 

analysed by gender, Prosper 

decided to take a deeper 

look into specific regions 

across the UK, including the 

Black Country and wider 

West Midlands. 

The Gender Index, who’s headline partner 

is NatWest, is ground-breaking and is the 

largest research study into female 

entrepreneurship ever undertaken. 

A live and interactive tool that maps 

every single active UK company, it 

accurately measures the number of 

female-led companies and their impact on 

the UK economy. 

Powered by AI, it holds live data on more 

than four million active UK companies, 

constantly refreshed and always up to date 

in every country, region, LEP and local 

authority in real-time giving findings on 

gender, regions, sectors and investment. 

Back in 2019, the Rose Review, the 

Treasury commissioned review led by 

Alison Rose, CEO of NatWest, into female 

entrepreneurship, identified that an 

additional £250bn could be contributed to 

the UK economy simply by empowering 

more women to start and grow companies. 

Currently, just 16.8% of active UK 

companies are led by women. The Gender 

Index is committed to help change that, 

with a collective ambition to help create a 

fairer future by providing a clear picture of 

what’s truly going on across the UK 

company landscape. 

Chair of the Gender Index, Jill Pay, told 

Prosper, “Our ambition is to drive positive 

change for women in enterprise, driven by 

data, leading to a fairer future. 

“With the technology at our disposal, 

this is achievable. We can map every active 

UK company across the four nations, by 

region, LEP and local authority, by sector, 

investment type, fast growth and company 

age, all in real time. 

“We have the insights to work with policy 

makers, local and national government, 

corporates, researchers, investors and 

female entrepreneurs to inspire a more 

inclusive, diverse - and stronger - economy.” 

This is the first-time gender 

disaggregated information has been made 

freely accessible for the public, through an 

interactive website, www.thegenderindex. 

co.uk and reported. By comparing the 

Black Country and the West Midlands to 

other regions as well as England and the 

UK, the factors leading to the unreasonably 

low percentage of female-led companies 

were identified. 

Key findings: 

In the Black Country… 

• Across the Black Country just 17.28% of 

active companies are female-led. Based on 

research into the total number of 

companies across the four local authorities, 

‘‘ 

The Rose Review identified 

that an additional £250bn 

could be contributed to the UK 

economy by empowering 

more women to start and grow 

their own companies... 

of which there are 15,831 in 

Wolverhampton, 18,005 in Dudley, 13,925 

in Walsall and 18,845 in Sandwell, Prosper 

identified just 20.66% of companies are 

female-led in Wolverhampton, (3,271), 

while the figures are lower in other parts of 

the region: 16.27% in Dudley (2,930), 16.5% 

in Walsall 2,298 (2,298) and 15.96% in 

Sandwell, (3,008). 

• Of the 363,212 active companies that 

were identified across the whole of the 

West Midlands, just 17.1% are female-led. 

However, this is the third highest female 

leadership percentage for a UK region, 

surpassed only by London (18.5%) and the 

south-east (17.2%). This is higher than the 

national figure of current active companies 

which is 16.8%. 

• Wholly male-led companies account 

for 59.4% of companies in the West 

Midlands. A further 16.3% are designated 

as ‘mixed led’ which is the third lowest rate 

after London (12.5%) and the north-west 

(15.7%). 

• Meanwhile, the West Midlands has the 

fourth highest average turnover growth for 

female-led companies across all the 

regions in the UK. For male-led companies, 

it is joint sixth alongside Yorkshire and the 

Humber. With regards to both mixed-led 

companies and uncertain-led companies, it 

is fifth. 

• Average turnover growth for femaleled 

companies is 18.4% and 15.5% for 

male-led companies. Mixed-led companies 

are in between the two at 17.2%. 

Compared to England, the average 

turnover growth for companies of each 

type of leadership in the West Midlands is 

lower. 

Average turnover growth in England is 

21.1% for female-led companies, 19.1% for 

male-led companies, 19.2% for mixed-led 

companies and 27.7% for uncertain-led 

companies. 

Lower averages are also the case when 

measured up against the UK though to a 

lesser extent. The UK’s average turnover 

growth is 19.0% for female-led companies, 

17.3% for male-led companies, 17.4% for 

48 PROSPER AUTUMN 2022 

‘‘

mixed-led companies and 26.4% for 

uncertain-led companies. 

• The percentage of fast growth 

female-led companies in the West 

Midlands is disproportionately low 

compared to the percentage of female-led 

companies in the region. Here, the 

proportion of female-led companies is 

17.1% but drops to 8.2% when regarding 

fast growth companies whereas the 

percentage of male-led companies goes 

up from 59.4% to 78.5% when considering 

high growth companies. 

• Only 8.2% of fast growth companies in 

the West Midlands are female-led. This is 

the third lowest percentage of female-led 

fast growth companies in the UK after the 

south-east (7.6%) and the north-west (7.8%). 

Conversely, 78.5% are male-led which is the 

second highest proportion after Yorkshire 

and the Humber. 

Mixed-led companies also have the third 

lowest percentage at 12.2% of fast growth 

companies with the only lower regions 

being the north-east (10.4%) and Yorkshire 

and the Humber. 

• Inversely, male-led companies are 

Data and methodology 

The results have been compiled 

from an analysis of 9,584,945 UK 

companies held within the mnAI 

database. Of the initial results, 

3,863,581 were dissolved leaving 

5,721,364 active companies. A 

further1,125,087 were removed for 

various reasons. 

over-represented, especially for fast growth 

companies 

• The main method used to invest in 

female-led companies in the West 

Midlands is angel investment, making up 

85.8% of the investments received. 

• Male-led companies had the greatest 

proportion of company investment at 

30.6% with mixed-led in second (26.1%), 

female-led in third (16.1%). 

• The main investment avenue for 

female-led companies is angel investment, 

although corporate/company investment 

plays a significant role. 

‘‘ 

Just 17.28% of Black Country 

businesses are female-led... 

but this is higher than the 

UK-wide average, which is just 

16.8% ... 

‘‘ 

• Venture capital investment in femaleled 

companies is 0.4% and private equity 

investment in female-led companies is 

0.1%. The UK average was 0.5% for the 

former and 0.1% for the latter. Neither 

surpassed 1% of these investments for any 

region. 

• From the over 3.1 million UK investors 

that were identified, 6.3% are found in the 

West Midlands. 

Of these, 31.2% are female. This is the 

third lowest percentage of female investors 

in a region after London (26.3%) and the 

Northwest (30.9%). 


EVENTS: DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 

Exclusive networking opportunities at the 

Black Country Business Club 

Exclusive closed networking club 

for businesses across the region 

The Black Country Business Club provides a 

platform where individuals can build 

business relationships and promote their 

products and services within a friendly and 

supportive environment. 

The event is live, face-to-face and meets 

every fortnight on a Thursday morning from 

9.30am until 11.30am. 

Chamber members and non-members 

are welcome to come along and visit to see 

how everything works before committing to 

the Club. There is an additional annual cost 

to be part of the Business Club network. 

At each meeting, one delegate has the 

opportunity to co-host and use a 10-minute 

slot to promote their business, while every 

other delegate gets the opportunity to 

provide a short 60-second pitch, to share 

their latest news or highlight a key product/ 

service. 

Rules of Engagement! 

Members of the club agree to the 

following principles: 

• Only two businesses per sector/ 

industry will be allowed to join 

• There will be a maximum of 50 

members 

• Membership is on a first-come, 

first-served basis with a final decision on a 

membership application made by the Black 

Country Chamber of Commerce 

• Each business is expected to deliver a 

minimum of one 10-minute ‘presentation’ 

each year at their Club, and all businesses 

deliver a 60-second pitch at every meeting 

The Club will meet once a fortnight. 

Cost*. There is an additional cost for the 

club dependent upon which Chamber 

membership you hold. 

Only one representative from a business 

can attend each session. 

Across 25 meetings, a no show at three 

consecutive Clubs will mean that a member 

has forfeited their right to be part of the 

Club and will be barred from future Clubs 

with no refund given. 

For further information, email 

membership@blackcountry 

chamber.co.uk 

Alternatively call Graham Croom on 

07714 740818 or Alison Trinder on 

07980 906921 for a free guest pass* 

to the next meeting. 

We would love to meet you. 

See you Third Week 

Wednesday! 

Each third week Wednesday, 

Chamber members, and nonmembers, 

meet for a FREE monthly 

networking session. 

We’re delighted to be meeting live 

and face-to-face again at Walsall 

College in the Littleton Restaurant, 

Wisemore Campus, Littleton Street 

West, Walsall, WS2 8ES. 

Meet at 9.45am for a short 

introduction from the college before 

‘Open Networking’ kicks off through 

until through until 11.30am. 

Get involved and raise your business 

profile via your social media platforms 

and amplify your attendance by 

bringing along your smartphones and 

tablets. 

Tag, like, share and comment using 

the Twitter @blkcountryhour with the 

following tags: 

#tww 

#blkcountryhour 

@bcccmembers 

plus your own businesses and friends, 

to network, share, retweet and raise 

your profile. 

Don’t forget to share your 

experience and post on LinkedIn too 

by tagging Black Country Chamber of 

Commerce and your host, Joanna 

Smith. 

We will also be running short 

individual business interviews 

broadcasted over Twitter, (live 

streamed) and left as a tweet via our 

‘Twitter Hour’ profile – ‘The Black 

Country Hour’, which can be found 

@blkcountryhour from 11am, so bring 

your pitch and your contact details if 

you want to plunge in! 

For more details on these events 

and how you can join in, contact 

Jo Smith on 07810 377821 or 

joannasmith@ 



Big Business @B63 Breakfast Event 

There’s a new monthly breakfast networking 

event on the first Wednesday of the Month. 

Providing a fantastic opportunity to 

network with like-minded businesses each 

month, the Big Business @B63 ‘breakfast 

event’ is hosted by Halesowen College, 

sponsored by The Halesowen Bid and 

powered by The Black Country Chamber of 

Commerce. 

It starts at 7.45am, running until 9.15am. 

For more details contact 

Graham Croom on 07714 740818 

or viagrahamcroom@ 


Events Programme 

OCTOBER 

12 Start-Up Finance Workshop 

19 Third Week Wednesday 

20 Black Country Business Club 

20 Networking Lunch 

NOVEMBER 

2 Big Business @ B63 

3 Black Country Economic Business 

Conference 


10 Start-Up Celebration of Enterprise 

& Entrepreneurship Week 

16 Third Week Wednesday 


22 Bank of England 

Further details on these events can 

be found in this issue, or for 

information and to book please visit: 

www.blackcountrychamber 

ofcommerce.co.uk/events 

The place to be when you’re making a start! 

The Start-Up Business Club, supported by 

Black Country & Marches Institute of 

Technology (BCMIoT), is headed up by the 

highly experienced business relationship 

manager, Alison Trinder. Alison has more 

than 30 years of experience in establishing 

and maintaining strong business 

relationships, she delivers a number of 

events and masterclasses where 

entrepreneurs and new business owners 

can meet and network and hear from 

experienced businesspeople. 

From networking opportunities to 

one-to-one business advice, marketing 

support and savings on essential business 

tools, the Start-Up Business Club helps 

small businesses to the next level. It has 

helped over 200 businesses since its 

inception in 2018 and offers a one-stopshop 

for business advice, personal 

development training and marketing, all as 

part of a vibrant networking community. 

Start-Up Business Club Events 

Start-Up Workshop 

Start-Up Celebration Of Enterprise & 

Entrepreneurship Week 

November 10, 10am - 12noon 

Venue for all events: Black Country & 

Marches Institute of Technology, Zoological 

Drive, Dudley DY1 4AL 

All events are FREE to Start-Up Business 

Club members. Non-members, £25 + VAT. 

• If you are not a member of the 

Start-Up Business Club and would like 

to book your place, 

email AlisonTrinder@ 


To find out more, contact 

Alison on 07980 906921 


EVENTS: DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 

Creating your first campaign using 

Facebook Ads Manager 

Date: November 8 

Time: 1pm – 3pm 

Location: Online Event 

Cost: Members: £100 + VAT 

Non-members: £125 + VAT 

Running paid ads on social media has 

become an essential strategy for many 

businesses, and Facebook is often the 

focus of these strategies. In order to make 

it easy for anyone to create ads, Facebook 

has a number of different tools and 

methods available for building these 

campaigns. 

However, in order to really get the most 

out of Facebook’s capabilities, advertisers 

should always look to use the standalone 

Ads Manager platform to manage their 

spend. 

In this two-hour workshop you will learn: 

• Why and how Ads Manager is different 

to boosting posts and using Facebook’s Ad 

Centre 

• Ways in which you can create simple 

but effective audiences for both awareness 

and retargeting campaigns 

• How to create a simple single-ad 

campaign that will achieve your desired 

business goals 

For further information and to book 

for any of the Chamber events please 

visit: www.blackcountrychamber 


Generating leads and driving 

results through Linkedin 

Date: December 8 

Time: 1pm – 3pm 

Location: Online Event 

Cost: Members: £100 + VAT, 

Non-members: £125 + VAT 

Few people enjoy receiving unsolicited sales 

messages on LinkedIn, and it’s a strategy 

that often takes up a lot of time with very 

few results. 

However, that doesn’t mean LinkedIn 

can’t be used to generate new business 

from both new and existing connections 

alike. By focusing on relationships and 

meaningful connections, it’s possible to use 

this platform in way that will bring in new 

business and further your personal 

development. 

In this two-hour workshop you will learn: 

• Why people use LinkedIn, and therefore 

what kind of approach they are most likely 

to be open to engaging with 

• Ways to use the newsfeed and other 

tools to react and engage with inbound 

opportunities 

• How to use the advanced search and 

other tools to identify new prospects, and 

best practices for making an initial approach 

For further information and to book 

for any of the Chamber events please 

visit: www.blackcountrychamber 


Coming Up…… 

Start-Up Finance Workshop 

Wednesday, 12th October 

10am - 12pm 

Guest speaker is Richard Ashmore, 

from Altus Business Consulting Ltd 

Everything start-ups need to know 

about their financial statements, 

including understanding balance 

sheets and profit and loss statements, 

and cashflow. 

Start-Up Celebration of Enterprise & 

Entrepreneurship Week 

Thursday, 10th November 

10am - 12pm 

Cost: FREE to Start-Up Business Club 

members 

£25 +VAT for non-Start-Up Business 

Club members 

Location: Black Country & Marches 

Institute of Technology, Zoological 

Drive, Dudley, West Midlands DY1 4AL 

Your chance to pitch your business to 

a panel of business experts with a 

prize waiting for the winner in this 

Dragons’ Den style event! 

If you are not a member of the 

Start-Up Business Club and would like 

to book your place, email 

Alison Trinder@ 



EVENTS: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

Unleash your 

potential: 

Management development programmes 

with the Chamber 

Exploring new approaches, insights and taking 

part in an outstanding professional journey 

In order for the Black Country to remain 

competitive and thrive, great business 

leaders and dynamic managers are 

needed. 

There are many who find themselves in 

management positions or elevated to roles 

that feel they have missed out on essential 

training which allows them to be effective 

and deliver success for themselves and 

their business. 

For the past five years the Black Country 

Chamber has worked with Lotus Flower 

Consultancy in order to help those 

individuals who want to challenge 

themselves to develop new insights, 

explore different approaches and share 

invaluable development experiences. 

Over 200 individuals have taken their 

learning back to 140 businesses to help 

navigate challenges, embrace the 

opportunities and help their teams 

and businesses grow. 

In recent months, these leaders 

and managers have stepped up to 

lead through the most turbulent of 

times, and while utilising the 

invaluable lessons learned, they have 

led from the front and will continue 

doing so during the uncertain months 

ahead. 

Designed to stretch and challenge 

participants, these training programmes 

are run with participants from different 

backgrounds, experiences and industries 

creating a diverse environment where 

individuals can test and apply learning and 

developing together. 

COURSE MODULES 

n What is a manager? Introduction to management 

and the manager’s role 

n Using your time effectively and efficiently 

n Communication and delivery of the right messages 

at the right times 

n Styles and dynamics which create a good team 

n Getting the most from meetings 

n Delivering a great presentation which gets the right results 

n Building commercial awareness and acumen 

n Preparation and successful management of change 

n Develop a toolkit of skills and techniques to make a 

lasting impact when presenting ideas and information 

n Stakeholder and relationship mapping and management 

n How to run and deliver a project well 

n Clarify the purpose and principles or project management 

and review roles and responsibilities 

n Getting the best from your team and helping them to 

perform better 

n Coach and develop your teams and people 

n Consider development aims for the next six months which 

include reflection on this Programme’s learning outcomes 

COST: 

Take the full 12-month programme or pick and choose a module of your choice 

Full 12-month programme: Members of Black Country Chamber – £1,595.00 + VAT 

Non-members – £1,995.00 + VAT 

Per module: Members of Black Country Chamber – £250 + VAT 

Non-members – £295 + VAT 

Places are available for 

the 2023 cohort, so for 

more information and to 

discuss the Chamber’s 

easy payment options, 

please contact Kristian 

Jones on 07976 901502 


EVENTS: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

Training up business leaders 

for the next big step 

Concern as too many 

boards admit to having 

‘no succession strategy’ 

New research has found that many 

organisations are struggling with succession 

strategy, with nearly three-quarters of CEOs 

and 71 per cent of Boards not participating 

on or supporting succession strategies. 

The new research by talent insight experts 

Armstrong Craven demonstrates that 

succession planning is far from being a 

priority for most organisations. The research, 

which polled over 200 HR and talent 

professionals, 173 of which were senior 

leaders, found that only 24 per cent of HR 

professionals described their organisation as 

‘very proficient’ when it came to succession 

planning. 

Lack of buy-in 

A key problem is a lack of buy-in from the 

C-Suite on the importance of succession 

planning; the researchers found that in 

nearly three-quarters of companies, CEOs 

don’t have responsibility for succession 

planning, nor do 71 per cent of Boards. On 

top of this, 29 per cent of HR respondents 

say it’s a challenge to get succession 

planning buy-in from the CEO, while 24 per 

cent say the same about the wider board. 

With the cost-of-living crisis in full swing, 

soaring costs, supply chain issues and 

problems recruiting and retaining staff in a 

tight labour market, it’s safe to say that both 

the C-Suite and HR functions have their 

hands full at the moment. It may be that the 

lack of C-Suite buy-in is simply because 

succession planning is low down the list of 

priorities for most organisations. 

However, the research also uncovered a 

level of paranoia among senior managers – 

28 per cent of those polled by Armstrong 

Craven identified concerns around 

managers having to identify their own 

potential replacements as a reason for this 

lack of buy-in. 

The problem is that businesses without a 

succession strategy are playing a dangerous 

game. If there’s one thing the last few years 

have taught us, it’s that sudden shocks can 

happen at any time – and strong leadership 

is key in leading organisations through 

dramatic change. 

Burnout 

Senior management are also part of the 

‘Great Resignation’. Indeed, the C-Suite 

were under added pressure during the 

pandemic, with responsibility for managing 

the wellbeing of their employees and the 

move to remote working. This added 

pressure has led to many experiencing 

burnout. Previous research from Kelly 

Executives shows that 72 per cent of senior 

executives are planning on leaving their 

organisation in the next two years. 

This research – conducted for KellyOCG’s 

2022 Global Workforce Report, which 

surveyed 1,000 decision-makers including 

C-Suite, directors and senior management 

at some huge global organisations with a 

combined revenue of $135billion – showed 

that there’s widespread dissatisfaction 

among senior executives. Nearly two-thirds 

(63 per cent) say their workload is 

unmanageable while only a third of those 

surveyed (34 per cent) think they’re receiving 

a fair remuneration for their efforts – 

suggesting that almost two-thirds of senior 

executives think they’re underpaid. 

Six in ten say they’re not happy in their 

current job, and less than a third are 

planning in staying at their company for two 

years. 

Agile training programmes from the Black 

Country Chamber of Commerce provide 

For more information 

visit: Director and Board 

Development - Black Country 

Chamber of Commerce 

or contact Calum Nisbet at: 

calumnisbet@ 



fresh and relevant content that confront the 

challenges business leaders are facing 

today. 

Led by business professionals with a 

wealth of cross-sector experience bringing 

topics and themes to life with practice, real 

world examples, our Director and Board 

Development series builds and reinforces 

the competencies needed to be an 

exemplar director and leader by covering 

the vital aspects of directorship and 

approaches which make these roles more 

effective to tackle issues, embrace 

opportunities and lead transformational 

change. 

DATES FOR THE DIARY 

Your Leadership Approach 

October 11 

1 day workshop 

Effective directors deploy the strengths 

and talent to drive their business forward. 

No universal ‘right’ approach exists and, as 

such, honing self-awareness and the most 

appropriate skills for the right situation are 

needed to influence, enthuse and lead. 

Member Price: £750 + VAT 

Non-Member Price: £900 + VAT 

Building Better Boards 

November 1 


With responsibility for the oversight of 

strategic change in organisation and legal 

obligations, Boards need to work together 

to make informed yet hard choices which 

are right for the business. Effective Boards 

consider and value the multitude of voices 

and experiences of their members to create 

a fertile ground for debate, discussion, 

challenge and the convergence of 

capabilities and ideas. 



The Role of Finance in Business 

November 15 & 16 


Directors are expected to be familiar with 

the financial health of their business and be 

able to interrogate information, be aware of 

concepts, terminology and other factors to 

make sound financial judgements in line 

with their legal responsibilities. This 

workshop is particularly designed for non– 

financial directors. 



The Effective Non-Executive Director 

December 6 


Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) are there 

to provide their experience, perspectives 

and support Directors and Manager to 

deliver plans and realise objectives. 

Alongside the legal responsibilities, NEDs 

must have highly developed self-awareness, 

the ability to set strategic direction, 

influencing skills and conviction. 



For more information 

visit: Director and Board 

Development - Black Country 

Chamber of Commerce 

or contact Calum Nisbet at: 

calumnisbet@ 


Leading Strategic Change 

2023 date to be confirmed 

2-day workshop 

These highly interactive and practical 

workshops equip Directors to challenge, 

drive, and confidently contribute fully to 

the decision-making process based upon 

understanding the situational context, 

drivers and regulatory frameworks their 

business operates into craft and set 

meaningful and valuable strategy. 



Training today saves recruitment fees tomorrow 

Businesses across the UK are being 

heavily impacted by the rising cost of 

living and soaring inflation. In a May a 

survey by the Office of National Statistics 

(ONS), more than a quarter (26%) of UK 

businesses cited ‘inflation of goods and 

services prices’ as the main concern for 

their business. 

Additionally, recruiting and retaining 

staff is now more difficult than ever amid 

a post-pandemic rise in demand for 

greater working environments, better 

known as, ‘The Great Resignation’. 

This means many business owners are 

going to be looking at how they can cut 

costs and improve efficiency in their 

operation, as well as ensuring they remain 

attractive to potential and existing 

employees. A maybe surprising, yet great 

way to do that is through the use of 

effective workplace training. 

Upskilling 

There’s no doubt that businesses are in 

a battle for talent at all levels. With the 

Great Resignation underway, employees 

have developed higher expectations of 

their employers. 

And where some organisations cannot 

compete with the flexibility of other 

businesses, they must ensure they are 

offering rewarding job opportunities. 

By implementing programmes and 

initiatives for employees to develop their 

skills, organisations are making an 

investment in their future successes. If 

staff feel like they are being presented 

with opportunities to develop their 

existing skills and learn new ones, they 

are far more likely to feel engaged with 

their work and become more motivated 

and loyal to your business as a result. 

Furthermore, it makes financial sense 

for businesses to help existing employees 

upskill. Research by Acas has found the 

cost of recruiting replacements each year 

is £5,433 per employee and the cost of 

lost productivity as new employees get up 

to speed is £25,181 per 

employee, 

totalling 

£14.9bn 

each 

year. 


INTERNATIONAL TRADE 

WMCA Series – Free Webinars and Workshop spaces 

Supporting businesses looking to trade overseas 

With the support of the West Midlands 

Combined Authority (WMCA), the Black 

Country Chamber of Commerce, along with 

the Greater Birmingham Chambers of 

Commerce and Coventry & Warwickshire 

Chamber of Commerce, have been 

delivering a wide range of Brexit-related 

support for businesses over the past few 

years 

The Chambers continue to support 

businesses trade effectively, offering 

international trade workshops, customs 

consultancy and business briefings with the 

ambition of supporting more employers 

across the region. 

To learn more about the free webinars 

or to book spaces on our workshops, 

please visit www.blackcountrychamber. 

co.uk or contact Kristian Jones at 

kristianjones@blackcountrychamber.co.uk 

International Trade Workshops 

• Our workshops are delivered virtually 

• There are five free spaces per workshop, limited to one per company. (50% 

discount on a second place) 

• Companies can request a free space on a maximum of 2 workshops 

Date Topic covered Time 

October 11 Export Letters of Credit 09.00-13.00 

November 10 Export Documentation Workshop 09.30-16.30 

November 22 Import Procedures Training – A Practical Guide 

to Importing 09.30-16.30 

December 8 Understanding Incoterms 09.30-12.00 

January 18 Preference Rules of Origin 09.30-13.00 

January 25 Export Documentation Workshop 09.30-16.30 

Business briefings: key facts, in an hour 

Join us for a series of quick-fire virtual 

business briefings on important topics for 

companies looking to trade overseas. Key 

information in bite-sized chunks, 

delivered by sector experts virtually in an 

hour, with recordings available on 

request. Free to attend. 

Foreign Exchange: Bracing for uncertainty 

The here, now & future expectations 


Time: 10am – 11am 

• Review of currency markets – what has 

been the cost? 

• Future expectations / forecasts 

• Managing Risk 

Session delivered by Andy Medler of 

Halo Financial. 

www.halofinancial.com 

UKCA Marking: Securing market access in 

Great Britain 



• What’s expected from you as a 

manufacturer? 

• How you can comply 

• Next steps towards sustaining your market 

access 

Session delivered by Ben Williams, 

BSI Group 

www.BSIgroup.com 

Preparing for a Customs Audit 


Time: 10am – 12.30 

• The purpose of the audit 

• The different types of audit that HMRC 

may undertake 

• What the auditors will be looking for 

regarding imports and exports 

• Checking declarations for accuracy and 

validity 

• The role of the freight forwarder and 

customs broker 

• Records to Keep 

• Examples of errors and mistakes 

• Tools and Websites that can help you 

manage your data and systems in 

anticipation of an audit 

• Implementing Procedures and Controls 

Session delivered by David Hooper, 

Hooper and Co International Trade 

Consultancy Ltd 

www.hooperandco.com 

Growing your E-commerce business 

strategy to enter new markets 



• How digital can help your business grow 

internationally 

• Understanding your new local markets 

• Building a new customer persona – 

keeping it local 

• Modifying your digital channel approach 

for new countries 

• Creating a robust digital strategy using the 

right channels in new markets 

Session delivered by Gurpreet Dhillon 

Digital D marketing 

www.digital-d.co.uk 

For more information and 

bookings please 

contact Kristian Jones 

on 07976 901502 


INTERNATIONAL TRADE 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE COURSES 

Training Dates for the Diary 

Since the Brexit vote, the end of the 

transition period and now the introduction 

of the UK and EU Trade & Co-operation 

Agreement, there are many more 

procedures, protocols and systems 

businesses need to be aware of. 


Commerce has been involved in the delivery 

of trade skills workshops for many years and 

has an established reputation for the quality 

and relevance of these courses and their 

contribution to the up skilling of British 

exporters. 

Our courses cover a range of topics and, 

working with the British Chambers of 




on 07976 901502 

Commerce, we have identified a curriculum 

of 10 level courses which provide 

foundational knowledge and skills required 

to trade effectively. 

These courses are accredited by British 

Chambers of Commerce and are delivered 

by our professionally registered trainers 

virtually. At the end of each session, 

participants will complete a course 

assessment for that module which will be 

submitted for independent approval who 

will award successful participants a 

nationally recognised Foundation Award in 

International Trade if they complete six of 

the 10 identified courses. 

COURSES 

October 11: 

Export: Letters of Credit 

November 9: 

Import Procedure Training – 

A Practical guide to Importing 

December 8: 

Understanding Incoterms 2020 

January 18, 2023: 

Preference Rules of Origin 

February 15: 

Export Documentation Workshop 

February 21: 

Export: Letters of Credit 

March 15: 

Import Procedures Training – A 

Practical Guide to Importing 

The customs team is coming 

Preparing for a Customs Audit 


Time: 10am – 12.30 

Venue: Online 

Black Country Chamber is hosting a session 

on preparing for a Customs Audit. It will 

take you through: 

• The purpose of the audit 

• The different types of audit that HMRC 

may undertake 

• What the auditors will be looking for 

regarding imports and exports 

• Records to Keep 

• Checking declarations for accuracy and 

validity 

• The role of the freight forwarder and 

customs broker 

• Examples of errors and mistakes 

• Tools and Websites that can help you 

manage your data and systems in 

anticipation of an audit 

• Implementing Procedures and Controls 




on 07976 901502 


APPOINTMENT / PROSPER PEOPLE 

New roles around 

the region 

Prosper People 

• National audit, tax, advisory and risk 

firm Crowe has promoted Matt 

Doyle-Healey to partner in the firm’s 

audit practice. Matt has more than 

16 years’ experience providing 

audit, risk and accountancy support 

to businesses of all sizes from 

owner-managed firms to large 

corporates. He has a broad range of 

sector expertise from manufacturing and 

technology to stockholding and distribution. 

In addition, Matt has a particular interest in the 

education and academies sectors. 

• Former prison officer and 

founder of Sponsored Breaks, 

Simon Love has joined the Nant 

team in the role of client 

development liaison officer. 

Simon will be responsible for 

managing client needs and 

developing relationships to bring 

on new business at the water safety 

specialists. He joins after spending 15 

years in the prison service. In February 2021 

Simon and his wife Harriet established social enterprise, 

Sponsored Breaks, a unique business providing the most 

deserving individuals and their families with free UK breaks. 

Chamber Race Day off to a flyer 

In July, Wolverhampton Racecourse hosted the first Black Country 

Chamber of Commerce Race Day. It was a fantastic day for 

sponsors, members, racegoers and the Chamber team to join 

together for fun, food and a few bets. One lucky guest even 

scooped the Placepot, going home several thousand pounds 

better off than when she arrived! 

The Chamber will be running the event again next summer so 

please remember to look out for the announcement. 

• Leading regional law firm Higgs LLP has 

appointed experienced Partner Tracy 

Lake to head up its thriving 

commercial team. 

She brings a wealth of direct 

relatable experience to the firm 

having previously worked as a 

Partner at Weightmans, as well as 

in-house at FTSE 100 companies 

National Grid and Severn Trent Water. 

• ISO Quality Services has announced the promotion of 

Stacey Humm to the role of sales and marketing manager. 

The new role will see Stacey take over the reins of leading 

the sales and marketing team from MD Jennifer Appleton to 

support the business with its ambitious growth plans. 

Following a 12-year career in the legal 

sector, Stacey initially joined ISO QSL 

in 2017 heading up the marketing 

team. 

As part of the role, Stacey will 

also join the senior leadership team 

helping to shape the future of ISO 

QSL. 


PROSPER PEOPLE 

Black Country Chamber 

Business Golf Open 

Above, breakfast butties, business 

networking and the hunt for an elusive 

birdie or two were the order of the day at 

Oxley Park Golf Club in Wolverhampton as 

teams joined Chamber membership 

advisor Richard Brooks for the annual 

Chamber Golf Day. 

The event was held in association with 

Amros Golf Event Management and 

charity partner, Black Country Mental 

Health. 

Getting the message across 

Prosper editor Sarah Thompson and John Corser, business editor from the Express & Star, 

joined the Chamber’s Business Start-up Club to talk about all things press, PR and 

communications. The duo shared their top tips on how to generate brand awareness 

through press and public relations, what makes a good story and how to get your business 

news into the media. 

All things 

Bentley 

Chamber members were 

talking all things Bentley 

when Adrian Hallmark, 

Chairman and Chief 

Executive of Bentley 

Motors Ltd, was guest 

speaker at the Chamber’s 

annual President’s Lunch. 

He was joined by 

Chamber’s Premium 

members at the Mount 

Hotel for the event. 

More on pg 26

Prosper Autumn, Black Country Chamber of Commerce magazine

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