e-bulletin May 2008

Word from the Chairman

There are some real perks to being Chairman of Birmingham Future sometimes. This month, I got to sit on the front row at BBC Question Time when it came to Birmingham and I got invited to the official royal re-opening of the fabulous Town Hall! Of course, the best perk of all is that being Chairman guarantees you a ticket to BYPY! Huge apologies to those of you who have not been lucky enough to get your hands on a ticket to BYPY this year. We are desperately trying to secure a bigger room for next year!! Small concilation I know but you will be able to listen to a podcast of the evening after the big night. Do have a listen to some of our existing podcasts here, made in association with Birmingham City University, as they give you a real flavour of some of the events you may have missed. We have some other great events coming up in May too. Don’t miss our first Keynote Speaker lunch on 12 May with Tim Watts. This is a unique opportunity to hear from one of the country’s leading businessmen. I look forward to seeing you there!

Alex Bishop
Chairman of Birmingham Future

News & Events

BYPY – the countdown begins!

With just a few weeks to go until the ceremony itself, the BYPY committee are feverishly putting final plans in place: deciding menus, ordering flowers, booking DJs and organising the now legendary goody bags. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!

Our stellar line up of judges have deliberated and cogitated, bestowing six young professionals with coveted BYPY awards click here to check out this year’s candidates. Three Inspiring Leaders have been nominated, with the winner to be decided in a public vote on the evening itself. All that remains is to watch it all come together, under one roof, on May 22nd.

As already explained, tickets for this year’s Birmingham Young Professional of the Year, sponsored by Cobbetts LLP were snapped up within hours of being released. Apologies again if you missed out.

Future Thrive for Charities

Members of Birmingham Future have joined with representatives from the Thrive Forum in a sub committee to arrange a number of events which will benefit charities working in the region.

The first event to be held in the summer will be an interactive workshop, where CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) representatives from key corporate organisations will be invited to meet with charity fundraisers from charities of all shapes and sizes. The purpose of this event is to help build and forge relationships between the two parties and to educate fundraisers on the best way to approach and pitch for support from the CSR representatives. Further information will be announced via the bulletin in the coming months.

Recent events

Over 60 Birmingham Future members attended “Lead the way - How mentoring develops leadership qualities”, an event organised by the Mentoring Committee and hosted by Bevan Brittan. Speaker Dr Andy Bass a leading career development consultant delivered an insightful workshop examining the key attributes of successful leaders, their range of styles and how mentoring can be highly complementary to career development across all professions.

Commenting on the success of the event, Mentoring Committee Chairman Madeleine Reaves said “The high turnout to this workshop shows that leadership is a key topic of interest to our members and Andy clearly demonstrated how being involved in the mentoring process can develop both the ‘soft’ and professional skills needed to develop into the business leaders of tomorrow.” The mentoring Committee has successfully matched over 200 members to date and has recently launched a downward mentoring scheme in association with Birmingham City University. Should you like to participate in either mentoring schemes as either a mentor or a mentee, please email Rob Westwood-Payne here for an application form or visit our page on the Birmingham Future website

The “Your Safety in Our City” an event organised by Birmingham Future City Centre team took place on Tuesday 15th April. Hosted by Wragge& Co, guest speakers included Superintendent Malcolm Coal, head of Steelhouse Lane Police Station, Sergeant Sharon Naughton and Jagveen Bagary, manager of Birmingham Anti Social Behaviour Unit (BASBU). The speakers provided Birmingham Future members with up to date statistics showing that Birmingham is indeed one of the safest cities in the UK. The Police are continuing to work closely with the City Council and community groups to ensure a coordinated approach to public safety.

The Thrive network has joined forces with Birmingham Future to organise a series of lunchtime walks, open to anyone keen to hear about the and sometimes surprising remarkable history of our city. Ian Jelf, a superb Blue Badge Qualified Tour Guide took a sell out group on 23rd April on a mystery tour of Birmingham, the ultimate introduction to our city centre. A voyage through time from medieval field lines to its twenty first century redevelopment to match anything else in the world was unearthed en route, with stories of Georgian gentry, Victorian social reformers, and post war planners. As this event was a sell out, we plan to re-run the walk at the end of May for those that missed out. The next in the series is already being planned. A great way to walk off your lunch and learn a little bit more about the city we work in.

Dates for your diary – Future’s future events

Keynote Speaker Lunch with Tim Watts - Monday 12 May 2008 at The ICC, Hall 11a, 12.00 for 12.30hrs until 14.30hrs .Sponsored by HBJ Gateley Wareing this is Birmingham Future’s first keynote speaker lunch in 2008 with Tim Watts, Chairman of Pertemps Recruitment Partnership. We are delighted that Tim will give our members a unique insight into his successful career to date, his views on effective leadership and his thoughts on working with the professional and financial services sector.

Tickets are available for this event at £41.13+vat. To reserve your place please call Martina Fajksova on 0121 632 2201 or by e-mail here.

Birmingham Quiz Night - Wednesday 28th May 2008 at Bluu, Islington gates, Summer Row 18:00hrs for 18:30hrs. Think you know everything about Birmingham? Come and put your knowledge to the test at our Birmingham Pub Quiz night. A great chance to show what you know (or don’t) about Birmingham, with six question rounds and famous faces.
Places are available at £20.00 +vat to include a buffet and 2 complimentary drinks. Please note that you do not need to book as a team and to promote networking, teams will be allocated on the evening. Please e-mail Isabel here to reserve your place or call 0121 632 2204.

Graduate Employment

The West Midlands Regional Observatory, an independent research and data organisation, is currently undertaking research into graduate employment. The findings will be used to inform relevant interventions to encourage a greater take up of graduate level employment in the West Midlands region.

We are conducting a large-scale survey of graduates who either live or work in the region, or who studied in the region. If you have a degree-level qualification, including foundation degree, we would be grateful if you could spare 10-20 minutes to share your experiences and help shape future support for graduates, students and employers.
The survey is online. To take part, please follow this secure link: http://surveys.globalepanel.com/wix/p108969266.aspx Your responses will be treated in the strictest confidence. The project is being undertaken on behalf of the Higher Education Association, Advantage West Midlands, the Learning & Skills Council, and Foundation Degree Forward. If you have any questions about the study, please contact Helena Duignan of the West Midlands Regional Observatory on 0121 202 3253 or email Helena.duignan@wmro.org. For more information on WMRO and its work, please visit the website at www.wmro.org

Out and about in Birmingham

New to the Future e-bulletin - Each month we will review a tried and tested place in the city, this may be a restaurant, bar, gallery, museum or venue. To kick us off Lise-Ann Brennan shared experiences of one of her favourite haunts in the city…

• Cafe Soya II , Unit 2 The Matrix, Upper Dean Street Birmingham
• VIETNAMESE
• Vegetarian choice available
• Family Friendly
• www.cafesoya.co.uk

If you’re after a good value, deliciously fresh Vietnamese meal, and let’s face it who isn’t these days?!! Then look no further than Café Soya II. Originally located in a small unassuming unit in the Arcadian Centre this place proved so popular they had to move to larger premises!

The menu alone requires a weeks worth of studying, but fear not whatever you choose you’ll not be disappointed! A friendly warning though portions are generous to say the least but with food this good that’s no bad thing!

Having been here a few times now I can honestly say I have never been disappointed. The service is friendly and the food is excellent, some personal favourites from the a-fore mentioned extensive menu include Hot and Spicy Vermicelli, Lemongrass Pork Steak Fried Rice and the indescribable Papaya Salad Vermicelli. With main courses for under a tenner and starters for around £3-£6 there’s no excuse for not paying a visit to probably one of the best and most authentic Chinese/Vietnamese restaurants in town.
Alternatives:
Wagamama www.wagamama.com
Must www.mustgroup.co.uk

Limited edition cufflinks

The cover of the new directory features the ‘Advised in Birmingham’ strapline as a cufflink. These limited edition sterling silver cufflinks have been made by one of the jewellery quarter’s leading silversmiths and are available to members at £40.00 (incl vat).

They are a great way to show your commitment to the city or equally make a great gift, or memento, for a client. There are two versions available – sterling silver oxy as shown on the directory cover; or plain sterling silver which are more discreet.

Please contact Parmi Gill on 0121 632 2205 or by e-mail here to order yours today!

Little steps... big difference!

ACTION 66 - TAKE BREAKS! - Stress is infectious. If you get stressed out, you'll pass it on to someone else. Stress is like pass the parcel. Which is a pretty stressful game in itself. So if you can avoid getting stressed out, you stop the vicious circle starting. And the best way to do this is to take breaks. FYI: The average British lunch 'hour' is now just 27 minutes.

ACTION 69 - Shut down your computer properly -Yes, we know. It takes about 15 minutes, and it's as boring as listening to the weather forecast in Danish. But it makes a huge difference. FYI: One computer left on all day results in the emission of 1,500 pounds of carbon dioxide in a year. It would take 100 to 500 trees to absorb that amount of extra carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

Birmingham... did you know?

Edgbaston Reservoir does not – as is often thought – supply drinking water to the area. It was in fact built by Thomas Telford in the 1820s to keep the Birmingham canals system topped up.

In the great Domesday Book of 1086, the Manor of Birmingham was valued at just 20 /- or £1. For comparison, King’s Norton was valued at £3 and Aston at £5.

New members...

The Membership Committee would like to extend a warm welcome to all 11 new members who have joined us in April!

We are pleased to offer a membership benefits card and membership pack to all our Birmingham Future members. Details of the participating companies in the scheme are available on the website here. The membership cards will be posted out next week so look out for those when they arrive on your desks!

Birmingham Future, One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD
Telephone: +44 (0)121 632 2200 Fax: +44 (0)121 632 2201