Fastest Growing Company In Wolverhampton?

Councillor Phil Bateman Mayor of Wolverhampton said "I have been enjoying visit's to leaders of business in the last week, and I have enjoyed very much finding out about their industry and hearing what the future holds for them.

All have been part of the Business Champions Group that have been advising me as the Mayor this year. I have been to Carillian, The Allied Irish Bank and Goodrich Actuation Systems todate.

One of my most recent visits has been to Birmingham Midshires one of the largest private employers in the City with nearly 2,000 employees based in their HQ building at Pendeford. I was very much welcomed onto the site with the message "glad you could come along and visit us and see for yourself what a great business (Birmingham Midshires) is.

The Mayor added " The visit was an important one for me as 'BM' ( Birmingham Midshires) is still an expanding business, it is a financial business and we need more of the financial and banking sector here in Wolverhampton. Much of the problem that they have is due to their continued growth. It is a nice problem to have here in Wolverhampton. Much better than hearing about job losses! Though it has its pressures, including being able to squeeze enough capacity out of a site that does not have easy access to public transport. I heard about the difficulty of car parking and poor public transport access to their HQ building.

The company informed me of their delight with Wolverhampton Business Champions.

Matthew Grayson from their Public Relations said " It has - for the first time - given us a constructive and practical forum within which we can air our views / ideas on how to jointly move this fantastic city of ours forward. "

Councillor Bateman added "There is some good work going on but there is a need for even more contact, there is a potential for more jobs but BM are in competition with other members of their group for these... I understand that this pits Wolverhampton against Chester and Cardiff.

I have since the visit written to our Director of Regeneration about the conversation I had with BM, and I hope that we can discuss these issues with a view to helping the company capture their opportunities."


Nigel Stockton Managing Director Birmingham Midshires has written to me since my visit stating "You will no doubt have sensed the pride in our achievements and our determination to take BM onto even greater success, and we look forward to continuing to work together with your office and with the Council."

The Mayor added " I am sure that we can all achieve a great deal for our community if we talk and air some of the problems and opportunities that we have here in this great City of Wolverhampton."