West Midlandswww.iod.com Summer 2019 International first at awards Dr Julian Turner is West Midlands’ Director of the Year EVENTS | DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT | ADVICE AND INFORMATION | NEWS IoD Director of the Year CONTACTS IoD West Midlands: iHub, Colmore Gate, 2-6 Colmore Row, highlights British Birmingham B3 2QD T: 0121 643 1868 business at its very best Chair: Brian Hall e: [email protected] embarked on a whole new chapter for what was t: 0121 728 8360 Brian Hall an established business. Chair, Previous events have been hugely successful Regional Director/Editor: IoD West Midlands and given members real insights into how other Calum Nisbet businesses operate, with tips and takeaways to e: [email protected] transform their own organisations. No matter t: 0121 643 7801 Welcome to the Summer issue of the IoD West which sector you operate in, or for how long, Midlands membership magazine. you can always learn something new from Office administration: This issue covers our recent Director of the others, as these Best Practice Visits clearly Jordan Lowe Year Awards, where it was a real pleasure to demonstrate. See pg 25 for more details on the e: [email protected] meet and congratulate our winners from across next one, and make sure you reserve your place. t: 0121 643 1868 the region. Our overall winner, Dr Julian Turner, MD of the Westfield Technology Group, is a Moving to other IoD matters, it has been The Institute of Directors West truly inspiring business leader, a man who has heartening to see how much progress we are Midlands membership taken some bold, innovative steps to diversify making on our key themes, principally on the magazine is published on his business. knowledge-sharing agenda and diversity, on behalf of the IoD by: From a manufacturer of exciting but which the deputy chair, Jackie Hendley, is doing Chamber Media Services, traditional kit sports cars, Julian has such great work. Much of the work is being led 4 Hilton Road, Bramhall, transformed the business, showing real by our regional committees and it has been Stockport, Cheshire SK7 3AG. entrepreneurship to turn Westfield into the heartening to see how the IoD is engaging with UK’s leading manufacturer of electric POD the wider business community as well as its Advertising sales: vehicles. Today his business is targeting clients membership to work on what are key pillars of Colin Regan around the globe, winning new business a long the modern business world. t: 01942 537959 / 07871 444922 way from these shores. e: [email protected] He was a worthy winner of our main award. Looking outside the IoD, before composing I was also delighted to be able to this column I had a brief look at my column in Production enquiries: acknowledge personally the work of Adrian the Spring issue of IoD West Midlands about Rob Beswick, Shooter, now leading Vivarail but formerly at one of the biggest – if not the biggest – t: 0161 426 7957 the head of Chiltern Rail, with the IoD’s regeneration and construction projects we’ve e: rob@chambermedia Chairman’s Award. Adrian has demonstrated ever seen: HS2. Last quarter I wrote: ‘The future services.co.uk outstanding professionalism and the of HS2 concerns me. I can see a head of steam implementation of best practice in governance (please, no pun intended) building in some and leadership at both companies. I have been quarters against the project, and there have been Please note... overwhelmed by the number of people who whispers about its future.’ have contacted me since the awards to tell me Since then those fears have not dissipated; Although every effort is made to this was a richly deserved commendation. indeed, they have intensified. Criticism of the ensure the accuracy of material contained within this magazine, To all our winners, well done. It was a great cost, route and rationale behind it have neither the IoD nor Chamber Media event held in a wonderful atmosphere and I left emerged over the past three months, and the Services can accept any inspired by the examples of all our finalists. I’m mood music emanating from London appears responsibility for omissions or sure our winners will represent us well in the overwhelmingly negative. I stress ‘in London’; inaccuracies in its editorial or advertising content. national IoD Awards later this year. perhaps there are too many MPs who have The views expressed in this forgotten the UK exists outside the M25? publication are not necessarily Continuing with IoD events, our next Chair’s Recently, I was invited by HS2 to look around those of the IoD. The carriage of Best Practice Visit is in the pipeline, and I’m some of the key facilities being developed adverts in this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the delighted to say that our Director of the Year, locally for the Birmingham-London section of products or services advertised. Julian Turner, has agreed to throw open the the route: the sites for the Solihull International All articles within this publication doors to the Westfield Technology Group for and Curzon Street stations, and the work at are copyright IoD West Midlands. what I’m sure will be an eye-opening event. Washwood Heath to create the depot. Editorial consent must be obtained before any are reproduced either in We’ll get to learn more about how he printed form or electronically. transformed the company’s main products and Continued on page 4 IoD West Midlands Patrons Cover picture: Dr Julian Turner of Westfield Technology Group receives his award for International Director from Dean Sheriff at the IoD West Midlands Director of the Year Awards. Full report: see pg 14 www.iod.com/westmids/events 03 News Business needs to back HS2 Continued from page 3 The sheer size and complexity of this project is astonishing, and the amount of work that has already been signed off and is under way shows how much progress has been made already. But despite that, Checking out HS2: the Treasury is mounting a new review of IoD West Midlands the value-for-money case behind HS2, Chair Brian Hall and amid dark talk of its impending axe. It is regional director deeply disturbing. Calum Nisbet with It seems unlikely that the first part of the other guests on a visit project, the Birmingham-London line, will to the HS2 site at be affected and will survive any Treasury Washwood Heath, tinkering. Too much has been invested which will be the already. Where the focus appears to lie is main depot for the on the northern extension, from Birmingham service once it opens and on to Manchester and Leeds. Let’s be clear: the IoD in the West Midlands is 100 per cent behind both the section south to London and the northern lie at the heart of a transport infrastructure reached out to our colleagues in the North extension. Some in this region might think of motorways and quick links to the airport. West and Yorkshire to discuss ways we can we’ve done well to secure a quick link to It is not just a high-speed train line: it is defend this ground-breaking project – all London, and if the northern section isn’t the biggest regeneration project this of it. built, so be it, but they miss the point country has seen for decades, with the We want to ensure London-based about HS2 and its impact on the West potential to transform the local economy. politicians hear a united business voice Midlands. Being at the end of the line to We are already seeing foreign direct extolling its benefits and why the London will not help the regional investment coming into the region on the investment is sorely needed. economy grow anywhere near as much as back of what HS2 could mean; imagine Our part of this project may well be being in the heart of the line, drawing up how much will flow into the region once it secure but the real benefits of HS2 will investment from the south and talent down is up and running and delivering only be felt when the whole country can from the north. That’s the game changer. economic growth? take advantage. HS2, when pushed north, will put West As an example, consider the impact Midlands businesses in the centre of a Chiltern Rail had, when it developed its Finally, it would be remiss of me not to huge pool of people, all within an hour of new rail link south of Birmingham to bring up the mess that is Brexit. Having each other. It will allow for the growth of London. It breathed new life into the warned against further inertia in previous new hubs for businesses and the creation towns of Banbury and Warwick and columns, I feel I am sounding repetitive, of new clusters of hi-tech firms that will proved a huge boost to the local economy so I shall simply leave you with this transform the economy. around the new route. But what Chiltern thought. I’d like to praise British business On a local level the scale of HS2’s Rail was looking to achieve was small leaders during this period of potential is staggering. The new station at compared to the scale of HS2 – but it does unprecedented political chaos; they have Solihull will be geared up to handle 18,000 give you a taste of what this exciting shown remarkable resilience to keep the passengers an hour; its position will open project could bring.