FREE • April/May 2020 SPECIAL EDITION Life after lockdown birminghambiz.co.uk 03 Welcome intro This edition was meant to face of extraordinary pressures. examine the measures laid The grim statistics worsened by out in the Spring Budget by a the day. Workers and businesses chancellor who had only just across the land have been left in a found himself in the job. state of limbo, weighed down with The Budget was big, meaningful the uncertainty of what life would news at the time with very real bring. On the face of it, the picture consequences for businesses. It could barely be bleaker. seems like a lifetime ago now, but But delve below the surface it was only in March. and little glimmers of light could The storm clouds in the form be found in an otherwise dark and By HENRY of the virus were gathering, frightening world. CARPENTER however, and in the space of only Stories of selflessness and Aluminium casting & CNC machining Plastic injection moulding a few days, as the enormity of the contributions to the cause have Editor pandemic’s effects began to sink reverberated against a welcome Contract electronics manufacturing Industrial design COLLABORATING TOWARDS in, the country – the world – went silence of greed, egotism and Electrical & electronic assembly Pressings, welding & assembly into collective shock. And with petty politics. Businesses large Forging Fluid Power it, the business world went into and small, as well as individuals, ELECTRIFICATION High volume precision stamping Tube manipulation paralysis. have been playing their part. PCB manufacture Engineering supplies The hospitality industry was A sense of resilience, of hope, the first casualty, as we were of we’re-all-in-it-together solidarity instructed to avoid visiting bars, has come to the fore. If you want pubs and restaurants, and they to read positive words from some Editor were ordered to shut down. The of the region’s industry leaders, HENRY CARPENTER lockdown was real, and suddenly turn to our report on COVID-19 [email protected] tumbleweed was blowing through fallout. ONE SOLUTION, TEN the world of business and We were also – and indeed are Editorial director commerce. The chancellor was – running a special supplement MANUFACTURING DISCIPLINES CARL JONES back on our television screens on life sciences in the region, as A single-source solution for helping [email protected] pledging a £330 billion fiscal well as shining a light on some stimulus to keep the nation at of the West Midlands’ many and industryindustry move move towards towards electrification. electrification. Design and layout MICHELLE DALTON work, if not actually working. varied success stories. That we Those workers went home – have been able to print at all is CONTACT US ABOUT Y0UR NEXT PROJECT. Business development signing up to Zoom, House Party down to the backing of some key manager/head of advertising and the rest – by the millions, supporters for which they have our MIKE MOLONEY while keeping one eye on the immense thanks. [email protected] news, as the NHS staff and other We can do this, has been the front-line workers battled tirelessly battle cry. Yes, of course we can. General enquiries to try to control the situation in the And we will. [email protected] man-group.co.uk /mangroupuk /companies/mangroupuk ONLINE Birmingham Business is published by Midlands Magazines Ltd. Reproduction of this magazine in whole or in part is birminghambiz.co.uk prohibited without written permission of the editor. The publishers have taken all reasonable care to ensure that the @brumbiz information in this magazine is accurate at time of going to press. Midlands Magazines accepts no responsibility for the Control & Automation BRANDAUER consequences of error or for any loss or damage suffered by Complete manufacturing solutions Electronics Solutions facebook.com/brumbiz users of any of the information and material contained in this publication. The views expressed by our columnists are not necessarily those held by the publisher, or editor. Birmingham-business Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company Cast www.magprint.co.uk 26 Accountancy, Tax & Business 05 Advice for Aspirational 23 27 55 contents ON THE COVER LIFE SCIENCES SOCIALS SPECIAL | 30-45 Business Owners 06 COVID-19 27 LoveBrum How is the business Some of the key figures All the fun from the sector responding in from this highly complex Big Quiz fundraiser these unprecedented world explain why the 63 Hedge House times? West Midlands deserves Champagne its reputation as a reception to mark national powerhouse in the launch of this the life sciences sector luxury property Helping you make better PLUS: We examine why it pays for employers to decisions and increase look after the mental COLUMNIST wellbeing of their staff 32 Graham Silk the speed and certainty Reports on the FEATURES region’s state of your progress. 18 Power Minerals of health The company which 47 Kim Leary has found the value Three ways your of waste brand can power 23 Yen Yau through the crisis Meet the director 48 Jon Griffin helping people Looks back at the into the film-making Chinese influence industry on Birmingham’s 55 HausBots business community Learn all about the FD Excellence Accountancy Firm of the Year invention which may just be the next big Tel: 0121 456 1613 thing to come out Email: [email protected] of Digbeth @HainesWattsWM hwca.com 06 Coronavirus: 07 health & life sciences the fallout COVID-19 COVID-19 Little can be predicted with any sort of certainty on what lies ahead for business after the pandemic. The effects of coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown will continue to be felt right across health & life sciences the commercial spectrum for months, years and probably decades. We ask expert voices from some of the key sectors in the region to offer their thoughts on what the crisis might mean for their particular industries, not just in the short term but looking further ahead to the future as well. “I don’t think that there is yet a ‘new normal’, but I might dare to suggest that the shock of the sudden disruption might see us return to a more pre-2008 economic model of local production.” By David 08 Kidney By Mark Smith 09 Chief executive of Executive director of UK Public Health COVID-19 Register and chair business of the West Midlands engagement Health Technologies at Aston Cluster University These are sombre times. With self products and services = drawing on for our economy to be restored. In As I write this, Aston University is attitudes towards enterprise. We there is an inherent lack of resilience. outlook isolation, a broken economy and our assets to identify solutions and health technologies, my aim is to complying with the Government’s are already adapting to a shifting This is especially apparent families losing loved ones to an how to deploy them set up a Cluster Organisation that guidelines and remains open for economy with the state taking a more when events cause countries to invisible enemy, the future looks Immunisation and works with businesses to help them business. We have swiftly managed significant role in society. Although deny trade and travel across their outlook bleak. But together, we will get vaccination, providing protection be more innovative, more productive – like many other businesses – to the temporary changes may be borders. Europe, one of the most through this and then we can start against infection = develop products and more competitive. use technology to allow our support challenging to undo, they will not be advanced global JIT markets, will work on a better future. and services that are fit for purpose Health is so much more that of students and organisations to impossible, and the reality is going to need to learn the lessons from the The world is changing because Capacity, organisations like the hospitals and GP surgeries, more continue, drawing on the massive be that the Government will seek to pandemic very quickly to ensure that of this global pandemic, COVID-19 NHS need to be able to flex to meet than doctors and nurses. It is more dedication of our in-house ICT team. restart the private sector economy as it is much better prepared for future (coronavirus). We are rapidly demand = create innovation in both than the NHS. For example, at the Reaction from our clients has been quickly as possible. turbulence when it occurs. Already COVID-19 re-thinking the systems we live supply and demand Public Health Register, I regulate the very positive, and it is pleasing to see They will do this by encouraging my colleagues, such as Professor Ed by – economy, education, health, Technology, the digital tools UK public health workforce. Public how the Birmingham business world people to start and grow businesses, Sweeney at the Aston Logistics and technology, transport. When this for all sectors and all communities health workers work alongside has rallied to support the current creating a favourable taxation Supply Chain Institute, are looking at crisis is over, some things will return = sharing expertise and knowledge colleagues in national and local ‘business as usual’ ethos. environment supporting the rapid how those patterns will shift and how to how they were before, but many across the partnership to nurture government, NHS and communities Although universities can and are growth of productive output. Sectors to advise businesses. are changed forever. innovation and deliver growth to keep us safe and beat the virus. assisting with vital work to counteract will re-grow at different speeds, The final change will be to how I have been asked to set up a Enterprise, industries and They are brave, they are strategic the pandemic, their primary role is to and aside from ICT services which and where we work, and the skills West Midlands Health Technologies service providers capable of and, of necessity, they communicate ensure a flow of qualified people that will continue to surge, the personal that we use while in work.