(l-r) Ruth Paulin, hospital director from Spire Little Aston, and Jilly Cosgrove, tournament director for Second City, present the cheques to Sarah Cooke from Arthritis Research UK and Jane Clarke from The Norman Laud Association

Two Sutton Coldfield charities have received a cash injection following donations from a local golf tournament.

The Norman Laud Association and Arthritis Research UK received cheques for £3,222 and £4,832 respectively from Second City’s 45^th golf pro-am classic event. The tournament, which was sponsored by Spire Little Aston Hospital, took place at Little Aston Golf Club.

Second City is the Midlands’ premier charity golf tournament. Established in 1967 to support Midland professional golf, the tournament originally took place over two days. In the early eighties the tournament changed to a one-day format and became a charity event. Since then, more than £265,000 has been raised for local charities.

Jilly Cosgrove, tournament director for Second City Golf Tournaments, and Ruth Paulin, hospital director from Spire Little Aston, presented the cheques to representatives from the two charities.

The Norman Laud Association provides quality respite care for children and adults with special needs. The charity also offers support to the families who cope under the most difficult circumstances.

Jane Clarke, community fundraiser for The Norman Laud Association, said: “We want to thank the people who took part in the golf tournament to raise a significant amount for our charity. The money will ensure our home and respite services remain at a high standard.”

Arthritis Research UK is a research charity that is dedicated to finding a cure for arthritis. It aims to educate and inform the general public, patients and health professionals on all aspects of arthritis and campaigns for treatment and support for people living with the condition.

Sarah Cooke, from Arthritis Research UK, said: “The donation will enable us to continue our research into curing a condition that affects people all of ages.”

Jilly Cosgrove said: “We are very grateful to our team sponsors, sponsors and patrons that make every year a success and help to raise money for worthy causes. I’ll look forward to seeing some familiar faces at the next event as well as welcoming some new ones.”

Teams are already signing up for the 46^th second city charity golf pro-am classic, which will take place on Wednesday 11th July at Little Aston Golf Club. To get involved or find out more about the event, visit www.second-city.org.

A Birmingham design agency’s newest recruit has big plans for the company. Barques Design, based in the Jewellery Quarter, has appointed Kathryn Small as business development manager.

Kathryn, aged 29, from Birmingham, has been tasked with bringing in new business for the design and PR divisions as well as forming relationships with key targets in various industry sectors.

Before joining Barques, Kathryn was project manager at international law firm Eversheds for more than seven years. Clients included property companies that have made an impact in Birmingham including Land Securities, Hammerson and Nikal.

Kathryn said: “This is an exciting challenge for me and I’m really looking forward to working with the team at Barques to develop new business. I’ll be exploring sectors that we are traditionally very strong in but also others that are performing well and leading the economy out of recession.”

Jilly Cosgrove, managing director of Barques Design, said: “Kathryn brings with her a wealth of experience. She is a very welcome addition to our team and I am sure she will play a pivotal role as we seek to win new business in new and exciting sectors.”

Barques Design was launched in 1989 by managing director Jilly Cosgrove. In December 2010, the agency launched a sister company, Barques PR, led by director Paul Skipp. For more information about Barques’ services, visit www.barques.co.uk.

Robert Indiana inspired design

Download

As a project manager in the Real Estate Commercial Development department, Kathryn has worked closely with a number of retail and property companies, including Hammerson, Land Securities and Nikal, on a variety of mixed use, retail and residential schemes such as Cabot Circus, Bristol; The Bullring and The Mailbox, Birmingham; Highcross, Leicester; and Freedom Quay, Hull.

We look forward to working with the wonderful new clients that Kathryn’s experience and hard work is sure to bring our way.

(l-r) Terry Cotton, Jewellery Quarter Development Trust Manager, with JQ BID supporters Peter Foreman, managing director of Lavery Rowe, and Jilly Cosgrove, managing director of Barques Design.

Birmingham business leaders and supporters of the Jewellery Quarter are hosting a series of consultation meetings to encourage companies to support proposals for a Business Improvement District (BID).

Throughout January and February, businesses with a rateable value of £10,000 or more are being invited to attend one of over 20 consultation meetings organised by Jewellery Quarter BID champions. Bid champions are local business leaders who support initiatives to improve the area.

The meetings give business owners the chance to review the draft prospectus of potential improvements to the Jewellery Quarter. Attendees will also be able to address their questions to members of the team leading the BID proposal. If the proposals go forward, businesses would be required to pay an annual levy of 2% of the rateable value of their premises.

The BID aims to attract investment, increase visitor numbers and encourage a more vibrant economy, while making the Jewellery Quarter a better place in which to work, invest and live.

Dave Mahony, chair of the JQDT and managing director of PCPT Architects in Spencer Street, believes business support for the BID is vital.

“The BID will not only give us a strategic voice alongside other Birmingham BIDs, such as Southside, Retail, Colmore Row and Broad Street, but it should also raise around £400,000 a year to address the improvements needed in the Jewellery Quarter. Decisions on those priorities will be made by the levy payers.

“It’s imperative that the Jewellery Quarter community takes greater control and ownership of the area’s future prosperity and becomes the driver for the continued regeneration of the Quarter.”

Stephen Whittaker, a JQDT director and managing director of Fellows & Sons, hosted the first consultation meeting.

Stephen said: “The first meeting, which was attended by almost 30 levy payers in the Quarter’s thriving retail sector, was very successful. The question and answer session with myself, Andy Munro and fellow JQDT director Mike Henrick, showed a strong positive support for the BID.

“The issues that were raised by some business owners are helping to shape the final manifesto, so we can ensure that the proposal outlines improvements that levy payers feel will benefit the area most.”

Dates and times of upcoming BID consultation meetings are available on the JQDT website. For levy payers who are unable to attend a consultation meeting, the JQDT will be hosting an open day on Thursday, 2^nd February at Fellow auctioneers.

The board of the JQDT decided in early-summer 2011 to support the BID proposal and develop the initiative in partnership with Birmingham City Council. Being a Community Interest Company, the JQDT is made up of those key representative bodies and stakeholder organisations from within the Jewellery Quarter, including the Jewellery Quarter Association, the Jewellery Quarter Marketing Initiative, the Jewellery Quarter Trade Alliance and the Jewellery Quarter Neighbourhood Forum.

The BID could help to improve the Jewellery Quarter in many ways, including increased security through expanded CCTV, better lighting, local-based police presence, enhanced street cleaning and maintenance; better signage, accessibility and information; environmental initiatives; and more effective marketing of this unique area. Ultimately, it will help to increase the profile of the area and encourage business networking to bring in more visitors and businesses to help the local economy.

After the consultation meetings and open day have been completed, a final Prospectus will be agreed by the BID Steering Group and will form the Election Manifesto, which will be sent to all eligible addresses and prospective levy payers along with ballot papers.

The ballot – managed and organised by an independent organisation, the Electoral Reform Society – will take place over five weeks, starting on April 17.

To many of us, dragons are evil, fire-breathing mythical creatures. But in China they are considered to be a symbol of the four great blessings; long life, virtue, harmony and wealth.

Dragons are also the country’s national emblem and lead the famous new year carnival as a sign of hope and positivity.

With all the doom and gloom of last year, we are determined to adopt a positive approach and be optimistic about the many new business opportunities that are already coming our way.

積極思考

Think Positive!

We’ve already got lots of exciting projects in the pipeline for this year and hope to be working with many new clients, as well as our lovely existing ones, during the next twelve months. Our PR team who celebrated their first birthday in December finished 2011 on a high with four new clients signed up to work with them from January. View or download the work update below to find out more about what else we’ve all been up to and how we can help you trade positively in 2012.

Retro Christmas jumpers – possibly from British Ho-Ho-Home stores – were de rigueur as Barques Design and PR created a cosy, fireside scene reminiscent of schmaltzy festive family gatherings in days gone by. The image is featured on the Jewellery Quarter-based company’s annual comedy Christmas card.

The yuletide fashion frenzy was the brainchild of Barques Design managing director Jilly Cosgrove whose sense of style is almost legendary.  Jilly said: “We had great fun digging out our Christmas jumpers for the photo-shoot – most of them were from my wardrobe! There were more laughs than a box of Christmas cracker jokes. And for some of our team, who shall remain nameless, it was a definite improvement on their usual dress sense.”

Cheese sausage, located at the sausage stall by the carousel

Tuesday night (6th) saw the Barques family (Barques Design and Barques PR) take a trip to the infamous Frankfurt Christmas Market in the heart of Birmingham’s City Centre.

In its 10th year, it offers such delights as authentic German beer, mulled wine, German crafts and gifts, and, of course, the cheese sausage, which comes fully recommended by Adam.

We especially enjoyed the singing moose, which even sang some songs in German, whilst having a beer or two. Jilly also endorses a crêpe with Baileys if you’re after something sweet.

Visit our Facebook page to see more photos:

Facebook Album

(centre, l-r) Chef Andy Waters with students Nawal, Nakash, Hassan, Adeel, Zulfiqar, Teacher Dawn Tate, and Sophie.

Budding restaurateurs from Small Heath School got a taste of what it’s like to run a real kitchen thanks to a visit from a local celebrity chef.

Andy Waters, owner of Edmunds Restaurant in Brindleyplace, Birmingham visited pupils on the Edexcel BTEC level 2 Certificate in Hospitality course who are taking part in The Gastro Card Restaurant challenge.

As part of the challenge, pupils have been split into five groups and will battle it out to come up with ideas for a new restaurant venture in the Engine Room on Newhall Square in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The project will involve planning all aspects of the business, from choosing what type of restaurant it will be and setting the menu, to deciding the look and feel of the interior and how to market it to potential customers.

The Gastro Card Restaurant challenge will form 50% of the overall grade for the course, which runs until April 2012, and is a fun way to prepare the year 11 students for their career path after secondary school, whether it’s a college course or employment.

Andy Waters spoke about his experience of running a successful restaurant and the importance of having a reputation for good food and high quality service. He also advised the groups on their menu selections and made suggestions of dishes that would work with their chosen themes.

Pupils then had the chance to quiz the restaurateur with Andy responding to questions like ‘Where do you source your produce?’ and ‘How do you decide what price to charge for your dishes?’.

Andy said: “I really enjoyed visiting the pupils and was pleased to see they were excited about creating a restaurant venture from scratch for The Gastro Card Restaurant challenge. They certainly gave me a grilling when it came to question time too!

“Initiatives like this are a fun way to give young people an insight into the challenges of running a business, whatever the industry may be.”

Andy is just one of many industry professionals who will be giving advice to the class. Having already been visited by Birmingham-based interior designers Monteith Scott and now a local chef, the teams will now look to representatives from Barques, a design and PR agency based in the Jewellery Quarter, for support with marketing and PR plans for their concepts.

The task will conclude with the teams presenting their finalised ideas and taster menu, which they will cook themselves, to a board of members from The Gastro Card. The team with the best concept and tastiest menu will be crowned the winners.

Teacher Dawn Tate, who runs the catering programme at the Small Heath School, said: “The pupils and I are very grateful to Andy for coming to support the project. He offered some great words of wisdom and I know the teams are very excited with the prospect of implementing his ideas as they prepare their menus.”

If your school or restaurant would like to be part of future Gastro Card challenges, please contact Sally Bowen at sallyb@gastrocard.co.uk.

The ideal person will be able to work using their own initiative in a busy and thriving design agency.  You must be full of drive, energy and tenacity to enhance this already extremely successful company.  Your main duties will be to search out new business opportunities, maximise and manage existing accounts, work alongside our busy designers, come up with creative solutions to meet our clients marketing needs, present confidently and meet some strict deadlines.  You will need a sense of humour, creative flair and be able to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in.  Driving license essential.

If this role sounds right up your street, please contact jilly@barques.co.uk

(l-r) Simon Bird, Paula Hancox, John Bryce, Mark Holden, Chris Read, Jilly Cosgrove, Dan Gallagher and Ed Gamble

It’s been four years since the last Property For Kids (PFK) ball, but this October it was firmly back in the saddle as figures from the property industry descended on Edgbaston County Cricket Ground for a wild west-themed evening.

The Blazing Saddlebags event, which will provide funds for Edwards Trust and contributes towards the £500,000 that has already been raised to help disadvantaged children in the West Midlands, was held in the newly opened exhibition hall. Eventologists, the event management company, worked with the PFK committee to transform the space into a fabulous saloon bar, complete with tequila shot girls, wagons and a bucking bronco.

Chris Read, chairman of PFK, said: “It was great to see so many people make a real effort with their wild west costumes and get into the spirit of the evening, which resulted in raising a fantastic amount of money for a worthy cause.”

Hollywood Monster, a graphic solutions company based in Tyseley, Birmingham, was just the ticket for a vehicle supplier looking to customise a university roadshow bus.

Commbus, who supply custom vehicles for roadshows, exhibitions and events, has worked with Hollywood Monster to produce a full double decker wrap for Anglia Ruskin University.

Anglia Ruskin University, which has campuses in Chelmsford and Cambridge, has embarked on a whistle stop tour of East Anglia to inform students, and their parents, about the changes to student finances.

The bus, which has been converted to have a mini lecture theatre on the top deck, will also be used to advise people on subjects such as budgeting and the university application processes.

Hollywood Monster was tasked with creating a template for the bus – ensuring the text was easily readable and joints were subtle – and applying the design. Contra Vision, a leading brand of see-through window graphics, was applied to all the windows expect the windscreen. The quality wrap will last for up to ten years as it has been made from cast vehicle wrapping film with over laminate, which can withstand regular chemical cleaners.

The design project was all wrapped up in three days but the roadshow will be visiting more than 30 schools, colleges and town centres in Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and Norfolk throughout September and October. Hollywood Monster will also remove the wrap once the bus has made its last stop.

Tim Andrews, managing director of Hollywood Monster, said: “It was great to work with Commbus to produce the striking green and black wrap for the roadshow bus. The traffic light design, which emphasises the green light, will encourage people to learn more about going to university. It’s important that students and their parents are clear on what their options are for further education and we are proud to be a part of Anglia Ruskin University’s campaign to spread the word.”

Clare Macleod, Events & Marketing Manager at Commbus, said: “This is a great bus wrap – one of the best we’ve had on our buses. It was great design by our client, Anglia Ruskin University, and fantastic production and application by Hollywood Monster. You certainly won’t miss this bus arriving!”

Established in 1999, Commbus supply a bespoke service using buses, coaches and trailers for a variety of roadshow, exhibition and outdoor event uses. The company supplies a range of private and public sector clients with its hire fleet of pre-converted buses, which can be adapted to suit any project requirements. Commbus is also able to design, convert and operate customers’ own vehicles.

Hollywood Monster has invested heavily in state-of-the-art printing technology enabling it to produce enormous banners and advertising hoardings at high-profile sites including sports stadiums, festivals, rock and pop concerts, shopping centres and property developments.