February 15th, 2010
I haven’t been to the NEC for some time – in fact the last time it was to watch yet another of the Who’s ‘farewell’ tours when I remember Pete Townsend having the temerity to do the vocals on ‘Happy Jack’ whilst he was under suspicion of using the internet for nefarious purposes.
The time before it had been a visit to the Good Food Show when the pain of paying out for the admission AND having to pay extortionate parking fees was deadened by consuming an array of free samples – unfortunately freebees at the Show are apparently now as scarce as the proverbial Rocking Horse ****…and now the same can be said for my visits.
However as part of my Jewellery Quarter job, I needed to beat a path to the Spring Fair and was also looking forward to seeing how one of Brum’s crown jewels was progressing as a top venue in the face of increasing competition. The good news on arrival was that, as it was a trade fair, the parking was free but the bad news was the stressful process of finding that parking. Right from the start of entering the maze that is the vehicular routes into and around the NEC, there were loads of arrow signs for the ‘Spring Fair’ and lots for ‘Car Parking’ but none bearing the simple legend ‘Spring Fair Car Parking’.
Anyway by the time I had parked, I was so relieved that I forgot to remember the car park number until I had almost arrived at the Hall but luckily somebody on the shuttle bus remembered.
Now for those of you who like shopping – a word of advice – NEVER go to the Spring Fair. There are lots of interesting and innovative products but none are on sale to the public. Mind you some of the stuff is a bit strange and for example in the Jewellery Hall, there was jewellery with insects entombed in them….cockroach earrings anybody?
It was all thirsty work pushing through crowds of smarmy sales reps and glam assistants done up to the nines and all waiting to pounce the moment anybody even broke their stride…it was like being in the souk in Marrakech. Consequently having made my business calls, I decided to have a relaxing cup of coffee. I might as well have been asking for the finest vintage claret because there was apparently no coffee available and even if there had been, the coffee came from the sort of vending machine frequently ‘gracing’ office tea points. In fact the state of cleanliness on the tables and the range of food was about as good as Kings Heath Garden Show – another catering opportunity missed.
On my way out, I decided to draw out some cash so I could at least eat something on the way home. Typically all the cash points charged commission and it was only at the third time of asking that I found one that worked.
Overall the NEC was a disappointing experience and it seems to me that the venue has become complacent which is a shame when it needs to be top of its game!
Andy Munro
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January 25th, 2010
I have never been a great one for linking arms and singing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ but there again as a Blues fan with McLeish the incumbent manager I might just start to change my habits. I have also never been one for making New Year’s resolutions but I have been having a think about what I might do from a work perspective. I think perhaps my resolution would be to “never give up, never say die and don’t let the buggers grind you down” – perhaps I might even add to those thoughts a need to be more patient myself, but then again maybe not!
Working in the Public Sector is not as easy as some people think and it’s even less easy when you are trying to get things done. I recently discovered a note that I did years ago on the steps it took to just put up a simple notice on some redundant urinals in the Jewellery Quarter – suffice to say that the ‘simple’ process took around seventy steps to accomplish thanks to a list of Public Sector people who will remain nameless until I write a future book on Regeneration.
On the subject of regeneration, I took Ian Austin, the current Minister for the West Midlands around the Quarter. This was to try and convince him that manufacturing isn’t completely dead in Birmingham and didn’t necessarily solely revolve around the car industry. I took him behind the scenes and he was quite obviously impressed with the quality of products still made in the area.
A slightly amusing anecdote is that he fell behind schedule (as Ministers do) and I tried to persuade Government Office officials to extend his time in the Quarter but they seemed in a desperate hurry to get away. I later found out through the ‘Stirrer’ website that the rush was merely to attend a Government Office Christmas Party and judge a Civil Servants’ cake making competition (I suppose that’s manufacturing of a sort!). Apparently he then fell victim to a bit of a scam from his ‘Loyal Subjects’ when he chose the winning cake and then found out later it had actually been bought from Tescos… although in fairness it was apparently from Tescos ‘Finest’ range!
Continuing on the subject of food, it really was good to see Lasan win Gordon Ramsay’s ‘F Word’. It is great for the Jewellery Quarter although as a fan of Balti I hope Birmingham’s most famous culinary dish won’t be forgotten. Incidentally, I am launching in my own time a new Balti website www.balti-birmingham.co.uk so do have a look when you can. As part of that website which celebrates the authenticity of Brummies’ favourite dish I also included on the site twenty things to do in Birmingham which don’t involve shopping ‘til you drop in the Bullring. A number of those things to do predictably include the Jewellery Quarter.
Back on the work front, we’re pushing forward a number of proposals and this includes improving Ludgate Hill bridge, which perhaps represents the worst of Birmingham from the 60’s and 70’s. I am hoping that we can put together a package to make this bridge more user friendly, safer and perhaps slightly iconic, in partnership with the Colmore Row Business Improvement District and private developers.
Finally here’s a few things that I’d like to see happen by the end of the year in the Quarter:-
- New signage from the City Centre into the Quarter
- Ludgate Hill bridge improved
- An Apprenticeship scheme developed for the jewellery industry
- A new Designer Maker outlet opened in the Quarter
- A funding package in place to improve both Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries with initial work underway
- A new Square at the end of Albion Street
- A package for the new iconic Golden Square in place and approved by the City Council Cabinet ready for an early 2011 start on site.
- Both J.W Evans and the Coffin Works open for pre-booked tours.
Happy New Year
Andy Munro
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December 14th, 2009
Our Christmas Lights Switch On was heralded this year by the usual 3 – Legged Santa Race in aid of the Children’s Hospital. We even had several angels, although some cynics suggested that there are normally very few to be spotted in the Quarter, especially around Christmas! It was typically bitterly cold, but the atmosphere was stoked up by a BRMB ‘roadshow’, courtesy of the Jewellery Quarter Marketing Initiative and the usual enthusiastic participation of St Patrick’s Schoolchildren who sang some carols very tunefully – X Factor, Jedward, Deadwood, eat your heart out!
The winning team was Cirrus although there was a steward’s enquiry on how they won, following a complaint – that person (who shall remain anonymous) suggested, perhaps rather unfairly, that the manner of their win was just typical of their trading style.
Thanks should also go to The Red Lion and Eaglesfield Trophies for providing the prizes. Incidentally following the race the children from St Patrick’s were given presents by Mother Christmas aka Mary Bradley our Information Centre Assistant – Mary works for the City Council so you would expect us to be politically correct and uphold equal opportunities. Mulled wine and mince pies were then served to the race contestants and sundry hangers on as we tried to set a new Guinness Book of Records on the number of people that could be squeezed into the Information Centre. Somebody pointed out that I hadn’t included the latter in my Health and Safety assessment and we could have been faced with another Millennium Point disaster.
On the subject of Christmas Lights, those in St Paul’s Square look magical and with both the Thomas Walker development and the Jam House subtly lit the whole area has received a bit of a boost – even if its not exactly Agenda 21!
On the continuing theme of Christmas, there are campaigns on BRMB and Smooth to draw in customers and if you look on our website there is a competition to win £1,000 worth of jewellery- just find the three crowns for the three kings and answer a simple question to go into the draw. We also have a ‘last minute’ Christmas present list for those people who have run out of ideas but still want to buy something unique.
On the regeneration front, the Golden Square design team has been appointed and its now my job to ensure that they keep their artistic feet on the ground so we end up with a Square that the community both like and want to use. It should be a ‘no brainer’ but creative will (of course) be creatives. However, they are an impressive team with a major local dimension so this should ensure the right result.
Following the Jewellery Quarter Summit to discuss progress on our Charter, I am taking the Government Minister Ian Austin to see behind the scenes of the jewellery trade and to hear, at first hand the problems being encountered in the current economic conditions. Hopefully it will put the jewellery trade on the Government radar and illustrate to them that manufacturing didn’t actually die with the demise of Longbridge.
Andy Munro
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November 6th, 2009
It is coming up to the most important time of year for jewellers and therefore the Jewellery Quarter, but I still feel a bit of a fraud talking about Christmas at the start of November on the basis I believe that tinsel is for December and Hot Cross Buns are for Easter. However, like everything else, organising a Christmas campaign has to be planned well in advance. Last year we ran a TV campaign but, this year, not surprising with the Credit Crunch, any media campaign is likely to be radio based. As usual, we are working in partnership with the Jewellery Quarter Marketing Initiative and have interviewed Smooth, BRMB and Heart about campaigns. They’ve all come up with some creative ideas and generally they present excellent value for money, but I am leaving the decision to the businesses as to who’s the most appropriate for the market that they are seeking to attract – definitely one for the businesses not the bureaucrats to decide.
We are hoping to launch our campaign on November 24th with roadside posters, which have already had to be designed with a new 2009 strap line. As you can imagine, phrases like ‘Sparkle’ and ‘shopping’ are involved! We are then having a switch on of our Christmas Lights on November 26th, with our usual world’s only three-legged Santa Race by the Jewellery Quarter Clock, in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital. We always have a good take up from businesses and the race is always hotly contested particularly with the opportunity for the winners to become B List celebrities by switching on the lights. This year, apart from Santas, there may well be an appearance of some fairies, depending on people’s personal preferences. During the Christmas period there are lots of events being organised at the Museums and Galleries. This will all form part of the campaign together with the excellent Brilliantly Birmingham contemporary jewellery event. As usual, we are having a Shopping Day on Saturday December 12th with a free Vintage Bus and events including open workshops. The week before, there’s a Christmas themed Farmers’ Market so there’s plenty going on. We are also hoping to use our website to develop a ‘Christmas Present’ list with some quirky ideas and to encourage people to come to the Quarter to shop for something a bit different.
Meanwhile, it’s business as usual and we’ve put in a bid for Home Office for some community safety measures to help the shops in the Quarter. The City Council has also introduced two excellent schemes – one to encourage independent shops and one to encourage small businesses to start up in new premises. The scheme is Birmingham wide but quite obviously; I want to ensure that the Jewellery Quarter has its fair share and that we use these initiatives to add to the local offer. For further information click here.
A Jewellery Quarter ‘Summit’ is scheduled for November 11th and we’re hoping to come away from that event with some actions to be delivered in the next one to three years. The event involves movers and shakers from the Public Sector and a large contingent of local business and community representatives to ensure that it’s the businesses not the bureaucrats that set the pace. Dr. Carl Chinn is the Chair of our Regeneration Partnership and, as you can imagine, Carl has plenty of influential contacts, which he is using to help the Jewellery Quarter. In December, we have a visit from Ian Austin who is the Government Minister for the West Midlands and I am hoping to show him that despite the tragedy, which is Leyland and LDV, manufacturing in Birmingham must not be forgotten – we can’t do everything in life virtually!
Andy Munro
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September 22nd, 2009
It’s back to the grindstone again but only after a nice sojourn to sunny Spain. I have to say that I have been to all the usual ‘Brits Aborad’ places over the last 30 years from Lloret del Mar and Benidorm to Majorca. I have danced with the best of them to La Paloma Blanca and the Birdie Song but in the last few years I have tended to go to the Greek Islands or long haul destinations. However, my daughter, who runs five Stage Schools in Brighton has her eyes on a holiday business in Andalucía, partly perhaps, inspired by the fact that she is now at professional level in terms of flamenco dancing, so it was back to the Iberian peninsula for me.
It was agreed that we would share a Villa in the Andalucian Mountains near Órgiva with her and her boyfriend, and, confident girl that she is, she insisted that she and her boyfriend would do all the driving so no need for me to take my driving licence. With large glasses of Rioja in my mind’s eye, I obviously didn’t argue!
It was a very early morning flight so we were picked up by taxi with the driver uttering the immortal words ‘which way?’ So much for the Sat Nav society. Flying by Monarch isn’t quite as bad as Ryanair, but obviously no meal is included so we went for the ‘Meal Deal’ in the airport’s Boots the Chemist, although once on the flight I couldn’t resist a mini bottle of wine. I am not the greatest fan of flying and I thought a mini bottle of Sauvignon Blanc would help me to relax without turning me into John Terry.
We were met at the airport by my daughter Laura and boyfriend Christian but were faced with an interminable delay queuing up for the hire car. However impatient I get in England I have to say that the bureaucracy abroad for any transaction makes our Civil Servants look positively Private Sector.
We were eventually allocated a Citroen Berlingo, which would make a Lada look stylish but, in fairness, it was a great workhorse. We eventually made Órgiva where we were to meet ‘Manola’, the caretaker for the villa, although we got lost once or twice. This resulted in my daughter doing three point turns on horseshoe bends and has undoubtedly cured me of the fear of flying.
When we reached our Villa, we were greeted by a fabulous view and swimming pool and, it has to be said, the surroundings were idyllic. Everyday, we were able to pick fresh figs off the trees and although, unfortunately, it wasn’t quite the harvest season, on a ten minute walk we counted 15 different fruits – lemons, limes, oranges, loquats, sharon fruits, bananas, pomegranates, peaches, white grapes, red grapes, green figs, purple figs, satsumas, avocados and olives. I made a mental note to return one year in late September!
Although, Órgiva, the nearest town is tucked away, amazingly English papers are delivered the same day, although they are obviously printed in Spain. The only exception is the Sun, which pleased me although not my better half. There is even an English paper called the ‘Olive Press’ obviously run by ex-pats. My only disappointment was there was no Sky Sports although this was probably a blessing as my team; Birmingham City procured a typically boring nil-nil draw with Stoke City.
Órgiva has a very large hippy community, which appears to be mainly Dutch and Germans, sporting faded jeans, dread locks and grey ponytails. Despite my daughter’s driving, it was a fairly relaxing holiday with us taking in turns doing a barbecue alternate nights to going out. On the barbecue front, I have to admit, that in the last couple of years, I’ve been through an appalling spell when I couldn’t even cook a sausage without making it as black as the Ace of Spades. However I have recently managed to claw back my culinary self-respect and even my daughter admitted my lamb with garlic and rosemary was the best ever.
Having a holiday in somewhere like Órgiva (despite a smattering of ex-pats) means that English is not always spoken so my ‘escuela’ Spanish came in quite handy. The only crisis was when we went shopping on the first day and couldn’t find any barbecue coals. Amazingly, in the village there was a Chinese version of Yenland and I thought that would be the best bet to solve the dilemma. I tried to explain my requirements to the Chinese assistant but unfortunately she and others in the shop only spoke Spanish and Chinese. After going through a full mime show of lighting a barbecue, the confusion still reigned until they pulled out a large English-Chinese dictionary. Once I pointed at the word ‘coal’ things became clearer and a bag of charcoal mysteriously appeared.
Overall it was a really relaxing holiday up in the mountains and the only real trip that we did was to Grenada, but not the Alhambra, unfortunately because getting a ticket is equivalent to getting into Jacko’s funeral. However it was a nice day out and there was some great architecture with the City having it’s own Arabic quarter. Prices were predictably as expensive if not more so than in the UK except for the ‘zapatos’, which were quite a bit cheaper. The other times we went out during the day was to look at property for my daughter. The only draw back is that she is expecting me to do all the gardening and landscaping if she does move! I suppose that’s what dad’s are for, even for independent 27 year-olds.
Now it’s back to reality and putting in bids for the Working Neighbourhood Fund, participating in Style in the City and planning for Christmas – the latter’s a bit depressing really but that’s the sort of lead in time that we need!
Andy Munro
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August 19th, 2009
This is my last blog before I fly off to Andalucia, which hopefully will mean fine wines, tapas on tap and fine weather. Certainly it would be nice to have some consistent sunshine because, as everybody knows, the weather has been a real disappointment. It certainly doesn’t do the local JQ economy any good and Mary at our Information Centre reports that on rainy days numbers of people are most definitely down.
Mind you even if we haven’t got the weather, at least in the Jewellery Quarter we can offer some fine food. It is obviously a great shame about the Bucklemaker closing down but there are still almost 30 restaurants and bars alive and ‘cooking’ in the Quarter. To celebrate this fact we worked with the Jewellery Quarter Marketing Initiative to organise a stand at Taste of Birmingham and they produced a ‘Taste of the Jewellery Quarter’ leaflet which is now available from Information Centres and includes some great offers. On our stand we had Vertu, Locanta, The Rectory, Fusion, The Red Lion and the Lord Clifden. Generally, I think it was a good exercise in awareness raising although I have to say my own personal experience of Taste was a little bit disappointing.
I decided to spend some of my crowns (Marketing Birmingham currency!) at Cielo which is a well known Brindley Place Italian eatery – to say that my corn fed chicken would have made a sparrow look overfed would be an understatement. I am sure the food there is normally okay but I don’t think it would compare with the offer we have in the Jewellery Quarter. Locanta and Pasta di Piazza are excellent restaurants and yet I was quite shocked to see a scathing review of Pasta di Piazza by the Post Food Critic Richard McComb. It just goes to show how subjective these reviews can be because I have never had a bad meal in Pasta di Piazza and I know plenty of people who have been there and they have never had a bad experience either.
Turning to other matters many people will know that this year has been the 50th anniversary of Birmingham’s famous Mini. I approached Marketing Birmingham and asked if they had any memorabilia on sale and the answer was no. No disrespect to Marketing Birmingham but I do feel that they are a little bit heavy on the ‘I love Birmingham’ mugs and a little light on the genuine ‘Made in Birmingham’ products. In fairness, they were very agreeable to consider stocking a line so I linked them up with A&J Gilbert, in the Quarter, who produced some fabulous limited edition Mini Car cufflinks which are now available in Information Centres in the City Centre.
On the subject of events, we have just had the judges round for In Bloom and this had meant a lot of hard work particularly from Claire Hill on our team. We made sure it ended on a real Jewellery Quarter high note with the judges finishing their task in St Paul’s Square and meeting, amongst other people, some pupils from St Patrick’s with whom Claire has worked with closely. One of the pupils performed an ‘In Bloom’ rap, which was very well received, and then the judges retired to Pasta di Piazza for an enjoyable meal. (Richard McComb, please note!) Incidentally, the Chair of ‘In Bloom’ in Birmingham is Hilary Hall and she was presented with a ‘bee’ bracelet made by Crescent Silver. The bee was significant because we had put up a number of bee boxes including one in St Paul’s Square and ran a bumble bee competition on our website with Vertu, Crescent Silver and Express by Holiday kindly putting up the prizes.
On a personal note, I am looking forward to a few days away and will not be taking a blackberry (even if I had one). Mind you the weight of emails when I return will no doubt be fairly daunting and it’s strange that in the days of pigeon post it was never that bad. Unlike most public servants I will actually be bothering to update my voicemail and it just amused me recently when I phoned up the Housing and Communities Agency to be greeted by a message that the person I was trying to contact would be leaving at the end of March?!
On return, it will be right back into the swing of things with the English Heritage Open Weekend on September 12-13 which ties in with ArtsFest, Style Birmingham at the end of September, a November Jewellery Quarter Summit to organise and a proposal to work with Birmingham Forward for an event to encourage their members to buy Made in the Jewellery Quarter products.
Incidentally on the subject of the English Heritage Open Weekend, I had arranged with Carl Chinn for an outside broadcast on the Jewellery Quarter but we found out it clashed with Blues v Villa – Carl being unfortunately a Villa fan and myself being a Bluenose we have decided to rearrange! Finally on the topic of the football season, we are still hoping to work with Hatters Hostel in Livery Street home of Vaughtons (who made the original F.A. cup) to develop some sort of package for visiting fans.
Happy sunbathing?!
Andy Munro
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July 14th, 2009
Allegedly the World’s biggest conference, the International Rotary Convention has now come and gone but the Jewellery Quarter played its part. We provided the gift from the Leader of Birmingham City Council to the President of the Rotary in form of a silver tray made by top Jewellery Quarter manufacturer BDG in Northwood Street. They used original tooling, which is believed to be from Matthew Boulton’s manufactory, to make this classical piece, which also attracted further orders from Rotarians.
The Rotary Conference itself attracted over 18,000 delegates and from what I saw over half of them seemed to fall into the category of ‘old geezers’ wearing baseball caps. However, it was great to see camaraderie between a whole host of different nations all joined together by a worthy cause. I suppose the only thing was that it all seemed a bit Americanised, even down to the Rotarian’s logo of ‘Keeping the Dream Real’ which all seemed a bit ‘Ali –G’ to me.
We had a stand for the Jewellery Quarter, which we organised with the Jewellery Quarter Marketing Initiative who played a leading role in drawing together a rota of jewellers to attract the passing crowds in the House of Friendship. We invested in a premium shell but, as is usual with all these conferences and exhibitions, there were a whole host of hidden add-ons. For example, as a premium shell, we just had the privilege of a trestle table, which, to be honest was more like something used in the painting and decorating trade. Consequently, we had to hire a tablecloth at the event, which not only cost £19, but came with a £50 deposit in case it was stolen- apparently table cloths are in great demand at these sorts of events.
On the plan, it looked as if we had a very good pitch and were located almost adjacent to the brass band stand. A nice idea but apart from England soccer matches, I have to say my idea of a good brass band is listening to them 100 metres away on a nice sunny day, in a traditional English park. This was not the case at the Rotary Convention and trying to speak to customers during a rousing rendition of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ proved difficult at times. However, it was really successful in that we gave away a great deal of Tourism Guides not only to International visitors, but to many UK Rotarians who had never been to the Jewellery Quarter. We later found out that a number of shops in the Quarter had received visits from Rotarians looking to buy jewellery and just on our stand, over £2,000 of business was done. In this connection, thanks should go to Crescent Silver, Estelle Bennett (The Bead Loft), A & J Gilbert, Elements, Alice Gow, Dave Hendley, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Pen Museum, Stone Jewellers, Pam Turvey, Becca Williams and George McKenzie. In the latter case George McKenzie a jeweller situated in Vyse Street and a member of the Marketing Initiative, kindly provided the jewellers’ bench and display cases.
It seemed to be a good opportunity generally for the Jewellery Quarter, as we were next to the Assay Office and jewellery manufacturers Toye Kenning & Spencer and WH Darby also had stands at the convention.
We also recently launched our Made in the Jewellery Quarter brochure, which features ten top manufacturers who all make awards and business gifts, often for very famous people and events. The idea is to get this circulated around businesses in Birmingham so that they order locally rather than go to a catalogue for something made in China. In this connection, we are working with Business Link, the Chamber of Commerce and Birmingham City Council’s Business Bulletin team to spread the word on what is an excellent publication. For more information, go to the Made in the Jewellery Quarter section on our website or you can also order a hard copy from
Prim Currie
Jewellery Quarter Regeneration Partnership
Unit 2
57 Frederick Street
Hockley
Birmingham. B1 3HS
or telephone 0121 464 1194.
It is certainly a busy time and in July we have our Annual Festival, involvement in Taste of Birmingham and the In Bloom Judging – progress to be reported in my next blog!
Andy Munro
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May 27th, 2009
As one of the visiting bloggers on the Jewellery Quarter Web site I try to put news on the blog that is happening as we speak, I have been lecturing at the School of Jewellery (Located on Vittoria Street) as a visiting lecturer on the topic of entrepreneurship, creative enterprise and getting a job as a maker / designer.
As part of the remit the students on the BA for Industry had to produce online portfolios / websites the goal was to display their skills and / or their work to the potential customers or potential suppliers so I wanted to give the soon to be graduates a platform to get their web sites / portfolios a wider audience – and this is you the reader.
Please do have a look at the creativity that is pouring out of the School of Jewellery, I have no doubt these graduates will go onto projects like Design Space, or as employees of local, national or international design businesses or into self employment as designer jewellers and silversmiths.
Here are some links to the students portfolios – please do peruse them and leave a comment or two if you are inclined.
Sinead Prosser
Jack Row
Danielle Hall
Rowan Katherine
Rachael Briggs
Saima Hussain
Kirsty Davies
Katie Mitchell
Bronagh Mullan.
Thank you for having a look and supporting designers and makers emerging from the Jewellery Quarter.
David-Louis.
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May 22nd, 2009
I am going to concentrate this month on the many events that are coming up involving the Quarter.
Firstly, our involvement in the Rotary Conference which is, I am told, the World’s biggest conference and the reason we are apparently hosting it this year, is that although we hosted it several years ago, the Koreans (this year’s hosts) could not get their act together. I suppose that, if the Government have their way, we soon won’t be able to make even a brass widget (because the Koreans are making them), but by jove we can organise events!
The Conference has an exhibition at the NEC called the House of Friendship and we have hired a stand in Partnership with the Jewellery Quarter Marketing Initiative who will be manning the stand (as an employee of the City Council perhaps I should be saying personning) – with jewellers and giftware manufacturers.
There is also a ‘Meet the Brummies’ night although, much as I am proud of being a Brummie, it all seems a bit cheesy and conjures up the picture of visiting Rotarians having their hands vigorously shaken by local residents asking ‘owm yum gooin’
On 4th July, we have our own Festival called ‘Celebrating Birmingham’s Gem’ and we are working with the local residents, who are organising a Farmers’ Market, as part of the attractions, called 24 Carrot (!). On that Saturday we have also got a jewellery market in St Paul’s Square, free vintage bus rides around the Quarter, Museum & Gallery Events, live Jazz and Classical Music and a Treasure Hunt using specially (locally!) minted Matthew Boulton commemorative coins.
Then a few days later, at Taste of Birmingham, we have a Jewellery Quarter stand at Cannon Hill Park. As many of you will know, we have now got a great restaurant and bar offer in the Quarter including pubs such as The Red Lion and Lord Clifden which are traditional pubs with an arty feel, selling great beer and locally sourced food. We also have restaurants like The Vaults, recently voted in the Top 5 ‘Restaurants in the UK’ by the Independent. In fact, in one of my future blogs I’ll be doing a virtual pub and restaurant crawl, which will illustrate this point.
Added to all the above is our work on In Bloom with the Jewellery Quarter an important part of the City Centre Trail.
We have proposed special features at St Paul’s Square, the Pen Museum and Warstone Lane Cemetery. On the subject of In Bloom, don’t forget to have a go at our prize competition to ‘spot the bees’ – see the News Section on our site.
Whilst this is all very enjoyable, if a little hectic, I still have to find time for the less than pleasant tasks. One of these was the need to do something about the proliferation of banners in the Quarter, which is making the shopping area look more like Blackpool sea front than a Conservation Area. It had reached the stage of ‘my banner is bigger than yours’ syndrome. Consequently I had to pay a visit to all the shops but in fairness I was met with cooperation in most cases, with the exception of one shop, who shall remain nameless, but suggested there might be an alternative place to stick the banner!
Finally, I ought to mention the Golden Square Design Competition and by the time you read this blog the winner will have been announced. Although it was not my personal favourite, it was the runner up in terms of the Public Consultation Day so I feel that the Jury decision has been vindicated. However, it was all a bit of a strain as I think, in my humble opinion, we over did the proportion of architectural luvvies on the deciding Jury. Having said that, the design has some very good strong points and I am sure there is enough potential to achieve a real iconic asset as a centrepiece to the Quarter. However we will need to ensure that we work closely with the local community and stakeholders so we have a Square of which the local community are both proud and feel ownership.
Andy Munro
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April 20th, 2009
Well it’s been fairly hectic because it’s the end of the financial year and everybody, who works for public sector, knows there’s always an unholy rush to try and come in on budget. I have worked in the Civil Service for many years and it’s exactly the same sort of financial mayhem particularly as public servants don’t like spending money at the best of times because once you start spending money it puts you at risk! So nobody usually does anything for 8 months of the year and then panics to ensure the spend is on target for 31st March.
This, of course, is clear for everybody to see as they drive round because most of the roads in the country are under road works in March to ensure money is spent. Consequently trying to get anybody from the Highways Department to do anything between Jan and the end of March is usually impossible as they have already lined up all their jobs.
However, one of the nicer things about this time of year is that we are now starting to think about In Bloom and have been lucky enough to be part of an award winning entry over the last few years. We originally became involved simply because we wanted to see more flowers in the area but almost equally important, certainly for any national entries, is the community involvement. We always involve local schools with drawing competitions and planting schemes and we also try to involve other community groups such as the Neighbourhood Forum and the Rathbone Society who are based in the Quarter. Last year the Rathbone Society did some flower arranging classes and we are hoping to do the same this year with some of their displays in the Information Centre and other attractions in the area.
We have also been approached by the Jewellery Quarter Neighbourhood Forum who would like to do a Farmers Market with a proposed pilot in July. We are hoping that this can be extended to a plant market as well and Birmingham City Council Markets Department have been very supportive to the idea. Although I am advising the Neighbourhood Forum, I very much want this to be community led and we have some further ideas for entertainment etc as the proposed date links in with the Jazz Festival.
St Paul’s Square always looks a picture in the summer although last year the floral display seemed to confuse most visitors. Although it was meant to represent James Watt and Matthew Boulton’s steam engine it looked more like a space ship had landed. This year, the local community are more involved and we are hoping to have something which represents not only Matthew Boulton but also relates to things that are made in the Jewellery Quarter today. In a later blog, I hope to be mentioning a ‘Made in the Jewellery Quarter’ campaign as many famous items are still made locally. We need to give this a higher profile despite the fact that some of these are made fairly secretly under licence and will have to be handled sensitively.
Of course this year, is Matthew Boulton’s bi-centenary and he is arguably the most influential industrialist of all time. The City Council are rightly highlighting his important role and we are hoping to be involved locally, to again hopefully make it work to the benefit of local firms by highlighting the quality of their work.
Whilst the great thing about my work is being involved in delivery, as part of a large public sector organisation, (whether it’s the Civil Service or the Local Authority) I am inextricably drawn into various ‘best practice’ initiatives. I recently attended a major event on what’s called Business Transformation where we were told about all the initiatives the City Council are developing to improve delivery. Call me an old cynic but it seems to me that if everybody grafted and gave 100% and also treated their customers (who ever they were) with respect by returning phone calls we wouldn’t need any supposed ‘best practice’.
In fact, at the end of the event, I went up to one of the speakers and suggested that if she ensured that everybody in the City Council had a voicemail it would make more difference than anything else – i.e. I have lost count of the times I have phoned certain parts of the City Council (who will remain nameless!) and the phone has just rang out leading to maximum frustration. Of course the problem with voicemails is that the person who has the system set up is actually responsible for returning calls when of course they would much rather receive an email and then play email ping pong to ensure that the simplest of queries becomes a long running and complex matter. What’s happened to the days when you could phone somebody, have a sensible chat and get things sorted?!
Anyway that’s all for this months blog as the phone’s ringing.
Andy Munro
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