Birmingham Made Me has been developed to promote innovation and the great products designed and made in the city and across the Midlands.

The Jewellery Quarter BID is arranging a series of ‘open door’ events during 10th to 16th June 2013. We are currently looking for more local businesses to participate. Please email marion.wilson@theassayoffice.co.uk for more information.

The target audience for the event is absolutely everyone; business people, educators, investors, and creatives. In the Jewellery Quarter, visitors will be able to see the creativity, craftsmanship and expert skills that we have in the area.

About Birmingham Made Me

Birmingham Made Me (BMM) takes place for the second year running from 6th – 21st June 2013. This is a wide reaching project with many events taking place throughout Birmingham. Visit www.birmingham-made-me.org for full details.

The objectives of Birmingham Made Me are to drive innovation, to promote Birmingham as ‘The original design city’ and to improve its reputation and image. This will be achieved by pulling together the many different stories which illustrate our innovation, excellence and design ability and delivering the message through a series of free events and seminars and a Design Expo at Millennium Point.

This year’s event will have two strands: Think and Do. Think is very business orientated with a programme featuring many high profile speakers. Do is interactive and aimed at families, offering activities to illustrate the innovation and design surrounding us. All of the events are FREE and open to all. There will be an interactive exhibition in the Ground Floor and Second Floor Atrium of Millennium Point.

Fellows’ monthly sale of Antique & Modern Jewellery featured 525 lots of fabulous jewellery and cocktail watches. Over 350 bidders from 24 countries registered for live bidding online against a busy saleroom and a packed gallery for telephone bids – all anticipating the sale’s star lot.

The first hour of the auction got off to a flying start with pieces selling above estimate from enthusiastic buyers setting a fast pace. A mid-20^th century platinum diamond double clip, in for £1,500-£2,000, sold for £3,900. A selection of floral spray brooches sold well, with lot 107 estimated at £4,000-£6,000 achieving £8,600 and lot 225, a late 19^th century silver and 9ct gold diamond cockerel brooch encouraged bids high above the estimate of £600-£800, finally selling for £2,300.

The auction room started to fill up with both keen bidders and a palpable buzz as the highlight of the sale approached. A magnificent single-stone diamond ring weighing 8.88cts generated international interest – unsurprising with the number eight associated with wealth and prosperity in some Chinese cultures. A flurry of telephone bids soon took the attention of the auctioneer with the lot surpassing its top estimate of £100,000 to sell for £131,000.

The Church Inn in Great Hampton Street is being rejuvenated thanks to a partnership between Birmingham’s Soul Food Project and Everards Brewery.

The pub’s new licensee is Carl Finn, 28, who founded the Soul Food Project, and will be offering up the cuisine of America’s Deep South, with a twist.

The Hockley pub, which Everards has bought from Admiral Taverns, will have a new function room, roof garden and a refreshed interior as part of the £500,000 investment, which will create 10 jobs.

Mr Finn said: “Alongside the real ale hand-pumps, I’m installing a cocktail station, and we’ll serve American-style Soul Food with African, French, Spanish and Southern American influences.”

Mr Finn said while the new pub will draw inspiration from foreign climes, he wanted it to remain a hub for the Jewellery Quarter community.

He said: “I want the pub to be a community hub, part of the social fabric of the area. People are choosing to live in the Jewellery Quarter – it’s not a completely transient area like the city centre – and I want the Church to become part of people’s daily lives.

“We’ll serve real ales, fine wines and good quality food. This is a long-term project – I want to build a business that I can hand down to my kids.”

Mr Finn also runs Soul Food Sound System, based at the Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath, plus a pop-up restaurant, Secret Dining Society, which puts on events throughout the city.

The new pub was designed by Jewellery Quarter-based Newman Gauge and building work is being carried out by Wedge-Wood Construction of Aldridge.

The work also includes a function room for private parties and the occasional live music session.

The redevelopment at the Church Inn is part of a wider partnership effort from Leicestershire-based Everards, which was also behind last year’s opening of Loaf Community Bakery and Cookery School in Pershore Road, Stirchley.

The brewery runs a Project Artisan scheme which teams up with up-and-coming food and drink businesses. Through the scheme, the brewery buys a property, works with a handpicked partner to redevelop it, and then puts the tenant in a refreshed building, and offers business support.

“Everards is looking to grow its representation in Birmingham,” said the firm’s business development manager Mike Brown.

“And with Loaf already a success, the Church Inn will be a pub where we can hang our hat and say this is an Everards site, with the idea that other pubs in Birmingham will maybe follow.”

The Church Inn is set to reopen this month (May).

The Asian Business Awards previously held in London for over 15 years, this year see the first time the event has left the capital to launch a series of regional events celebrating the success of the Asian business community around the country.

Jabbar Khan, director, Lasan said: “It was an honour to attend and be presented with the ‘Asian Business Restaurant of the Year 2013’ by such an established and prestigious organisation.

“Aktar Islam, co-owner and chef director and I had a fantastic evening spent in the company of inspirational entrepreneurs, celebrating the success of many hard working individuals from our region.

Appropriately enough for such a glittering procession of talent, the Awards (known in the business as the ‘Jazz Oscars’) will this year be produced in partnership between The Jewellery Quarter BID and the Birmingham International Jazz & Blues Festival.

On Wednesday July 10th, Birmingham will play host to the best jazz musicians in the country, as the Award Winner’s presentation takes place at the picturesque St Paul’s Church, in the heart of The Jewellery Quarter.

As well as the prize giving, the winners will give a public performance on the night, forming a top draw lineup of the kind rarely seen anywhere these days, other than the British Jazz Awards. The music doesn’t stop there.

Several of this year’s nominees, along with an exciting array of musicians from around the globe, will be coming to Brum for the 29^th Birmingham International Jazz & Blues Festival over the period of July 5-14^th.

Over 170 (mostly) free performances will take music to pubs, restaurants and public places around the city, making up Europe’s biggest free jazz party.

A 20-strong nomination panel of jazz experts – journalists, festival directors, broadcasters, venue owners – provide the nominations for the awards, which are then put to the public vote by jazz fans from throughout the UK. Online voting takes place at tiny.cc/britishjazzawards/.

There are 16 categories open to the public vote, including 11 instrumental categories alongside those for Rising Star, Big Band, Small Group and industry awards to record companies for Best New Album and Best Reissue. There is also an award for Services To British Jazz, decided by The British Jazz Awards panel.

The awards, originally sponsored by Mitchells & Butlers, were for many years presented in The Grand Hotel in Birmingham, by the likes of Humphrey Lyttelton, Benny Green, John Dankworth and Cleo Laine.

Nina Simone came to The Grand Hotel to accept her Platinum Disc for “My Baby Just Cares For Me”. Ronnie Scott won awards, and in 1990 Miles Davis won the Getzen Fairweather Award (then part of The British Jazz Awards) for the best trumpet performance during the previous year’s Birmingham International Jazz Festival.

When BT took sponsorship they moved the awards presentation to London, where it stayed but for forays out to places such as Gainsborough and Southampton, who hosted the 2012 presentation.

The legendary BBC journalist and author Benny Green summed it up thus at the inaugural Awards: “When the good things in life are passed out Jazz musicians are often overlooked. These awards give us the opportunity to acknowledge their talent and their dogged determination in continuing to play this wonderful music that enriches our lives. The British Jazz Awards is a way of patting them on the back and telling them that we understand and appreciate their efforts.”

A deep clean to various streets within the Jewellery Quarter will commence this weekend (Sunday 28th). The works have been planned to ensure there is minimal disruption to businesses and residents. And we’ll be able to say goodbye to chewing gum and other ugly stains or graffiti on our pavements within the Quarter.

The schedule is as follows, from April 28th:

- Great Charles Street from Summer Row to Newhall Street – Complete
- Fleet Street – 2nd May (Day work)
- Summer Row 3rd May – (Part night/day work)

The schedule over the coming months is outlined below. As we get more specific dates, we’ll post them on the JQ website.

May – Frederick Street, Newhall Hill, Graham Street

June – Ludgate Hill, St. Paul’s Square including Brook Street and Charlotte Street

July – Vyse Street, Hall Street, Warstone Lane – Clock to Hall Street, Newhall Street

November – Warstone Lane – West of Clock, Great Hampton Street, Lionel Street, Spencer Street, Augusta Street, Branston Street, Albion Street, Caroline Street and Vittoria Street.

Ramora, the contractors that carry out the deep cleaning of other BID areas, are thoroughly professional and whilst the street can look messy during the deep clean, they will clean up afterwards leaving the area looking thoroughly refreshed.

Despite arriving in Birmingham on a gloomy wintery morning, Tom explained how his perceptions of the city quickly changed as he visited the sites around the Jewellery Quarter and Colmore Business District.

He also let slip that his favourite photographs were displayed in the Jewellery Quarter!

The photographs are different at each site so be sure to visit both to see the full collection.

Where: St Paul’s Square, Jewellery Quarter & Church Street Square, Colmore Business District

Visit www.findingsbirmingham.co.uk or click here for more information.

The hotel’s recent refurbishment includes a stylish new bar and restaurant, the grill on Broad St, which is fast becoming Birmingham’s newest hidden gem.

The partnership with the nearby Jewellery Quarter, specifically Henricks The Jewellers and Crystalink who partnered to provide the gem, has been forged to show visitors that Jurys Inn Birmingham is perfectly located to explore many of Birmingham’s must-see destinations, including the Jewellery Quarter which boasts an array of individual outlets and unusual jewellery stores.

Winners can take their gem to the Jewellery Quarter where both Henricks The Jewellers and Crystalink will be delighted to set the stone in a pendant, necklace or alternative piece of jewellery.

Rachel Strange, General Manager of Jurys Inn Birmingham, said: “Since unveiling the hotel’s new look earlier this year, we’ve had great feedback particularly from our regular guests who are really impressed with the hotel’s makeover. The Jewellery Quarter is definitely a ‘must-visit’ for those visiting the city and being just short walk away, we’re really pleased that the jewellers have agreed to support us in showing that the hotel is a real hidden gem on Broad Street.”

Mike Henrick, owner of Henricks The Jewellers, said: “The Jewellery Quarter offers a truly unique shopping experience and we feel it gives Birmingham that ‘special something’ ahead of other cities. We make jewellery for all sorts of occasions – from birthdays to anniversaries – with a particular focus on the wedding season, which is fast approaching. We’re really excited to be able to surprise one of Jurys Inn Birmingham’s guests with a 30/35 point, D colour, VS clarity diamond and hope we’ll be able to create a really memorable piece of jewellery for the winner.”

Chris Green from Crystalink said: “We’re a traditional family jeweller that specialises in bespoke certified diamond and gem set pieces. As one of the largest diamond and gem stone ring makers in the Jewellery Quarter, we’re delighted to offer the winner not only the diamond but also our expertise in setting it.”

Explore the unique shopping experience and leisure attractions the Jewellery Quarter has to offer this April with rooms available at Jurys Inn Birmingham from just £65.

Jeweller Mike Henrick with the gem