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Top story
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JLR to keep both factories open
Jaguar Land Rover has announced it is to keep both its Birmingham area plants open. An official announcement is due this morning but Insider has been told that JLR’s management team has agreed a deal with unions to keep open both the Land Rover plant in Lode Lane, Solihull, and its Jaguar factory in Castle Bromwich.
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Deals
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Young Driver accelerates with EFG investment
A Birmingham-based driving school is expanding across the UK after securing a £180,000 investment. Young Driver received the government-backed finance through the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme.
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Property
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CSL takes a seat in Stoke
Sofa giant CS Lounge Suites (CSL) has taken a 15-year lease on space at Octagon Retail Park in Stoke-on-Trent. The deal was struck with landlord UK & European Investments.
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Business
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Braddock and Ward in at Birmingham Chamber
Christine Braddock will take up her newly-elected position as president of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce today. Along with incoming vice president Michael Ward, senior partner at HBJ Gateley Wareing, she has pledged to use her role “help ambitious youngsters connect with business”.
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West Mids companies storm Sunday Times list
Fifteen businesses from the West Midlands have made the Sunday Times' Top Track 250 list. The list, which names the country’s leading mid-market private companies, includes Willenhall-based budget retailer Poundland, which enters at number 11.
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Government support boosts Big City Plan
The government has pledged to help Birmingham boost its Big City Plan. Planning minister Bob Neil said that he wanted to give cities like Birmingham “more control over their own destiny in planning and development”.
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The Travel Club goes bust
A Birmingham-headquartered travel company is the latest victim of the austere spending climate. The Travel Club and its subsidiary Austria Travel have entered administration after failing to pay their accommodation suppliers.
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Quango reform - the full list
The government has announced that 192 quangos are set to be scrapped with a further 118 to be merged. Another 380 will be retained. Insider has the full list here outlining what will happen to each quango.
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West Mids' economy still gloomy, suggests report
The West Midlands economy is still “bumping along the bottom”, according to latest survey from the region’s Chamber of Commerce. Manufacturing companies only reported a small increase in domestic sales and a decrease in orders from abroad in the past quarter, said the research.
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FCS protects staff with China contract win
A Hednesford-based manufacturing company has secured the jobs of its entire workforce following a contract win worth $250,000. Fuel Conservation Services (FCS) will supply a high thermal efficiency roof for a rolling mill furnace to China-based Shanghai Jielum Industrial Furnace Company.
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