President & People
Burgis & Bullock welcomes new team members A Nuneaton accountancy firm has strengthened its workforce with two new additions to its tax and client services teams.
Happy New Year to you all and welcome to my inaugural column New year, new start and new President, thankfully David Penn the outgoing Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce President was somewhat more gracious than another certain President, whom at time of writing is making headline news for all the wrong reasons.
Burgis & Bullock, which also has offices in Leamington, Stratford-uponAvon and Rugby, welcomed Brandon Jacques and Morgan Hill to the team based at Eliot Park. Brandon is AAT-qualified and will be completing his ACCA studies during his time with the firm. He joins the company in a combined account and personal tax role. Morgan is part-way through her AAT studies and joins the cloud and client services team, further strengthening the firm’s bookkeeping and Xero accounting offering. The appointments, who are both from Nuneaton, are part of Burgis & Bullock’s
continued commitment to providing development opportunities for young people in the area. Brandon said: “It’s a big step up for me from my previous roles, but the work culture is great here and I’ve already seen how everyone supports each other during my short time with the firm.” Morgan, who joins from another local practice, said: “I’ve built up good experience over the last couple of years working in practice and will continue to build that valuable experience at Burgis & Bullock.” Sean Farnell, partner at Burgis & Bullock, added: “We’re pleased to have brought Morgan and Brandon on board at our Nuneaton office. They both have a bright future in the industry and we hope they will have an impact on the business for years to come.
And I guess I have become the first President in the history of this chamber to take over the role remotely, via Zoom. A bit of a strange feeling if I’m honest, as I put the chain of office over my own head, quietly congratulating myself as I did it! But these are strange times, we all face challenges like never before. There is a lot of fear and uncertainty, with whole sectors being decimated; however, with the vaccine roll out there does now seem to be light at the end of a very dark and long tunnel. Indeed, never before has the role of the Chambers of Commerce been more important and they will undoubtedly have a significant role to play going forward. Our own Chamber to date has been totally outstanding with the help, guidance, support and information offered to businesses and I, for one, am immensely proud to be associated with this fabulous institution and the members of staff who drive it.
Best regards Tom Mongan
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“We have heard a lot from government about skills and supporting the development of young people in industry recently, so we’re delighted to be able to support Brandon and Morgan through the next stage of their training and development. “The firm is always looking to provide opportunities for young people and we will continue to do so despite the pandemic and difficult economic circumstances.”
Royal recognition for training specialist
Therefore, I will start my column by paying tribute and thanking David for the outstanding work and contribution he has made over the past couple of years as President and indeed he continues to do as a member of the Chamber board; congratulations on a job well done sir. It goes without saying that it is without doubt a huge honour to take over the role of President of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, a chamber that is widely recognised as one of the very best in the whole of the U.K. I look forward to not only contributing and being involved, but also helping and advising companies and individuals, having myself been involved in business for nigh on 50 years.
Brandon Jacques and Morgan Hill at the Burgis & Bullock offices in Nuneaton
A Coventry-based national training provider has received royal recognition for its work to support local communities throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
PET-Xi Training has been awarded a UK Business Heroes Stamp after being nominated by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce. Back in the summer, the Chamber nominated PETXi as part of a national UK Business Heroes campaign by the British Chambers of Commerce, a campaign which has been hugely supported by HRH The Countess of Wessex. The campaign recognises the incredible work that UK businesses are doing in the most challenging of years to support their Chamber,
the local business community, clients and colleagues. Fleur Sexton, managing director of PET-Xi, said: “We are delighted to announce we have successfully been awarded a UK Business Heroes Stamp! The UK Business Heroes stamp demonstrates that we have gone the extra mile to support and rebuild our communities by reskilling and upskilling during the coronavirus outbreak. “We’re delighted to be recognised in this way as a valued Chamber strategic partner in Coventry & Warwickshire.”
Top director award for MTC chief executive Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) chief executive Dr Clive Hickman has received the top award in the Institute of Directors (IoD) 2020 Midlands Director of the Year awards. Dr Hickman received the Chair’s Award for Excellence and Board Practice for the West Midlands at a virtual awards ceremony presentation which linked the West and East Midlands for the first time. Brian Hall, chairman of the IoD in the West Midlands, said: “Congratulations go to all of our winners who demonstrated outstanding success. We were delighted to showcase and celebrate their achievements during our virtual awards ceremony which was run across the whole of the Midlands to achieve a wide audience and maximum exposure for all of our finalists.”
Dr Hickman, who heads the Midlands Manufacturing Resilience Commission, has been chief executive of the MTC for more than ten years. He has more than 35 years’ experience in the automotive industry and was head of engineering for Tata Motors in India. He also established the Tata Motors European Technical Centre in the UK. He began his career as a senior engineer with the Rover Group before becoming engineering and group operations director at MIRA. He subsequently joined Ricardo, where he held a seat on the board and was managing director of Ricardo UK. Born in Coseley in the West Midlands, he is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
The MTC was founded by the University of Birmingham, Loughborough University, the University of Nottingham and TWI. The MTC’s industrial members include some of the UK’s major global manufacturers. The MTC aims to provide a competitive environment to bridge the gap between university-based research and the development of innovative manufacturing solutions in line with the government’s manufacturing strategy. It is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult supported by Innovate UK.
www.cw-chamber.co.uk
