Chamber’s new president to promote Birmingham as ideas powerhouse
TIM Pile has succeeded Steve Brittan as president of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce with a pledge to promote the region as an “incubator of great ideas”.
He was formally elected at the Chamber’s annual meeting and Greg Lowson, partner and head of the Birmingham office at legal firm Pinsent Masons, and Professor Edward Peck, pro-vice-chancellor and head of the college of social sciences at the University of Birmingham, were elected vice-presidents.
Pile is executive chair of Cogent Elliott, the Meriden-based marketing agency. He said during his period in office he will focus on targets which he believes will give the newly-named Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce the impetus to help deliver a thriving and vibrant business community.
He argues that in order to achieve that the Chamber must promote connectivity and lead the infrastructure debate on behalf of business in the area.
He said: “And connectivity means many different things to me: internal and external connectivity across and for the region.
“This means improving the digital connectivity and access of Greater Birmingham to the world because I believe that business is often at its best when it is trading and leveraging our historic ability to add real value.
“And by connectivity I also mean access to both financial and human capital.”
Pile is a champion of Birmingham as an incubator for great ideas. He said: “Birmingham is about things truly innovative and original – and knowing how to take them to market.
“For many years Birmingham took more patents to market than any city in the country.
“Maintaining Birmingham as a powerhouse of ideas is absolutely critical in transforming lives and creating wealth. This gives us the edge over other places and I absolutely believe that the power of ideas, coupled with the ability to deliver them, can change people’s lives.”
