People: AspinallVerdi; Nicol & Co; and more

Property regeneration consultants AspinallVerdi continue to expand with the appointment of Megan Jones as a consultant in the firm’s Birmingham office serving clients throughout the Midlands.

She joins the growing practice with a first class degree in property development and planning from Nottingham Trent University.

Her appointment coincides with the first anniversary of the opening of the Birmingham office of AspinallVerdi at The Colmore Building, Queensway.
Led by executive director Parminder Dosanjh and associate director Hayley Miles, the team serving the Midlands from the 310,000 sq ft Grade A landmark office building has secured clients throughout the region including Bromsgrove and Redditch district councils, Clarion Housing Group, Homes England and Worcestershire County Council.

Miles said: “We’re excited to welcome Megan to the team a year after the opening of our Birmingham office. Her skills will be highly valuable to the team and our clients as we continue to offer regeneration and development advice to both the public and private sectors across the West Midlands.”

:::

A Worcestershire estate agent has appointed an experienced manager to head the ongoing expansion of its lettings team.

James Gwynne has joined Nicol & Co after more than 10 years working in the sector, including the last three years managing the sales and lettings teams at Cobb Amos in Herefordshire.

Before that, he spent four years working his way up the ranks at Andrews Estate Agents in Cheltenham, and he previously worked for the former Town & Country Property Services.

Gwynne will be working from Nicol & Co’s Droitwich headquarters and will manage a lettings team of four based there and in the company’s Worcester and Malvern offices.

Matt Nicol, managing director of Nicol & Co, said: “We’re delighted to welcome James to the company and are confident that his experience will make a major contribution to our expanding lettings team.

“There is a range of new legislation and regulations coming through on the relationship between landlords and tenants, and James’ detailed knowledge of these changes will keep up one step ahead of the market.

“His appointment also reflects our ongoing confidence in the property market despite recent economic turbulence.”

:::

A ‘tech commissioner’ is set to be appointed to help boost the West Midlands by helping to build a forward looking, technologically advanced economy that harnesses big data to improve public services and drive business.

The commissioner, who would act as a leader for the region’s digital and tech sector, is one of several initiatives set out in a new partnership announced between the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and Birmingham Tech, a not-for-profit community initiative (CIC) which aims to raise the profile of the region’s tech sector.

The partnership has been struck with the specific aim of helping the region realise the potential of digital technology.

It will play a key role in delivering the WMCA Digital Roadmap which was launched last year to tackle digital exclusion, reach net zero and support the post-Covid recovery.

Focusing on the cross-cutting role of digital and tech it will also help underpin the work of the West Midlands Plan for Growth and the ambition to grow the regional economy, sustainably and in a way that benefits all parts of society.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA, said: “As our region bounces back from Covid and we seek to supercharge our economic recovery, digital technology will have a central role to play.

“If we want to deliver growth and provide local residents with the high-quality, well-paid jobs of the future then we must embed the latest digital technology into West Midlands businesses and ensure everyone has digital access in their personal and professional lives.

“I’m delighted to be working with such a well-regarded organisation as Birmingham Tech to deliver growth through our digital economy. Digital adoption is accelerating and building a digitally connected economy and society has never been more important.”

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands with Clare Streets and Yiannis Maos from Birmingham Tech who will work in partnership with the WMCA on helping the regional economy realise the full potential of digital technology