New manager draws up big plans for Northfield Shopping Centre

NORTHFIELD Shopping Centre in Birmingham is set for a major facelift, the newly appointed man at the helm has promised.

Adam Meade has stepped up to the role of manager at the centre, which welcomes more than 70,000 visitors a week to its 40-plus stores.

He previously spent 18 months as the centre’s operations manager and aims to build closer links with Northfield’s community groups, local police and businesses to help bring more shoppers into the town.

“I believe strong links with the local community are vital and one of my top priorities will be developing a much closer partnership with the Northfield Business Investment District (BID),” he said.

“I’m about to join its board of directors to help achieve this aim.

“The BID already helps the centre in terms of letting us know about things like training courses and for our staff, and we’ve worked successfully with them on special events such as the Chinese lion day earlier this year.

“I also plan to work more closely with other organisations in the area, including the police, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and a range of local charities.

“It’s all about weaving ourselves into the fabric of the area.”

Meade will also oversee the continuing major facelift programme at the 166,000 sq ft centre on Bristol Road South, which was first built in 1974, with a second phase opening in 1982.

The latest phase, which will begin in 2016, will involve the upgrading of the main entrance canopies in Church Road and general cosmetic work to the exterior of the building.

ArrowXL appoints general manager in Worcester

ANTHONY O’Neill has been appointed general manager of ArrowXL’s Worcester hub.

The two-man home delivery specialist, delivers more than 16,000 products to more than 8,000 homes every day.

The company focuses on large, fragile and bulky items up to 120kg.
 
O’Neill’s role will be to ensure all customer orders are delivered to customers on time and within their time window.

Around 300 staff are based at Arrow XL’s Worcester hub, which handles around 40% of the company’s total volume, delivering around 20,000 orders per week to the South West, Wales, the Midlands and East Anglia regions.

Previously, O’Neill was general manager for Arrk Europe in Nuneaton, which makes specialist components for Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover and Rolls Royce.

Busy Bees Training brings in new BDM

BUSY Bees Training, the Shenstone-based training academy arm of Busy Bees, the UK’s largest provider of quality childcare, has expanded its workforce, taking on a business development manager.

Hayley Swann aims to expand the apprenticeship and traineeship offering, whilst educating young people about the options available to them once they have left school.

A large part of her role will also be reaching out to potential adult learners, offering information about enrolment options and potential funding that is available.

She joins Busy Bees Training from a not-for-profit training organisation.

She said: “It’s important that young people who are in their last year at school have as much information as possible about the options open to them for their future.

“I have been brought on board to make sure the message is out there that there are more options than going to university.”

Katie Bard strengthens after a period of strong growth

VICTORIA Beckett and Ann Cain have joined Katie Bard in the temps team at the Birmingham-based recruitment firm.

Katie Bard has also promoted Katie Keates to executive consultant in its permanent team and added new graduate trainees Charlotte Kay and Chloe Edwards to its ranks.

Beckett is a graduate of the University of Northampton, while Cain graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in French.

Verity Stokes, divisional leader at Katie Bard, which is part of the Angela Mortimer group, said the appointments follow a period of sustained growth over the last six months.

She said: “We’re delighted to have added Victoria and Ann to our temps team to support this growth.”