The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. The region consists of the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. The largest city in the region is Birmingham.
RHS Britain in Bloom is the largest horticultural campaign in the United Kingdom. It was first held in 1963, initiated by the British Tourist Board based on the example set by Fleurissement de France, which since 1959 has promoted the annual Concours des villes et villages fleuris. It has been organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) since 2002.
A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993.
In the United Kingdom, regional development agencies (RDAs) were nine non-departmental public bodies established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of England's Government Office regions between 1998 and 2010. There was one RDA for each of the NUTS level 1 regions of England. Similar activities were carried out in Wales by the Welsh Government Department of Economy and Transport, in Northern Ireland by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and in Scotland by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
The UK Film Council (UKFC) was a non-departmental public body set up in 2000 to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee, owned by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and governed by a board of 15 directors. It was funded from various sources including the National Lottery. John Woodward was the Chief Executive Officer of the UKFC. On 26 July 2010, the government announced that the council would be abolished; Although one of the parties elected into that government had, for some months, promised a bonfire of the Quangos, Woodward said that the decision had been taken with "no notice and no consultation". UKFC closed on 31 March 2011, with many of its functions passing to the British Film Institute.
West Atlantic UK Limited, formerly Atlantic Airlines Ltd is a British cargo airline based at East Midlands Airport. It operates contract and ad hoc cargo flights worldwide, especially within Europe as part of the West Atlantic Group. The company's fleet is composed of Boeing 737 and ATR72 aircraft. The airline specialises in the transport of dangerous goods and radioactive products and other specialist aerial work, including oil spill response, dispersant spraying and icing trials. The prime activity of the business is the supply and operating of aircraft to night-time freight integrators and consolidators and the operation of ad hoc air charters on behalf of other airlines, freight brokers and forwarders. Atlantic Airlines merged with the Swedish airline "West Air Europe" in 2008 to establish the West Atlantic Group.
The National Pub of the Year is an annual competition held by CAMRA, the winner of which is announced in the February of the year following that in which the competition is run, that finds the best pub in the UK. Established in 1988, the competition helps to highlight quality pubs around the UK that are worth seeking out and visiting. Each year, each local CAMRA branch nominates one pub in their area to be entered. These 200 pubs then go through to the regional competition, which then whittles down to 4 pubs to go to the national final.
Hairdressers Journal International is a monthly glossy magazine for the hairdressing industry, published in the United Kingdom. The magazine has been in circulation since 1882 and is considered a source of information for the industry. As well as hairdressing imagery, HJ also provides trend features, salon business advice and coverage of news and events in the hairdressing industry. The magazine's executive director is Jayne Lewis-Orr.
Local Food Hero is a competition to find, celebrate and award Britain's best independent food businesses - those who champions local produce with a strong connection to their community. In 2009, the competition was hosted by the television programme Market Kitchen, on the channel Good Food. Businesses from 10 regions in the UK were nominated and voted for by the public on the Good Food Channel website. After voting ended, the 10 businesses from each region with the most votes were assessed by a selection panel. The panel shortlisted three businesses from each region.
Midlands 1 East is an English semi-professional level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in the eastern region of the Midlands, including sides from Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and occasionally Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. When this division began in 1987 it was known as Midlands 2 East, and has been restructured several times, most notably as a single division known as Midlands 2 between 1992 and 2000, before regionalising again to its present format.
Advantage West Midlands was established in 1999 as one of nine regional development agencies (RDAs) in England. RDAs were created by the UK Government to drive sustainable economic development and social and physical regeneration through a business-led approach. Operating at arm's length from government, RDAs had business-led Boards that were appointed by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Advantage West Midlands was closed on 31 March 2012 as part of the wider closure of the RDA network.
The East Midlands Oil Province, also known as the East Midlands Petroleum Province, covers the petroliferous geological area across the north-eastern part of the East Midlands of England that has a few small oil fields. The largest field in the province is the Welton oil field, the second largest onshore oil field in the UK.
Lingo24 is a UK-registered translation company that was formed in 2001.
Midlands Premier is a level five semi-professional league in the English rugby union system. It is one of four leagues at this level, with its counterparts, London & South East Premier, South West Premier and North Premier. When this division began in 1987 it was known as Midlands Division 1. The format of the league was changed at the beginning of the 2009–10 season following a reorganisation by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), and the name change from National League 3 to Premier was introduced for the 2017-18 season by the RFU in order to lessen confusion for what is a series of regional leagues. Midlands Premier is the highest regional rugby union league in the English Midlands.
The Curry Awards is an award given to curry restaurants in the United Kingdom, which have achieved "total excellence" in all departments by The Curry Club in association with its publication, The Good Curry Guide.
BET International was a British-irish free-to-air television channel centred towards black culture. Before its replacement with a domestic version, it also aired in Africa, along with the Middle East/North Africa region. It was launched on 27 February 2008 in the UK with headquarters in London. BET broadcast content from the main Black Entertainment Television channel in the US and Canada. No UK-originated content was ever produced for the channel.
Cundall is a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy established in 1976 by Michael Burch, Rick Carr, Geoff Cundall, David Gandy and Bernard Johnston. Founded in Newcastle and Edinburgh, Cundall now has United Kingdom offices in London, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Belfast and Manchester, with Australian offices in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide; Asian offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore; Middle East and North African (MENA) offices in Dubai, Doha, and Tripoli, and European offices in Dublin, Bucharest, Paphos, Madrid and Wroclaw.
The Queen's Awards for Enterprise is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting opportunity. They are the highest official UK awards for British businesses. The scheme was established as The Queen's Award to Industry by a royal warrant of 30 November 1965, and individual categories have been known in the past as The Queen's Awards for Export, Export Achievement, Technology, Technological Achievement and Environmental Achievement. The scheme also includes an award for individuals, the Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion.
Barry Leahey MBE is Managing Director of Playdale Playgrounds and Honorary Teaching Fellow – Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation at Lancaster University Management School. Barry is also Entrepreneur in Residence at Lancaster University Management School and the chair of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Cumbria Branch.
The RFU Junior Vase is a rugby union national knockout cup competition in England run by the Rugby Football Union, which has been competed for since 1990. It is mostly contested by 1st XV teams at level 9 of the English rugby union system, although sides as low as level 12 or even outside the league system can sometimes enter. The competition is a national one, but split into regions until the national semi-finals with the final being held at Twickenham Stadium in London. Presently, the RFU Junior Vase is the fifth most important club cup competition in England, behind the Premiership Rugby Cup, RFU Championship Cup, RFU Intermediate Cup and RFU Senior Vase.
