Sandwell business bosses, including some of the most successful in the borough, will get the chance to meet and network with top building firms before they start their working day.

Building giants Interserve, Carillion, Kendrick Construction, Taylor Woodrow, Edmund Nuttall, Mansell, Wates and Birse Civils are the latest names to sign up to attend the free finditinsandwell breakfast meeting at Sandwell Council House, Oldbury, on Friday 1 August 2008 from 7-10am.

Sandwell College, - the organisation undergoing one of the biggest transformations in the borough - will also be in attendance, alongwith project managers from Sandwell LIFTco who are tasked with developing the borough's new health centres, Council Chief's responsible for Sandwell MBC's Housing Strategy and Architects from the Council's Urban Design Team will also be in attendance to meet and discuss their current projects with local businesses.

The finditinsandwell event aims to introduce the construction contractors lined up to deliver Sandwell’s forthcoming £ multi-million building projects to the local businesses that can supply components, products, specialist supplies and un-rivalled manufacturing expertise to them.

More than 70 businesses will be building links during the event, which celebrates billions of pounds’ worth of investment in the regeneration of Sandwell.

Public-sector projects set to transform the borough include …  

* a state-of-the-art college
* new police headquarters
* a continual upgrading of the council’s housing stock with 30,000 homes being refurbished
* major facelifts of estates in Great Barr and Tipton
* a new general hospital
* four brand new health clinics
* new and refurbished libraries and community centres
* a crematorium in West Bromwich
* a waste-recovery park in Hilltop
* improvements for numerous highways in the area.

All of these projects will generate work. As Steve Massey, Purchasing Co-ordinator for Sandwell MBC and event organiser said, “Sandwell is in a strong position. Having millions of pounds’ worth of public-sector investment available to transform the borough, Sandwell’s big advantage is that public-sector investment is virtually recession-proof.”

The event, organised through Sandwell Council's finditinsandwell initiative, has the backing of Business Link WM, which is sponsoring the early morning gathering.

Local employers already booked to attend include:

Ash & Lacy, Forkers, The Angle Ring Co, RDS Construction, B-Trac Services, Cougar Monitoring, Colas, LM Products, Apic, Tukes & Bell, Beacon Trade & Tool, Jays Engineering, Overton Building Consultancy, Groundworks, Weatherite, Recycle Plastics plus dozens more.

finditinsandwell organisers hope the event will give local firms the chance to boost business and make stronger links with other local suppliers.

“This is a great opportunity for stakeholders to get together and work more closely,” continued Steve. “We hope that it will provide the platform for local businesses to learn about new opportunities, demonstrate their supply capabilities and raise their profiles with construction firms who are directly involved in regeneration projects".

To attend the construction breakfast club or for more information, please contact Steve Massey on 0121 569 2105 or email stephen_massey@sandwell.gov.uk.

Notes to editors:  

finditinsandwell hosts a series of networking events, including a free monthly breakfast club which has rapidly grown into the region’s biggest breakfast meeting.

This early morning networking event will be finditinsandwell's very first themed Breakfast Club, attended by contractors, builders, architects, consultants, building engineers, manufacturers, suppliers, construction buyers and many others representing interests in the future of the borough.

In addition, the event will provide an opportunity to introduce local businesses to the finditinsandwell network as a source to access local suppliers and seek out components, products and specialist supplies. They can also use the website as a library to source from known local manufacturers and access / share expertise with local manufacturers, engineers and other design decision makers.

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