PARTNERS

Nichola Balmer, CoAP Chair is Director of Perceptis Limited.

Perceptis specialises in helping companies dramatically improve their performance in two of the areas they often find most problematic: marketing and information technology (IT).

We are warm, friendly, and very direct. We don't waste time - our clients or our own.

By providing expert support in these two crucial areas we help our customers "punch above their weight" so they can compete with organisations which are often much larger than they are. In doing so they significantly increase performance, sales and profits while improving efficiency at the same time.

Vice Chair and Senior Ambassador Peter Tomlinson was a founder member of the Mature Workforce Initiative in 2003 which spawned CoAP. As the man who created SAGA Radio in the West Midlands in 2001 he became acutely aware of "ageism" across many sectors of society and began a movement to educate employers about the implications of demographic change. His last three years have seen him as an executive director of Birmingham Children's Hospital and latterly as High Sheriff of the West Midlands.

He is determined to see that CoAP continues to remove age barriers to employment, helping organisations to maximise their bottom line because of it and keeping the West Midlands ahead of the competition.

The mission of TAEN - The Age and Employment Network is to promote an effective job market which works for people in mid and later life, for employers and for the economy.

TAENs role is to interpret demographic change and help people and organisations build advantage from it. We work to remove age barriers to opportunity. We do this by explaining, consulting, sharing, advising and pioneering ideas and action.

Andy Finnie is the CoAP Operation and Programme Director and is also a TAEN Regional Consultant. His background was in IT where he spent many years as Head of Business Marketing and Offer Development.

He is passionate on all age-related matters but has special expertise in the age and employment arena. Andy currently manages the CoAP Ambassador programme and is confident the programme will make a real and lasting difference to the WM labour market in general and continuous improvements to age diversity employment in particular.

Andy is founder of aged2excel Ltd, which offers age diversity management and specialist recruitment services. He loves family life and has four grandchildren.

Acas aims to improve organisations and working life through better employment relations. We provide up-to-date information, independent advice, high quality training and we work with employers and employees to solve problems and improve performance.

All the work that Advantage West Midlands does aligns with the West Midlands Economic Strategy and contributes to improving our region as a place to invest, work, learn, visit and live.

Our policies are developed on behalf of the region with a broad range of partners from across the public, private, voluntary and community sectors.

The economic growth of the West Midlands is influenced by a complex range of factors. These need to be understood so that effective approaches can be developed to address them. We have grouped our policies under the three main components of the economy: Business, Place and People.

A balanced and strong contribution from all three of these elements is necessary to create a successful and vibrant economy for the West Midlands.

About AWM   |   Careers at AWM

aged2excel was established in early 2004 in response to the demographic changes taking place across the UK, creating an ageing and often undervalued and underutilised talent pool. The company is involved in leading and consulting on a number of age and employment programmes predominantly in the West Midlands.

As a CoAP partner and taking a lead from TAEN, aged2excel are able to provide Age Diversity Management expertise which includes a portfolio of services aimed at enabling organisations to assess their current level of age tolerance across the age spectrum and improve their chances of recruiting and retaining a more balanced workforce in terms of age, background, expertise, knowledge and life experience.

As a highly competent Director of Operations, Mike’s role includes responsibility for the delivery of all aged2excel products and services as well as a leading role in consulting and training. Mike’s strong delivery background ensures minimum risk, consistency and excellence in terms of the quality of services provided.

The Foundation develops new approaches to working with older people that challenge traditional stereotypes and promote the views, wishes and aspirations of older people themselves. This work is mainly carried out through practical projects that are evaluated and used to inform policy makers at all levels.

In recent years we have been exploring a number of practical projects looking at health, volunteering and employment; developing a support model for people in mid-life to access employment opportunities.

Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry is steeped in history having been established for over 200 years but, like the business environment over the decades, it has changed and adapted accordingly.

Paul joined Birmingham Chamber of Commerce in 2001 and now leads the Economic Development and Partnership team (EDP). The EDP team develop and deliver a wide range of support services for businesses and entrepreneurs. They engage with a huge spectrum of businesses across Birmingham & Solihull, including automotive suppliers, Asian and African Caribbean businesses and social enterprises. Paul represents the region’s business community on the West Midlands Strategic Migration Partnership, which brings together the key actors in the field of migration and integration.

Paul is also a Board Director of two social enterprises, one focused on finance for entrepreneurs and the other delivering training in the health sector. He is a partner and board member of numerous regeneration initiatives, focused on urban renewal and innovation.

The Birmingham Business School works with a range of businesses and public sector organisations and is renowned for its research contributing to academic debates worldwide.

Isabelle Szmigin is a Professor of Marketing and with colleagues Joanne Duberley and Fiona Carmichael is currently undertaking research in the area of employment and older people particularly in rural areas.

Isabelle is also a fellow of the World Demographic Association which views the current and future demographic challenges as a unique opportunity.

A statutory body with the responsibility to protect, enforce and promote equality across the seven "protected" grounds - age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief, sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

Their job is to promote equality and human rights, and to create a fairer Britain. They do this by providing advice and guidance, working to implement an effective legislative framework and raising awareness of peoples rights.

GOWM join up the work of 10 Central Government Departments across the West Midlands, and feed back the region’s views and unique needs to Whitehall.

GOWM work to deliver, influence and develop government programmes and initiatives in the region on behalf of these departments, by working with relevant organisations to meet local needs. They also act as ears, eyes and a local voice for Whitehall in the West Midlands, reflecting back to central government the interests, concerns and successes of the region to inform policy development.

Carol Wallace is Later Life Lead Officer for the West Midlands region, responsible for the regionally outcomes of PSA 17 (Public Service Agreements) and the recommendations from the 2008 Elbourne Review.

Jobcentre Plus is a government agency supporting people of working age from welfare into work, and helping employers to fill their vacancies. We are part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and play a major role in supporting the Department’s aim to ‘promote opportunity and independence for all through modern, customer-focused services’.

NIACE the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, is the national voluntary organisation for adult learners and adult learning. An educational charity, NIACE exists to engage more and different adults in better quality learning of all kinds. NIACE has a well established regional team with dedicated lead officers and literacy, language and numeracy specialists in each English region.

NIACE in the West Midlands:
The Regional Development Officers work closely with strategic agencies, funding bodies, other regional and sub-regional organisations and local learning providers. They have credibility in the different sectors, extensive networks of contacts and huge amounts of regional data and intelligence. They can also generate high levels of stakeholder and user participation as well as support for research activity.

PRIME is a national charity dedicated to helping people aged 50+ to start their own businesses or become self-employed. It was founded by HRH Prince Charles to release the untapped potential of the over 50s. In particular it helps people to financial independence, personal dignity and individual satisfaction through self-employment.

We can help people over 50 consider whether self-employment is for them, give them help in developing a business idea, and show them where to find help in planning their business.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) is the trade body that supports and represents the recruitment industry. Worth £24.5 billion to the UK economy, the recruitment industry is responsible for placing 1.2 million temporary workers on assignment each week and placing over 700,000 employees in permanent work each year.

Recruitment impacts on every sector of the UK economy.

The REC's membership is made up of over 8,000 recruitment agencies and businesses (corporate members) and 6,000 recruitment professionals (individual members).