Lobbying and networking organisation, Birmingham Forward has appointed Graham Nicoll as Deputy and Chairman Elect, following the AGM held at the Hyatt Hotel on Tuesday, March 31st.
Graham will act as Deputy to Birmingham Forward’s new Chair Sue Lewis, Senior Partner at Eversheds, who took over from Richard Edwards, Senior Practice Partner at Deloitte in the Midlands, at the meeting.
Graham is Regional Centre Head for Barclays Wealth and focuses his time on growing the business and strengthening the brand across the Midlands. He has a breadth of experience working with entrepreneurs looking to release funds from their business. Having started his career as an entrepreneur himself, he launched and built a corporate health and wellbeing provider before successfully selling it to Nuffield. Following this and prior to joining Barclays Wealth, he consulted to a wide range of business owners helping them grow their wealth through their companies with a particular focus on entrepreneurs looking to exit their businesses.
Away from his day job Graham also sits on the board of Birmingham Community Foundation and Chairs their Donor Development Committee. He is also actively involved with St. Basils and sits on the steering committee for Thrive.
The evening, which was attended by over 50 Birmingham Forward members, also saw four new directors elected to join the board with immediate event. They are:
- Andrew Bass. Co-founder, BassClusker Consulting
- Mark Whitehouse. Deputy Managing Director, Clarke Associates
- Nick Venning. Marketing Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Stephen Cockell. Regional Managing Director, RBS Corporate Bank
Sally Beavan, a Partner at PKF, assumed Board responsibility for finance.
At the AGM, members also approved accounts for the last year showing increases in revenues from membership fees and sponsorship which in turn helped to deliver a pre-tax surplus of nearly £18,000.
Outgoing Chairman Richard Edwards handed over the baton to incoming Chair Sue Lewis and in doing so reflected in his final address on Birmingham Forward’s past year.
Sue Lewis used her first speech to lay out how the organisation will support its members through the next year - which is likely to see some of the toughest economic trading conditions in decades.
Commenting on the announcement that Graham Nicoll will be the organisation’s new Deputy and Chairman Elect, Sue Lewis said;
“I am delighted that Graham has agreed to take up this role within Birmingham Forward. He has been an extremely active and supportive of the organisation and since joining the Board has led our engagement with and recruitment of our Patrons. Along with my fellow directors and the executive team, I look forward to working closely with Graham during the next year and beyond when he takes over the chairmanship.”
The AGM was immediately followed by the Birmingham Post’s Deal of the Year ceremony sponsored by Deloitte.
