Dear Patchers — welcome to another week and an incredibly sunny day in Birmingham.
First things first, a massive welcome to the 20 or so of you who signed up last week — taking our paying members to 1058. We’ll soon run out of chairs. If you appreciate what we do and want to support local independent journalism, or if you don’t but want to be able to leave comments telling us that, hit the button below.
We hope you enjoyed your weekend and found the time to digest Samuel’s long read on the future of the Bullring markets, some of which have the threat of demolition hanging over them. Among the Dispatch faithful, there was support for the centuries-old shopping destination — where else will readers be able to buy sewing supplies, fresh meat and curl cream all at once? Meanwhile, there was some disagreement about whether the city centre needs more housing at all. One reader said: “Who is going to live in these trendy new developments in [the] city centre? Not families who need housing, I’m sure.” However, another said: “Given a choice between new housing on green fields and flats in the city centre, the city centre wins out every time.” Have your say here.
Coming up:
- Do you have an opinion on Digbeth’s nightlife? Are you thrilled by the influx of ‘experience bars’ with ball pits, or are you fuming at the loss of good old-fashioned boozers? Let us know at: editor@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
- Got a tip-off for us? Send it to our editor inbox: editor@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
“Keep up the good work, we need quality independent journalism for our area. Thank you.” — Dispatch reader.
Weather
☂️ Tuesday: Light rain and a slight breeze. Max 8°C.
☂️ Wednesday: Light rain and winds. Max 6°C.
🌥️Thursday: Cloudy, then sunny with a gentle breeze. Max 6°C.
🌧️ Friday: A sprinkle of rain and some breeze. Max 7°C.
☀️ Weekend: Sunny and breezy. Max 8°C.
We get our weather from the Met Office.
Photo of the week
Still standing. Still. (Druids Heath, 2025). Photography account dirty.brum highlights the planned council renovation of the south Birmingham suburb of Druids Heath, which states in a planning document that: “Druids Heath [needs to be a] destination of choice and not of last resort.’ dirty.brum notes that 65% of properties in the area are currently council-owned. “Just saying.”
Brum in brief
💼 Readers may recall a story from June last year about Birmingham’s Night Time Economy Champion Lawrence Barton, and a sprawling range of businesses run by his family. We reported then that claims totalling £8.9m had been lodged against their main company GB Training (UK) Ltd., including one from the taxpayer-funded Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). The latest filing from the insolvency practitioner working on the case reveals further details: claims are also being made by the North East Surrey College of Technology (£2.6m) and the West Midlands Combined Authority (£1m). News of the WMCA’s claim is particularly awkward for Barton — he has been a commissioner on the WMCA’s Leadership Commission since 2017 and was appointed in March 2020 as a Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands.
The liquidator’s latest filing also details a tangled web of dealings between various Barton family companies. They saw cash moved, for no obvious business reason, out of GB Training (UK) and into other family companies. To quote the liquidator’s report, which is publicly available at Companies House:
[GB Training (UK) Ltd] would seem to have lost a total of £2,454,000 as a result of making interest-free unsecured loans to other [family-associated] companies — for which it would seem to have received little benefit.
The liquidator refers to being “hampered by a lack of cooperation” in his investigation. However, he notes that “a meeting to consider whether it is possible to reach a commercial settlement of possible claims against Mr Barton has now been arranged.” A spokesperson for Lawrence Barton said: “It would not be appropriate to comment until the legal and financial process is drawn to a satisfactory close.”
🎻 The Dispatch caught up with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) chief executive Emma Stenning, who is about to embark on a two-month ‘Listening Project’, to find out what the people of Birmingham want from their orchestra. The data will be gathered during March and April via a survey, focus groups and post-concert sit-down chats with Stenning and her team. Stenning is riding high from a period of success, including the busiest day the orchestra has had since Covid: two Sundays ago 2,200 people came to listen to their Music at the Movies concert. And there will be a repeat of last August’s week-long series of public CBSO in the City concerts, which saw conductor Kazuki Yamada playing the keyboard on a packed city centre tram and the entire orchestra serenading passengers at New Street Station. That said, a perennial challenge — especially as Birmingham City Council will cut all of its arts funding this year — is raising money. Stenning says she is a “born optimist” and has met with lots of important people who are keen to help, like the University of Birmingham’s Vice Chancellor Adam Tickell and the higher-ups at firms like Goldman Sachs and Sir Peter Rigby’s Specialist Computer Centres (SCC). As we reported earlier in the year, since starting at CBSO, Stenning has faced criticism from some old-school fans for focusing too much on apparent gimmicks (the veteran classical music critic Norman Lebrecht has published over a dozen articles critical of her tenure, even alleging that she doesn’t understand classical music at all) and not enough on tradition. Nonetheless, she remains resolute that classical music will always be the “backbone” of the orchestra.
The Dispatch’s CBSO pick: An upcoming concert that might not please the old guard but will thrill Grime-heads, is the CBSO’s collaboration with Punch Records: LEGACY will celebrate Birmingham’s rich rap, Grime and hip-hop scenes, featuring huge names like Lady Leshurr and Jaykae accompanied by a full orchestra. Tickets are available now for the show on 12 April.
🕯️ A 14-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of 12-year-old Leo Ross, who was stabbed in the stomach as he walked home from school last Tuesday afternoon in Hall Green. Ross was found by a member of the public, treated at the scene and taken to hospital where he died that evening. The murder has led to renewed calls to end knife crime, of which the West Midlands has the highest rates in the country. Speaking ahead of a vigil for Ross on Sunday, the vicar of St Peter’s Church in Hall Green, Martin Stephenson, said: “Our hearts, and our prayers, our love pours out for his family and friends.” The accused boy has been charged with murder, six counts of assault, and possession of a bladed article. He will appear at Birmingham magistrates’ court today.
🚘 The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has announced two new, long-awaited appointments to help reduce road deaths and injuries. Mat MacDonald, who is an NHS doctor with experience supporting victims of road collisions and is chair of the Better Streets for Birmingham campaign group, will take the role of Road Safety commissioner. Beccy Marston, who has 17 years of experience working with communities, councils, charities and private sector organisations on initiatives to encourage more people to cycle and walk, is the Active Travel commissioner.
Quick hits
🚲 A public consultation over plans to crack down on “inconsiderate and dangerous” cycling and skateboarding in Birmingham is set to finish this week.
🏢 Will the acting talents of Adrian Brody help people fall back in love with some of Brum’s most maligned buildings? Mary Keating, the co-founder of Birmingham campaign group BRUTIFUL, tells the Guardian that the award-winning new film The Brutalist has generated a lot of interest in the often divisive style of architecture.
🗑️ The BBC met Alan Webb, Digbeth’s one-man anti-litter crusader, who heads out onto the streets armed with only a litter-picker every day for an hour in a bid to encourage people to “take more pride in the area”.
🔋 The think tank Common Wealth, which advocates for regional equality, has revealed there are more EV (electric vehicle) charging points in London’s Westminster borough council (2693) than in the whole of the city of Birmingham (550).
Media picks
📰 To badly misquote Billy Joel, ‘Vienna won’t wait for you.’ Last week, the conservative Austrian online news site Exxpress reported that the right-populist FPÖ party in Vienna had lodged a document with the mayor, Michael Ludwig, entitled ‘Vienna Must Not Become Birmingham.’ After it was revealed that Vienna’s deficit had risen from €2.2 billion to €3.8 billion in a year, FPÖ councillor Maximilian Krauss used Birmingham’s recent bankruptcy as a case study on ‘what not to do.’ Ironically, ‘The Central Birmingham Framework 2040’, an aspirational council planning document, explicitly cites Vienna as one of its models. Bleak reading. Bleaker still? Exxpress refers to us as a “northern English city.”
🎞️ Malcolm in the Midlands? Catch this fascinating BBC World Service documentary from 2021, detailing Malcolm X’s 1965 visit to Smethwick’s Marshall Street, nine days before he was assassinated in America. The civil rights leader and Black Power advocate visited the area to argue for desegregated housing and highlight the racism of the recent 1964 general election.
Things to do
🎻 Reflect on the horrors of the Holocaust in this moving musical tribute for Holocaust Memorial Day 2025, tonight at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Combining music and testimony of Holocaust survivors and victims, the event is the first of its kind at the college. Free entry, 7pm.
📖 Know your kelpies from your selkies? Settle in for some traditional Scottish tales and celebrate Burns Night (even though it’s not actually Burns Night) at The Station Pub in Sutton Coldfield on Tuesday. 7.30pm onwards.
✂️ Stryx Gallery’s Mothers Who Make hub is running a zine-making workshop on Wednesday, to reflect on the challenges and joys of motherhood and creativity. 11am-12.30pm, tickets £3 or £5 with a hot drink and a cake. Yum.
🎶 Dance among the bath bombs this Thursday at Lush’s listening party for the release of their In the Bath album of 90s covers. Expect live music, exclusive products, and to go home smelling of roses and lavender. 8-9.30 pm, tickets £12.
🕰️ End your week with a spot of Jacobean grandeur at one of Aston Hall’s in-depth, Focus Friday tours led by experts. From 12pm for 45 minutes, the tour is included in your ticket price, but booking is recommended.
🐍 Happy Lunar New Year! There are a plethora of events taking place across the region between 29 January and 12 February to celebrate the Year of the Snake.
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