The business website of the Birmingham Post and Birmingham Mail has focused on how the Westside area is becoming the new centre of the city.
The two-part interview with Gerald Manton, chairman of Westside BID, also went into the detail of plans for a giant beer festival doubling up as a fundraiser for local charities and good causes.
Business reporter Tamlyn Jones explored Mr Manton’s plans for regular night markets and a revamped New Year’s Eve celebration and firework display.
In the first part of the BusinessLive interview, Mr Manton said: “I feel that Centenary Square, as we saw while hosting the Commonwealth Games bull, has become this modern centre.
“For a long time, the artery we have here has been cut off because of the tram works but, all of sudden, it feels like this side of Birmingham has come alive and the city centre has shifted and been pulled this way.”
In the second part of the BusinessLive interview, Mr Manton explained how he planned the launch of what he called the ‘Westoberfest’ beer festival for Thursday to Saturday in the second week of September 2023.
Mr Manton told BusinessLive: “Our thoughts are that it could easily become one of the biggest beer festivals in Europe … We expect there to be up to 4,000 visitors per day and we think that first event could be the biggest in the UK.
“If we could have a beer festival that is generating £50,000 every year for charity and I walk away and that is still going in ten years’ time then that would make me incredibly proud.”
The full interviews with Mr Manton can be read at https://www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/this-side-birmingham-come-alive-25158088 and https://www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/broad-street-chief-reveals-plans-25157879.
