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This comment piece by Andrew Pears, CEO of Permaconn, first appeared on IT Wire on 16th July. Visit www.itwire.com for more details. "Telstra’s nationwide outage last week was a timely reminder that connectivity has become one of the most critical components of modern business infrastructure. When the network failed, payment terminals stopped processing transactions, remote monitoring systems lost visibility, connected devices dropped offline, and organisations across the co

Students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in Sandwell are enjoying fulfilling work placements, with extra support from the Richardson Brothers Foundation. Jan Jennings (Richardson Brothers Foundation) with Tiegan The Westminster School in Rowley Regis is a dedicated special school committed to providing a nurturing and inclusive environment for students with diverse and complex needs. Encouraging them into work experiences with local businesses is an

On the 14th July the region came together to celebrate 'Black Country Day'. Carl Richardson was a guest on the BBC's Ed James show, talking about the Richardson family's connection with and business impact on the region over many years. Click the image above to listen to the clip.

This article by Carl Richardson first appeared in The Times on Friday 17th July 2026. Andy Burnham will be our sixth prime minister since David Cameron left No 10 in 2016. The average tenure since then is less than two years, dangerously close to the average shelf-life of a Premier League manager, which is 20 months. We do not like this kind of trend in the world of business. We crave stability, a climate in which we can plan and then invest for the medium and long-term. Yet

As the Merry Hill shopping centre marks its 40th anniversary, former BBC Midlands Transport correspondent, Peter Plisner, recently filmed a feature on the famous Merry Hill Monorail for his 'Transport Matters' Youtube channel. Featuring insights from Martyn Richardson, you can watch the piece on the link above. You can also visit the Transport Matters site via this link: Transport Matters - YouTube

This article by Ajay Chhibber, a distinguished visiting scholar at the Institute for International Economic Policy, part of George Washington University in the US, first appeared in The Hoover Institute publication in June 2026. www.hoover.org India is frequently characterized as a "hinge state" because its strategic choices, economic trajectory, and diplomatic alignments have the power to decisively shift the balance of the international order. As a major democratic power t