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Jon Griffin

Jon Griffin

Blair backs Mail Mayor campaign

TONY Blair has backed the Birmingham Mail's campaign for a referendum over a directly-elected Mayor - and announced it was time for a "big, local leader" to run the city. Read

Oklahoma not OK for MG launch

LONGBRIDGE owners Nanjing's plans to launch MGs in the USA have been sidelined - with the much vaunted Oklahoma project hanging by a thread. Read

Wraps come off the first Chinese MG

LONGBRIDGE owner Nanjing was today rolling out the first Chinese MG at a VIP ceremony to mark the company's 60th anniversary. Read

MG Rover pensions finally saved

YEARS of pension uncertainly for former MG Rover workers ended today with confirmation that they will have their first payments this week. Read

Casino bid hit by tax fears

THE National Exhibition Centre's plan for a large casino creating 900 jobs has been plunged into doubt by Gordon Brown's huge increase in gaming tax, it was revealed today. Read

Action Men go under the hammer

Action Men go Read

The lean, green 4x4 machines

MIDLAND 4X4 manufacturer Land Rover is aiming to shed its "gas-guzzling" image with a motor industry first. Read

£1,200 a minute for Hamster!

TOP Gear presenter Richard Hammond was paid around £18,000 to speak for just 15 minutes at one of Birmingham's  biggest  business dinners. Read

Top Gear star cashes in with £18k speech

TOP Gear presenter Richard Hammond was paid around £18,000 to speak for just 15 minutes at one of Birmingham's biggest business dinners. Read

Bryan Ferry @ Symphony Hall

FOR such an original artist, Bryan Ferry spends an awful lot of time recreating other people's material. Read

Phoenix 4's help to Nanjing

FORMER MG Rover boss John Towers today claimed his Phoenix consortium had played a key role in helping Nanjing to bring Longbridge back from the dead. Read

Birmingham Mail plans a new home

THE Birmingham Mail may be set for a new home after more than 40 years - to a new site at Aston Science Park. Read

Workers in pensions victory

UP to 2,000 Midland workers who saw huge sums wiped from their pensions have won a famous victory in their five-year fight against the Government, it was announced today. Read

World-renowned model found dead

A BIRMINGHAM woman who became a world-renowned model after working as a hairdresser at Rackhams has been found dead at her Edgbaston flat, aged 43. Read

Veteran Land Rover gets a makeover

LAND Rover's oldest model, the Defender, has been given a major makeover for 2007, safeguarding more than 750 jobs. Read

City snow chaos cost firms millions

HUNDREDS of businesses in Birmingham city centre were today counting the cost of a "devastating" slump in trade in the wake of snow chaos. Read

From Brum to paradise

A BIRMINGHAM brother and sister team who bought £25 million of flats at the Rotunda are heading 4,000 miles east - to launch a £100 million holiday resort in India. Read

Workers are told to wait for a wee

LAND Rover workers are having to cross their legs and suffer because absence levels are keeping people waiting for the toilet. Read

City's double conference coup

BIRMINGHAM has won another money-spinning jackpot, with the annual Tory Party conference signed up for 2010. Read

Unions cautious on Nanjing jobs

UNION leaders today said many "long-term question marks" remained at Longbridge - with the relaunch of production by Nanjing just over two months away. Read

Author Profile

Jon Griffin has been Business Editor of the Birmingham Mail since 1998. He began his career at the Peterborough Evening Telegraph in 1975 then worked from 1978-79 for the Birmingham Evening Mail. He later joined the Coventry Evening Telegraph as a trainee sub-editor then the Wolverhampton Express and Star from 1980 before rejoining the Mail in April 1996.

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