AS THE lights dim in Birmingham’s Town Hall, the air fills with excited anticipation.
The venue is packed to the gills with more than 650 movers and shakers of the city’s retail world – all waiting nervously to find out if their business has been named one of the winners of the Retail Birmingham Awards 2011.
Out of the darkness booms a voice – familiar to regular listeners of Chris Moyles’ BBC Radio One breakfast show – as voice-over Redd Pepper declares the start of the glamorous ceremony.
The lights suddenly switch on, revealing the BBC’s Last Choir Standing winners Only Men Aloud!, who burst into song, harmoniously belting out classical hit O Verona.
With all this star-studded glitz and glamour, it is quickly becoming clear why the awards have been dubbed Birmingham’s “retail Oscars”.
After an introduction by BBC Midlands Today presenter and former Birmingham Mail reporter Suzanne Virdee, who is hosting the event, Jonathan Cheetham takes to the stage. As chairman of Retail Birmingham, the not-for-profit company behind the awards, Mr Cheetham explains with infectious enthusiasm why Birmingham’s retail industry is worthy of such a lavish awards bash.
It is also, he says, a chance to mark the work of Retail Birmingham, which promotes the city centre’s 1,000 shops, bars and restaurants and ensures the region reaches its full potential as a shopping, leisure and lifestyle destination.
Despite being set up less than four years ago amid the backdrop of a floundering economy, the organisation is already proving a success, says Mr Cheetham, who is also general manager of the city’s Pallasades shopping centre.
“Birmingham is not immune to the economic and structural changes that are affecting retailers across the country, but strong trading over the past quarter and an influx of new store openings paint a bright picture for Birmingham’s central retail area in 2011,” he says.
He names dozens of new outlets that have opened in the city centre in the last 12 months, including the Bullring’s fashion empire Forever 21 - which scooped New Retailer of the Year, beating off stiff competition from newcomers Hollister, Pandora, and Black.
With retail giant John Lewis set to open its doors at the Pallasades in 2014 and the redevelopment of New Street rail station promising to bring more jobs, shops and restaurants, Mr Cheetham says the future is looking encouraging for Birmingham’s shopping sector.
“John Lewis coming here is a huge vote of confidence in the city and with new store openings and major developments over the next few years all eyes will be on Birmingham,” he says.
