BakerBaird Communications

A sad day. Nic was our driving force. Her self given title in our company was “professional arse kicker” when we first met in 2017. She was instrumental in taking us to a level we never knew we had in us. In May this year she became our non-exec chair. It was the last time I saw her. It was a privilege today to be at her funeral and see the huge amount of people she affected. She was a whirlwind of energy with a heart of gold. She is irreplaceable. But the best thing we can do is be the best versions of ourselves, give ourselves to others like she did. A great friend, a powerhouse and advocate. And our world is just that bit worse off without her.

New Chief Executive for the East Midlands Combined County Authority We're thrilled to announce that Amy Harhoff has been appointed as the first permanent Chief Executive of the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA)! 🎉 Amy joins us from Durham County Council, where she has been Corporate Director for regeneration, economy and growth for the past four years. She brings extensive experience from senior roles at Sandwell Council, South Yorkshire Combined Authority, and Transport for Greater Manchester. As EMCCA’s Chief Executive she will be responsible for leading the organisation’s work on regional transport, housing, economic development, Net Zero, jobs and skills priorities. The appointment means that EMCCA is the only Mayoral combined authority in the country with two women in its most senior roles. Read more here: https://zurl.co/weAH.

A big appointment for the East Midlands and for East Midlands Combined County Authority - Amy Harhoff becomes its first permanent CEO, working alongside Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward

📺 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 Ahead of Wednesday’s budget, I sat down with BBC East Midlands to share my thoughts on what we need as a region. We’ve been badly underfunded for decades and that must change.

Good to see government taking an active and pragmatic approach to Freeports, emphasising not only that they will continue, but that it will support the role they play in delivering joined-up regional growth. East Midlands Freeport is unique, centres on the global industrial strengths the region is known for - #aerospace #automotive #advancedlogistics #lifesciences - and represents one of the biggest opportunities the region has to deliver meaningful economic growth. Not only that, but it's targeting investment in a way that ensures the region has the tools to deliver, with initiatives supporting zero carbon research which unlocks opportunities, clean energy skills so people can access jobs of the future, and transport infrastructure upgrades to help the region cope with growth. What government has said today - that Freeports should be part of regional growth strategies - is consistent with what our own Freeport has already been doing, building links with the East Midlands Combined County Authority and Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward and actively involving local authorities, businesses and other stakeholders. Let's get going... Tom Newman-Taylor Paul Miller Katie Greenhalgh Jon Rawcliffe Dan Cooper Chart.PR MCIPR Stacy Ford Scott Knowles DL Richard Blackmore Mark Rogers Richard Grice Damien Dacey Will Morlidge Nicola Swaney David Williams MBE DL Adrian Smith Emma Alexander Paul Simpson Sajeeda Rose Dr John Forkin MBE DL Megan Powell Vreeswijk Stuart Baird CIPR Fellow Gaby (Insley) Taylor

If there's something vaguely familiar about the shade of green on Oak House, it's entirely intentional: construction of the new home for Nottinghamshire County Council at Hucknall is rapidly progressing and promises to set new standards for public buildings - while carrying recognisable echoes of the existing, but ageing and expensive, County Hall. It was our privilege to be given an early glimpse of what Oak House will be like inside and outside, thanks to Michael Wayne Bexton at Nottinghamshire County Council and colleagues at Arc Partnership and Morgan Sindall Construction. We'll be sharing more news about the story behind this exciting civic landmark in the next edition of our East Midlands Agenda newsletter. #investment #localgov #sustainability #accessibility

🚆 Electrification of the Midland Mainline could create 4,300 skilled jobs in the East Midlands! Regional leaders, MPs, and the business community are calling on the government to commit to electrifying the line north of South Wigston up to Sheffield. Transport for East Midlands has revealed analysis showing that alongside the transport and environmental benefits, electrification of the line up to Sheffield could create 4,300 new jobs, including skilled occupations, and more than 100 apprenticeships. The analysis also shows that over the remaining course of the project, electrification of the Midland Mainline could generate an additional £61m in economic value from jobs created in the East Midlands, and nearly £18m in social value benefit. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eVGASA4n Andrew Pritchard, Midlands Connect Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward Catherine Atkinson Keith Orgill Overhead Line Engineering Limited Elaine Clark OBE Rail Forum James Naish Richard Blackmore East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire) Tom Newman-Taylor East Midlands Freeport BakerBaird Communications Richard Baker Stuart Baird CIPR Fellow Gaby (Insley) Taylor

Nothing more inspiring than being grilled by the next generation. That's what happened to our Richard Baker when he joined a panel discussion with students about the future of #AI in media, communications and marketing hosted by Vision West Nottinghamshire College in Mansfield. He was joined on the panel by Clive Whysall from Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University and Matthew Relf BSc(Hons) MIET FRSA who runs a tech business alongside his work as Executive lead Member for Growth & regeneration at Ashfield District Council. Great to see such an engaged group of students, who wanted to know what impact artificial intelligence might have on the working world, and explored issues such as trust in the media, online deepfakes, unauthorised use of the original work of businesses, writers and artists, and the need for regulation of a technology that has far-reaching implications. It was our privilege to be part of one of the regular Question Time sessions that Vision West Notts organises for its students. Incidentally, we didn't use Linkedin's 'Rewrite with AI' feature for this post! #education #engagement #community #technology #comms #PR

We're looking for a Local Democracy Reporter to join our team of journalists based in the Notts TV newsroom - in the centre of Nottingham. It's a cracking job, in a cracking city; where the sport is compelling and the politics is even better. Every day, our broadcast and digital journalists publish to our local news website - and produce the channel's flagship local news show Notts Today. Our three Local Democracy reporters focus on high-quality, public interest journalism, covering councils and holding local politicians to account. They produce words, pictures and videos that make a difference. As LDRS correspondents, their stories are also published across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire by other local news outlets. Ideally, we're looking for an National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ)-trained, NVQ-qualified senior reporter to join our award-winning team, on a modern, ambitious local news platform. Details of the role are all here: https://lnkd.in/d9UWgkQS If you'd like to have a chat about the job, just drop me a message. Good luck! #Nottingham #Nottinghamshire #NottsTV #journalism #reporting #broadcasting

One of those days that makes you feel proud of what is going on in the #eastmidlands - I spent the day overseeing a shoot in three corners of #Derbyshire learning about the impact of the Green Entrepreneurs Fund. Set up and funded by Derbyshire County Council and managed by University of Derby we will be telling the full story soon. But just as a snapshot: Penny Engineering Ltd. A family firm nearly 50 years old who are exporting across the world and showing how to do it via the fund - they power their workshops and buildings through solar Callow Top Holiday Park whose business was saved by a grant to help them go green. Not only do they generate enough sustainable energy to supply 28homes a year they spread the word to their annual 25,000 visitors from all over the UK and Europe, about the benefits of tackling climate change. Finally and by no means least, a game changer - a company who were able to revolutionise plastics recycling via the fund. They take waste material from the inside of decommissioned cooling towers and turn it into reusable materials in manufacturing. Derbyshire - heart of the original Industrial Revolution and now the heart of the Green revolution #climatechange #netzero