The Black Country Business Festival is an annual, ten-day celebration which aims to boost business, stimulate innovation and shine a spotlight on business our region. The 2021 festival runs from Monday 4 to Friday 15 October and will include over one hundred free events, staged by local businesses across Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Sandwell Council via Think Sandwell will be hosting four events this year, addressing the festival’s core themes of inclusive growth, innovation, business growth, regeneration and ‘this is the Black Country’. At our event at 10am on Thursday 14 October, attendees will be given an update on how construction of the new multi-million pound Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Smethwick is progressing.

This flagship building will not only play host to the swimming and diving events at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, but will also be a long-lasting legacy for businesses and residents in the borough. Project directors Chris Jones and Paul Reynolds, alongside project manager Abigail Kellas, will give an update on the construction process and show the latest drone footage of the construction site.

The event is also an opportunity to hear from Sandwell Council’s project team regarding the social value impact, legacy and future plans for the Aquatics Centre development and the surrounding area.

To find out more, and to register your place, visit the event website. The other three events hosted by Think Sandwell are about the Towns Fund redevelopment plans, the Sandwell Inclusive Recovery Plan and the Smethwick to Birmingham corridor. All are taking place online and are totally free for anyone to attend.