The Institute’s National

AGM will be held 10.30

am on 19th October

2012 at The George Ho-

tel, Lichfield, WS13 6PR

Please see the National

IMS magazine for further

information

The West Midlands

Region have planned a

series of interesting

events for the Autumn.

During October a visit

and conducted factory

tour of the Denby Pot-

tery, just outside

Derby. The Denby

visitors centre not only

includes the factory

tour but Denby pottery

shops and Dartington

Glass and other gift

shops, as well as a cafe/

restaurant. So this could

also be an opportunity

to buy some early

Christmas presents.

The tour is open to

members family and

guests. There is an ad-

mission charge and a

contribution of £5.00

per head (£3.00 for sen-

iors). Members please

register your interest

using your copy of the

Newsletter

During November the

Region Informal Din-

ner will be held at the

Badger’s Sett (A456),

Hagley, Worcester-

shire. The Dinner is

open to Members and

their partners. The Re-

gion will provide wine

with the meal but mem-

bers are expected to

meet the cost of the meal

for themselves and their

guest. This is an oppor-

tunity to catch up with

the news and gossip (or

‘network’ to use the cur-

rent management

‘speak’). We hope you

will be able to attend.

Once more members

please register your in-

terest using the form

with your Newsletter.

In early January 2013 the

West Midlands Region

AGM will be held at the

Badger’s Sett (A456),

Hagley, Worcestershire.

All members are invited

and will be made very wel-

come and this is an oppor-

tunity to find out future

plans for the Region.

Autumn Programme 2012

IMPORTANT MESSAGE - Help to ease Regional financial pressures

The Post Office has recently increased stamp prices, with the result that postage costs for

mailing the WM Newsletter given the present level of Region funding is unsustainable,

unless either we receive increased funding from the Institute’s national council and/or

substantially more members are prepared to receive their Newsletter electronically. If you

haven’t already done so please register your e-mail address with the Regional Events

Secretary and we will forward your newsletter in full colour electronically

West Midlands News

Special points of inter-

est:

An appeal for

members to regis-

ter to receive their

WM newsletter

electronically

Factory tour Denby

Pottery

Region Informal

Dinner

Region AGM

Report of Visit to

J.W. Evans silver-

smith factory

Report of Visit to

RAF Museum,

Cosford

Institute of Management Services — West Midlands Region Autumn 2012 Volume 12/2

Inside this issue:

Editorial 2

Tour of RAF Museum 2

Visit to J.W. Evans 3

Board Directory 3

Networking 4

Winner of Prize Drawer 4

Reply slip 4

As I write this editorial, the

nation is basking in the

summer triumph of the

London Olympic games –

both in terms of the organi-

sation of the event and the

sporting achievements.

There can be no doubt that

the event lifted the national

spirit. The nation congratu-

lated itself on being third in

the Olympic Medal table

after the United States and

China, an outstanding

achievement with the great-

est number of gold medals

in over 100 years.

When London won the bid

to host the 2012 games

there were serious doubts

by many people that we

could put on such a com-

plex event, particularly

after the problems with

building the new Wem-

bley Stadium and the

initial problems with the

Millennium Dome still

fresh in their minds –

both these venues are

now spectacular suc-

cesses and played a sig-

nificant role in the Olym-

pic Games themselves.

All these doubts were

overcome and swept

aside by the Games them-

selves. So let us hope this

new found euphoria will

help to lift us out of the on-

going economic gloom.

The economic news seems

as depressing as ever and at

times it seems as if we al-

most talk ourselves into eco-

nomic depression. Perhaps

we should be looking at

things not as ‘half empty but

half full’. Let us hope the

successes of the summer

Olympics will give us the

lift we need to break out of

the self perpetuating eco-

nomic gloom and despon-

dency.

Editorial…… The Chair’s message

RAF Museum, Cosford, Shropshire

our history from the end of

WW2 to the 1990s when the

Soviet regime collapsed.

During some 35 years, nu-

clear war between the Soviet

Union and its allies and the

Western powers was an ever

present threat particularly

during the various crises and

flash points.

An early crisis was the Soviet

blockade of Berlin in the late

1940s and the Western Allies

response of the Berlin Airlift.

After the defeat of Germany,

the country and the capital

Berlin was divided into 4 oc-

cupation zones each con-

trolled by one of the victori-

ous powers. The Western

powers –the United States,

United Kingdom and France

proposed that to help Ger-

many recover from ravages of

war, their zones should be

unified into a single political

and economic union and a

new currency the Deutche

Mark should be introduced.

The Soviet Union was not

prepared to allow its zone of

East Germany to be part of

this initiative and in retalia-

tion the Soviet Union closed

all land routes to West Berlin

which was an ‘island ‘ sur-

rounded by Soviet controlled

East Germany.

The Western Allies decided

rather than attempt to use force

to take land convoys to Berlin

and risk a shooting war, to sup-

ply West Berlin with popula-

tion of over one million by air,

and for over a year all supplies

were flown in – everything

from coal to bread was brought

into the three West Berlin air-

ports. A tremendous logistical

operation which went on in all

weather conditions 24/7 and a

plane was landing and taking

off every 90 seconds. Of

course there was a human cost

to such an operation with air-

crews killed in aircraft crashes.

The Soviet Union however

realised that the airlift could be

sustained indefinitely and the

land blockade was finally

lifted.

Other crises followed such as

the Korean War in the early

1950s, Cuban Missile Crisis in

the early 1960s, the building of

the Berlin Wall in the early

1960s to stop East Germans

fleeing to West Berlin. For 35

years we lived with a real threat

of nuclear war and the risk of

mutual annihilation.

On Saturday morning 12th

May a small party of Region

members and their partners

joined others for a guided

tour of the RAF Museum at

Cosford, Shropshire. The

museum is one of two na-

tional RAF Museums, the

other is at Hendon, North

London. A great deal of in-

vestment has been made at

Cosford to bring it up to the

status of national museum.

The Cosford Museum in-

cludes many exhibits which

are unique; including the

collection of World War 2

German missiles including

examples of the V1

‘Doodlebug’ a primitive

cruise missile, and the V2

rocket which was the precur-

sor to the Intercontinental

Ballistic Missiles of today.

The V1 and V2 brought

death and destruction to Lon-

don during the closing stages

of the WW2. There is also a

fine collection of WW2 air-

craft including some unique

examples of captured Ger-

man and Japanese aircraft.

The purpose built Cold War

Exhibition Hall, which cov-

ers a dangerous period of

Page 2 West Midlands News

Cosford

museum

includes many

exhibits which

are unique...

John Hopkinson

Chair West Mid-

lands Region Board

Please send any

comments on the

West Midlands

News to the Editor

John Hopkinson

English Electric

Lightening ‘cold

war’ interceptor

On Wednesday 18th April, a

party of members and guests

toured the J.W. Evans silver

smith factory in the jewel-

lery quarter of Birmingham.

The factory which had been

founded in the 1880s, ceased

production in the 1980s; and

the factory is very much as

the staff left it when they

walked out for the last time –

work items are still on the

benches, and you half expect

the staff to walk back in and

finish off their tasks.

The factory consists of adja-

cent terraced houses on Al-

bion Street and factory

workshops which were built

in a piecemeal fashion in the

yards and gardens of the

houses. The Evans family

originally lived ‘over’ the

factory but as the business

prospered they moved to a

substantial detached house in

the then suburbs of Birming-

ham.

Following the closure of the busi-

ness in the 1980s, the abandoned

factory was eventually taken over

by English Heritage who have

restored it to a condition where

the public can view the factory,

but without disturbing the work

place as it was left by the work-

ers.

J.W. Evans factory was a manu-

facturing jewellery operation,

producing and supplying basic

pieces for the jewellery trade

which were then finished and

polished by other companies in

the trade and supplied to retailers

or direct to the public. The Ev-

ans factory premises were very

cramped and over 50 staff were

employed, and there was little

regard for health and safety with

overhead belts driving machin-

ery, heavy stamp presses, and hot

molten metals and other noxious

materials being handled in a lim-

ited space – by modern standards

it must have been hot, noisy and

dangerous.

The company kept all the dies it

produced and these are stored

through out the factory, and the

factory was producing a new die

every working day.

There is a showroom with a fine

collection of examples of some

of the finished pieces produced

by J.W. Evans, and some of

these items have been loaned to

provide props and background

for TV series such as ‘Upstairs,

Downstairs’ . But tastes and

fashions have changed over the

years and the factory found that

it was no longer able to produce

the goods that the market wanted

and modern working practices

could not be used in the limited

cramped space of the old fac-

tory, so after 100 years the busi-

ness closed.

Secretary and Member-

ship Development Offi-

cer— Ailsa Bell MMS

Executive Member and

Events Co-ordinator Glyn Williams FMS

Region Chair –

John Hopkinson FMS

Region Events Secretary— Julian Cutler FMS

Region Treasurer – Brian

Coley FMS

Visit to J.W. Evans, manufacturing silver smiths, Birmingham

West Midlands Region Board Members Directory

-

Volume 12/2

….the public

can view .the

workplace as

it was left…...

Page 3

Julian Cutler

Regional Events

Secretary

The workshop is very

much as the workers

walked out on their

last day

The Victorian work force at

J.W. Evans about 1890, standing out-

side the factory premises

The labour force included women and

boys.

Brooke House,

24 Dam Street,

Lichfield,

Staffs WS13 6AA

Institute of Management

Services

Achieving excellence through

people and productivity

www.ims-productivity.com

Please send any e-mails to admin@ims-stowe.fsnet.co.uk and in the heading mark for the attention of the ‘West

Midlands Region, IMS’

Phone: 01543 266909

Fax: 01543 257848

E-mail: admin@ims-stowe.fsnet.co.uk

Nine rules for successful networking

Update your address book regularly

Be professional and make a good impression

Stay on good terms with the people you work with

Attend conferences and seminars, but make sure they are relevant to your career path

Be generous with your advice and time

Remember that people at all levels have networks, use their contacts as well as your own

Build internal networks across your company, not just in your own department

Be patient, networking is an investment that takes time to yield results

Don't ask for a job, ask for information and advice.

Roy Clark -Winner of Prize Drawer

Congratulations to Roy Clark who was lucky enough to win £20 prize drawer for those members who are registered to receive

their WM Newsletter electronically. A cheque has been sent to Roy.