According to the Birmingham Post, music retailer HMV is looking to sell Digbeth’s HMV Institute.
HMV is hoping the sale of HMV Live, its live music division which runs 13 venues including the Institute, will improve its finances after reporting further losses.
What does this mean for the future of the Institute?
I reported earlier this year about the venue’s decision to stop hosting unsigned bands. Hopefully a sympathetic buyer can be found in early 2012.
An interesting article about the rise of shisha bars, the smoking ban and the ‘false notion’ that shisha is no better for your health than ordinary cigarettes appeared in the Birmingham Mail today.
As the article mentioned two shisha bars, both in Digbeth, one could easily assume that’s all there was in Digbeth.
Good job that we know there’s more too it then!
Digbeth Summit: Keeping Digbeth Different
Save the date! The Digbeth Summit will take place on the evening of Thursday 16th February in Digbeth. More details and information will be confirmed in the New Year.
For now, we hope you will be able to make it!
Saturday, 31st December
The Old Crown
Bigger Than Barry
Saturday, 31st December
HMV Institute
Chase & Status
Annie Mac
Saturday, 31st December
Hennessey’s Bar
Hott Date
Saturday, 31st December
The Rainbow
Glas will meet Face
Saturday, 31st December
The Irish Centre
The Father Teds
DRA Chairperson Val Woodward (left) with Shabana Mahmood MP
Shabana Mahmood MP met with Digbeth Residents Association members on Friday 16th December in the Bay Leaf Restaurant in the Custard Factory.
Various issues affecting Digbeth were discussed at the meeting, including the announcement of the City Centre Enterprise Zone, which will invariably affect Digbeth.
Shabana told DRA that she was impressed with our work and admires our community spirit; she also thanked us for our work in supporting the fight to keep the Birmingham Wholesale Markets open.
DRA Chairperson, Val Woodward said “We are pleased that Shabana took the time to visit us and listen to our residents’ views. Shabana has been very supportive of DRA and we are delighted that she wants to take a more active role in Digbeth in future.”
Indeed, Shabana has stated that this was her first step in giving Digbeth more attention on her website. DRA is certainly excited about working with Shabana in 2012 and beyond!
In the spirit of the season, Sky Arts is offering five young artists £30,000 each to fund their work for a full year as part of the Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund – in association with IdeasTap.
The fund is designed to help bridge the gap between formal education and becoming a working artist. The Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund is open to individual artists working in visual art, theatre, performance art, film, music, dance or literature.
With all the creative industries based in Digbeth and neighbouring Eastside, this funding could offer a budding young artist the springboard needed to become a fully-fledged member of the Digbeth art community!
To apply, you must be an IdeasTap member aged 18-30 on 24th February 2012 and be based in either the UK or Ireland. It’s free to become an IdeasTap member and just takes a few minutes to sign up. Two winners will be selected during this round of funding.
Visit the website for more information about this funding, and ensure to promote this to anyone who may be interested. Applications close at 5pm on Monday 24th February 2012.
For those of you who attended the December Digbeth Residents Association (DRA) meeting, you will have heard DRA Secretary Pam update residents on this new development.
Neighbourhood Police Officers PC Bates and PS Wood recently informed Pam recently that Birmingham City Council are beginning a drive to secure empty buildings around Digbeth, as these pose a potential arson risk. The owners of the empty buildings will be first given the opportunity to secure the entrances themselves, but if this is not completed, the Council will undertake the task and bill the owner for the work.
The photo is of a letter posted onto the side of 250 Bradford Street, the unoccupied warehouse on the corner of Bradford Street and Alcester Street in Digbeth. The entrance to the building was recently breached, but has now been secured.
You may wonder why this is being done? The simple answer is this: every arson costs the state on average £9,000 in Fire Service, Policing and Investigation costs. The reality is that £9,000 is an average, and for the large former warehouse buildings in Digbeth, the cost is likely to be much more.
I, for one, as DRA Secretary and Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator think this is a smart move, and welcome any future postive developments. To keep up to date with Neighbourhood Watch news, go to outwatch.org.uk and click ‘Sign up’ in the top right corner. If you input a Digbeth postcode, you will then be invited to join the Digbeth Residents Association Neighbourhood Watch Scheme.
Season’s Greetings to all our readers, from Digbeth is Good and Digbeth Residents Association!
Wishing everyone a joyful, peaceful and restful Christmas and all that’s good for 2012!
Friday, 30th December
SILENT FILTER NEW YEARS EVE-EVE PARTY!
Moseley Arms
£TBC
18+ Show
Bangla Food Journeys is a book written by Aftab Rahman, of the Bay Leaf Restaurant in the Custard Factory. (Click on the image to see a full-size poster.)
The book will be launched on Sunday 15th January at The Drum on Potters Lane in Aston. Although the launch is not taking place in Digbeth, Aftab is a keen supporter of Digbeth Residents Association and the community as a whole, and a book launch is certainly something to be celebrated!
The event is RSVP, and you can do so by emailing Raihan Hussain.
We Are Eastside – arts and culture Birmingham Post: Digbeth articles
