John Duckers, November 23, 2007, The Birmingham Post

The long-running debate about what Birmingham Forward should be - a lobbying or networking organisation - has been answered.

Its members say they want it to be both. They responded in almost equal measure to a recent survey the group carried out - 41 per cent said Forward's role should primarily be as a "lobbying body" while 42 per cent wanted it to be a "networking organisation".

When asked what they wanted to achieve from their membership, 39 per cent sought "representation" compared to 37 per cent for "networking".

Nearly three-quarters of members rated Birmingham Forward as "very" or "quite" successful in "being recognised as a lead organisation in the West Midlands.

Over half (52 per cent) think it is "very" or "quite" successful in "influencing the business climate in Birmingham".

However, only 29 per cent assess it as being "very" or "quite" successful in "representing the voice of my company's sector".

Birmingham Forward chairman Dianne Benussi said: "It is clear the membership of Birmingham Forward wants us to step up our lobbying activities and there is some work to do in order to fully represent their voice.

"Members have presented the board with their priorities for lobbying - transport, city governance and leadership, skills and diversity. Meanwhile, they back our plans to pursue the city's third Business Improvement District (BID).

"We are already making progress on many of these matters - most notably in skills and diversity through the work of our sister bodies Birmingham Future and Birmingham Professional DiverCity.

"As recently announced, we are planning to stage events to debate city governance and the possibility of an elected mayor. We need to do more work to identify how we can better represent and inform each of the sub-sectors among our diverse membership from advertising agencies to venture capitalists. As ever, the board's challenge is to meet as many of the demands from our membership as possible - with relatively scarce resources."

Eighty-six per cent of those responding said Birmingham Forward was "very" or "quite" successful in providing opportunities to network; whist nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) highlighted providing "opportunities to network" as the top activity on which it should concentrate.

However just 22 per cent of members took part in the survey, much of which was revealed earlier this month.

Specific events for individual disciplines among the 21 categories of membership in Birmingham Forward are those considered of greatest value by members (90 per cent) followed by its specially tailored 'mix and match' lunches (79 per cent) and seminars and workshops (70 per cent). Visits to new property developments and 'mix and eat' lunches - which usually have over 80 people attending - were considered of lesser value.

Chief executive Richard Brennan said: "It's evident Birmingham Forward members place a very high value on the networking element and we now have a strong steer from them on the kind of events they want."