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Chairman's Update - 3rd December 2023

Discover Ammar Mirza CBE's week: A journey of accomplishments, showcasing the North East's energy and dedication to fostering inclusivity!

Following his visit to Saudi Arabia last week, Ammar has had a busy week connecting, supporting and promoting the whole community in the North East.

  • Showcasing the North East to our Saudi guests: Ammar continued to proudly engage and showcase the North East to our Saudi visitors at the Newcastle V Chelsea Match, sponsored by the business partner for Airview park. It was a pleasure to watch Newcastle to beat Chelsea 4-1 – clearly a lucky sign that our investors were here!

  • Planning Forward: Ammar met with Saudi Business Links to finalise plans for 2024, organising a number of inward investment trade visits through Airview park. He finished off his day in the evening, speaking about faith, morality and leadership at the NOUTC; Ammar is a lead advocate for inclusion and honorary colonel of 101 regiment.

  • Cadet Apprenticeship Pathway: Ammar caught up with Lieutenant Colonel Andy Black to discuss the Cadet Apprenticeship Pathway. The CAP connects work ready young people with employers; A programme our chair helped to establish.

  • Cadet Apprenticeship Pathway: Ammar caught up with Lieutenant Colonel Andy Black to discuss the Cadet Apprenticeship Pathway. The CAP connects work ready young people with employers; A programme our chair helped to establish.

  • St Andrew’s Day Service: Following on from that he attended St Andrews day service with various dignities at the oldest church in Newcastle, St Andrews.

  • Devolution and Economic Project discussions: In the evening, Ammar attended the NELEP board meeting and discussed devolution progress and various other economic projects – Ammar is the SME representative and chair of the business advisory board for the NELEP.

  • Inclusion & Innovation Conference: Ammar has continued working on the inclusion by default conference, having discussions with Mcdonalds franchisee and long term ABC supporter, Ahmed Khan. They discussed the Inclusion & Innovation conference and the importance of it for all communities and businesses. We are delighted to announce a lead inclusion expert and ABC Board member will be joining the line up of speakers. Join us on the 25th January for an engaging, entertaining and educational day that will lead you in co-creating an inclusion roadmap for your organisation with other strategic partners. Get your ticket here.

  • NSBS Workshop: Ammar delivered our first NSBS workshop on Tuesday, with the focus for the new business attendees to validate and convert their ideas into a business plan.

  • Spreading The Message Of Innovation & Inclusion: Ammar had the pleasure of attending a meeting with Dr Eftychia Palamida to discuss the practical applications of innovation with a focus on inclusion. Ammar, as main advocate of innovation and inclusion, has been invited to deliver a lecture in the new year.

  • Health & Life Science Pledge: Ammar has been further developing the Health and Life Science Pledge with Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria, preparing for the next event on the 14thJanuary. Ammar is the chair of the Health & Life Science Pledge.

  • Talking Finance: Ammar kicked off his Friday on his weekly Radio show with Spice FM. Jaff and Ammar spoke about world affairs, inclusion and their business topic of the week was finance – click here to watch.

  • ABC Ambitions: Ammar and Yatin met with the Chief operating officer of the British Army, Brigadier Mike Butterwick CBE. He has agreed to provide strategic advisory support to ABC to help deliver upon its ambition of making the northeast inclusive region in the UK.

  • Entrepreneurial Support: Ammar then had supported Dr Keith Reid, a clinical entrepreneur to help further develop his generalised prediction algorithm.


At ABC, we believe in the power of inclusion and the strength that comes from creating partnerships. We are looking for new Board members to help us deliver this. If you are interested, please contact us at info@abconnexions.org.



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