March 05, 2008

DIVERSITY UNDER SCRUTINY AT SCIENCE PARK SEMINAR

A former top advisor to the Government on diversity issues will be the keynote speaker at an event in Birmingham.

Dr Waqar Azmi OBE was until recently the Government’s chief diversity officer – based in the Cabinet office.

And he will today tell a business audience at a Seminar for Success event at Aston Science Park that diversity issues will climb ever higher up the agenda as West Midlands businesses look to drive sustainable improvement and growth.

Dr Azmi will outline how to use diversity to make businesses successful and how to attract as diverse a range of possible employees as possible to companies – and how that helps businesses deliver their objectives.  His address will be based on his career to date – which includes discussions with Prime Minister Gordon Brown on diversity issues.

“Diversity is particularly crucial to businesses and that’s why we’re delighted to have the former top advisor to the Government tell us how we should be exploiting its benefits effectively,” said Matthew Hidderley, marketing and sales manager of Aston Science Park.

He added: “The event provided guests with a real opportunity to enhance their understanding of the issues facing the professional and financial services sector.  Birmingham is in a very good position to develop the potential and the opportunities that are here on our doorstep – learning from others with direct, hands-on experience  can only be good. Mr Azmi is one of the leading authorities on diversity issues, and Aston Science Park wants to play its part by ensuring those issues are constantly raised, recognised and discussed at boardroom level.”

The seminar is the latest in a monthly series held at the Science Park for SMEs and owner-managed businesses.

Julie Kaya, a consultant at Birmingham Professional DiverCity, which has helped companies across the region manage and value diversity issues, said: “We have been, and continue to be, closely involved with businesses in the city to ensure that the greatest single labour market skills challenge for this and the next generation – demogaphic change – is fully grasped by the professional services sector.

“As one of the most diverse cities in the world, Birmingham offers opportunities in terms of choice, innovation and location to businesses and consumers with which other cities struggle to compete.”

Dr Azmi sits on numerous top-level boards and committees and is ranked in the Power 100 list of the most influential Asians in the UK. He is also a former managing director of TMP/Monster Worldwide, one of the world’s largest recruitment solution firms. Dr Azmi has just launched his own 16-strong company, the Waterhouse Consulting Group, which operates from Aston Science Park’s iBIC Centre.

Photo Caption
From left to right: Photo of Keynote Speaker - Waqar Azmi discussing Diversity Issues with the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, ahead of the Key Employment Issues event at Aston Science Park on the 5th March.