Adrian Goldberg from Paul Hadley on Vimeo.

Watchdog, The Politics Show, Healthcheck, BBC Breakfast News, The Stirrer and 5 Live Investigates are just a few of the well known broadcast, media and journalism platforms that Adrian Goldberg has been associated with in the past.

Today, BBCWM announced that Ed Doolan is stepping aside and hanging up his headphones, and Adrian will be taking the reigns of this popular radio show from September. CONGRATULATIONS Adrian.

Here Adrian shares some of the stories, views and experiences from his past.

He also gives us an insight into his views about the possible future direction(s) that journalism may well take, focusing on local issues and alternative media.

Glynn Purnell from Paul Hadley on Vimeo.

One man who has been leading the art of good food is Glynn Purnell. He started his craft when still at school, practicing and honing his skills on family and friends, and has made industry-recognised progress throughout his career development. So much so, his Purnell’s Restaurant in Birmingham boasts a Michelin Star.

Key to the success of his restaurants is the ethos of strong leadership, management, and teamwork. In this short feature I get to see a little snapshot of what happens behind the scenes, watch the team in action and ask Glynn a few questions, not about his cooking skills, but about his management and leadership style.

Named at Number 14 on 2009’s Birmingham Post Power 50 list, without doubt, Glynn Purnell is Birmingham’s premier chef, internationally recognised and respected by his peers, a fact that features in many magazine and newspaper reviews and frequent TV appearances.

Oh, and yes, I sampled one of the dishes (Goats’ cheese royal – textures of Beetroot – Rosary foam ), and yes, it was delicious. Comes with the project I suppose… call it a perk Thanks Glynn. I’ll be back, paying next time.

1 Paul Thandi from Paul Hadley on Vimeo.

Fantastic news !
Today (3rd Feb, 2011), TheBusinessDesk.com have announced that Paul Thandi, Chief Executive of The NEC Group is to receive an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University.
During his time there, he has worked to boost the group’s international portfolio and overseen the £40m refurbishment of the NEC exhibition centre and £30m revamp and rebrand of the NEC Arena, now the LG Arena.

Shortly before this announcement was made, I had the opportunity to interview Paul, where he gave me a valuable insight to his management and leadership style, describing what drives him, where his inspiration comes from, and how he applies it whilst running a very successful business.

Paul Kehoe from Paul Hadley on Vimeo.

It was interesting to learn (off camera) that during extreme weather conditions, he wears a different hat- the one of snow plough driver- and his colleagues all do something similar to ensure that the airport remains open for business.
Recent years have seen many changes at the airport, and the future holds more challenges and changes to come. Here Paul tells me how these plans are currently progressing, and describes what the impact on the local economy and landscape will be.

Philip has now left his post overseeing the development of Birmingham City Centre, and has moved to Newham Council, filling a similar role regenerating the area in preparation for the 2012 Olympics.

I was due to meet with Philip during the summer, but as I traveled to the meeting by train, I received a telephone call canceling the appointment from his office, saying that he had been called away to deal with more urgent matters, much to my protest.

A complete waste of time and money demolished by what I feel to be a very inconsiderate last-minute action by his office- I will not be making the journey again.

Image supplied by Birmingham Post

Suzie is the CEO of Screen WM, the West Midland’s regional screen agency, and is responsible for ensuring that this area of the region’s creative sector continues to grow. Screen WM are also also working closely with Channel 4 and acting as a commissioning hub on the 4iP fund.

“At the moment due to the government announcements, Suzie is concentrating on future planning and the diary over the summer is purely based on these activities.” (via email from Suzie’s PA).

Hopefully this situation will change in the future and will allow me to meet with Suzie before this project deadline expires.

(image supplied by Birmingham Post)

Over a four month period, I have tried to contact Salma via email on several occasions, Twitter (twice) and have also left messages on her mobile telephone.
Unfortunately, none of these attempts have been successful, and to date, my requests for an interview have gone unanswered, and I have not received any replies whatsoever.
I can only deduct from this that Salma is not interested in taking part.

Unfortunately, there appears to be no image or photograph of Salma available via Creative Commons licensed outlets – only images with ‘All Rights Reserved’ licenses are available.

Councillor Mike Whitby is the elected representative for Harborne Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, Leader of the Conservative Group and Chairman of the Birmingham City Council Business Management Committee.

I have been in email contact with Cllr Whitby’s office since May 21st 2010.

Back then, I requested a short 30-minute appointment with Cllr Whitby, to conduct the interview with him, in exactly the same format as those on this page. Negotiations, explanations, questions, date adjustments and diary juggling have been continuing since then to accommodate Cllr Whitby’s diary.

On August 5th, I received email communication from Cllr Whitby’s office (with a restriction statement of confidentiality and legal statement attached), not only cancelling our appointment next week (planned for Monday 9th August), but also completely cancelling for the future.

Upon reflection, I will avoid the temptation to include my personal thoughts here, instead allowing the above factual report to accurately inform readers/ viewers of the situation surrounding this particular interview.

The above image was created by Birmingham News Room, and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic licence. The original image can be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/birminghamnewsroom/4268712426/

The founder of Help Me Investigate, Paul’s knowledge and experience comes from previous roles in editing magazines and websites.

During a short lunch break, I managed to spend some time with Paul at the Custard Factory, where we spoke about his professional and academic history, current trends and the influences of technology for holding those in power to account, and briefly touched on what the future for the media industry could possibly have in store.

Paul Bradshaw from Paul Hadley on Vimeo.

The future of public service delivery is coming under greater scrutiny, significant spending cuts across the sector are slowly emerging, and organisations such as Advantage West Midlands and Business Link are under increasing pressure to reduce costs and spending.

The same applies across all areas that BCC manages, not just business and industry in the West Midlands.

I managed to steal 10 minutes of Stephens time at his office, asking a few questions about his management and leadership style, past influences and what sort of influences will affect Birmingham’s future.

Stephen Hughes from Paul Hadley on Vimeo.