Chamber flying high at Central Campus

Ready for take off - (L) Shafiq Ahmed, managing director of Euroshaf Training Services in Smethwick, and (R) Dennis Kent, chief executive of Confederation of British Metalforming (CBM), with the Black Country Chamber of Commerce

It was destination Central Campus as business leaders from the Black Country swapped boardroom suits with holiday gear for a morning meeting with a difference.
Flying high but dressing down, they held their latest business breakfast on board the Boeing 737 fuselage, normally used for training travel and tourism students at Sandwell College.
Despite the 7.30am start, the early bird business bosses soon got into the spirit to suit the change of venue.
Chairman of the board of governors for Sandwell College, John Tew, and Black Country Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Margaret Corneby, were joined on the simulated aircraft by their fellow chamber board members.
College principal Val Bailey said the training suite, known as Central Air and one of just several like it in the country, had transformed lessons to offer real life experience preparing students for the world of work and the tourism industry.
She said: “The board wanted to meet in a venue with a difference to give us an alternative perspective - and our aircraft certainly provides the ideal backdrop.
“We’re proud to show how our fantastic new facilities are helping to meet the demands of industry.”
A runway scene and aircraft parking bay, resembling a real airport, are shown on the surrounding walls of the waiting area.
Learners use the drop down tables as desks for their laptops during lectures inside the cabin, which also has escape route floor lighting strips, overhead lockers and leather seats. Outside the fuselage there is a waiting area, check-in desk, galley area, and trolley storage, so students have a real-life experience of air cabin crew duties.