Marverine Cole, a newsreader on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, told more than 100 delegates at Birmingham City Football Club: “Talking about Birmingham and having stories on a national platform are really important to me.”
Marverine – who has worked for BBC Midlands Today, ITV and Sky News – was the ‘Legendary Brummie’ for the third edition of Brumbassadors, an initiative launched by the Chamber and Birmingham City to champion positive news stories and opportunities across the city.
During a Q&A with the Chamber’s deputy CEO Raj Kandola, she described making the leap from local to national and international broadcasting – often having to mask her accent because Brummies were “an underdog” in a London-centric industry.
“Even just making the leap to work for an international news channel, I think we all acknowledge that we [Brummies] are seen as a bit of an underdog,” Marverine said.
“But when I got there, there was a lot of disquiet - ‘oh, she's from Birmingham - what does she know? Oh, we can hear a bit of your Brummie accent’.
“I was reading world news about earthquakes and terror attacks. But there was still disquiet there that I had to overcome.”
But despite these challenges, the Birmingham City University graduate has remained determined to put her home city at the forefront of her work.
Raj Kandola and Marverine Cole
She revealed: “I produced a documentary about black women's experiences of mental illness for BBC Radio 4 and my case studies were women from Birmingham to make sure it was rooted in Birmingham experiences and experiences of black women.
“The charity Mind have a media awards and I won Journalist of the Year for that documentary, which I'm very proud of.
“Talking about Birmingham and having stories on a national stage are really important to me.”
Marverine was then joined by panellists Jason Wouhra, CEO of Lioncroft Wholesale; Birmingham City’s chief marketing officer Liam MacManus and Caroline Davis, MD and producer at events company Outdoor Places Usual Spaces (OPUS).
The panel discussed opportunities and challenges across business, sport and culture in Birmingham.
Dr Jason Wouhra spoke of how Birmingham’s diverse community enabled his family to build their business, as well as providing him with opportunities such as becoming chair of the Institute of Directors and Chancellor of Aston University.
Liam MacManus, a recent recruit to Birmingham City, said the club’s ambitions on and off the pitch – including the £3bn Sports Quarter regeneration project – made the opportunity too good to turn down.
Caroline Davis talked about some of the cultural projects OPUS have been involved in such as the Commonwealth Games Festival programme, Birmingham Light Festival and Ozzy Osbourne’s funeral cortege – the latter being organised at just six days’ notice.
