Grand Central, Birmingham

The Gateway Plus (previously known as Birmingham Gatewayand now known as Grand Central) project was a redevelopment scheme that regenerated Birmingham New Street railway station and the Pallasades Shopping Centre above it in Birmingham, England. It was completed in September 2015. The project aimed to enhance the station to cope with increased passenger numbers as well as expected future growth in traffic, but did not alter the train capacity of the station. In 2008, the station handled passenger numbers far in excess of the capacity of its existing design. The current station and Pallasades Shopping Centre were completed in 1967 and became the subject of criticism for the congestion of the station and shabbiness of the shopping centre and parts of the station. It is part of the Big City Plan.

Birmingham New Street, also known as New Street station, is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the British railway system. It is a major destination for Avanti West Coast services from London Euston, Preston, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley via the West Coast Main Line, the CrossCountry network, and for local and suburban services within the West Midlands; this includes those on the Cross-City Line between Lichfield Trent Valley, Redditch and Bromsgrove, and the Chase Line to Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley. The three-letter station code is BHM.The station is named after New Street, which runs parallel to the station, although the station has never had a direct entrance except via the Grand Central shopping centre. Historically, the main entrance to the station was on Stephenson Street, just off New Street. As of 2022, the station has entrances on Stephenson Street, Smallbrook Queensway, Hill Street and Navigation Street. New Street is the fifth busiest railway station in the UK and the busiest outside London, with 46.5 million passenger entries and exits between April 2019 and March 2020. It is also the busiest interchange station outside London, with just over 7 million passengers changing trains at the station annually. In 2018, New Street had a passenger satisfaction rating of 92%, the third highest in the UK.The original New Street station opened in 1854. At the time of its construction, the station had the largest single-span arched roof in the world. In the 1960s, the station was completely rebuilt. An enclosed station, with buildings over most of its span and passenger numbers more than twice those it was designed for, the replacement was not popular with its users. A £550m redevelopment of the station named Gateway Plus opened in September 2015; it includes a new concourse, a new exterior facade and a new entrance on Stephenson Street.

Grand Central tram stop is a tram stop on the city-centre extension of Line 1 of the West Midlands Metro. It opened on 30 May 2016 as the terminus of the line on Stephenson Street outside the shopping centre from which its name was derived and Birmingham New Street station. This stop serves Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Moor Street railway stations. In October 2013 Birmingham City Council voted to extend the line, adding two additional stops beyond Grand Central, at Town Hall and Library. This opened in December 2019. In July 2022 the line was further extended to Edgbaston Village.

New Street is a street in central Birmingham, England. It is one of the city's principal thoroughfares and shopping streets linking Victoria Square to the Bullring Shopping Centre. It gives its name to New Street railway station, although the station has never had direct access to New Street except via the Grand Central shopping centre through Stephenson Street.

The Old Rep (originally Birmingham Repertory Theatre) is the United Kingdom's first ever purpose-built repertory theatre, constructed in 1913, located on Station Street in Birmingham, England. The theatre was a permanent home for Barry Jackson's Birmingham Repertory Company, formed in 1911 from his amateur theatre group, The Pilgrim Players, founded in 1907. Jackson funded the construction of the theatre and established his professional company there. Architect S. N. Cooke, a colleague from the Birmingham School of Art, collaborated with Barry Jackson in the creation of the theatre. Both Jackson and Cooke took inspiration from the democratic nature of theatres that they had visited in Germany. The design of The Old Rep was particularly influenced by Max Littmann's 1908 Künstlertheater in Munich.In 2014, Birmingham Ormiston Academy, also known as BOA, successfully tendered for The Old Rep Theatre.The theatre is situated just opposite New Street Station, from which a blue plaque, above the theatre's first floor windows, to Barry Jackson can be seen. Two doors down, Britain's oldest working cinema can be found, the Electric Cinema.

The Birmingham Theatre School is a drama school, located in Birmingham, England. The school was founded by Sir Barry Jackson in the theatre that he built, namely the Old Rep Theatre, which was also the first repertory theatre in the world. The school now has over 250 students on a variety of full and part-time. In 1942, Sir Barry Jackson appointed Mary Richards, with whom he had previously worked as an actress, to take over as principal of the drama school. In 1990, Chris Rozanski was appointed principal. The school has since relocated to The Old Fire Station [1] in Highgate, Birmingham and is no longer based at the Old Rep Theatre. As well as putting on shows as part of the schools courses the venue, costumes, props and staging is available for hire.[2] In 2023 the BTS Promenade Theatre Company was formed to provide a commercial platform for graduates of the Theatre School. The most recent production was 'One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest' in July 2023.

The Electric is a cinema in Birmingham, England. It opened in Station Street in 1909, showing its first silent film on 27 December of that year. It was the first cinema in Birmingham, and as of 2022 is the oldest known working cinema in the country. The Electric has two screens, both able to show digitally-shot films and one also able to show films in 35 mm.Originally called the Electric Theatre, the cinema has undergone a number of name changes since its opening, but returned as The Electric in October 1993. It closed in December 2003 and was purchased by local film director and producer Tom Lawes, who initiated extensive renovations to the building in order to restore it to its 1930s Art Deco aesthetic. It reopened in December 2004. The cinema closed again at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with most of its staff being made redundant. In January 2022 the cinema reopened under new ownership.

The Crown is a former pub on the corner of Station Street and Hill Street, Birmingham. It has been called the "birthplace of heavy metal", and hosted Black Sabbath's first gig.It was built in 1881, and many bands have been played there including the Who, Status Quo, UB40, Duran Duran, Thin Lizzy, Marc Bolan, Supertramp, Judas Priest and several of Robert Plant's bands before he co-founded Led Zeppelin. The bands played upstairs in what was known as Henry's Blueshouse. It has been empty since 2014 and was given Grade II listed status in March 2024 on the advice of Historic England.

Henry's Blueshouse was a regular live music night that ran in Birmingham, England from 1968 to 1970, promoted by Jim Simpson through his Big Bear Music company.

The Water Services Regulation Authority, or Ofwat, is the body responsible for economic regulation of the privatised water and sewerage industry in England and Wales. Ofwat's main statutory duties include protecting the interests of consumers, securing the long-term resilience of water supply and wastewater systems, and ensuring that companies carry out their functions and are able to finance them.Ofwat primarily sets limits on the prices charged for water and sewerage services, taking into account proposed capital investment schemes (such as building new wastewater treatment works) and expected operational efficiency gains. The most recent review was carried out in 2019; reviews are carried out every five years, with the next due to take place in December 2024.The Water Act 2014 extended retail competition to all non-household customers of English water companies from April 2017 and provided for possible future competition in wholesale markets. Ofwat's role includes regulating such water and wastewater markets and promoting effective competition wherever appropriate.Ofwat consists of a board, plus an office of staff which carries out work delegated to them by the board. The Environment Agency is responsible for environmental regulation, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate for regulating drinking water quality. Water in Northern Ireland is regulated by the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation, and the supply and treatment is carried out by the government-owned Northern Ireland Water. There is no separate charge for water for residents or companies in Northern Ireland. Instead, water is paid for by the rates system. The water industry regulator in Scotland is the Water Industry Commission for Scotland.

The Exchange was a large and prominent Victorian commercial building in central Birmingham, England, on the corner of New Street and Stephenson Place. It was among the many Victorian buildings lost during the 1960s redevelopment of Birmingham.

St Jude's Church, Birmingham was a parish church in the Church of England in Birmingham.