Presidents at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce invariably tend to come and go, given the transient nature of the appointment.

The job involves a fixed 12-month stint, a little like a Town Hall Mayor, and inevitably attracts a range of differing personalities.

Some are hard-nosed business operators with great corporate acumen; the likes of David Grove and the late Roger Dickens spring to mind from times past. Some are not quite so worldly.

Some start with the very best of intentions, only to rarely trouble the scorers after a few weeks in office, particularly those with already overflowing business portfolios. Others, however, make a real difference.

It’s still early days but the new incumbent, Michael Ward, appears to be of the latter variety. A straight-talking lawyer, Mr Ward pulled no punches on taking the helm, branding the city’s business community inefficient and calling for an end to turf wars with the Black Country and internecine strife across Birmingham’s corporate divide.

Boat-rocking is not generally one of the Chamber’s more frequently practised activities – the Birmingham business establishment can be a rather conservative bunch with over-sensitively attuned political antennae when it comes to the mildest of mildly radical views.

Mr Ward may have stepped unwittingly into a bit of a bear pit when he suggested that the Bears rename their home Birmingham Edgbaston to spread the name of the Midlands capital further afield across the likes of mainland Europe and America.

It’s only an idea – some people would say quite a good one – when all is said and done.

But there sometimes appears to be a prevailing cosiness around the upper echelons of Birmingham business that tends to view with suspicion anything that might vaguely upset the status quo.

Some dissenters have argued in the past that the reluctance to rock boats has cost Birmingham dear down the years. We have rarely dined at the top table when it comes to the juiciest of a la carte main courses.

Think of the National Stadium or the European Capital of Culture, for example.

Mr Ward hit the nail on the head when he compared Manchester’s profile to Birmingham. It’s not our fault that Sheikh Mansour chose to pour some of his oil fortune into Manchester City or that Manchester United are the best known club on the planet.

But any initiative to promote the name of Birmingham on the world stage should be welcomed.

Nobody ever won a medal for fence-sitting, even the President of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.