The man heading Birmingham Press Club has spelt out his vision for the future - and unveiled plans for a major recruitment drive.

John Lamb, press and PR manager at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was been made new chairman of the organisation - which is the oldest of its kind in the world.

He said: "We'll be looking to attract people from all areas of the media.

"Radio is huge and growing medium and that will be one of our target areas. We have to make sure we are absolutely relevant to the media community of the region as it exists today.

"We are all determined that Birmingham Press Club, which was launched in 1865, continues to flourish and is fully representative of the whole Birmingham media scene across newspapers, radio and television. We also aim to maintain and develop strong links with Birmingham's business community."

A newly-structured board would be devising a strategy to bring in new faces.

Mr Lamb takes over from Andrew Sparrow - who is credited with saving the club from extinction in 1998 - when debts incurred as a result of moving to new premises in Colmore Row spiralled out of control.

The club says Mr Sparrow persuaded creditors to release the club from its liabilities, which had spiralled to £80,000 - and at the same time began to rebuild the board, which had shrunk to just him and two other directors.

Mr Lamb paid tribute too his predecessor's success in heading the board - which will be announced shortly - and putting the club on a sound financial footing, as well as devising a series of successful social events.

He said: "We have a great record in attracting top names to our luncheon series, including Sir Ludovic Kennedy, Germaine Greer, Michael Parkinson and Ruth Rendell, to name but a few.

"The press ball remains one of Birmingham's top social occasions and the Midlands media awards, now in its fourth year, has also taken off, having established itself as the premier media event in the Midlands, attracting entries from across the region." The level of entries to the awards has soared to as high as 500, he said.

Mr Lamb's media career began when he joined the Coventry Evening Telegraph as a copy boy.

He worked his way through the ranks of the regional press before landing a number of jobs on Fleet Street, which included spells at the Sun, the News of the World and Evening Standard.

Mr Lamb said his deputy at the Press Club would be another well-known figure in local media circles, Fred Bromwich, a former business editor of The Birmingham Post .

Mr Bromwich currently edits Business and Finance Midlands magazine and he is also a long-standing Press Club board member.

Mr Sparrow, who is to retain his links with the Press Club as a board member said: "I am proud of the work I did in saving it from extinction as it is an important part of Birmingham's fabric.

"The Press Club is now stronger than it has been for a generation but it is time to hand over to a fresh team who can take it on to the next level."