The ‘why’ of the West Midlands
Last week I announced a new purpose statement for the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA):
Together we are making the West Midlands the best place to live, work and visit.
Short and simple, it speaks to people in the WMCA writing strategies, people working in our bus depots and even people doing our accounts. It tells us the ‘why’ of the WMCA.
It got me thinking though: so what is the ‘why’ of the West Midlands? A question posed starkly by a recent article in The Economist as it searched for reasons why the Midlands so often gets overlooked. The author concludes the article with the following statement:
Despite a long history, the Midlands has struggled to articulate a clear identity. It is distinctive in its unwillingness to express its distinctiveness.
The recent publication of the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy attempted to make the whole UK economy distinctive in the global economy – and on this occasion the West Midlands certainly wasn’t overlooked. Our region was singled out as being a ‘priority cluster’ for advanced manufacturing and defence, and for financial services too.
Beyond this, the strategy recognised the West Midlands as a place for considerable potential for growth in relation to clean energy industries, creative industries and life sciences. In fact, the West Midlands was named as having strengths in all eight of the government’s priority sectors. Perhaps this is no surprise for a region slap bang in the middle of the country. But hang on, doesn’t this just expose even more that question about the West Midlands’ distinctiveness? In economic terms, might this suggest we are the jack of all trades and master of none?
In a competitive global economy, it helps if city-regions can be known for something. Later this month we will be setting out five high growth cluster strengths in our West Midlands Growth Plan and explaining why, supported by a world-leading innovation ecosystem, they will power the national Modern Industrial Strategy, from the bottom-up.
But in such a volatile world, with tariffs, trade deals and energy price fluctuations centre-stage, perhaps having strengths in many sectors is a good insurance policy. It gives us economic resilience. Perhaps it is diversity itself that makes the West Midlands distinctive, and rather than see this as a weakness, this ‘why’ should be our strength and rallying cry. Diversity, scale, location, resilience, innovation – these are the marks of the West Midlands’ why.
Director - Planning at RPS
2moEd Cox it’s worth remembering the full quote: “Jack of all trades, master of none, though oftentimes better than a master of one”. There is strong logic in the West Midlands becoming a lynchpin place for all sectors. We are the centre of the country (4hrs travel time for 90% of the population). However, I agree we can’t be the best at doing everything. This is exactly why I continue to advocate for both a spatial and sectoral approach to growth. It was precisely what Local Industrial Strategies were designed to do (I may have advised BEIS on this back in the day) Focus on what a place is well placed to do. And build connections between places that have shared economic roles. (E.g. automotive across the country).
Business Advisor, Non-Executive Director, Coach, Manufacturing & Growth SME Specialist, Head of Manufacturing Industry at National Advisory Firm, Strategy, Transactions & Leadership Support
2moAn interesting set of comments. Having read the IS myself, I’m afraid that I don’t totally agree with your view that the IS puts us in its rightful position. Your right, we get ‘name checked’ but not enough for the second largest city region in the country. Our region is the beating heart of the country with the connections, diversity and (hopefully!) the will and enthusiasm to deliver. To do this, we have to focus on the wider ‘greater Birmingham region’ (yes sorry everywhere else but they haven’t heard of Wolverhampton, West Bromwich or Coventry etc in Beijing, Vancouver, Delhi etc. and the term ‘west Midlands’ doesn’t help on the global stage either. Play to our strengths, our ability to make stuff that people all over the world value and want to buy. We can be the powerhouse for all of the IS-8 if we put aside parochialism and play to our undeniable strengths. This coming weekend the world focusses on Birmingham as the home of heavy metal. A vital opportunity to showcase the rich history of culture, creativity and industrious will of our city region. Let’s not let that opportunity pass us by. Let’s be proud and shout about where we come from … and more importantly, how we will play our part in where we are going!
Member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales Tax Faculty and Fellow of Institute of Financial Accountants & Fellow of Federation of Tax Advisors & Fellow of Institute of Public Accountants
2moThoughtful post, thanks Ed
Senior Public Affairs Manager at Network Rail
2moThe West Midlands is the Heart of Britain. Regional and international transport connectivity is done through here and its the determination by all that live and work in the region that keep it beating - work often done quietly and in the background, but with massive impact.