West Midlands

The West Midlands has a strong history of innovation and entrepreneurship, responding positively to economic change and continually reinventing itself to remain a significant player in national and international economic growth. The industrial world was born in a valley in Shropshire, the product of entrepreneurship, technology, skills, natural assets and a passion to succeed. Three centuries later those same elements are again driving the West Midlands forward – building new businesses, applying diverse talents to new fields of endeavour and translating knowledge into economic success. With its revised strategy, Connecting to Success, hailed as the UK’s first low carbon regional economic strategy, the region is now aiming to position itself in the world as the leader in sustainable economic development.

The region has undergone significant economic changes over the last three decades with the services sector replacing manufacturing as the principal source of employment. It has the UK’s largest business and professional services sector outside of London. Nevertheless, the West Midlands is still one of the UK’s main manufacturing centres and the manufacturing industry represents 18.5% of the region’s GVA with over 19,000 sites employing more than 360,000 people, over 13.5% of the regional workforce.

Overall, the West Midlands region contributes 8% of the UK’s Gross Domestic Product. However, despite recent improvements, GVA per head is around 11% lower than the UK average.