The region faces falling behind the north and Scotland without a revolution in the way it works together, claims the director of the Midlands Economic Forum.
The call comes as the forum is set to host a major October conference to encourage both West and East Midlands to link up.
Director Paul Forrest said Scottish devolution and major projects like the Northern Hub – a scheme to build stronger connections between the major cities in the North of England – are transforming the issue of city regions, and a new focus is required here.
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He believes the Midlands has the most dynamic economy in the country, and would rank 12th in Europe in terms of size, but it is constrained by infrastructure and historic fragmentation.
Local authorities, enterprise partnerships, MPs and ministers, are signed up for the event – The Midlands: Powering National Growth – in Needwood, Burton, on October 31.
Mr Forrest said: “There is a difference between what are considered to be the borders and the actually economic hinterland of the Midlands.
“We want to raise awareness of how all the different organisations – LEPs, local government, the private sector – can work together to help the Midlands economy, given what is going on in the north of England and Scotland.
“Whatever happens after the Scottish referendum, things won’t stay the same and there will be a system of devolution which benefits the national economy but doesn’t benefit the English regions.
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“Hopefully, people will see that there is a way of developing an agenda similar to that of the Northern hub and London’s economic strategy. We need to bring the Midlands economy, which is probably the strongest in the 海角视频 and provides most of the growth, together.”
On the conference agenda will be the benefits of regional superclusters and economic decentralisation, with game-changing structures being created in Scotland and the north.
Funding in an era of austerity will also be up for debate as well as clusters of excellence in the Midlands and transport.
The wider region accounts for 13 per cent of the 海角视频’s output and is dominant in terms of export growth.
Mr Forrest said the public and private sector across the region must be smarter in the way they worked together and infrastructure investment should be focused on improving links across the Midlands to benefit from HS2.
He said: “Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, the Black Country and Birmingham are all their own city regions, but they have interests in working together and collaborating. There are links between Wolverhampton and Derby, Nottingham and Coventry, the Black Country and Leicester but the transport links are holding them back.
“This is a really dynamic economy – and a sizeable one. We aren’t talking about a regional government, or party politics, but certainly looking at the structure of the economy with the changes taking place in the north and particularly Scotland.”