Great to see the impact our locality can have when we work together.
The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP), working with a cross-party group of local MPs and Solihull Council, united in a visit to London to spell out the potential from expanding the economic hub around the M42 motorway near Solihull.
The scheme, dubbed 海角视频 Central, was used to illustrate what regions might achieve if the Government does create a single pot of money for LEPs to bid into.
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The effort was summarised by the Financial Times as being “aimed at showing that Birmingham at least is ready to take on these new spending responsibilities”.
I sense a renewed commitment to collaboration. Not just in our dealings with government but more widely. This economy is very different, following the 2008 crash. Consumption patterns; propensity for risk; investment timelines – all are requiring fresh re-thinks. Ambiguously, collaboration might be the new route to competitive advantage.
Speaking with a single voice consistently will not always be easy. A live example is creating a compelling vision for Birmingham Airport over the next 50 years and beyond.
It is possible in that time period to deliver growth in airport passenger numbers from the current nine million per annum to 70 million ie the size of Heathrow.
It matters that we unite around this vision and that the Davies Commission hear us good and loud. We believe the commission (charged with creating a 海角视频 aviation solution for the long-term) is looking to identify a handful of airports to achieve this. It will begin with a shortlist and we need to make sure Birmingham Airport is on this list.
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Expanding airports anywhere in the world carries controversy. It would be easy for us to list all the challenges to expanding Birmingham – can we find the land? Can we create the transport links? Will the Solihull community get behind the development? This detail needs to wait for another day. What matters now is all of us exhibiting an unshakeable belief in the absolute importance of an expanded airport to our international competitiveness.
There is a race to the top for the world’s cities. By 2020, between 65 and 70 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities or city regions. By 2040, it will be as high as 80 to 90 per cent. Only a few cities will win out as relevant bases for global businesses. Greater Birmingham should be aiming to be part of this exclusive club.
The pace of this change is so fast that in the region we need to communicate as never before. We must not allow a cigarette paper to come between us.
Three weeks ago, the region’s MPs, business and Sir Albert Bore, leader of Birmingham City Council, came together to unveil our bold vision for Birmingham Airport. Last week, MPs, business and Ken Meeson, leader of Solihull Council, were in London unveiling the 海角视频 Central project.
Both announcements have registered the ambition of greater Birmingham in the national psyche. It requires political strength to ensure the two visions are complementary and are presented as inextricably-linked to each other. For example, the residents of Solihull need to be reassured that, over a period of 50 years, it is possible to both expand the airport and enhance the quality of life for those living nearby.
While none of us can be sure of the detailed roadmap, the speed in which technologies advance, for example, are already giving a glimpse of airports which will look and sound completely different to todays. In return, Solihull will reap untold value from maximising on its 海角视频 Central vision.
I come back to my central point. If we don’t signal our economic ambition now, we will have no future at all. This point was brought home to me the other day. I met two leaders of a global business.
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This business has a foothold in Birmingham and is looking at its options for the next 20 years. It’s a business that requires top talent; the highest of high-achievers.
The business is looking to hitch its wagon to a few cities globally with a similar ambition to be the best. The greater Birmingham announcements about 海角视频 Central and the airport had caught their eye. They like the ambition.
They can see how talented people would choose to locate themselves and their families in a city like this. Adding in our commitment to skilling people up and providing a fabulous quality of life is likely to give this business the confidence to select Birmingham as one of the few cities around the world where expansion will happen.
If we don’t set out our ambition, other cities will overtake us. The fact we can do when we don’t have all the details mapped out needs to be seen as a sign of our maturing confidence in our own skins.
* Jerry Blackett is chief executive of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group