Power trio chosen to champion the West Midlands Government appoints three influential figures to help boost growth
THESE are the three people responsible for making the West Midlands a suc- cess.
The Government has appointed three champions for the region – one businessman and two politicians.
And their job is to help ensure the economy grows and new jobs are created.
They don’t do it alone, of course. Councils and business leaders in our region play a vital role – but these are our champions appointed by central government : Margot James: The West Midlands Local Growth Champion Margot James is the Conservative MP for Stourbridge and a Minister in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
And she has been named a Local Growth Champion by Greg Clark, the Business Secretary. It means she represents the Government in its work with local business-led organisations.
The areas she is responsible for include Greater Birmingham and Solihull; the Black Country; Coventry and Warwickshire; Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire; Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire. She is also, perhaps a little bizarrely, responsible for Liverpool.
Mr Clark said: “To make sure every corner of the UK benefits, I am giving ministers in my team geographic areas of responsibility so they can build on existing relationships to better connect government policy with the businesses and industries we’re working with.” Sajid Javid: Champion of the Midlands Engine Sajid Javid is the MP for Bromsgrove and the Local Government Secretary.
He was also the driving force behind the Midlands Engine policy – a government project to drive up productivity and growth across the whole of the Midlands region, including the East Midlands as well as the West Midlands – in his old job as Business Secretary.
And he is still the champion of the project in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Cabinet today.
Writing recently for the Birmingham Mail, he said: “There are many reasons for optimism. Jet2 are moving into Birmingham Airport, Jaguar Land Rover are expanding in Coventry, and Tarmac are setting up in Wolverhampton. Creating the ‘Midlands Engine’ could add up to £34 billion to the regional economy, the equivalent of £3,000 per person.
“Together we will build more homes, help more businesses grow, help councils deliver better public services.
“You can count on my support, and that of my whole department, as Birmingham and the West Midlands looks confidently towards the future.” Sir John Peace: Chairman of the Midlands Engine Sir John Peace is a senior business figure as chair of both global bank Standard Chartered and clothing giant Burberry Group.
And he is also the chairman of the Midlands Engine.
The Government says it hopes to create 300,000 new jobs and generate an additional £34 billion by 2030.
Sir John works with a “Strategic Supervisory Group” which has representatives of local councils, business and universities.
Speaking when he was appointed to the role, he said: “The Midlands Engine is a compelling opportunity to better represent the Midlands region, attract significant new investment and create more jobs.
“A huge amount of work has already been done by stakeholders from both the private and public sectors with the aim of growing the wider Midlands economy, and, as the newly appointed chairman, I will do my best to make this very exciting vision become a reality.”