Midlands Engine’s economic assets ‘more important than identity’ for region
TheBusinessDesk.com and EY have produced a Midlands Engine report, assessing the challenges and opportunities facing the region as it looks to maximise the positive impact of devolution. Read the full report here.
THE East Midlands can be viewed as the West Midlands’ little brother, lacking the big city and the profile that Birmingham brings.
But for many businesses and business leaders in Derby, Nottingham, Leicester and elsewhere in the region, the benefits of being associated with the country’s second city outweighs the downsides of being seen to be in its shadow.
“We are quite happy for the Midlands to be seen as a sort-of trans-region with a capital city which is Birmingham, with an almost hub and spoke model where you have cities with their specialisms,” said John Forkin, of Marketing Derby.
“In Derby it is advanced manufacturing, because of aerospace, nuclear and rail, because that’s what we have got, in Nottingham it might be biomedical. I’m quite happy with that, it doesn’t mean that every advanced manufacturing company has to come to Derby, some can go to Nottingham or Wolverhampton, it doesn’t really matter. But it’s just knowing what they stand for.”
Chris Hobson, director of policy and external affairs at East Midlands Chamber of Commerce, agreed. He said: “For a long time in the East Midlands we have been talking about how do we have an identity on the largest scale and I am getting to the point with that is the wrong question to be asking.
“It is not about identity because sometimes it can be impossible to have a joint identity over an area. What it is about is joining up the economic assets across the whole area, of which we have an abundance of major economic assets.”
Already the Midlands Engine is being used as the brand internationally. In November, a Midlands Engine delegation went to China for a major conference and twin city visits – “when we’re in the city where we have economic relations, we’re Derby and Derbyshire, but when we go to Shanghai we are Midlands Engine”, said Mr Forkin – where the strengths of the region as a whole will be presented.
That trip will be followed by MIPIM 2017, the annual international property exhibition held in Cannes, France, each March, where the Midlands Engine will be putting on a united show in one pavilion.
Mr Forkin added: “The government didn’t ask us to do that, we have decided to do that anyway. That will give a very strong message to investors to international investors in particular – and we are right next to the London Pavilion – so there is the opportunity around identity.
“There is an opportunity that if they give us the identity of Midlands and Midlands Engine to use it to our own ends.”
