Keep eyes on combined authority prize, C&W businesses told

BUSINESS leaders in Coventry and Warwickshire believe the region should keep its “eyes on the prize” when it comes to combined authorities.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce organised a meeting with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP (CWLEP) and firms from a cross range of sectors at the Holiday Inn, Kenilworth.

The two-hour session was designed to capture the mood of companies from across the area with regard to the proposed West Midlands Combined Authority and also to present the current state of play.

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Business has to be at the heart of this moving forward. There is a great deal of discussion and debate around what a combined authority will look like, what its function will be and how big or small it can be.

“But, actually, what this meeting and every other conversation we have with business about this told us is that we must be looking towards the prize. What can this devolved power deliver in terms of economic growth for our patch?

“Businesses want to see the benefits a combined authority can bring set out clearly. They want to know what it means if we become part of the West Midlands Combined Authority, what the picture would be if we ‘stay out’ and how Coventry and Warwickshire continue to work together as a natural economic partnership.

“Naturally, the debate gets bogged down in the name of the authority and the politics but business really wants to be able to judge the economic impact of being ‘in’ or ‘out’.”

Jonathan Browning, the chairman of the CWLEP, said: “It was great to bring businesses together in this way and to have a really lively, healthy discussion.

“We heard a number of different perspectives which will prove very useful as the process moves on.”