West Midlands retains the capacity to attract foreign investment says mayor
The West Midlands retains the capacity to attract further significant levels of direct foreign investment, the region’s new Mayor has said.
Commenting after the opening by German toolmaker Guhring of its new £12m factory at the Advanced Manufacturing Hub in Aston, Andy Street said the region had much to offer to firms looking for similar expansion.
“The West Midlands has an impressive legacy when it comes to advanced manufacturing. From Jaguar Land Rover and MG, to Rover and Rolls Royce – the region has been and still is, home to many globally-renowned brands. Guhring is the latest manufacturing heavyweight to pick the West Midlands as the UK destination to grow its business and realise its full potential,” he said.
“The West Midlands has unique advantages in its location, its infrastructure and in its talent pool, making it a firm driver of the UK economy and a globally competitive investment destination of choice.”
A family owned organisation employing more than 70,000 staff, Guhring was located in Oxfordshire when the firm initially set up in the UK in 1973. After 17 years, it moved to a central warehouse facility in Castle Bromwich where its operations focused on sales, marketing and distribution – with the company employing 20 people.
Confident of its growth potential, the precision cutting tool supplier expanded and diversified its services considerably, and its new factory offers a larger manufacturing and servicing capability for carbide and diamond (PCD) tooling, and an R&D department.
Birmingham was keen to attract the business and worked with the company to meet its needs.
The company purchased the 3.5-acre site at the AMH from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Birmingham City Council in 2015, in a deal secured by Savills. Commercial property consultant Bilfinger GVA was assigned to manage the project from its Birmingham base.
Finance Birmingham provided £650,000 of grant funding from its West Midlands and Liverpool City Region Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) to assist the £11.45m investment by Guhring.
AMSCI has supported manufacturing supply chains in England to reshore in the UK and improve global competitiveness by encouraging innovative, collaborative projects which establish sustainable growth in their areas.
The investment made by Guhring has helped support 135 jobs within the region and the company is keen to double the size of its operation over the next five years, creating further opportunities.
FDI into the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP area is predominantly driven by the strength of the region’s advanced manufacturing sector, which represented 31% of all the LEP’s 81 FDI projects in 2015/2016. In the wider West Midlands region 11,119 new jobs were created, more than any other region outside London.
