Whitby tells Chamber city’s future depends on public-private harmony

Birmingham’s capacity to design, develop and manufacture is acting as a beacon to investment and creating worldwide interest in the city and the wider West Midlands region, according to the leader of Birmingham City Council.

However, Councillor Mike Whitby warned that the city could not exist in a vacuum and that the public and private sectors had to work together if the area was to thrive once again.

Speaking at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s quarterly council meeting, where he was invited by President, Paul Bassi to become a member of the council, Councillor Whitby said the vital partnership between the two sectors had the capability to generate real wealth.

“Birmingham is a dynamic city attracting people from all over the world but we cannot work in a vacuum,” said Councillor Whitby.

Accepting BCI President Paul Bassi’s invitation to join the quarterly council, Councillor Whitby added: “It will be the public and private sector working together which will generate wealth.  

“The West Midland economy has not contracted so much since 1921 but decline set in from 1976 and through every recession, we have never reached the peak when we had a formidable manufacturing base.”

Councillor Whitby pointed to some of the major investments currently taking place in the city as examples of what could be achieved when all parties worked together.

These included the £450m Chiltern line, the New Street Gateway railway station, £600m final phase of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Cube building, while major investment from Deutsche Bank would eventually help to create 900 jobs for the city.

He also referred to the £144m project to construct the city’s new library, adding that the reported £180m figure quoted for the project was pro rata and included maintenance costs.

Ending on an emphatic note, he said that all these projects would be showcased to the international property market at this year’s MIPIM event, which takes place in March, to show what the city was capable of.