‘The West Midlands is the innovation region’

Following a visit from the Science & Technology select committee, the CEO of the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is advocating for better investment into the West Midlands’ public sector.

The governments target currently is to have a ratio of two pounds to one for every pound it invests in the public sector.

Clive Hickman, CEO of MTC said: “The West Midlands, however, generates four pounds to every pound in private sector income, much greater than any other region in the UK. Then you have to take into account the amount of public sector funding we get is the lowest in the UK.”

In comparison to other regions, Hickman said places such as London, Wales and Scotland generate one pound for every pound of government investment. The East Midlands and Cambridge generate three pounds for every pound from the government.

Part of Hickman’s discussion with the select committee was to address that if they want to level up the economy, they need to level up public sector investment in the Midlands.

Another item on the agenda was the switch to electric vehicles. Hickman says around 47,000 people’s jobs will be displaced in the West Midlands as “we have a plethora of companies that make engine components valves, springs, conrods, pistons, crankshafts, castings.

“Now when we move to electric vehicles, you will not need all of those components, you’ll have a battery and an electric motor that’s got one moving part. Therefore, what do we do about all of these people that are being displaced?”

MTC says the Midlands needs to upskill and retrain these workers now for the future into a different supply chain, or else the Midlands will ‘level down’ from being the ‘region of innovation.’

Hickman also discussed with the select committee how this will improve productivity amongst workers in the UK.

He said: “If you bring automation into a manufacturing environment, you need to bring along with that a rescaling and upskilling programme.

“People who then are displaced from the dangerous jobs, the dirty jobs, low paid jobs and put them into jobs where they’re safer, cleaner, have better prospects and higher pay, and that is how you improve productivity across the UK.”

As all companies move towards being more sustainable, MTC aim to become carbon neutral by the end of 2023. Its mission – to drive innovative green technologies to pave the way for others to replicate.