Wolverhampton leverages JLR decision to secure further investment
WOLVERHAMPTON City Council is leveraging the decision by Jaguar Land Rover to site its new £355m engine plant at i54, north of the city, to secure further business investment for the area.
To highlight the move, the local authority has instigated a new poster campaign bearing the Big Cat symbol with the strap line “Who let the cat in?”.
The posters will be prominently displayed on billboards around the city as well as in the media and specialist business websites.
JLR’s decision has been welcomed as the biggest manufacturing investment in the UK for a generation, signalling a huge vote of confidence in Wolverhampton and the wider West Midlands region. The factory alone will create 750 new jobs, with hundreds more likely to follow in the supply chain.
A massive public and private sector consortium, which featured the city council, in collaboration with fellow authorities Staffordshire County Council and South Staffordshire District Council, helped to eventually clinch the deal.
Outgoing regional development agency Advantage West Midlands, which owned the i54 site prior to its transfer to the Homes and Communities Agency in September, was also instrumental in paving the way for the deal, while the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership also played a role, persuading the Government to confer Enterprise Zone status on the South Staffordshire business park.
Cllr Peter Bilson, Wolverhampton’s cabinet member for economic regeneration and prosperity, said the publicity campaign was now about building on the feel-good factor created by the decision to leverage investment in Wolverhampton.
“Far from simply blowing our own trumpet, what we must all do in Wolverhampton is have the confidence in ourselves to promote the city as a destination that is ready, willing and able to welcome investors in our city,” he said.
“By harnessing the power of securing a prestige brand like JLR who saw the benefits of our location, skilled workforce and a city that wants to make things happen, we must go out there and spread that message.
“We have been saying for some time now that Wolverhampton is competing in a global market. It is not enough to sit back and think investment will come to us by virtue of our proud industrial heritage. We must go out there and sell what we have to offer in the modern era and work with companies that will bring jobs and prosperity to our city.”
