Willmott Dixon backs Birmingham LEP bid

CONSTRUCTION and development firm Willmott Dixon has become the first major business in the area to nail its colours to the Birmingham-Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) bid.

Birmingham City Council leader Cllr Mike Whitby welcomed the company’s commitment and said this was the first of more than 140 businesses to have expressed interest in working closely with the new LEP  – which would promote enterprise in Birmingham, Solihull, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Tamworth and Bromsgrove.

Willmott Dixon is the UK’s third largest privately-owned capital works, regeneration and support services company.

The company has a strong Midlands presence, employing nearly 1,000 people in the region and has two offices in Birmingham and one in Coleshill.

Current projects include two care homes in Turves Green and Meadway, the new Academy of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in Tipton plus the upgrading of care accommodation in neighbouring Walsall.

Last year Willmott Dixon secured a five-year contract from Birmingham City Council worth around £95m to repair and maintain 40,000 council homes and properties in south Birmingham.

• Birmingham’s Big City Plan is unveiled

Chris Durkin, chief executive of Willmott Dixon Support Services, said: “We have been very impressed by the leadership the city has shown in how it wants to develop and grow, from its ambitious LEP plans to the launch last week of its Big City Plan, which provides a blueprint for the rebuilding of Birmingham.

“It is the sort of direction that companies like Willmott Dixon thrive on and we hope to play a long-term role in supporting the LEP, which can be the conduit for the delivery of the Big City Plan.”
Cllr Whitby said: “If we are to turn the Big City Plan into reality, into property development, jobs and wealth creation, we need the support of firms like Willmott Dixon, who we would welcome on to the board of the new LEP.

“The private sector has a vital role to play in helping us deliver major capital projects within the Big City Plan.”