Will transport be the burning issue in our business survey?
ARE transport issues the biggest challenges to growth in the West Midlands? You can give your views by completing our business survey being run in association with DLA Piper.
The State of the Region Survey, being run in association with leading law firm DLA Piper, gives business leaders the opportunity to give their thoughts on major issues affecting the region’s future prospects, including transport and the effects of public sector funding cuts will have.
The survey runs in the West Midlands for the first time this year, but in 2009, our sister sites in Yorkshire and the North West found that transport and infrastructure issues were the major issues for those regions’ growth agenda. Forty per cent of respondents rated these issues as top, and only inward investment – with 23% – came close.
Transport developments in this region have come thick and fast in the past year, as work finally got underway on the New Street Gateway project, which, while vastly improving the travelling experience, will do nothing to improve capacity or journey times. However, proposals for HS2, the high speed rail link to connect London with Birmingham and then Leeds and Manchester have not only survived the change of government, but also seem to have accelerated. Just this week, transport secretary Phillip Hammond promised to unveil the government’s preferred HS2 route.
Another surprise survivor of the comprehensive spending review was the long-awaited extension of the Midlands Metro tram system to connect Snow Hill and New Street stations in Birmingham City Centre.
But what of the year ahead? Can these developments come fast enough to satisfy businesses concerned at the ongoing effects of the recession, or are they still too far in the future to make any material difference to the fortunes of West Midlands plc?
Our survey is a timely temperature check of the views of the opinion formers and wealth creators of the region, and with more than 10,000 West Midlands registered subscribers signing up to TheBusinessDesk.com since our launch in Februaury, the results are sure to be closely followed by local and national policy makers.
Your answers matter and knowing how time is precious for those running businesses, we have made the survey quick and simple – it will take you no more than three minutes to complete.
