{"id":2114449,"date":"2026-07-17T13:33:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/?p=2114449"},"modified":"2026-07-17T13:33:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:33:05","slug":"west-midlands-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/news\/2114449-west-midlands-summit","title":{"rendered":"West Midlands must tell better story to attract investment, leaders warn"},"content":{"rendered":"<div role=\"feed\" aria-label=\"Chat messages\" aria-describedby=\"_r_cg_\" data-find-provider-scope=\"\">\n<div data-sizer-excess=\"0\" data-rocksteady-sizer=\"\">\n<div data-rs-index=\"409\" data-index=\"409\" data-last-message=\"true\">\n<div role=\"article\" aria-label=\"Message 410 of 410\">\n<div data-test-render-count=\"1\">\n<div class=\"group\">\n<div class=\"contents\">\n<div class=\"group relative relative pb-[var(--msg-assistant-pb,0.75rem)]\" data-is-streaming=\"false\">\n<div class=\"font-claude-response relative leading-[1.65rem] [&amp;_pre&gt;div]:bg-bg-000\/50 [&amp;_pre&gt;div]:border-0.5 [&amp;_pre&gt;div]:border-border-400 [&amp;_.ignore-pre-bg&gt;div]:bg-transparent [&amp;_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&amp;_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8 [&amp;_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&amp;_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"standard-markdown grid-cols-1 grid [&amp;_&gt;_*]:min-w-0 gap-3 [&amp;_&gt;_*:last-child]:mb-0 standard-markdown\">\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">The West Midlands needs to do more to communicate its strengths and attract investment, regional leaders warned at a major policy conference held in Birmingham this week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">The fourth Connections for Prosperity Conference, hosted by Midlands thinktank the Centre for the New Midlands, brought around 260 delegates from business, government, academia and the charity sector together at Edgbaston Stadium to debate the key issues facing the region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">Devolution and the West Midlands&#8217; identity featured prominently throughout the day, with former West Midlands Mayor Sir Andy Street stressing the importance of local decision-making and warning that Whitehall cannot be the final authority on many Midlands-based projects. He added that the region needed to tell a better story to convince people to live, work and invest here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">The conference opened with Birmingham City Council&#8217;s new leader Councillor Roger Harmer and deputy leader Councillor Julien Pritchard, who described the council&#8217;s recent election result \u2014 which saw Labour lose its majority to leave the city under no overall control \u2014 as a political earthquake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">Despite the fragmented result, both insisted the new coalition shared a common goal of improving civic pride, and said the region&#8217;s voice was more important than ever as devolution returned to the political agenda following Andy Burnham&#8217;s interventions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">The conference closed with Coventry City FC owner Doug King, speaking ahead of the club&#8217;s return to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years. King spoke about how focusing on incremental success rather than lofty goals had driven Coventry&#8217;s promotion, and outlined the club&#8217;s commitment to working with local SMEs to build closer ties with the city&#8217;s community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">Further sessions covered AI, energy, skills and transport, while more than \u00a31,800 was raised for charity partner Acorns Children&#8217;s Hospice \u2014 a record for the event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">Chris Smith, founder and managing director of the Centre for the New Midlands, said: &#8220;With Andy Burnham bringing devolution back into the spotlight, we must show that our region has the knowledge and the ambition to stand out, rather than being an afterthought for policymakers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">Connections for Prosperity 2026 was sponsored by AtkinsR\u00e9alis, Unity Trust Bank, West Midlands Housing Association Partnership and E.ON.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The West Midlands needs to do more to communicate its strengths and attract investment, regional leaders warned <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":284306,"featured_media":2114452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,136545],"coauthors":[137138],"class_list":["post-2114449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-local-government","tag-featured-story"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>West Midlands must tell better story to attract investment, leaders warn | 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