Economic growth. It holds the key to everything from business expansion and job creation to generating the government tax revenues that’ll fund better infrastructure and improved services.
There’s no shortage of growth potential in the East Midlands. It’s home to aerospace, automotive and rail OEMs and their supply chains, has a long-established health and life sciences sector, and significant strengths in clean energy technology and research.
Alongside an industrial base focused on the future, we’ve also become a hotspot for advanced logistics. No surprise when we’re at the heart of the UK’s strategic road network and home to the biggest pure airfreight gateway in the UK – East Midlands Airport (which handles more than 440,000 tonnes of goods each year).
We’re not short of targeted investment opportunities to unlock that growth, either. We’ve got the UK’s only inland freeport and an investment zone that takes in a further three locations in Derby, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
So how do we build on our industrial strengths and use those opportunities to unlock the growth we need? We’re about to find out.
When Claire Ward was elected as the first East Midlands Mayor last May she made growth a priority, channelled through investment in transport, housing and land, skills, net zero and economic development. She’s now launched a high-powered commission which will set out a roadmap for how investment will fuel growth in the East Midlands for decades to come.
This Inclusive Growth Commission aims to join the dots between growth, people and places – so that jobs, wages, skills, homes and people’s wellbeing can improve too. These are all pieces in the jigsaw that defines how well our economy performs so it makes sense to mesh them together.
That roadmap will be drawn up by a group of people who know their stuff. The Commission is being run by the RSA (which has developed a growth model known as Prosperous Places) and chaired by its CEO, Andy Haldane, the former Chief Economist at the Bank of England. He’s been flying the flag for regional growth for years so having him on the East Midlands’ side is a major plus.
The Commission will also have to answer a series of exam questions it’s been set by Mayor Claire:
- What will inclusive growth look like for people after 10 years?
- What are the East Midlands’ unique strengths and how can it lever them to drive growth for all?
- What are the root causes of the region’s challenges and how can it tackle them?
- How can EMCCA and its partners achieve change?
Importantly, the Commission is also going to talk to regional businesses. As an East Midlands enterprise, BWB is heavily involved in sectors that keep the regional economy moving, with particular expertise in infrastructure, highways, logistics, rail, property, renewable energy and a holistic perspective on the environmental and net zero opportunities across the built environment.
Led by Nottingham Director Anthony Hart, our team has been involved in a series of game-changing regional projects, including East Midlands Gateway, South Derby Growth Zone, the Broadmarsh Bus Station and Fairham Pastures development (both in Nottingham) and the pioneering low energy Trent Basin riverside community.
We’re also keen to see the Commission factor in the potential of an improved planning system. We think there are better ways to ensure that the East Midlands progresses its potential more quickly while still engaging effectively with communities.
While BWB is headquartered in the East Midlands, we also have substantial operations in London, Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester. We’ve seen mayors like Andy Burnham flying the flag for their regions and we want to see Mayor Claire taking the fight for more investment in the East Midlands to Westminster.
The Commission’s approach dovetails neatly with a wider government ambition to devolve more powers and redesign local government. It’s also building momentum behind something that’s particularly close to our heart: spatial planning. Creating prosperous places is hugely important.
Neither the Mayor nor EMCCA can grow the economy on their own. We all have a role to play in demonstrating that the East Midlands is the best place to do business – one where we’re pioneering clean energy technologies that give industries an edge, where we back initiatives like the East Midlands Freeport because it attracts inward investment, and one where we rebuild pride in ambition and entrepreneurship.
Turning round under-investment here will almost certainly deliver greater growth. A roadmap will show ambition and attitude. We look forward to helping the Inclusive Growth Commission deliver.
Graham Sant,
CEO, BWB Consulting