Foreword from the Mayor of West Midlands
As the Mayor of the West Midlands, I am proud to present the West Midlands Futures Green Paper. This document is a testament to our region's unwavering commitment to inclusive economic growth and transformation. Over the past decade, our region has shown remarkable resilience and adaptability, navigating through a myriad of challenges and opportunities and as we face an equally uncertain future, it foreshadows a framework for stability and resilience that will shape our economy for the decade to come.
In my first year as mayor, I have often emphasised the importance of inclusive growth— what I call 'Growth for Everyone'. This principle is at the heart of our strategic vision. Our aim is founded upon investment in our high-growth clusters, but it is also to ensure that this growth benefits every individual, business, and community in the West Midlands. We want our schools, colleges, and universities to equip our people with the skills needed for a green and digital economy. We want our high streets, town centres and communities to be vibrant spaces where people live, work, and play.
The arrival of HS2 and our unrivalled connectivity to the rest of the country are pivotal to our regional development. The cranes scattered across Birmingham's horizon are not just symbols of construction; they are beacons of investment, confidence and progress. The opportunities in the wider West Midlands are equally promising, with Coventry benefiting from deep knowledge capital and high-value manufacturing, and the Black Country serving as a hub for construction and green innovation. Our £77 billion economy is poised for even greater expansion, driven by the innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit of those who live and work here.
This Green Paper presents four significant areas of change on the horizon, with growth being the golden thread running through each. It poses essential questions about the direction of our journey and how we can seize the opportunities before us. The West Midlands Combined Authority will play a central role in convening and investing in this transformation, but we will do so in lockstep with our partners—because it is only by working together as a region that we will marshal our collective resources to sustain economic transformation at scale.
I invite everyone with a stake in the West Midlands' economic future—local government, universities, businesses, investors, public services, utilities, faith, grassroots and community organisations, and citizens—to engage with this Green Paper. Your insights and responses will shape our strategies and help us realise our vision of Growth for Everyone.
Thank you for your commitment to our region's future. Together, we will build a prosperous and inclusive West Midlands.
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands