Nascent clusters
The pace of technological and market development means the West Midlands also needs to proactively back clusters with exponential growth potential. By their nature, the size, maturity and embeddedness of these clusters in the West Midlands is unlikely to be large, but support now can drive big returns later in the decade. These disruptive nascent clusters - like Very Light Rail (VLR), 5G adoption, eCommerce and space technology - can also add to the competitive advantage to more established clusters or sectors, helping to prevent decline or stagnation.
Activity to support growth in nascent clusters includes:
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early-stage support for scale-ups;
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providing patient capital for businesses;
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quickly boosting the local supply chain to provide capacity as well as capability; and
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creating opportunities for collaboration and community connectivity.
Successfully tackling these market needs will help outperform UK average performance in the medium to long term by providing an additional boost to the growth of our primary clusters.
Regaining the position as the fastest growing region outside of London would require the West Midlands to deliver an extra £0.75 billion - £1.0 billion of GVA and an extra 15,000 - 20,000 jobs.