Mayor launches £3.8bn Futures Fund ‘war chest’ to supercharge West Midlands economy

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, today (Tuesday 19 May) launched a new £3.8bn ‘war chest’ investment fund aimed at speeding up regeneration, building more affordable homes and creating jobs across the region.

The new West Midlands Futures Fund brings together money and backing from major public organisations, including the West Midlands Combined Authority, the West Midlands Pension Fund, Homes England, National Wealth Fund and other national investment bodies.

The Mayor said the fund gives the region the financial strength to unlock major development sites, back growing industries and attract billions more in private investment.

The fund has been created through a new West Midlands Investment Partnership, set up by the Mayor to bring public investors and government agencies together behind a shared plan for growth.

The Mayor is seeding the West Midlands Investment Partnership with £800 million of West Midlands Combined Authority funding alongside the commitment of £1.1bn from the West Midlands Pension Fund, and developing a pipeline to invest £1.7 billion from Homes England. The Mayor is also working with the Office for Investment, National Housing Bank, and others to bring additional investment into the region.

The funding will help deliver major projects across the Birmingham-North Solihull Gateway, Coventry Growth Arc, Sandwell-Dudley Metro Corridor and Wolverhampton-Walsall Growth Cluster, which represent a £19bn pipeline of investment opportunities, as set out in the West Midlands Investment Prospectus.

Announcing the fund at the UKREiiF real estate show in Leeds, the Mayor said he wanted project developers to partner with himself and local council leaders and join the building boom sweeping the region.

The Mayor said: “This gives us the financial firepower to invest in the things that matter most to local people - affordable homes, good jobs, skills and better transport.

“The West Midlands has never had this level of investment working together behind a single regional plan. We now have the chance to shape our own economic future and bring in billions more of private investment alongside it.

“I want developers and investors to work with us to help grow the economy and raise living standards right across the region.”

Oliver Holbourn, CEO of the National Wealth Fund, said: “Boosting regional investment is key to national growth.

"Through our Strategic Partnership with the Mayor of the West Midlands, we’re backing the ambition behind the West Midlands Investment Partnership, helping to develop the pipeline of investable projects that can unlock jobs and private investment for communities across the region.”

The fund’s launch comes on the back of further signs of economic revival in the West Midlands with:

• More professional services jobs created, more exports and more foreign direct investment than any other strategic authority area
• 12% more high growth business start-ups and double the number of construction jobs this year compared with last year

The fund will build on the momentum of the West Midlands Growth Plan which sets out to tackle deprivation and increase prosperity by creating 100,000 good jobs in fast-growing industries, getting tens of thousands of residents into work, improving public transport, and building over 120,000 homes.

The Mayor has also launched a £75m package to train more than 12,000 people over the next three years in construction skills. Research by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) says around 4,000 extra workers will be needed annually over the coming few years because of the region’s construction boom.

The region has a £19bn pipeline of investment-ready opportunities for investors and developers at the UKREiiF who can find out more through the interactive Site Selection WM platform.

Further details of how developers can engage with the West Midlands Futures Fund will be available in due course.