Providing the Right Support for the Right Firms in the Right Places

With less funding available in the future, Professor Simon Collinson discusses the need for national and local agencies to provide targeted support to the right kind of businesses to help achieve better regional growth. This blog post was produced for inclusion in the Birmingham Economic Review for 2021. The annual Birmingham Economic Review is produced … Continue reading “Providing the Right Support for the Right Firms in the Right Places”

Economic Recovery and Resilience in Birmingham

Raj Kandola discusses the impact of Covid-19 on the economy of Birmingham, the resilience and collective resolve shown by local businesses to survive the pandemic, and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for the city to continue its economic recovery.  This blog post was produced for inclusion in the Birmingham Economic Review for 2021. … Continue reading “Economic Recovery and Resilience in Birmingham”

The Black Country LEP Area – A Profile

Dr Abigail Taylor provides an economic snapshot of the Black Country LEP area following the five foundations of the Industrial Strategy: Ideas, People, Infrastructure, Business Environment and Place. As part of the Midlands Engine Economic Observatory work, WM REDI and the Black Country Consortium Economic Intelligence Unit developed Local Economic Partnership (LEP) level profiles. We … Continue reading “The Black Country LEP Area – A Profile”

Measuring the Distance to the Sustainable Development Goals in the UK Regions: How Is the West Midlands Performing?

In this blog, Professor Raquel Ortega-Argilés discusses the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) introduced by the United Nations in their 2030 Agenda. How the UK and the West Midlands is performing in comparison to other regions, and what impact COVID-19 will have on meeting these goals.  In September 2015, the General Assembly of the United … Continue reading “Measuring the Distance to the Sustainable Development Goals in the UK Regions: How Is the West Midlands Performing?”

Why Is It Necessary to Tackle Youth Unemployment?

Welcome to REDI-Updates, a bi-annual publication which will get behind the data and translate it into understandable terms. West Midlands REDI staff and guest contributors will discuss various topics, with this first publication focusing on how inclusive growth can be a tool to tackle regional imbalances across the UK. In this article, Dr Andre Carrascal Incera … Continue reading “Why Is It Necessary to Tackle Youth Unemployment?”

REDI Updates 1: Director’s Welcome – Regional Research Collaboration Will Be Crucial to Improve Our Economy and Society

Foreword – by Simon Collinson and Ben Brittain When we began writing this, our first edition of REDI-Updates, the COVID-19 pandemic was a small and distant threat. A local crisis limited to a single city-region in China. The world has changed dramatically since then. As we re-focus our research efforts and our analytics towards projects … Continue reading “REDI Updates 1: Director’s Welcome – Regional Research Collaboration Will Be Crucial to Improve Our Economy and Society”

Prosperity, Inclusivity and Sustainability Across UK Regions – WM REDI Policy Briefing

This policy briefing reports on a study to assess economic growth, inclusivity and sustainability across UK regions in terms of both current performance (in 2018) and change in performance (between 2013 and 2018). It is part of a larger, on-going (ESRC-funded) project on ‘Local Institutions, Productivity, Sustainability and Inclusivity Trade-offs’ (LIPSIT). We developed a regional … Continue reading “Prosperity, Inclusivity and Sustainability Across UK Regions – WM REDI Policy Briefing”

Professional and Business Services Sector: Creating Further Demand and Growth Outside London – New Report Released

We are proud to announce that BEIS have just published our report, summarising our research findings on creating demand and growth in the Professional and business service sector. The UK’s poor productivity performance continues to be of much debate in policy and research and is central to the development of the Industrial Strategy. This research … Continue reading “Professional and Business Services Sector: Creating Further Demand and Growth Outside London – New Report Released”

New Report Released: Governance and Urban Development in Birmingham

For the past three years, an interdisciplinary (and international) team of geographers, political scientists and urban planners working across the universities of Birmingham and Zurich has been studying Birmingham’s urban development, governance, and social and economic trends from the year 2000 to present. Now, as our research project draws to a close, we have reached … Continue reading “New Report Released: Governance and Urban Development in Birmingham”

Is the Government Going to ‘Make Buses Great Again’?

At the Conservative Party Conference, the Government seemed adamant to talk about buses. But, for what reason would the Government want to make buses a key transport-policy subject? At the conference, the Chancellor, Sajid Javid, proclaimed; “Buses haven’t been given the attention they deserve from politicians. But they are still the backbone of our public transport … Continue reading “Is the Government Going to ‘Make Buses Great Again’?”