In the latest City-REDI podcast, Associate Professor Rebecca Riley and Charlotte Horobin, Region Director for the Midlands & East of England for Made UK, discuss a recent report looking at productivity in the West Midlands, produced by WMREDI. The Podcast covered the following topics: Report Findings Vs Charlotte’s Manufacturing Knowledge Rebecca and Charlotte talk about … Continue reading “Podcast: Productivity in the West Midlands”
Tag: Productivity
West Midlands Impact Monitor – 6 April 2023
This is the 100th edition of the Monitor! The first one was published in late March 2020. At that time, PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) had dropped to 37.1, 1 in 3 businesses had closed due to regulation, Jaguar Land Rover had shut its production plants, and the numbers of calls for business support were increasing … Continue reading “West Midlands Impact Monitor – 6 April 2023”
The Poorest UK Households are Hit Hardest by the Highest Rate of Firm Failure
With bankruptcies on the rise in the UK, Simon Collinson, Matt Lyons and Huanjia Ma look at the impact of firm failure on the economy, employment and households. Data released by the Insolvency Service at the end of January shows that firm insolvencies, or bankruptcies, in England and Wales reached the highest level since 2009. … Continue reading “The Poorest UK Households are Hit Hardest by the Highest Rate of Firm Failure”
How to Improve Regional Productivity Levers in England and Wales
Helen Tilley, Jack Newman and Charlotte Hoole discuss their recent paper on whether UK regions have the policy levers they need to improve productivity, exploring the link between devolution and productivity. This blog was first published on the Wales Centre for Public Policy blogsite. Much has been written about the UK’s productivity puzzle. If the … Continue reading “How to Improve Regional Productivity Levers in England and Wales”
West Midlands Economic Impact Monitor – 3 February 2023
This fortnight the second round of the Levelling Up Fund has been announced causing a significant reaction. We have yet to see the full results of the inquiry into the Levelling Up policy implementation and what it may say about the process. The IMF is still not positive about the UK economy; the forecast has … Continue reading “West Midlands Economic Impact Monitor – 3 February 2023”
Shedding Light on Productivity in the West Midlands
Rebecca Riley discusses a new report examining productivity in the West Midlands. The report is written by Melisa Wickham and is in collaboration with the West Midlands Combined Authority. This report focuses on labour productivity – which measures how much output is produced per unit of labour input. There are varying measures of labour input, … Continue reading “Shedding Light on Productivity in the West Midlands”
City-REDI Policy Briefing: Which Kinds of Firms Contribute Most to Regional Growth?
In this policy briefing, Dr Fengjie Pan and Professor Simon Collinson look at why some firms and sectors make a larger contribution to local and regional economies than others. Many City-REDI projects aim to help policymakers optimise the use of scarce public resources to promote economic growth and wellbeing locally and regionally. Some of these policies … Continue reading “City-REDI Policy Briefing: Which Kinds of Firms Contribute Most to Regional Growth?”
City-REDI Policy Briefing: Improving Understanding and Measurement of Productivity
In this policy briefing, Dr Magda Cepeda Zorrilla, Professor Anne Green, Dr Chloe Billing, Professor Simon Collinson and Dr Fengjie Pan report on the findings of their study which collected data from 300 firms across the West Midlands, examining what managers at these companies understood productivity to be, the policy implications of their varied understanding … Continue reading “City-REDI Policy Briefing: Improving Understanding and Measurement of Productivity”
Homeworking and the Return to the Office – Part One
In the first part of a blog looking at home working and the return to the office, Professor Anne Green and Rebecca Riley look at what kind of workers are homeworking, regional differences around the UK, what the situation is in the West Midlands and whether home working impacts on productivity. Part two looks at … Continue reading “Homeworking and the Return to the Office – Part One”
Economic Recovery Post COVID-19: The MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP)
Dr Chloe Billing discusses the goals and objectives of MIT’s Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme, the aims of its pilot programme in the UK and what the MIT REAP West Midlands is doing to help the region recover from COVID-19. In March 2020, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) launched a pilot in the UK … Continue reading “Economic Recovery Post COVID-19: The MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP)”