From a ‘Complete Innovation Corridor’ to ‘Cyber Resilience in the Age of AI’: Exploring the key opportunities shaping our region
The Centre for the New Midlands has published two new reports, bringing together insights and perspectives from regional leaders and experts on two important issues shaping the future of our region: the potential of Birmingham’s Bristol Road Corridor and the growing importance of cyber resilience in the age of AI. Our latest reports capture the […]
Small but perfectly formed? Your First Home and its impact on the Midlands
The reaction to the government’s Your First Home scheme has been decidedly lukewarm. Having initially welcomed the prospect of a successor to Help to Buy, housebuilders and investors were underwhelmed by the details eventually revealed in last week’s Budget. The FTSE 350 Home Construction Index fell more than 6% (its worst one-day drop since January […]
Can better data make collaboration pay?
A project team finds a way to simplify a design, shorten construction and save money. It sounds like an outcome everyone should welcome. Commercially, the picture is less straightforward. The designer faces additional work. A specialist loses part of its package. The contractor reduces its own income while taking responsibility for an unfamiliar approach. The […]
What did Budget 2026 deliver for our communities?
While there has been much commentary on what last week’s budget tells us about the government’s general direction of travel and commitment to ending forty years of neoliberal consensus, the impact on housing and the development of communities we all live in has been less discussed. Partly, this due to the fact a number of […]
Making more of the community asset transfer opportunity in the West Midlands
Local authorities across the country are exploring ways to improve their cash position by transferring assets to community-based organisations. Taking this approach, they can retain ownership of them, whilst offloading the costs associated with their upkeep and maintenance. Alongside this, there was clear encouragement (and some potential financial support) in the recent Budget and the […]
Thinking differently about the next generation
In organisations large and small, when given an opportunity to engage with their local communities, people will sometimes say, ‘we would love to do that, but we don’t have the budget’. I always find that an interesting observation as the budget I have is called goodwill. It takes a village to raise a child and […]
Get Britain Building: Better Places, Stronger Communities, a Resilient Economy
As the Chancellor prepares for the Autumn Budget, one reality is unavoidable: Britain needs jobs and growth. The alternatives of higher borrowing and further tax rises are no longer sustainable. Elevated interest rates make borrowing prohibitively expensive, while increased taxation and National Insurance dampen employer confidence, consumer spending, job creation and economic momentum. History tells […]
‘YOUR FIRST HOME’ – The proposed new equity loan scheme. ‘A well overdue stimulus for the new homes market’
The new homes market has been in decline for the last three to four years with little or no rise in house prices, whilst materials and labour costs have increased and additional costs have been introduced through higher building standards, Biodiversity Net Gain and the latest, the Building Safety Levy, coming into force for all […]
Could fractional leadership help close the West Midlands management capability gap?
The West Midlands Combined Authority Theory of Growth identifies business leadership and management as a distinctive regional challenge and links management quality with the region’s productivity gap. The evidence it gathers is striking. The wider region has the lowest business management scores in England, and they have fallen since 2020. One study it cites attributes […]
Freedom to grow: Which tools Mayors really need to power growth, and how to use them
“I would simply grow the economy”, said many a political leader since the 2008 crisis rocked our world. But why? And more importantly, how? ‘Why’ is straightforward. The West Midlands has punched below its economic weight for half a century, first as heavy industry declined and cities depopulated, but even recent times have seen our […]