Showcasing our pan-regional partnership for prosperity to parliamentary leaders

Championing the innovative work of our partners and exceptional opportunities for growth and investment in our region was on the agenda for the Midlands Engine during party conference season.

Attending both the Labour and Conservative events, Midlands Engine colleagues celebrated the collaborative work of our Partnership across our priority areas of Green Growth, Digital, Global, Transport and Health & Science.

Speaking at the Midlands Engine fringe event held at the Conservative party conference, Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP said:

“The places where we’ve grown up, the places that we love, the places where our families live – these are the places that we want to see succeed. That has been the principle behind the Midlands Engine. That’s the approach that we’re taking to levelling up.”

He went on to highlight the story of the Midlands Engine as one of success – success in securing more manufacturing investment and ensuring our region’s great universities and major employers are enabled to operate “at top gear”.

Visitors to the Midlands Engine stand included Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Health Secretary Sajid Javid, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves and many more Midlands MPs.

It was an opportunity to discuss key issues, priorities and achievements in our region, such as our ambitious Ten Point Plan for Green Growth in the Midlands Engine which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 36% while simultaneously delivering £24.2 billion in GVA per year and 196,000 jobs.

We also showcased our ground-breaking connectivity map of the Midlands which will help our region to overcome digital poverty, the vital work of our health and life sciences sector, our plans to extend our international reach in support of levelling up, and the transport priorities of our colleagues at Midlands Connect.

A number of Midlands Engine partners also attended, helping to amplify the voice of our

region even further, including Siemens Energy, Uniper, Woodland Trust, Energy Research Accelerator, Midlands Innovation Health, HSBC and Alstom.

Through our activity at both conferences the message was clear: investing now, in our region and its exceptional opportunities, will deliver greater economic prosperity, greater social mobility and greater life chances for our eleven million residents.

Sir John Peace, Chairman, Midlands Engine, said:

“40% of our local authority areas in the Midlands Engine are places with the highest level of need for the Government Levelling Up Fund. It’s time to level the playing field. The economic and social gains of doing so will be powerful and lasting.”

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