The Chamberlain News

MIPIM16: Midlands Engine roars into life with £14 billion MIPIM pitchbook

The Midlands Engine was powering ahead today as council and business leaders set out to win £14 billion from global investors at the MIPIM real estate fair in Cannes.

Eleven local enterprise partnerships are heading up the region’s biggest ever presence at the annual event in the south of France, with the aim of transforming the west and east Midlands into one of the world’s leading regional economies.

The plan, dubbed the Midlands Engine Pitchbook, will be used to showcase a huge range of investment opportunities to key markets such as China and the US.

It unveils 33 major opportunities for investors, which combined could create 178,000 jobs, 32,000 new homes and 57.9 million sq ft of property space for the region.

The Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who is the ministerial champion for the region, believes the Midlands must open itself up to the world if it is to sustain the remarkable economic growth it has experienced in recent years.

Mr Javid said:

The Midlands is a region on the rise with a unique offer to investors. From Nestle to Rolls Royce, it is home to some of the world’s biggest companies and boasts a vast pool of talent in industries ranging from advanced manufacturing to food and drink.

Foreign investment in the Midlands has more than doubled since 2011 and by embracing opportunities such as the MIPIM trade fair, we will capitalise on the Midlands’ natural strengths and make it an engine for growth.

The Midlands Engine is likely to receive a significant boost tomorrow from Chancellor George Osborne who is expected to announce a £400 million investment fund for the region in the Budget.

Most of the investment opportunities being showcased at MIPIM are ready for development immediately and include:

• A mixed use development site in Leicester, which will be one of the biggest greenfield sites to be developed in the UK (Scale: £400m).
• The unique opportunity to invest in the UK’s most ambitious infrastructure project, HS2.
  • More than 4,000 new homes will be built around the city centre’s brand new HS2 station – Curzon Street (Scale: £1.5bn+).
  • The regeneration around the HS2 Interchange and Hub in Solihull alone will create over 20,000 new jobs (Scale: £1bn+).
• Jaguar Land Rover will expand its existing facilities, and create a designated technology campus in Coventry (Scale: £500m).
• A range of investment opportunities adjacent to the Rolls-Royce global civil aerospace HQ are on offer within Infinity Park, part of the Derby and Nottingham Enterprise Zone, where businesses receive a package of benefits (Scale: £700m+).
• Plans for 6,000 houses and a new motorway junction have been approved in Lincolnshire Lakes to complement the government’s initiative to create the UK’s largest deep water project (Scale: £900m)
• To capitalise on the region’s expertise, the Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone will see the development of six individual sites (Scale: £1.5bn).

The investment opportunities outlined today have been individually sourced by the UKTI Regeneration Investment Organisation which has a remit to support job creation and economic growth across the UK through attracting institutional investor funding into large scale regeneration schemes. 

Sir Michael Bear, chairman of the UKTI Regeneration Investment Organisation, said:

The Midlands Engine has grown at record levels over the past decade, and its offer to investors is among the most desirable in the world.

Our plan has a clear ambition: to attract investors to one of the world’s most attractive business destinations, where they can reap the rewards for decades to come. The majority of these opportunities are ready for development immediately, and I’d encourage investors to seize this unique opportunity while they can.

Andy Street, chair of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP, added:

The Midlands is undergoing a remarkable economic resurgence, underpinned by the talent, infrastructure and support that the region offers to businesses large and small.

Launching the Midlands Engine Pitchbook demonstrates how the region has developed a coordinated approach to targeting new investment. By working together, we have a stronger voice and more compelling story to tell the world.

By showcasing our strongest investment opportunities – from HS2 to major residential schemes and Enterprise Zone sites – to key markets such as China, Europe and the USA, I have no doubt that the Pitchbook will help to stimulate even more international interest in the Midlands.

While council and business leaders gather in France, MPs at Westminster want to know whether the Midlands Engine and Northern Powerhouse names actually mean anything at all.

The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee has launched an inquiry focusing on whether the Government’s devolved arrangements can deliver improved economic growth and if these models could be adopted by other regions.

Iain Wright MP, Chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee said:

Can the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine deliver business and enterprise growth with economic benefits for their communities? What do these two slogans mean in practice for attracting investment, improving skills, encouraging growth for businesses and creating wealth in the North and the Midlands?

We’re determined to explore the nuts and bolts of these initiatives, looking at what is being delivered now and planned for the future; and whether businesses are being effectively engaged in the devolution process.

There’s been a lot of talk about the billions of economic growth that these models could yield. How realistic is this? Does the rhetoric match the reality on the ground for businesses?

We want to bring a close eye to the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine to ensure that these potentially transformative policies deliver concrete benefits for business and see whether lessons from these two areas could be used in other regions.

Written evidence should be submitted to the committee by Friday 6 May.