BUSINESS NEWS


Investment on rise in Midlands


The West Midlands is now the fourth best performing area of the UK when it comes to attracting inward investment, a new survey has revealed. According to EY’s annual


UK Attractiveness Survey, the area attracted a record 65 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in 2014 – the largest number secured in a decade and an increase of 38 per cent on 2013 figures.


‘It’s been an exceptional year for the West Midlands with record project numbers’


However, this is still only 7.3 per cent of UK projects, and although the West Midlands lags well behind the predictable investment leader, which is London, with 381 projects, the region is only slightly behind Scotland with 80 projects and the South East with 70. Birmingham itself was


ranked the third most successful UK city outside of London for attracting FDI in 2014, with 15 projects secured in the city. It was beaten by Belfast, with 29 projects, and Manchester, which managed 18. Birmingham was placed


sixth in 2013 with 11 projects. Coventry makes the top ten cities list in 2014 ranking in equal seventh place. The West Midlands’ success


in securing FDI projects was also replicated in terms of job creation. In 2014, the employment secured from FDI in the West Midlands (4,579) meant that the region was the second best performing area in the UK (behind Northern Ireland). These employment figures are a reduction of 33 per cent on 2013, but are nevertheless the second largest total the region has seen in the last decade. On average the West Midlands secures 2,870 jobs per annum from FDI. Sara Fowler, senior partner


at EY in the Midlands, said: “It’s been an exceptional year for the West Midlands with record project numbers creating more jobs, which has contributed to 2014 being the most successful year for the region in a decade.”


8 CHAMBERLINK JULY/AUGUST 2015


We’re open for business in Parliament


Solihull’s new MP, JULIAN KNIGHT, talks to Chamberlink about his first impressions as a House of Commons “new boy”.


nothing, and have to set up staff, equipment, and not one but two offices – one in Parliament and one in Solihull. The amount of organisation that goes into running an


O


MP’s office is jaw-dropping, but we are up and running with the important things: constituency issues. We are ‘open for business’ and are holding regular surgeries – I can’t promise miracles but if you do need help, please get in touch.


‘Solihull has an ageing population that will increasingly rely on competent, local hospital services’


Another eye-opener has been seeing the traditions of Parliament, from the State Opening to the maiden speeches. Watching the Queen, a lady as old as my Nan, hold the attention of the hundreds of people in the room and the hundreds of thousands across the nation was amazing. Standing up myself to speak on behalf of Solihull for the first time was more daunting, especially as the Speaker changed the time limit a few seconds before I started!


The maiden speech is the opportunity for new


members to speak for their constituencies, outlining the hopes of the constituencies, their worries, and what they are proud of. This gave me the opportunity to once again raise fairer funding for schools, our pride in our businesses and enterprise and our tradition of volunteering. Solihull is a changing constituency: we have an


ageing population that will increasingly rely on competent, local hospital services. We will need support for those in our constituency who are caring for vulnerable loved ones: parents, spouses, relatives or neighbours. We need opportunities for our young people within Solihull – good schools that are adequately funded, and businesses in the area that can offer quality jobs and apprenticeships.


More Solihull news – pages 32-33 HSBC relocation


is still on track Banking giant HSBC has confirmed that its plans to move its retail headquarters to Birmingham are safe, despite announcing cuts of up to 7,000 jobs in the UK. The bank said that the job cuts


Brakes could be put on car sales boom


Britain’s new car boom keeps motoring along at top speed – but there are signs that it may be about to move into the slow lane. Peter Gallimore, manufacturing partner and automotive lead at Deloitte


in the Midlands, said that the latest car registration figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed a 2.4 per cent increase to 198,706 units compared with May 2014. He said this was the 39th consecutive month that sales had grown, but


there were signs that the market was about to run out of steam, with the growth fuelled by fleet sales as sales to private buyers were flagging. “The growth in fleet sales has been key to the UK new car market


maintaining this upward trend,” he said. “May’s results showed that the increase in new cars sold to private buyers over the first five months rose by only 6,600, compared to a rise of 57,700 for the first five months of last year. “This could be the first real indication that the consumer-led growth,


which kick-started the UK new car market nearly three years ago, is levelling off and is not sustainable.”


were part of a global restructuring, but that it remained committed to its move to Birmingham. HSBC has previously announced


that it will be moving its ‘ring fenced’ retail operations to a new building, Arena Central, on Broad Street. Chamber chief executive Jerry


Blackett said that he was convinced that the move to Birmingham was part of a carefully thought through strategy, aimed at reducing costs. He said: “In addition to all the


great attractions of Birmingham, HSBC will also have worked out that their money goes further in this city – occupation costs are a lot lower than London, and salaries are lower. So the move makes a contribution to the wider group ‘costs down’ agenda.”


ne of the things they don’t tell you about entering Parliament is how little you start off with as a new MP. You begin with


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