Business News


Skills shortages are the biggest obstacle to economic growth in Birmingham, a major new report has revealed. The report – the Birmingham


Economic Review reveals skills shortages are major concern Visitor economy enjoys growth


Dr Catherine Harris, City-REDI,


Economic Review 2017 – has been produced by the Chamber and the University of Birmingham’s City- REDI, whose remit is to accelerate economic growth in the West Midlands city region. The new survey spells out Birmingham’s strengths and weaknesses, and says that the city is more successful than most in terms of attracting inward investment and establishing new businesses. Birmingham also has above


average employment in a number of sectors, including finance and insurance, education, public administration and defence. In addition, there are a number of major opportunities for the city to take advantage of, including the new High Speed 2 (HS2) railway, potentially the most significant transport infrastructure project in the UK since the motorways were built in the 1950s and 1960s. The economic review says that


HS2 will have a substantial impact on the economic and transport environment in Birmingham and its surrounding areas. But all of the good news could


be undone by the skills shortage issue, and a number of experts who have contributed to the report have highlighted this as a major problem.


University of Birmingham, said Birmingham was the youngest major city in Europe, with under 25s accounting for nearly 40 per cent of its population. The economic review said that


harnessing the potential arising from the high proportion of the population being under 25 was a key opportunity for the city. Dr Harris said: “Such a large


population of under 25s in the city is incredibly exciting because these young people will become the workforce of tomorrow and represent a great amount of potential. However, a young population is only an asset if they are equipped with the skills and opportunities they need to succeed as they enter the local workforce. “In practice, this means closing


the gap between business and education to help develop a sound skills base, becoming more attractive to graduates so that we retain talent in the city, and working together to address unemployment and skills gaps across Birmingham.” City-REDI colleague Professor


Anne Green added that Birmingham had its fair share of high level skills, due to being home to a number of world class universities, but the big problem was in the area of intermediate and low skills. She said: “Local and regional


statistics show that in Birmingham and the West Midlands this long tail of low skills is more pronounced than nationally, and also that employment rates are lower than average.”


One area where Birmingham has been successful is in growing the visitor economy. The number of international


visitors to the city has risen from 0.78 million in 2006 to 1.12 million last year (according to figures from West Midlands Growth Company, formerly Marketing Birmingham). This growth has been underpinned by a range of factors including the £600 million refurbishment of New Street Station, which is the busiest station outside of London, and the opening of the shopping centre above it, Grand Central, which provides 200,000 sq ft of retail space for more than 40 fashion and lifestyle shops and more than 20 cafes and restaurants. The centre is also occupied by a 250,000 sq ft John Lewis department store, the biggest outside of London. Other boosts to the visitor economy have been the runway extension


John Lewis, Grand Central


at Birmingham Airport, which has helped usher in flights to a host of new destinations in Europe (Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Reykjavik, Warsaw and Budapest) and further afield (Beijing and New York). Emma Gray, director of marketing and communications at the West Midlands Growth Company, said: “A strong visitor economy is helping to position Birmingham on the world stage. The city continues to attract millions of tourists from across the globe, and this in turn is boosting the regional economy, creating employment opportunities for local people.”


‘A young population is only an asset if they are equipped with the skills and opportunities they need to succeed as they enter the local workforce’


Glenn Caton, president, Northern


Europe, of Mondelez International, one of Birmingham’s major employers, said that much more needed to be done in his company’s sector. He said: “We need schools to


provide the basic skills in English and maths, as well as inspiring pupils into science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, and careers advisors to connect with businesses to provide alternative pathways. We recognise the value apprentices bring to our business and are committed


Mind the gap: Paul Faulkner, Chamber chief executive, and Emily Stubbs from the Chamber’s policy team, who helped produce the report


24 CHAMBERLINK November 2017


to investing in a sustainable apprenticeship programme. “In our business, apprentices


are a vital pipeline of talent to help us close this skills gap. We are proud to employ 55 apprentices in the UK. But we still struggle to recruit people with the right skills.”


And Judith Armstrong, CEO of Millennium Point, said that the ‘widening’ skills gap was a direct threat to Birmingham’s ‘innovative future’, which required a ‘significant’ proportion of new roles requiring higher-level skills. She added: “In addition to


improvements driven by changes in the curriculum, we must collaborate to bridge this gap by investing in initiatives that raise awareness of STEM and encourage pursuit of it.” Paul Faulkner, chief executive,


Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce said: “Skills gaps clearly remain a major concern in Greater Birmingham. However, the Birmingham Economic Review 2017 provides a detailed, striking analysis of the areas most affected. It is the hope of the Chamber that this review will help businesses and policy makers ensure, going forward, that local people have the skills they need to access.”


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