West Midlands Growth Company

As the Paralympics open in Paris, here are some of the local sport stars we’re cheering on as they go for gold for Team GB: 🥇Kare Adenegan from Coventry – Wheelchair racing 🥇Peter Cusack from Coventry - Wheelchair Basketball 🥇Madeline Down from Birmingham - Long Jump and 100m 🥇Kyle Marsh from Wolverhampton - Wheelchair Basketball 🥇Rob Oliver from Birmingham - Canoe 🥇Megan Richter from Birmingham - Triathlon 🥇Lauren Rowles from Birmingham - Rowing #WestMidlands #HeartOfSport

Happy Bank Holiday Monday! Did you know…that the first Lloyds Bank was opened in Oldbury in 1864. The bank was originally set up in 1765 by John Taylor and Sampson Lloyd as a private banking business in Dale End, Birmingham. Today the region is home to one of Europe’s largest and fastest-growing Business, Professional & Financial Services (BPFS) clusters. That’s 48,400 companies employing 343,000 people and counting. The region is a base for big names such as Deutsche Bank, PwC and HSBC, which started as the Birmingham and Midlands Bank in 1836. #InvestingFuturesWM #GlobalWestMidlands #ItStartsHere

#InvestingFuturesWM: The English Premier League is underway and once again the world’s spotlight is on our teams across the region in every division. ⚽ At the West Midlands Growth Company, we strive to develop campaigns and events that maintain and improve our global profile constantly. In October 2023, WMGC held the Global West Midlands: the Tech That Makes Tomorrow Work event at Birmingham Tech Week. The showcase event displayed the very best of cutting-edge advanced technologies being developed in the UK’s second-largest city and in the wider West Midlands region. In April 2024, having led the bid to bring SportAccord to the region, we co-delivered this large-scale and globally significant event in partnership with Birmingham City Council. The event was the perfect opportunity to position our incredible region, rich in sporting history and credentials, on the global stage as the beating heart of UK Sport. Find out our communications, marketing, engagement and event delivery services, provided on behalf of all of the region, are a significant enabler of awareness and attraction, supporting growth by downloading our new publication, Investing in Our Futures here: https://lnkd.in/eZN5Yy-y Aston Villa Football Club | Wolverhampton Wanderers #HeartOfSport #GlobalWestMidlands #ItStartsHere

#InvestingFuturesWM: Birmingham Weekender starts today! ✨ Birmingham Weekender is back this summer between Fri 23 – Mon 26 Aug, with free amazing performances, fantastical installations, pop up experiences and new commissions from a host of regional, national and international companies. Almost 700,000 competitors, performers and spectators have been projected to attend events taking place in the region in 2024/25. These include Birmingham Weekender Festival, the FISE Action Sports Festival in Wolverhampton from 6-8 September 2024, and Kabaddi World Cup, 24-31 March 2025. Discover how WMGC is helping to create and sustain vibrant destinations across the region by downloading our new publication, Investing in Our Futures here: https://lnkd.in/eZN5Yy-y Birmingham Hippodrome #GlobalWestMidlands #ItStartsHere

#InvestingFuturesWM: Coming soon… We are working with Open Pass, a cloud-based online system for selling and managing tickets, destination passes, and events, to create the new official Visitor Pass. The pass will offer a one-stop shop for visitors and we will be working with tour operators and travel agents to create suitable packages for the travel trade and international visitors. We are in discussions regarding onboarding with 55 companies across the region, and are planning to launch a marketing campaign in Autumn 2024 to promote and drive sales of the new pass. Watch this space to promote your space! Find out how the Visitor Pass will help us create and sustain vibrant destinations across the region by downloading our new publication, Investing in Our Futures here: https://lnkd.in/eZN5Yy-y #InvestingFuturesWM #GlobalWestMidlands #ItStartsHere

Today is World Photo Day! Why not take a look at our new publication, Investing in Our Futures which is crammed full of photo montages of some of our key events from the previous year including UKREiiF and SportAccord, as well as some luscious regional photography. It will make you even more #proud to be of and from the #WestMidlands. Take a look at Investing in Our Futures here: https://lnkd.in/eZN5Yy-y #InvestingFuturesWM #GlobalWestMidlands #ItStartsHere

The visitor economy is the UK’s third largest service sector export and, in the West Midlands, worth a record £16.3 billion, supporting more jobs than ever before. Tourism is a critical enabler of the region’s inclusive economy, creating significant opportunities for talent development and growth and offering employment for school-leavers, through to managerial and professional careers. The West Midlands welcomed a record 145.4 million visitors in 2023, up 3% from 2022, when the region hosted the Commonwealth Games. Last year, WMGC helped land six significant business conferences and six major sporting events. This year, we are already working on 17 sporting event bidding opportunities and 52 business conference opportunities. #InvestingFuturesWM #GlobalWestMidlands #ItStartsHere "

The West Midlands continues to grow its reputation as a host for esports, further cementing our place as the #HeartOfSport. Events like ESL One Birmingham at Resorts World Birmingham earlier in the year clearly showcase our incredible hosting credentials for a wide range of events. Read more about the region's relationship with esports here: https://lnkd.in/exe7gKZE Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

We have a unique capital investment offer, with a dedicated WMGC team focused on brownfield real estate and regeneration, including the living, commercial and hospitality sectors. This year we’ve undertaken some significant projects to stimulate engagement between the public and private sectors, and generate new investment and development opportunities. WMGC have commissioned high level feasibility studies to look into improving the region’s quality and quantity of hotel provision for a number of specific locations, including Dudley, Wolverhampton and Sandwell, along with a high-end offer for Birmingham. And in May 2024, we convened eight local authorities and the West Midlands Combined Authority, along with our new Mayor and 17 commercial partners including Arup, BDP, Cordia, Deloitte, E.ON, Mott Macdonald, WSP and Woodbourne, showcased the transformative power of the West Midlands at the UK’s largest real estate conference, UKREiiF. West Midlands Growth Company also supported with the development of Investment Prospectuses for Sandwell, Walsall and Coventry. The launches of the West Midlands Combined Authority Investment Prospectus and the Coventry Investment Prospectus also took place on the West Midlands Pavilion at UKREiiF. #InvestingFuturesWM

In May, the West Midlands pavilion at #UKREiiF united local authorities and private sector partners from across the region for the first time. Discussing market trends and ground-breaking #RealEstate developments, hear directly from Arup and other partners involved as they reflect on UKREiiF 2024. Don't also miss out on future opportunities - register your interest now to join us at upcoming events and be part of the conversation shaping the West Midland’s future: https://lnkd.in/eQQRw74V #WMPavilion