West Midlands Mayor revealing £10bn investment showcase
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street is flagging up £10 billion of projects across the region to global property investors at a major showcase in London today.
As part of efforts to bang the drum for the ‘UK’s new growth capital’ the Mayor will talk about investment opportunities including the i54 Western Extension, Springfield Campus and Canalside and Interchange in Wolverhampton, in addition to Walsall and Dudley town centres at the MIPIM UK conference.
MIPIM UK is the country's largest exhibition and conference for property professionals, attended by more than 3,000 representatives from more than 45 countries.
The Mayor will talk about some of the £10bn worth of investment opportunities available in the region, including the HS2 stations at Curzon and Interchange.
While foreign investment into the UK fell last year, the West Midlands has bucked the trend by attracting more overseas money and Mr Street is looking for even more.
He said: “Foreign direct investment is hugely important to the economy in our region with more than 38,000 jobs created and 7,000 safeguarded over the last five years in the West Midlands Combined Authority area.
“Events like MIPIM UK are an important opportunity to really showcase not only the success story that the West Midlands has become in recent years, but also the potential for further investment.
“There are major investment opportunities right across the West Midlands, in addition to huge regeneration schemes already underway including Paradise, the Commonwealth Games Athlete’s Village and Friargate in Coventry.
“Investment-ready schemes worth £5.5bn are available right now, including the extension of i54, the Canalside and Interchange projects in Wolverhampton, Paradise in Birmingham and the two HS2 stations.
“In the medium term, there are £1.5bn worth of investor opportunities including brownfield sites for housing in Birmingham and Sandwell and town centre redevelopment projects in Solihull and Dudley.
“And a little further down the line, there will be £2.5bn of opportunities including the DY5 Enterprise Zone in Dudley, the Junction 10 development and town centre scheme in Walsall, City Centre South in Coventry, the Springfield Campus in Wolverhampton and the Life Sciences Campus in Birmingham.
“The future is bright for the West Midlands – there’s no better time for investors to be turning their attentions here.”
