Businesses encouraged to contribute to WMCA’s 10-year strategy

Businesses across Greater Birmingham are being encouraged to have their say on a new strategy designed to unlock inclusive growth across the region.

The West Midlands Futures Green Paper was launched by the West Midlands Combined Authority in April 2025.

It proposes ways to develop and transform the West Midlands to unlock inclusive growth – with the intention of increasing all residents’ living standards over the next 10 years.

With local firms being encouraged to contribute, Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce has released a briefing to summarise what the green paper means for business.

The Green Paper identifies strengths of the region, such as its £77 billion economy and its highly-connected location, with 90 per cent of the UK population able to reach the West Midlands in 4 hours.

However, the strategy also highlights concerns around issues like low productivity for businesses and the highest national rates of child poverty.

It proposes six key areas of focus to try and boost the economy for everyone over the next ten years:

• Developing high growth clusters as priorities for accelerating regional growth, including advanced engineering, Clean Tech, and modern professional and financial services.
• Using business leadership and investment to boost productivity.
• Making the West Midlands’ everyday economy (things like health, education, retail and construction) more productive while protecting workers.
• Looking at how housing need and other spatial factors can be built.
• Focusing on tackling youth unemployment, economic inactivity and under-employment.
• Creating a narrative of the West Midlands that can be used to project a distinctive and positive image to the world.

Ruth Fleet (pictured), senior policy advisor at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said “It is encouraging that the West Midlands Combined Authority is taking a long-term view of which strategic levers can be pulled to help boost the region’s productivity and its residents’ wellbeing.

“The West Midlands Futures Green Paper provides an opportunity for local businesses to have their say about how the Combined Authority’s strategy could affect them, their customers and their communities.

“Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce strongly encourages its members to contribute to the consultation.

“The more that businesses can respond, the better chance there is of shaping the strategy to work for us all.”

Chamber members can read the briefing here, and can read the full text and respond to the consultation here.

The consultation closes on Sunday 8 June.