The West Midlands is without doubt the centre of the UK transport industry, with expertise in automotive, aerospace, motorsport and rail technologies. We have a wealth of experience and dedication in this sector and strive to push forward the barriers of transport technologies innovation. This is why some of the largest transport manufacturers in the world have our region as the base for their operations.

Sector Strengths:

• Peugeot, Land Rover and Jaguar all have their UK headquarters and major vehicle assembly facilities in the region
• 18 of the top 20 automotive component suppliers in the world have a base in our region.
• Home to Europe ’s leading independent automotive research centre, MIRA, with test tracks and labs used by over 800 companies
• Over a third of all cars produced in the UK are made in Birmingham or Coventry.
• Aerospace companies based in the region include Goodrich, Smiths Aerospace, MS Marston Aerospace and Roxel Rocket Motors
• Both Coventry University and Birmingham University are founder members of the Association of Aerospace Universities.
• The West Midlands , and the county of Warwickshire in particular, is home to the UK ’s motorsport industry, known as Motorsport Valley
• The University of Birmingham’s Railway Research Centre works with the industry towards innovative practices in rail throughout the country.

A heritage of manufacturing and proven track-record of visionary technology has made the West Midlands a region that stimulates excellence in transport technologies. Known globally as the home of manufacturing and engineering the region gives our companies the advantage when it comes to showing the rest of the world what inventiveness really means.

International Transport Services: Ireland

Ireland is also a major gateway for logistics and there are a number of top freight companies, freight exchange providers that have set up due to the business tax incentives. One east european transport provider, www.logintrans.ie has come up with a centralised database of freight companies and customers that allows you to match loads to available space on vehicles.  The benefits is basic economics – sharing lorries, trucks for forward and return loads saves on fuel costs and logistic expenses for the delivery service, that is passed on to the supplier. All round a cost effective solution for transport haulage companies.

The West Midlands is a dynamic, multicultural region. At its heart is the capital city, Birmingham, an international meeting place, with world class sporting, conference and exhibition venues, luxury hotels, and restaurants as well as Europe’s leading shopping centre, the BullRing. This contrasts with the predominantly rural west of the region that includes the beautiful countryside of the Malvern Hills; Herefordshire and Shropshire Marches; and parts of the Peak District,the Cotswolds and the National Forest. There are outstanding heritage and cultural attractions throughout the region as well as the unique assets of Shakespeare County, the World Heritige Site at Ironbridge, and the NEC.

Sector Strengths:

• We have world-class conference and exhibition venues, such as the National Exhibition Centre the busiest in Europe in terms of number of exhibitions, International Convention Centre, National Indoor Arena,Telford International Centre, Coventry Arena, Stoneleigh Park and Warwick University.
• BullRing, Birmingham has the UK’s most visited shopping centre with more than 36 ½ million visitors to date
• Birmingham International Airport was voted ‘Best Business Terminus’ in the Business Travel World magazine awards 2003
• Alton Towers Theme Park in North Staffordshire is the UK’s most visited paid-for attraction. It has also won Meetings and Incentive Travel’s “Best UK Unusual Venue” for the past three years
• The West Midlands has a wide variety of internationally recognised cultural and arts products include the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford, the Ironbridge World Heritage site, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, as well as outstanding galleries at Walsall, Wolverhampton and Birmingham.

The West Midlands is fast becoming a focal point for specialised medical technology companies and currently has 700 medical technology companies employing 16,000 people. Attracted by the range of raw materials and components and impressed by a spirit of inventiveness, world-leaders across the sector have chosen our region as the base for their principal operations.

Sector Strengths:

• World renowned companies in the region include Sunrise Medical, Salts Healthcare and Sterilox
• Keele University Science Park provides specially designed hi-spec accommodation for innovative medical technology start-up or spin-out companies from Keele and also offers premier manufacturing space for incoming medical technology companies relocating from the U.K. and aboard
• The University of Birmingham has opened a new Institute of Medical Law in a ground breaking collaboration between the two schools of medicine and law
• The West Midlands provides a unique basis for clinical trials and devices research with approved trial protocols available from the Wellcome Clinical Research
• Fourteen research departments within the region’s universities have attained 5 or 5 star excellence ratings
• We have the most advanced opthalmic surgical centre in the UK – located at the Academy of Life Sciences, Aston University

The West Midlands produces some of the most exciting TV programmes on screen today as well as some of the best computer games around. We have internationally renowned popular, classical and world music performers; Birmingham is also home to the annual International Festival of the Image. These industries are integrating, through digital technology, to produce fresh and engaging content to be enjoyed on-air, on-line and on the move on your mobile.

Sector Strengths:

• The West Midlands screen image and sound industries generate a turnover of £1.4bn
• There are major broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV Central, and newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror based here
• The region is at the centre of the Asian music industry with 80% of UK Bhangra music produced and exported worldwide
• Birmingham’s Custard Factory is home to 500 creative industries and at the heart of a new cultural and learning quarter for the city
• The Rural Media Company has produced more than 250 media projects and received plandits in the Times Educational Supplement for its cutting edge work
• The Creative Industries Centre at Wolverhampton Science Park provides support for entrepreneurs from the creative sector to commercialise their businesses

The West Midlands is a dynamic and thriving region that has cultivated a strong entrepreneurial cluster of ICT companies. A vibrant base of high growth indigenous companies is supported by the region’s major players which include Fujitsu, Oracle, Cap Gemini & SCC.

Groundbreaking work taking place here is setting new standards in research and development. A new Computer Science building at the University of Warwick, for example, has been chosen by IBM as one of only a handful of sites dedicated to the development of a new worldwide computer ‘Grid’.

The region is recognised for its leadership in the developments of new opto-electronic technologies, with key strengths at Aston University which has over 10 years expertise and QinetiQ. The West Midlands has become the central point for the UK Photonics Cluster which offers dedicated laboratories to its members.

Sector Strengths:

• One third of companies are growing at over 20% per annum and over one third export to other European markets. (Source: PwC  Survey Plant Location International, 2002)
• Operating costs in the Coventry, Solihull, Warwickshire Software Triangle are 20% – 25% lower for ICT & Software inward investors compared to the M4 Corridor (Source: PwC  Survey Plant Location International, 2002)
• There are over 57,000 people employed in 3000 ICT businesses in the region
• MBA courses at Aston and Warwick rank as some of the world’s finest, IBM rates Aston as Europe’s best in terms of quality recruits
• The region is home to the UK’s largest computing school,Staffordshire University
• There is readily available business support and potential funding

The West Midlands’ reputation is as a world-renowned centre for the creation of unique consumer products. This is due to the sector’s design-led ethic and imaginative ambition. Our region provides a fertile business environment that both encourages and stimulates the genius of individuals and businesses in this sector. With our niche market products, innovative design and manufacturing processes, and a vision for the future, the Consumer Products industry in the West Midlands is like no other in the world.

Sector Strengths:

• Key regional strengths in the sector lie in Ceramics, Jewellery, Glass, Leather Goods, Clothing, Furniture, and Carpets all of which are exported worldwide
• Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, the largest of its type in UK, has skilled goldsmiths and jewellery makers who manufacture 70% of all jewellery in the UK. (Source:http://jquarter.members.beeb.net/walk5.htm)
• Walsall is home to the British saddle with over 80 equestrian industry companies based here.
• There is a strong concentration of the regions glass companies in Stourbridge
• The clothing industry, based around the Black Country, Birmingham and Coventry, consists of 600 companies employing 11,000 people
• There are 2,100 furniture companies production employing some 22,000 people throughout the region
• We lead in the innovation/contemporary design led products industry

The West Midlands is known for its diverse food & drink industry from Birmingham’s “Balti Belt” to Herefordshire’s cider industry and the fruit and vegetable production of Staffordshire and the Vale of Evesham.

These suppliers, producers and farmers are responsible for around 9% of food and drink output for the country. Our products and produce are of the highest quality with exports of meat, poultry, vegetables and dairy delivered throughout the UK, Europe and the World.

Sector Strengths:

• Our central location is ideal for food logistics and distribution – all the major food retailers have distribution centres in the West Midlands.
• We are home to globally recognised local and international brands such as Cadbury, Bass, Muller, Florette, Groupe Danone, Sun Valley, Heinz, Nestle and PepsiCo.
• One of the focal points of the British brewing industry lies in Burton-on-Trent
• We are leaders in the production of multicultural cuisine with more than 130 manufacturers producing Chinese, Indian and Afro-Caribbean food (source: Food & Drink Report Feb 2003, PERA)
• The region is a nationally recognised centre for the manufacture of dairy products, leaders in secondary meat processing operations, fruit processing and bakery processors. (Source: West Midlands Food & Drink Cluster Baseline & SWOT Analysis)
• We have a dedicated food park, Shrewsbury Food Enterprise Park
• There are a variety of major research centres including ADAS Research, the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA) and close links with CCFRA on the border of our region
• The largest team of horticultural R&D scientists in the world, are based at the Warwickshire Horticultural Research International (HRI)

The West Midlands’ environmental technologies sector is rapidly growing, with a wide range of manufacturing capability, technology companies, equipment suppliers and service providers. Our large manufacturing base means we can supply manufacturing components into a growing market place.

Sector Strengths:

• The West Midlands is a strong regional market for environmental products and services coupled with strong relevant academic R&D. For example Coventry’s Centre for Environmental Research and Consultancy offers a range of experimental and analytical laboratories, including dedicated gamma spectrometry and mineral magnetic laboratories.
• We have a well developed supply chain service and emerging environment technology markets such as wind energy and resource recycling
• There is a strong presence in niche technologies such as CHP, gasification and biomass, coupled with a well developed farming sector capable of supporting a fuel supply chain
• A significant number of leading environmental technology companies are established and successful in the region such as Severn Trent, Haden Drysys and Jones & Atwood
• The Environmental Business Action programme helps environmental companies develop new technologies and expand
• The University of Birmingham, Division of Environmental Health and Risk Management, is the UK’s top centre for air pollution research, and has been involved in research for central government

Birmingham is home to the largest concentration of Business & Professional Services firms outside London and the South East. According to the Annual Labour Force Survey, Business & Professional Services firms employed over 90,000 people in Birmingham in 2002. This puts Birmingham well ahead of many other provincial service centres.

The Business & Professional Services sector is expanding within the West Midlands. Traditionally, major Business & Professional Services firms have retained main offices in London, supported by a regional office network. Regional firms have tended to be smaller, serving local markets. This pattern is changing. A number of regional firms have established an excellent track record of competing on national and international platforms, without the need to have a main office in London. Rising costs, transport difficulties and quality of life considerations are leading to a number of firms moving out of the capital. Many are making the move to the West Midlands region.

Sector Strengths:

• The first British-based Islamic bank has its headquarters in Birmingham
• In Birmingham alone the sector currently employs over 90,000 people, and is projected to increase by over 20,000 jobs in the next 10 years (Source: BEIC Economic Review 2002)
• Two of the top five UK Business schools, Aston University and Warwick University are based in the Region (Source: The Times Good University Guide)
• A recent benchmarking study by IBM Consulting and Oxford Intelligence compares Birmingham very favorably to alternative locations and in terms of shared service centers and is in the “highest quality” group of European cities
• A new organisation, finest, has been recently launched to act as a gateway to professional services organisations in the North Staffordshire area

Building technologies remains at the heart of the regional economy, and our position at the centre of the country’s supply and production industries enables us to deliver a world-class service. The West Midlands operations today aim to make the connection between a heritage of manufacturing excellence and the future demands of high technologies creating an thriving and innovative sector.

Sector Strengths:

• Building Technologies companies in the West Midlands generate a turnover of £6.7 billion per annum and employ over 260,000 people in the region (source: experian)
• We have world class design, manufacturing and engineering strengths for building materials and solutions through collaborations with RAPRAand CERAM
• Stourbridge College’s Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) is one of the most innovative technical training facilities within Europe
• The Centre for the Built Environment, Birmingham and Solihull, will bridge skills gap while enabling the local community to take advantage of the opportunities created by massive building projects, such as Eastside
• We are leading the way in the uptake of sustainable building materials, products and practices such as ’The Green Futures Sustainable Development’ scheme

Being at the very core of the physical and social regeneration of the West Midlands, Building Technologies is rapidly transforming into a dynamic provider of the manufactured built environments.