Play, Planning and Positivity - feel good factors turning the West Midlands around.

As the Peaky Blinders, or some of their Black Country kinsmen, might have said had they been around today, ‘It’s a bostin time to be living in the Midlands’. Indeed, you can practically taste the positivity in the air. Is this because Coventry has been awarded UK City of Culture for 2021, or that Birmingham will host the Commonwealth Games a year later, or is it a reflection of the investment boom across the region and a tangible ‘community swagger’?

If the Combined Authority, under the leadership of the erudite Andy Street, and management of the impressive Deborah Cadman, can successfully corral the various Boroughs and get them to all pull in the same direction at the same time then this part of the world, at the very heart of the UK, will certainly be a force to reckon with. The benefits that two major accolades, and the far reaching ripple effects. will have on sustainable regenerative and legacy schemes, are huge.

A quick look at the way Hull has benefited from its ‘cultural crown’ in 2017 shows how important the arts and culture are to any location. Be they visual, performance, music, poetry, theatre – all reflect the very heart and soul of a community, encouraging social cohesion, pride and innovation.

And looking at the Commonwealth Games, before any new build element has even started, a wide range of stakeholders are already exploring and agreeing how the event can regenerate parts of the conurbation to ensure there will be a legacy in place for years to come. That is certainly how Queensland planned for the Commonwealth Games this year and it has paid off with a range of social initiatives set to run for the immediate, medium and longer term.

At the last count, the West Midlands had circa ￡500bn of infrastructure projects ready to be implemented or in the pipeline. Providing the skills shortage is properly addressed, a problem affecting the whole Country and recently highlighted in the Arcadis research piece ‘Investing in Britain’, the Midlands is on target to wow the World and make the most of funding in the pipeline and the investment recently announced by the Chancellor.

In the two years after the 2012 London Olympics, the UK economy enjoyed a ￡14.2bn injection of sales and investment from trade and industry. With the economic impact estimated to reach ￡28-￡41bn by 2020, the Midland’s location at the heart of the UK suggests it could reap the rewards with a well planned for 'Year of Culture' and the Commonwealth Games - which given the leadership in place and the energy of the Region, is on target to be realised.

‘Positivity and planning’ are rarely words seen together given the constraints on services but in the Midlands, it is a reality.