Last Friday, Warwick hosted a successful workshop to feed into the Government’s Industrial Strategy with stakeholders from across the West Midlands.

The Government’s green paper “Building our Industrial Strategy” is issued by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which brings together responsibilities for business, industrial strategy, science, innovation, energy and climate change. The paper outlines 10 key pillars of focus to be discussed during a 12-week consultation period, including developing skills, supporting businesses and encouraging inward investment. Industry, businesses, the education sector, community groups and workers have been invited to contribute to give each region the opportunity to strengthen the strategy.

As a key regional player Warwick is proud to champion the area’s economic growth, and our work in driving innovation and productivity through knowledge exchange, skills development and academic research is crucial to support an effective national Industrial Strategy.

Warwick academics present at the workshop included Professor Nigel Driffield from Warwick Business School (WBS), Professor Stephen Roper of WBS and the Enterprise Research Centre and Professor Chris Warhurst from the Institute for Employment research, and speakers from external organisations included Professor Simon Collinson from the University of Birmingham Business School. Attendees from the three Local Enterprise Partnerships that are key members of the West Midlands Combined Authority included Ninder Johal (Black Country), Steve Hollis and Katie Trout (Greater Birmingham), and Pauls Deas (Coventry & Warwickshire). The key pillars of Developing Skills, Business Growth, Trade and Investment and World-class Sectors were discussed with ideas reported back to BEIS for consideration in the strategy.

Professor Simon Swain, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for External Engagement at the University of Warwick, said, “We take our position as a key strategic influencer in the region seriously, so we were very happy to work with BEIS in arranging this event. The Industrial Strategy green paper is a positive step in setting a long-term vision for the UK economy and we want to ensure the West Midlands plays its part, so that all citizens and businesses in our region benefit from it.”

The consultation is open until 17 April, after which the Government will consider responses before publishing a white paper later in the year. Visit https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/industrial-strategy for more information.