AGM & INVESTMENT IN THE WEST MIDLANDS NON-VERBATIM MINUTES

DATE: Thursday, 13 May 2021

TIME: 15:00-16:00

METHOD: Zoom Meeting

CHAIR: MP (Lab, ) Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary for the West Midlands

PARLIAMENTARIANS IN ATTENDANCE:

• Preet Gill MP (Lab, Birmingham Edgbaston) - Co-Chair • Office of MP (Con, Stoke on Trent North) – Co-Chair • Office of MP (Con, Meriden) • Minister for Investment, Lord Grimstone of Boscobel • Khalid Mahmood MP (Lab, Perry Barr) • MP (Lab, North West) • Jane Stevenson MP (Con, Wolverhampton North East) • MP (Con, ) • Mike Wood MP (Con, Dudley South)

MINUTES

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The meeting began with the formal election of officers and the agreement of terms of reference for the APPG. The following officers were elected to the group:

• Jonathan Gullis MP – Chair & Registered Contact • Preet Kaur Gill MP – Co Chair • Mike Wood MP – Vice-Chair • Taiwo Owatemi MP – Vice-Chair • Khalid Mahmood MP – Vice-Chair • MP - Secretary • Lord Ian Austin – Officer

INVESTMENT IN THE WEST MIDLANDS The Chair, Preet Gill MP began the session by thanking all attendees for joining. She outlined the focus of the meeting, which was to showcase the untapped talent prevalent across the West Midlands and to discuss effective strategies to encourage continued inward investment to the region. She argued that the West Midlands was “vibrant, inventive and full of talent” meaning that the region was “shaping the future in a wide range of industries from automotive vehicles FinTech energy storage”. The Chair introduced the speakers, Dan Storer, Chief Investment Officer, West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC); , Executive Chair, Warwick Manufacturing Group; and Lord Grimstone of Boscobel Kt, Minister for Investment. Dan Storer, Chief Investment Officer, West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC) Dan Storer began by stating that the West Midlands Growth Company is the strategic economic development vehicle for the West Midlands and engages in two key agendas: investment promotion and tourism. He outlined that the Company’s shareholders were the West Midlands Combined Authority, the seven West Midlands LEPs, and five of the region's universities. He outlined that the region was facing “a very strong headwind” as a result of coronavirus and Brexit, but that the region has done “very well”, given current circumstances. He noted that there are opportunities that had arisen as a result of some supply chain fragility, allowing for the reshoring of some business activity that was previously offshore. He said there was also an opportunity for capital investment from sovereign wealth funds that would allow for partnerships on large infrastructure projects. Dan Storer said that in the last year there had been 38 successful investment projects, creating just over 2000 jobs, which is around 50% down on the prior year. He noted that the investment pipeline for the year ahead shows around 135 projects, of which around 80% stem from foreign investment. He outlined several projects the Company is working on, including a legacy programme with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport worth £24 million. He spoke about Gear Shift Projects, a strategic portfolio of investment projects created by WMGC which aims to provide transparency to local authorities and regional government. He also noted that there was an ongoing programme of work around public sector relocations, and that WMGC was hoping to secure further projects with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Cabinet Office, as well as arms-length bodies in the life Sciences and health sectors. Dan Storer then highlighted the Company’s work on the West Midlands India Partnership which he described as a strategic vehicle aimed at leveraging opportunity across a range of areas, from R&D to cultural links. He announced that the strategy will launch in June. He concluded his contribution by arguing that although the West Midlands was losing investment due to an inability to react and incentivise key investor, the Commonwealth Games provides a strategic platform to encourage long-term investment to the region. The Chair thanked Dan Storer for his insights and introduced Margot James, Executive Chair of Warwick Manufacturing Group.

Margot James, Executive Chair, Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) Margot James began by stating that WMG is “one of Europe's largest applied research and skills departments” that brings together industry investors, academics and students to support innovation and technical education. She noted that WMG has helped around 4000 SMEs in manufacturing across the Midlands so far. Margot stated that the West Midlands had attracted the most foreign investment of any region outside London and the southeast, with over 150 investments every year, creating up to 30,000 new jobs over that period. Citing recent data, Margot outlined that 17% of employees in the West Midlands are working for overseas owned businesses, a proportion which appears to be growing, even during the pandemic. She added that the region was witnessing the emergence of an electrified transport cluster, but that the region should assess how it could improve its offer even further. She suggested that the region should focus on improving transport infrastructure and invest in skills and technical education, arguing that it was impossible to successfully invest in innovation without ensuring that the supply chain has the skills that will be “ultimately needed by the fruits of that innovation”. Margot outlined that WMG was a “centre of excellence” in work-based learning, allowing people to upskill and get the digital and technical skills they need, without having to do a formal, time consuming course. She concluded by arguing that increased investment in R&D could be “transformative for business investment, particularly in the high technology” sectors. The Chair thanked Margot for her contribution and introduced the final speaker, Minister for Investment. Lord Grimstone. Minister for Investment, Lord Grimstone Lord Grimstone began by outlining that he was a Minister in both the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for International Trade, and holds responsibility for the Office for Investment based in 10 Downing Street. He argued that his role illustrated the cross-government approach to investment. He stated the UK received the heaviest overseas investment of any major economy “to a striking extent” and argued that overseas investing businesses “tend to be more productive, generate more innovation and R&D, and create more jobs”. The Minister said it was vital that investors could invest in propositions as opposed to concepts, and were involved in policy conversations at the national, regional and local level. Crucial to these conversations, he argued, was to establish what factors are seen as the main barriers for investment. The Minister argued that coronavirus had changed the behaviour of multinational companies, as “they've spotted that if they ask, they get”. He said that considering this new context, the Government was considering how to improve the incentives necessary for attracting investors. He also stated that the pandemic had led many industries to reassess their future models, citing automotive companies who have been “caught out by the customer demand for electric vehicles in Europe” and were now looking to invest. He outlined that he was aware of approximately a potential eight and a half billion pounds of investment that would be decided on in the next six months. QUESTION & ANSWER The Chair thanked all the speakers for their contributions and invited Parliamentary attendees to present questions to the panel. She first asked the panel what they considered the main barriers to investment in the West Midlands to be and where they envisaged investment in R&D coming from. Margot James responded that the one possible reason the West Midlands was failing to secure publicly funded R&D is because the region has successfully attracted private sector investment and thus there was “almost an expectation that industry will provide in our region”. She welcomed indications that the Government was reviewing its approach to public investment, pointing to the new ARIA organisation and reviews of Innovate UK. She said these developments provides the region with opportunities to persuade government of the need to “redress the balance”. Lord Grimstone cited an example of recent inward investment of £800 million into the life sciences, which has been matched by £200 million of Government funding, as an example of how public funding can be used to match private investment. He emphasised the need to have an “investor lens at the centre” of policymaking. Suzanne Webb MP and Jane Stevenson MP both asked the panel for suggestions on how MPs could help to encourage investment. Dan Storer stated that the upcoming activity around the Commonwealth Games would present “a fantastic opportunity” for MPs to engage and support the region. Lord Grimstone argued that MPs had a “tremendous role to play” in advocating for their region and in managing relationships with investors. The Minister added that it was “extremely comforting to investors, particularly from overseas” to know that local politicians are involved in the investment process. Margot James added that MPs could guide SMEs to the appropriate support channels that would be able to assist in investment efforts. Lee Marsham, Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games asked Dan Storer to share some of the initial plans for the Games’ business, trade and tourism programme. Dan Storer outlined that the formal launch in June would be a critical moment for the Company. He added that the Queen’s Baton Relay would act as a “critical spine” to the whole programme of events. He added that the Company were thinking carefully about how to effectively deliver promotional activity in a “difficult international environment” and acknowledged that much of it would take place online or in hybrid form. He said the Games themselves present an opportunity to bring “the best and the brightest companies from around the Commonwealth to the region”. Helen Turner, Midlands Innovation said that a new report had found a significant gap between the demand and supply of venture capital, citing that whilst 11% of UK cyber companies were in the Midlands, they only secure around 5% of the investment from the UK private sector. She asked the panel the best way to address this gap. Margot James argued that British universities believe it is their “entitlement” to take up a far larger equity stake in start-ups that originated in their research departments. She added that as a result of the pandemic, the industry has learned how to communicate more effectively, and that businesses in the North no longer had to “constantly go to the city to raise equity finance”. She added that the British Business Bank would act as a strong catalyst in ensuring more investment in the regions. The Chair concluded the session by thanking the speakers for their contributions and for the thoughtful questions asked by attendees. She said that it was important MPs worked collectively to push Government to assess key investment opportunities in the region, such as gigafactories. Attendees were informed that the Secretariat would be in touch regarding the next meeting of the APPG for the West Midlands in the coming weeks.