The revolution in new technology means Britain might be standing at the threshold of a new industrial revolution and, here in the West Midlands, we can already feel the pulse of British ingenuity in full flow.
From the battery pioneers in Coventry and the electric vehicle innovators in Solihull to the advanced materials teams at the University of Birmingham, all proving that our region still knows how to make things. But today it is with algorithms as much as with alloy.
But here’s the rub. We are one of the world’s technology superpowers and yet our economy is still shackled by a productivity crisis. The machinery of growth, those capital markets, skills pipelines, infrastructure and government itself is not firing on all cylinders. An American worker produces by mid-morning on a Thursday what it takes a British worker all week to produce.
Last month, the Business and Trade Select Committee, which I chair, heard from hundreds of firms across five regions of the UK. Their message was consistent: Britain has the great ideas but not the equivalent levers of growth. In Solihull and the wider West Midlands, we’ve seen both the promise and the problem up close.
JLR’s investment in electric vehicles is a landmark moment for clean manufacturing, but small firms in the supply chain still struggle to scale. Too many lack the capital to grow, the skills to expand or the certainty to invest.
So, how do we turn invention into national renewal?
First, we must mobilise capital. Britain has £3.4trillion of pension savings but far too little of it is invested at home. If even a fraction were channelled into British innovation, regional funds could back the next wave of clean-tech and AI firms from the West Midlands to the North East. We need a ‘UK Direct Investment’ revolution not just more foreign direct investment.
Second, we must bring down the cost base that strangles growth. Firms around the country tell me that energy bills are still three or four times higher than their European competitors. A new industrial revolution needs a new cost regime.
Third, we must rebuild the skills ladder. From coding to welding, from robotics to renewable engineering, the next generation of Midlands makers need practical, high-value routes into the industries of tomorrow. We know that exciting and meaningful growth is possible when education aligns with industry.
And finally, we must modernise government itself. Delivery must be local, not driven from Whitehall. The West Midlands Combined Authority is proving that when decisions are made close to home, progress follows fast.
Britain’s next industrial revolution will not be powered by steam or steel, but by science, creativity and design. The ingenuity is here. The will is here. Now we must organise our capital, train our talent and let local leaders drive.
If we do that, then once again, the Midlands, the home of the first industrial revolution, will lead the next one.
