Business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK LLP has launched a set of recommendations to government in a new report which includes a call for collaboration to be at the heart of the UK’s industrial strategy.
Following 18 months of discussions across the UK, including the firm’s West Midlands Live Lab event in January, Grant Thornton has presented the findings in its new report, Shaping a Vibrant Economy: a blueprint for the UK.
Factors highlighted at the West Midlands Live Lab were fed into preparations for the report, which proposes a number of recommendations to build a positive future and a society that creates opportunities for all.
David Hillan, practice leader at Grant Thornton in Birmingham, said: “Collaboration was a constant theme at our event in Birmingham and I was impressed by how many people in the region from the private, public and third sectors were willing to come together and help others to achieve a particular goal.
“Enhancing infrastructure across the West Midlands and, in particular, finding ways to tackle our transport issues was also viewed as vital if we are to unlock the region’s potential for growth, as was addressing skills shortages and improving links between business and education.”
Recommendations from Grant Thornton’s national report include:
- Fully utilising the Social Value Act so that government contracts are with businesses that make a positive contribution to society
- Scale up impact investing, so that people can easily invest their savings in businesses with purpose
- Growing a new collaborative model of exporting that encourages smaller and larger firms to work together, supported by a new export tax credit
- Incentivising collaboration between employers and education
- Implementing a sustainable immigration policy, including post study work visas, connected to local and sectoral needs
- Devolution to strategic local bodies of services and policies including: immigration, skills, health and social care, housing, local and regional transport – with freedom to develop holistic solutions across these areas
- Giving local bodies the flexibility and freedom to support infrastructure investment.
Hillan continued: “There’s no doubt that there are challenges ahead, not least as a result of the UK’s negotiations for a new relationship with Europe and no-one currently knows what this will mean for the West Midlands, but we believe that the future also holds huge opportunities.
“Our regional economy has long-standing strengths: an innovative service sector, creative industries and advanced manufacturing. Engineering and advanced manufacturing are great careers but not enough people know about them or how to get into them. We have a fantastic heritage to build on in this sector and massive growth potential. If we want to prepare our region and our people for the future, this would be a fantastic way to do it.
“With recent developments such as the creation of the West Midlands Combined Authority, the election of Andy Street as the region’s first elected Mayor and the Midlands Engine’s work to realise the Midlands region’s potential as an economic powerhouse, there has never been a better time to put collaboration at the heart of our economic growth agenda.”