Regarding today’s decision favouring R3 Heathrow, Beverley Nielsen, Lib Dem Mayoral Candidate for the West Midlands, said:

“How history repeats itself whenever there is a major infrastructure decision to be made. The Tories continue to talk the talk about rebalancing the economy whilst focussing spend on their own SE homelands. 

Liberal Democrats are calling for Birmingham’s bid to host the Commonwealth Games to be ‘imaginatively” crowd-funded to help shrug off the legacy of previous failed bids.

Responding to the recent challenge laid down by Andy Street, Conservative candidate for the Mayor of the West Midlands, to debate issues such as transport, housing, skills and jobs, Paul Cadman, former MD of the Futura Group, Black Country Chamber of Commerce Manufacturer of the Year, 2015, said "challenge Accepted."

More at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/liberal-democrat-mayor-supporter-says-challenge-accepted-paul-cadman

Frank Dudley Ltd manufacture a range of metal stampings and pressings along with welded assemblies of the highest standard including -- metal pressings / stampings, stainless steel pressings, aluminium pressings and deep drawn pressings largely used in automotive. 

In January 2009 – not long after the global financial crash, Neil Clifton established Cube Precision Engineering with his partner, engineer, Neil Bannister.

Craig McDonald joined Granlyn in 1978. Today the company employs 23 local people, and exports to Spain, Germany, Croatia, Belgium, Holland and France with a strong focus on increasing exports.

The Acme Whistle Co, producers of the ‘finest whistles in the world today’, was founded in 1870 by Joseph Hudson, inventor of the first police whistle and has a continuous history of trading, as an independent, small, family-owned business. Unlike many similar manufacturing concerns, it has survived the impact of Far Eastern low cost competitors and copycat products. It has not sold out to a bigger company, nor lost its market to ever increasing competition.

Speaking about the Country Garden agreement signed by Cllr John Clancy, Leader Birmingham City Council, last week, Beverley Nielsen, said: "Councillor John Clancy, Leader, Birmingham City Council, looks to have signed a significant agreement with Chinese developers, Country Garden last week. I applaud the fact that he’s tackling the pressing need for more homes. But I have to ask why we can’t meet this need from within our own business base? Or at the very least have the discussion with them in the first instance."

"Whilst we don’t know the terms of the deal, we should, initially, be exploring opportunities to invest at home, making the best of our quality UK manufactured products and materials, whilst building future skills and vitally jobs for young people."

“Long term deals financed by our public sector (our own taxes), recycled into our own infrastructure requirements – transport, homes, hospitals, education – are all aspects of our own regional economic need that we can predict and plan for. We can aim as far as possible to ensure that these are ‘home made’, investing in our own home grown success which in turn will yield greater results for our residents and region – new jobs, new opportunities and new investment.”

Although already Britain's largest, most-successful city region, the West Midlands can grow even more and faster, says Lib Dem mayoral candidate Beverley Nielsen.