Business leaders must put aside their differences and demonstrate a genuine will towards creating effective partnerships across all professional sectors. This was the loud and clear message from the around 100 delegates at a breakfast seminar in Birmingham last week. The seminar, themed The Midlands Engine – A £34bn strategy for growth, was organised by Midlands Insider, the business magazine. Hosted by Birmingham City University, the event featured two panel debates led by Kurt Jacobs, the magazine’s editor. One delegate said, ‘we need to see the Midlands Engine deliver,” adding, “we mustn’t allow in-fighting and a competition behind the scenes to continue.’ The panel comprised Nick Pulley, Chair of Leicester & Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, Richard Brooke, Chair, CBI East Midlands, Emma Gray, Director of Marketing & Communications, Marketing Birmingham, Geoff Layer, Vice Chancellor, University of Wolverhampton and Sandeep Shingadia, pictured, head of programme development, Transport for West Midlands.
