What does the UK's Levelling Up strategy mean for the Midlands?

We live far longer than our ancestors dreamed we would. However, increasing life expectancy does not ensure that quality of life improves, and Covid-19 has added to this challenge for people across the UK.  

The Levelling Up report highlights 12 overarching missions:

• living standards
• R&D
• transport infrastructure
• digital connectivity
• education
• skills
• health
• wellbeing
• pride in place
• housing
• crime
• local leadership

The UK's geographical disparities

Though London has always been the epicentre of innovation and investment within the UK, other regions are making a name for themselves on the global scene. Leeds was once known for its dominant wool industry, but fast forward several centuries and the city is now a major player on the finance scene. Meanwhile, Cambridge has long been recognised for its expansive river network which put it on the map for river-borne trade, and now the city is asserting itself as the UK's leading technology hub. Both the North and the South of England have districts that are renowned for excellence, but where does that put the Midlands?

According to EY, the pandemic might have closed the gap on geographical inequality, but it turns out to have been a momentary change. The analysis of the pandemic's impact on the UK's regional economic divide found that all English regions are on course to return to pre-pandemic Gross Value Added (GVA) levels, with the exception of the West Midlands.

If the government were successful in levelling up underperforming regions like the West Midlands to the UK average, the economic result would be billions of pounds in GDP every year. However, it is not just about economic gain, levelling up geographical disparities will ensure that:

• Every person has access to jobs and healthcare
• People develop the skills they need
• All regions are known as innovators
• Pride in place is widespread
• Everyone has good physical and mental wellbeing

Levelling up in the Midlands

While there is a long-lasting history of attempts to spread opportunities around the UK, the government has admitted that these short-term efforts won't cut it. Under each of the 12 missions falls a clear and ambitious medium-term goal, intended to level up places such as Birmingham - the most deprived city in the UK, where 90% of its wards are falling far behind the national average.

Determined to shake this reputation, Birmingham has outlined five Levelling Up Accelerators of their own, these are:

• Long-term, single pot funding and devolved powers
• The East Birmingham Inclusive Growth Strategy
• An early intervention and prevention model
• Green and digital infrastructure
• At-scale housing retrofit project

Meanwhile, the nearby City of Wolverhampton Council has secured £20 million from round one of The Levelling Up Fund, demonstrating that the government is committed to developing deprived areas.

What does this mean for finance and tech talent in the Midlands?

Increased investments in deprived areas are the solution to widespread, deep-rooted and long-term inequalities. More opportunities for the residents will boost employment prospects and begin to build talent pools in regions that are notoriously hard to recruit for. As more initiatives surface, such as Birmingham Tech Week and the West Midlands Local Digital Skills Partnership, awareness of digital opportunities is building among young people. In turn, this is helping put the region's digital sector on the map, and the West Midlands alone is on track to create an additional 52,000 digital tech jobs and generate £2.7 billion by 2025.

While the region's finance sector is yet to receive the same recognition, that might change soon. By investing £200 million in facilities and relocating 1,000 jobs to Birmingham, HSBC generated £540 million for the region. Big moves like these go a long way in helping to establish the Midlands as a leading hub for financial services. Add to this the fact that many finance professionals are beginning to look further afield than London when contemplating their next career move, and it's not hard to imagine the region competing with the major global financial centres.

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