{"id":190827,"date":"2025-06-17T05:10:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T05:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/190827\/"},"modified":"2025-06-17T05:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T05:10:10","slug":"west-midlands-economy-boosted-by-120m-due-to-major-programme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/190827\/","title":{"rendered":"West Midlands economy ‘boosted by \u00a3120m’ due to major programme"},"content":{"rendered":"

The West Midlands Combined Authority\u2019<\/a>s (WMCA) Economy, Trade and Tourism Programme has been credited with bringing tens of thousands of visitors to the region as well as creating new jobs and training opportunities.<\/p>\n

\"AthiraAthira Sunil (England Women\u2019s captain), Ashok Das (President, World Kabaddi), Richard Parker (Mayor of the West Midlands) and Hardeep Singh (England Men\u2019s captain). PIC: West Midlands Growth Company<\/p>\n

This has included \u00a370 million of new business investment with the programme helping more than 250 businesses to grow and find new markets, creating or safeguarding around 12,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

Around 11,000 have also benefited from jobs skills training, work experience programmes or studying for new qualifications.<\/p>\n

The Major Events Fund helped support 10 cultural and sporting events which attracted 300,000 spectators and gave an estimated boost to the economy of \u00a319 million.<\/p>\n

The programme also included a package of tailored support for 50 businesses with high growth potential and helped boost investment and turnover by \u00a320 million.<\/p>\n

Support was also given to 150 social enterprises and community owned businesses which was said to have increase their income by a combined \u00a38 million, helping to create 215 jobs.<\/p>\n

Direct grants and skills and business support was also provided to more than 100 creative industries and cultural organisations.<\/p>\n

The Economy, Trade and Tourism Programme was funded through the WMCA<\/a>\u2019s Commonwealth Games Legacy Enhancement Fund.<\/p>\n

West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker said: \u201cOur Economy, Trade and Tourism Programme has delivered real results.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s helped hundreds of local businesses grow, created new jobs, and trained thousands of people with the skills they need to get ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a real boost to our arts, culture and tourism too, with major events bringing in visitors and shining a light on local talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter years of stagnation, the West Midlands economy is finally picking up pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy regional growth plan will build on this momentum and deliver the growth and prosperity we need, and make sure the benefits are felt by everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the major sports events backed with funding included the Kabaddi World Cup.<\/p>\n

Ashok Das, president of both the England Kabaddi Association and World Kabaddi, said: \u201cIt was an honour for the England Kabaddi Association to help in organising the Kabaddi World Cup here in the West Midlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support from the Commonwealth Games legacy fund was instrumental in making it happen, helping us attract record crowds and shine a global spotlight on the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope it\u2019s ignited lasting interest in kabaddi and inspired more local communities to get involved in the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The West Midlands Combined Authority\u2019s (WMCA) Economy, Trade and Tourism Programme has been credited with bringing tens of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,51,393,4884,8823,12,285,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-190827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-ldrs","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114696986569903163","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}