John D Blackburn
This study looks at all companies registered in the West Midlands and where their total assets are more than £6,000,000.The West Midlands is a large region with a population of 6 million in 2016, 9% of the UK population.The region comprises the counties of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The main cities are Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton.The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the key movers and shakers in the West Midlands corporate sector. Only key data has been isolated, particularly the company’s net worth and total assets, but also their full name, date incorporated, registered office, activities, shareholders, directors (with date of birth, occupation and nationality) and number of employees.Two indicators of size are used: net worth and total assets. These are preferable to turnover which is influenced by profit margins and whether the companies are capital or labour intensive.A short summary of the corporate sector in West Midlands:The region is home to nationally significant manufacturing clusters, including advanced manufacturing in the Black Country and Derbyshire, the automotive cluster around Coventry and Warwickshire, the ceramics industry in Stoke and Staffordshire and an aerospace and transport manufacturing cluster centred around Derby.With Coventry as the City of Culture in 2021, there will be an economic boost to the city and wider region in the run up to 2021, and then a likely boost in the year itself.Employment in the region has seen a resurgence, with 110,000 more jobs recorded in 2017 compared to 2016, the largest absolute increase of any UK region.The region is the fastest growing region in the UK for goods exports - 27% (2015-17). Total GVA in the region increased to £92 billion in 2016 (4% growth compared to 3.7% nationally).Nearly 300 finance, professional and business services companies are headquartered in Birmingham.In the region 9.6% of businesses have a turnover of over £1m while there ard 42.6% with a turnover of less than £100k.The region’s business base is growing and there are currently 159,355 active companies (390 per 10,000 population compared to 432 for UK). There were 27,550 new businesses started across the region in 2016 - double the UK growth rate.
