Case Study: Midlands Engine Independent Economic Review

In 2020 the Midlands Engine partnership commissioned a consortium of leading economists and academics through the Midlands Engine Observatory (MEO) to produce and publish the first-ever Independent Economic Review (IER) for the region.

The project was led by SQW and Cambridge Econometrics in collaboration with Midlands Engine research partners City-REDI (University of Birmingham), Nottingham Trent University and the Black Country Consortium’s Economic Intelligence Unit. Valuable additional input was contributed by businesses and Local Enterprise Partnerships from across the Midlands. The work was part of the MEO research and policy programme, which aimed to provide an accessible and robust source of evidence on the Midlands economy.

The IER was a year-long, detailed analysis on the whole Midlands economy over the last decade by the MEO, delivered by leading economists and academics, together with in-depth insight from over 50 of the region’s businesses.

By commissioning an Independent Economic Review for the region, the Midlands Engine Partnership sought to:

• Better understand and evidence key factors driving productivity in the Midlands
• Identify opportunities to improve the region’s productivity over the next 10 years
• Consider the potential for a Midlands-wide approach to address challenges and enable growth Strengthen the evidence base and powerfully influence policy Stimulate debate and discussion.

Access all the Independent Economic Review documents here:

• Midlands Engine an Introduction to our Independent Economic Review (IER)
• Midlands Engine Independent Economic Review (IER): Executive Summary
• Midlands Engine Independent Economic Review (IER): Full Report
• Midlands Engine Independent Economic Review (IER) Deep Dive Research - Business Interviews
• Geographical Scales and Functions: The Case of the Midlands Engine (IER)