Ambitious New Growth Plan Aims to Transform the West Midlands Economy
3rd August 2025
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) officially launched its comprehensive Growth Plan, a bold blueprint designed to turbocharge the region’s economy, create 100,000 good jobs, and significantly raise living standards for its residents. It dedicates a significant section to the “Everyday Economy,” recognising its crucial role in ensuring prosperity for all residents, beyond just the high-growth sectors. This part of the plan focuses on improving the quality of work, increasing productivity, and expanding the social economy within foundational sectors that employ the majority of the region’s workforce and provide essential local goods and services.
Key Objectives for the Everyday Economy (10-year vision)
The plan sets out the following goals for the everyday economy:
- Good quality jobs: To ensure more residents are in good-quality jobs that pay at least the real living wage.
- Increased productivity: To boost the productivity of businesses operating within the everyday economy.
- Expanded social economy: To significantly grow the social economy, increasing its contribution to both the financial and social well-being of the region.
Actions and Initiatives (3-year plan)
To achieve these objectives, the WMCA outlines several key actions:
- West Midlands Good Work Charter: Promoting the adoption of this charter by businesses in everyday economy sectors to improve working conditions and employee well-being.
- Business productivity programmes: Piloting and scaling up targeted business productivity programs tailored for businesses within the everyday economy.
- Doubling the social economy: Implementing strategies to double the size of the West Midlands’ social economy.
- Community-led business support: Expanding initiatives that provide business support directly through established community organisations.
- Procurement Opportunities: Increasing access to procurement opportunities for social economy businesses, helping them secure contracts and grow.
Importance and Impact
The everyday economy encompasses vital sectors such as retail, hospitality, health and social care, and logistics, which collectively account for the vast majority of jobs in the West Midlands. Improving wages and productivity in these sectors is seen as a direct pathway to raising living standards, reducing poverty, and fostering a more inclusive and healthier region.
The role of the social economy
The social economy is highlighted as a critical component of the everyday economy. It includes over 9,800 social enterprises, cooperatives, mutuals, and other not-for-profit organisations in the West Midlands, employing 103,000 people and supported by 250,000 volunteers. These organisations generate both social and financial returns, contributing to community vibrancy and addressing social or environmental issues.
Key Social Economy Initiatives:
- Social economy business skills programme: Funded by the Commonwealth Games Legacy Fund, this program supported 159 social entrepreneurs, leading to a 39% (£7.7 million) increase in their overall trading income, the creation of 213 new jobs, and over 20,000 additional volunteering hours.
- West Midlands ownership hub: A collaboration with Co-operatives UK and the Employee Ownership Association, this hub promotes worker and employee ownership, offering support such as the Dream Together Workshop, Business Support for Co-Ops Programme, Succession Starter Seminar, Single Explorer Programme, and Community Shares Support.
- Community-led business support pilot: A nearly £1 million pilot program with the Race Equalities Taskforce invests in five community organisations to connect ethnic minority-led businesses with support, addressing growth barriers and boosting local centers.
Expected outcomes for residents and businesses
The plan anticipates that these efforts will lead to higher living standards, more secure work, and a better work-life balance for residents. For businesses, it is expected to improve staff recruitment, motivation, development, and retention. Investments in small businesses and the social economy are projected to increase turnover and strengthen local social fabric, with increased spending power benefiting local high streets and improving public health outcomes.
Partnership and government support
The WMCA seeks continued government support to achieve these goals, including maintaining welfare support for low-paid workers, strengthening workers’ rights, expediting social care reforms, enabling a favourable economic environment, and devolving funding for productivity, skills, and employment support. The plan also emphasises collaboration with employers, voluntary organisations, faith groups, social enterprises, and trade unions to collectively strengthen the everyday economy.
BLOG authored by Jakira Khanam | Partnerships Lead | BSSEC CIC | Connect | Email
READ MORE | Take a look at the full Growth Plan here
