Business in the West Midlands       Business in the West Midlands Famous the world over for its manufacturing history the West Midlands has retained its manufacturing expertise and diversified into new sectors. There are many successes too numerous to mention here and investment from Europe and the USA continues to play an important role in the future of the region. The regions strengths are illustrated by the following sectors which contribute a major role in the West Midlands success story. The Automotive Industry Birmingham is associated with the troubled Longbridge plant and the doom and gloom merchants have had their claws in the plant for some time now. Hopefully recent events and the new management of Rover will be able to turn the companies fortunes around. It is easy to forget that Rover is not the only car producer in the West Midlands. We also have Land Rover, Jaguar and Peugeot all producing cars here. There are more than 500 car component suppliers in the region and 40% of all new automotive investment in the UK is in the West Midlands. The region is responsible for a third of the UK's automotive output. [statistics] Electronics Electronics and communications plays a key role in the region. BT is a major employer with impressive offices in Brindley Place and at BT Trinity Park near Birmingham Airport. DERA, the Defence Diversification Agency which is based in the Malverns also plays a key role in innovative new ideas and specialises in electronics and semiconductors. Food and Drink The food and drink industry in the West Midlands include world giants such as Cadbury, HP Foods, Heinz, Bass and the Muller Group. Distribution channels and the road network from the West Midlands places the furthest points of the country at no more than 5 hours away. This is a major benefit to any company and of particular importance to the Food and Drink sector. Europe's largest cold store facility is based here. Service Industry Outside of London the West Midlands lives up to its name as the second city by also being the second largest business services centre in the country. Financial services, banking, accountancy and the legal profession are all well established and the call centre sector is booming. Software Leaders in the software industry the West Midlands region produces a wide range of software products for industry and personal computing. Over 50,000 people are employed in this sector alone. [statistics] business pages | automotive stats | software stats | City stats This article is archived. To add comments, amend or update this article please click on the image below: