Advantage West Midlands - Investment

Investment

Between 1999 and 2012 Advantage West Midlands invested £3 billion to support sustainable economic development in the West Midlands region, generating a range of outputs including:

• 150,000 businesses assisted to improve their performance;
• 10,000 businesses created;
• 140,000 jobs created or safeguarded;
• 160,000 people assisted to improve their skills;
• £2 billion of private sector investment levered in; and
• 1,200 hectares of brownfield land reclaimed or redeveloped.

(The above outputs are based on Government-defined measures. Each RDA reported performance against these measures in their Annual Report and Accounts.)

The Government also commissioned independent evaluation and assessments of RDA performance.

• In 2007, the Government commissioned economic development consultants Price WaterhouseCoopers to evaluate the effectiveness of RDA investment programmes. Their final report was published in March 2009. It indicated that every £1 invested by Advantage West Midlands was returning £7.45 of value (Gross value Added, or GVA) to the regional economy. Subsequent evaluations commissioned by the Agency indicated that, by 2010, this return had increased to £8.14 for every £1 invested.
• The National Audit Office undertook two detailed assessments of RDA performance – the Independent Performance Assessment of 2006-7 and the Independent Supplementary Review of 2009-10. In each, Advantage West Midlands achieved the maximum possible rating.

In addition to Government-commissioned evaluations or assessments - and as part of its own continuous improvement programme – from 2007 Advantage West Midlands participated in the annual “Midlands Excellence Awards," with the following results:

• 2007 - Achieved the “Investors in Excellence” standard
• 2008 - “Finalist”
• 2009 - “Finalist”, “Highly Commended” and “Most Improved Organisation”
• 2010 - Overall award winner (“large public sector” category)