More West Midland companies urged to take the globalisation opportunity
22 November 2005

“Globalisation is a fact of modern business life and the prosperity of the West Midlands depends on more businesses viewing globalisation as an opportunity and not just a challenge.”

So said Dr Ian Pearson MP, Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs,  who was speaking at the West Midlands Evolution breakfast, held by Liquidity Limited, the Birmingham-based sales finance company.

The Minister, who is also MP for Dudley South, said:  “Globalisation offers great threats to those who ignore it but massive opportunities to those who are able to see them.

“It is to the credit of the West Midlands that so many firms in the region  have successfully adapted to the new conditions by investing to beat the competition on design, sophistication, functionality and quality.

“In government we are committed to supporting businesses that want to strengthen their competitiveness; by developing the skills of their people; by innovating in new business processes or design of their products and services; and by embracing new technologies and new ways to trade with customers and suppliers.

“In response, they are concentrating their efforts on increasing skills and on developing the niche or specialism where they have a technical lead.”

Introducing Dr Pearson, Liquidity’s managing director David Totney said: “As a finance business, we see the potential and the successes of entrepreneurs and growing businesses in the West Midlands. 

“The great news is that there are a lot of good businesses, many of them start-ups, and the quality of management, product development and marketing is generally high.”

Dr Pearson said: “We are doing what we can in government, and through the Regional Development Agencies, to encourage more of the region’s businesses to follow the lead of the most successful.

The Minister cited two winners of the recently announced Accelerate Awards, Valve Train Components from Lichfield and Walsall-based Stokes Forgings.  “The award winners have both shown that they were able to compete with the Chinese” he said.

Dr Pearson makes the point that the world has long recognised the benefits of building businesses in the West Midlands. “Over 2,000 overseas companies have now established operations in the region.”

The Minister said that the decline in manufacturing employment resulted largely from global competition from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and China and India.

“Some firms have not been able to adapt to the new economic conditions and some high profile businesses have closed” he admitted.

“There are some markets where cost structures in the advanced economies now make it seem impossible to compete with manufacturing facilities in the Far East.”

However, Dr Pearson pointed out that 450,000 people still work in the region’s manufacturing businesses.

“We still have an important manufacturing sector and innovation is the key to securing its future.  For example, product development is more important than ever in maintaining our competitiveness.

“Furthermore, many manufacturers have found that they can use alternative methods of trading other than just traditional exporting.

“For many, there are real options to license manufacturing of their products and work through partnering and joint ventures in other areas of the world.

“We have achieved a lot in terms of the transition to a knowledge-based economy.  As we move ever further down this road, it’s more important than ever that our businesses protect their intellectual property rights too.”

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