Key achievements

In the past seven years Advantage West Midlands has achieved the following:

• 2,563 people assisted into new jobs in the West Midlands

• 3,235 businesses created in, or attracted to, the West Midlands

• 34,480 West Midlands businesses given access to the resources they need to improve performance

• 956 West Midlands businesses have become engaged in new collaborations with the region's Research & Development community

• 83,158 people in the West Midlands have improved skills

• 11,489 community enterprise initiatives have been supported

• £634 million in additional public and private sector funding levered into the West Midlands

• 768 hectares (1,900 acres) of brownfield land reclaimed or redeveloped.

The following stand out as key achievements:

Launched in April 2007, Business Link West Midlands is tackling underperformance in productivity and business start-ups, which are the two key challenges that face our region's economy. The service will help 89,000 businesses each year with basic information and provide intensive support for a further 17,800 companies. It is forecast that the benefit of this support will be to generate a £400 million improvement in the economic performance of the region by 2010.

One of the UK's leading Manufacturing Advisory Services, MAS-WM has helped more than 750 manufacturing companies do business better - improving their processes and finding new markets for their products. Interventions add value of on average £60,000 per company with more than 80 per cent of companies investing more money into further improvement activity.

The £40 million Ricoh Arena stadium and regeneration project is on the 30 hectare (75 acre) site of a former gas works in Coventry that was derelict for 30 years. The i54 development outside Wolverhampton will turn a huge area of polluted land into a major employment site, creating 6,700 jobs. After more than 25 years of neglect, the Fort Dunlop building in Birmingham is back in productive use as an iconic hotel, commercial and leisure development. In North Staffordshire, the Chatterley Valley project will reclaim 70 hectares (170 acres) of former colliery land, transforming it into a major employment site, creating around 4,000 jobs.

The £70 million high technology research and development facility supports up to 50,000 manufacturing jobs in companies involved in supplying the premium automotive industry. The programmes work closely with groups of companies as well as the Warwick Manufacturing Group, helping companies to develop the most advanced techniques and processes to meet the demanding specification of car manufacturers in the luxury car sector. To date, the programme has worked with 400 companies, safeguarding 4,000 jobs and developing almost 200 innovative products or processes.

Through the intervention of Advantage West Midlands, 100 per cent of our region can now access broadband. In 2002, just 75 per cent of the West Midlands had access. To achieve universal coverage, across urban and the most rural areas, is a phenomenal achievement and the West Midlands is the first of the UK regions to do so.

A total of £11 million has been committed to breathe new life into 20 market towns across the West Midlands. Regeneration activity has included the provision of business space, leisure and tourism facilities upgraded and improvements made to the physical environment. To date, the initiative has supported over 370 businesses and leveraged millions of pounds of private sector investment into the market towns.