About My Region

Geography

The West Midlands region comprises:

• the counties of Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire;
• the three unitary authorities of Herefordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Telford & Wrekin; and
• the seven metropolitan districts of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

At the heart of the region lies the West Midlands metropolitan area which includes the regional capital Birmingham.

More than half the region's 5.3 million people live in urban areas, such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry.

Industrial heritage

The West Midlands region has a strong industrial heritage and, despite some decline, manufacturing is still important.

Key sectors include engineering, automotive and metal manufacture.

Regional Development Agency

The Regional Development Agency - Advantage West Midlands (AWM) highlights sustainability as a key theme in its economic strategy. Its priorities include promoting environmental technologies, particularly those that deal with waste and renewable energy.

Key sectors

Manufacturing is important within the region, key sectors including:

• engineering;
• automotive; and
• metal manufacture.

There are also sectors of interest to recyclate market development notably the plastics sector, where there is a high density of business in the Wolverhampton to Telford Corridor (a Polymer Cluster Centre has been established in Telford) and the Kappa Packaging Mill in Nechells, Birmingham.

Relating to traditional strengths the region is strong in metal recycling and increasingly waste electrical equipment and there is potential to build on engineering strengths within the environmental technologies sector.