Turning Ambition into Delivery: Andy Williams on Birmingham’s Next Decade
Season 4 Episode 41 · Sep 25, 10:51 AM
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In the latest episode of Kanda’s Better Places Podcast, Allan Andrews, Director at Kanda and co-lead of Kanda’s new Midlands practice, is joined by Andy Williams, Director of Economy at Birmingham City Council, to discuss what the city needs to do to convert one of Europe's largest regeneration pipelines into delivery on the ground.
Three months into a newly created role, Andy sets out his thinking on inclusive growth, investor credibility and what the next 10 years might look like for Birmingham.
Their conversation explores:
- With a population approaching 1.2 million and growing faster than London, an average age of 34, and five of the West Midlands' nine universities in one city, what does growth look like in Birmingham?
- What separates schemes that get delivered from those that stay in the brochure, and why credibility matters more as viability tightens
- The East Birmingham Mayoral Development Corporation as a "single front door" for investors, and the wider mayoral development zone out to Arden Cross and the airport
- Devolution in practice: business rate retention at Paradise, the Knowledge Quarter investment zone, and the case for 14–19 skills flexibility to tackle youth unemployment
- HS2 and Curzon Street: with trains expected in 2036, what will a 40-minute journey between the UK's two biggest cities mean for international investors?
- What a new administration means for pace, priorities and four years of decision-making stability
Essential listening for anyone involved in regeneration, investment, planning and public affairs across Birmingham and the West Midlands.