What do you think of the West Midlands?
Do you think that the West Midlands of today is a great place to live, invest, work, learn and visit?
We do, but to what extent do other people think this to be true? Which aspects of the region do people perceive positively and which are they less happy about? And how does the West Midlands compare to other English regions?
These are important questions as people’s perceptions of the region, and its position relative to other regions, will shape what they do, how they spend their money and where they choose to do business.
People’s perceptions of the region therefore have important economic consequences. This is recognised in the West Midlands Economic Strategy, Connecting to Success, which identifies the creation and monitoring of a regional perceptions indicator as one of the six key measures of economic progress.
Over the last two years, the Observatory has been working on behalf of Advantage West Midlands and the Regional Marketing Board to develop a regional perceptions indicator; the first of its type in the UK. We have now completed that work and the results can be found in the West Midlands Report (PDF, 833KB)
The data for the indicator was collected through two major national surveys. One survey covers residents; the other survey covers businesses. This is supplemented by a series of interviews with key opinion-formers, including some from outside the UK. Details of how the surveys were conducted, and how the results were analysed, can be found in the Technical Report (PDF, 1,000KB)
As well as allowing us to calculate the indicator itself, the surveys and interviews provide a rich source of evidence about how the region is perceived, and how the West Midlands compares with other English regions. This will inform future policies across a range of areas, including marketing the region, tourism and inward investment. If you would like to discuss access to the data from the surveys or to commission any further analysis of the data, please contact us.