I was asked to answer the following question today:

Will a Conservative government be good for the Midlands economy?

Possibly one of the more difficult questions to answer.

I’m certainly not able to give a definitive yes or no response! My feeling is that it can’t be much worse than things are at the moment. I know that there’s a lot of talk about the regional agencies being removed – well I’m not the biggest fan of them or the other so called ‘support’ organisations in the Midlands. I feel that they are out of touch and disjointed – all with their own agendas and yet none of them  are actually supporting the vital SME’s and businesses in our region.

Regardless of the colour of the next Government, public spending will be slashed. Having worked with the public sector recently I have been amazed at the waste of money and lack of ‘business acumen’. How public funded regional agencies can help the economy and business I have no idea! Get rid of them, have something simple to help get support to businesses that will make a real difference. Good quality advice, guidance  and support is better than throwing cash around anyway.

Equally the banking sector is out of touch with what is needed and how businesses can access financial support and necessary information. The public sector should be working in partnership with the private sector and yet it’s not. I’m not convinced that the Tories will have the balls to do what’s needed or will be any better in touch with employers and businesses – I just hope that they do listen to the business community  because at the moment business leaders have no confidence in anyone. No economy will improve easily or quickly – what we need is a stable and steady improvement that can be sustained.