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Kevin Johnson

 

Delivering growth: How!?

After a first read of the Strategy for Growth document the question posed by Jack Hargreaves comes to mind

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Published May 2, 2013, in Opinion


220px-Jack_full_faceJust How do you deliver jobs and growth? It’s a question George Osborne has been struggling with – closer to home so it would seem has the Board of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP).

As Paul Dale points out in his piece, the document makes a bold opening.

“We know historically there has been no shortage of economic strategies – yet none have fully delivered what they have promised. We will deliver.”

It’s the journey which is the difference, we are told. The

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The path to local growth – or a cul-de-sac?

The GBSLEP bid to be the first LEP to recieve a single pot is thin on evidence - but bursting with potential, says Kevin Johnson

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Published March 18, 2013, in Opinion


There is, quite understandably, plenty of positive coverage for The Greater Birmingham Project overnight. But for Leveson shenanigans, stories about Lord Hestletine’s review, the recent work in Birmingham and now the Government’s response to the original report would be the main UK political story of the day. Reasonable for

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Chamber POTY: Paul Kehoe, by Kevin Johnson

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Published December 19, 2012, in The Chamber POTY


Another non-politician must figure in our POTY considerations. The Chief Executive of Birmingham Airport and Chairman of Marketing Birmingham has had quite a year.

Work has (eventually) started on the runway extension at the airport. Kehoe has been busy arguing for a balanced approach to planning the UK’s aviation capacity. Supported by the dogged John Morris, the airport boss is making some progress bringing the Elmdon airport into the

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Chamber POTY: Jack Dromey (sort of), by Kevin Johnson

Could any of our city MPs be POTY....next year?

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Published December 19, 2012, in The Chamber POTY


The city’s MPs are not often lauded for their contribution to the Birmingham brand and our economic progress. Ask Sid and Doris on Broad Street or even Colmore Row and they will struggle to name any of the city’s representatives in Parliament. The MPs have never operated successfully as a group to lobby on behalf of city/city region and seem to have no more than a fleeting involvement in the issues that go beyond their direct constituency interests.

That is changing, slowly. Elsewhere on the Files, there will be

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Chamber POTY: Michael Fabricant MP by Kevin Johnson

It's a Fabrication : Lichfield MP tweets his way into consideration

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Published December 18, 2012, in The Chamber POTY


If you had told me a year ago that I would be writing a blogpost suggesting Michael Fabricant, the Conservative MP for Lichfield and Vice Chairman of his party, as a contender for Person of the Year I would have labelled you as barking mad.

This year he ‘stepped down’ as a Government Whip and made what many people in his party would say was an unwelcome contribution to the debate about how the Tories should deal with the threat from UKIP.

When I was at ITV, Fabricant – a former director of a broadcast manufacturing company and member of the Culture, Media and Sport committee (or at least its predecessor) – he was seen as one of one

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