Andy Street

Mayor of the West Midlands

Andy Street, West Midlands

Mayor and WMCA Chair, highlights the important role Made Smarter West Midlands is playing in encouraging SMEs to introduce digital technology into the day-to-day running of their operations.

Andy Street Mayor of the West Midlands

He said: “Made Smarter West Midlands is helping our region’s engineering and manufacturing businesses to embrace digital technology.

“A particularly valuable aspect of the initiative is that it is targeted at SMEs - who may be apprehensive or lack the time and capacity to research the best way forward from a technology point of view - and therefore likely to benefit from the experts we have on hand to offer advice.

“The West Midlands has a well-deserved reputation for playing host to many dynamic businesses. Made Smarter is helping those businesses and therefore helping our region to bounce back and return to its pre pandemic form as the fastest growing region in the UK - at the same time as supporting our efforts to create the high-quality jobs of the future that local people want to see.”

“It was really useful having independent experts assess the way we operate since, when you are involved on a daily basis, you don’t always appreciate there are different ways and systems that can be introduced to help you work in a more streamlined manner or are aware of the technology that is available.

“That is where the experts from the programme really helped us and the advice from Paul Sullivan was just what we needed since he took us through the grant application step-by-step. It can sometimes be daunting approaching something like that.”

Sid Gulati, Managing Director, ActOn Finishing, Birmingham

Watch the full video testimonial