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Walsall Economic Framework 2025 Priorities

Priority places

Walsall sits within the Black Country Corridor as set out in the West Midlands Growth Plan. The Walsall Growth Corridor runs along the A454 corridor from Walsall Town Centre to Willenhall and includes of a number of housing and employment sites. These include the M6 junction 10 cluster of opportunity employment sites. The Walsall Growth Zone, one of three in the West Midlands, is a priority location within the Black Country Corridor. The Growth Corridor includes:

  • Walsall Town Centre: a strategic regeneration priority for the Council which already has its own 2040 Framework that sets out a vision for transformational change over the next 5, 10 and 15 years. The Framework prioritises investment and sets out five opportunity areas: Waterfront; Park Place & Connected Gateway; Old Square and High Street; Station Quarter; and Civic Quarter. 
  • Willenhall: the Willenhall Framework Plan sets out a 10-year vision and delivery strategy to regenerate the area with a new rail station (due to open in 2026) and plans to build around 500 new homes nearby. 
  • Walsall Growth Zone: A cluster of opportunity employment sites in proximity to M6 junction 10, totalling c.60ha together with the Enterprise Zone at Darlaston. It is one of three Growth Zones in the West Midlands that benefits from a long-term business rates retention investment mechanism. The Council is committed to supporting investment in urban centres with high levels of deprivation or other regeneration areas across the borough. This includes Walsall town centre, Darlaston, Brownhills, Bloxwich, and Blakenall that are benefitting from current national programmes, such as Town Deal, Pride in Place, Plan for Neighbourhoods, and Community Regeneration Partnership.

Priority businesses

Support will be most focused on business that can strongly demonstrate the following characteristics: 

  • Trade in a West Midlands Priority Sector: the West Midlands Growth Plans commits the region to supporting the following high growth clusters which Walsall should play its part in helping grow: Smart Energy, Advanced Engineering, EVs and Batteries, Health Tech, Digital Tech and Creative and Next Generation Services. 
  • Have a Growth Focus: the Walsall Business Growth Strategy emphasizes the importance of going beyond sectors to secure growth by supporting business that are Innovation/ Productivity Led Business, have Diversification Potential or are Locationally Dependent. 
  • Adopted a Growth Ambition: based on the expressed appetite for growth among businesses’ leadership team. 
  • Demonstrate Growth Potential: based on evidence of their financial performance using objective data. The Walsall Business Growth Strategy recognises the changing business support landscape in the West Midlands. Support for high growth businesses will be provided by regional economic development bodies. The Council’s role is therefore to influence future regional provision, appropriately target to ensure it meets local needs, and to address local gaps in support where possible. 

Priority People 

The Walsall Learning, Skills & Employment Strategy prioritises strategic emphasis on supporting the following groups of people to thrive and prosper: 

  • Young people entering the workforce who will be the bedrock of the workforce in the decades to come and who need access to the right education and experiences to help drive business growth in Walsall.
  • People with low qualification levels who have the potential to improve their earnings and be better equipped to meet future job opportunities with extra training, qualifications and competencies. 
  • People at the margins of the labour market who face barriers to work including poor health and caring responsibilities which make it hard for them to remain economically active. 
  • Potential entrepreneurs with an interest in setting up new businesses that can help grow the local economy.