Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2025 to Question 68454 on Manufacturing Industries: West Midlands, which SME sectors in the West Midlands were consulted during the development of the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy 2025.

As part of Invest 2035 the Department issued a public consultation asking for feedback on 36 questions to inform the Industrial Strategy. The consultation received over 27,000 online answers to individual questions from a wide range of businesses and organisations, including more than 250 business associations representing hundreds of thousands of businesses across the UK.

In the West Midlands input was sought from businesses across a wide range of sectors, including all eight growth driving sectors. We engaged with organisations representing business interests across sectors, including the Combined Authority, Midlands Engine Partnership, local business representation organisations, and regional networks such as the export champions. Additionally, we met directly with representatives from businesses in the growth driving sectors in the region to give them an opportunity to feed into the development of the strategy.