Walsall forms part of the Black Country’s manufacturing

heartland with jobs in manufacturing and health providing

the majority of the area’s employment. It also has superb transport

and storage services which have had a positive impact on employment levels in the area. Over 40 leather companies still exist in Walsall, producing goods for some of the most famous brand names and exporting to most parts of the world. Walsall has the largest concentration of leather workers in northern Europe.

 

 

Although Walsall has a smaller population compared to

the rest of the Black Country it also has the highest

concentration of managers and company directors. 

 

 

However, a good proportion of the working population is also employed in skilled trades, professional and administrative professions demonstrating the superbly balanced workforce in the area. 

 

Survival rates for new businesses are also excellent with 43% still active after five years. Walsall has the region’s largest population of under 14s and the attached centre for women, children and young people represent a significant investment in the area’s future.

 

Over £415 million has been invested in Walsall in the past decade, spread across retail, office facilities, leisure, residential and health schemes. The investment was focused around the following key development areas. St Matthew Quarter, which was completely revamped and redesigned, with six separate developments completed since 2007. Now a retail and shopping area, the site boasts new shops, residential apartments and enterprise zone and multiple supermarkets.

 

And over the next five years, the £65million Waterfront project will create an abundance of new housing, office 

space and leisure facilities.

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Walsall’s Gigaport is a hub of commercial-led investment and features multiple office spaces. Centred around Walsall College’s Wisemore Campus, the site now features housing space, a 60-bed Travelodge hotel, a McDonald’s, four retail units, two head-office complexes within a combined 5,850 sq. m and £10.2 million investment, alongside a £55 million Tesco. There are also current and future opportunities available to develop on this site. 

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The Walsall Waterfront has been systemically developed and regenerated over the past ten years with multiple projects taking place in and around the waterfront area. The Waterfront itself received a £10 million investment, with a 100-bed Premier Inn Hotel and Brewers Fayre completed in 2012. Waterfront South was a £40 million investment, including 322 apartments and 4,800 sq. m commercial floor space completed in 2013. Waterfront North Phase 1 included a £12 million investment; 3,000 sq. m Light Cinema; 4,000 sq. m restaurants including TGI Friday's, Chiquito and Bella Italia, which was completed in 2016. Phase 2 involved a further £2 million of investment with 897 sq. m restaurants and bars, whilst Wharfingers Cottage received a £350k investment, 200 sq. m Piri Fino restaurant, both completed in 2017. Cardan Pointe was regenerated through a £5.5 million investment, which created 44 apartments forming Walsall Housing Group's over 55's well-being scheme and completed in 2016.

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This is coupled with other large scale investments in the area such as the £14m Quarter retail projects; £87m Goscote Lane Corridor Regeneration Area delivering 700 new homes; £18m Brownhills Regeneration Area to deliver 150 homes; the £19m Bullseye industrial area and the £65m investment at M6 Junction 10 which will have a significantly positive impact for logistics operations and traffic flows in general.

 

There is an abundance of other forthcoming development opportunities in Walsall, including £237m, 76 ha of employment sites located at Junction 10 of the M6 Junction 10; £160m phased investment in residential and commercial space in Walsall town centre; £22m opportunity to develop retail and residential units at Shannon’s Mill and more employment use developments at Moxley Business Park.