But companies are still bruised by the recession and the recovery has taken five years to build up a head of steam, so caution is still the keyword.

Wolverhampton is looking forward to seeing 1,300 jobs being filled at the new £500m Jaguar Land Rover engine factory on the i54 site – the biggest private sector investment the city has ever seen.

And West Bromwich has seen its busiest shopping season in decades with the first Christmas of its shiny £200m New Square retail development.

But, behind the scenes, many smaller firms have been struggling with a dip in orders over recent months, while recruitment plans have been put on hold at others.

Paul Bennett, president of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, said: "We enter 2014 in more optimistic mood than 2013. Nationally, the economy is improving, but locally the picture remains mixed. Although some businesses are doing well, others are finding it more challenging. More of our businesses need to export.

"Rising consumer confidence should boost the economy, but our challenge is global."

The biggest bright spot has been the car industry, on track for its best year since 2007.

But, for every good story in recent months, there has been bad news.

While Staffordshire digger firm JCB is building new factories in the UK and aiming to create 2,500 jobs, energy company npower is axing nearly 1,000 office jobs in Oldbury and Stoke-on-Trent next summer and the work to India.

However work is continuing on Birmingham city centre as well as the Birmingham Airport runway extension.

Jerry Blackett, chief executive of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: "The year ahead is likely to be challenging for the region's business community.

"But there are strong signs of returning confidence that will ease the journey."

Jaguar Land Rover Wolverhampton

The West Midlands' biggest car maker traditionally plays its cards close to its chest but, in a presentation to investors in recent weeks, chief finance officer Kenneth Gregor and treasurer Bennett Birgbauer offered some clues as to what JLR will be up to in 2014.

It is already known that the management team that will run the new engine factory will move on to the i54 site in Wolverhampton early in the new year as full-scale recruitment gets under way for the 1,300-strong workforce the site will need.

Production machinery has already started being installed and test runs will take place over the coming months as the factory gears up ready to start full-scale production in early 2015.

This will tie in with production of the new smaller Jaguar saloon due out the same year – the first car to be fitted with the new four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines that will be made at i54 and based on the C-X17 Sports Crossover concept revealed earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the new Range Rover Sport and the coupe version of the F-Type sports car will be going on sale. Sales for JLR are expected to continue growing rapidly – Jaguar sales rose 42 per cent in recent months, while Land Rovers were up 11 per cent.

Marston’s Wolverhampton

The Wolverhampton based pub owner and brewer, which has produced Banks's in Wolverhampton for more than a century, is cranking up the building of its new pub restaurants nationwide, from 22 a year to between 25 and 30.

At the same time it continues to sell off less profitable pubs, particularly the smaller old-style 'boozers', which is expected to bring in around £60m-70m per annum over the next two years.

As a result it ended the year with 40 less pubs, at 2,108, but still employs around 13,000 people across the UK. Meanwhile the company has invested £7 million in a new bottling line this year as it sees continuing demand for its top ales, such as Pedigree and Hobgoblin. Chief executive Ralph Findlay said: "In 2013 we achieved good growth in turnover and operating profit despite significant challenges.

This reflects our unstinting focus on what our customers want – excellent service and value for money in high quality pubs and bars. In 2013 we served 30 million meals, with food now the principal reason for around 80 per cent of customer visits in our Destination pubs. "Looking forward we will accelerate our high-return new-build programme whilst increasing the level of disposals from our lower turnover wet-led pubs. We have made an encouraging start to the new financial year and remain confident that our proven strategy is aligned to the underlying trends in the sector."

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Despite a tough 12 months for law firms that saw the collapse of one of the region's biggest – Challinors – Black Country-based Higgs & Sons says it enjoyed a record-breaking 2013 and enters the new year as now one of the strongest private client practices outside London.

Higgs & Sons private client team enjoyed a 13 per cent growth in turnover in the last 12 months; its best-ever year.

Senior Partner Nick Moxon said the 200-strong Brierley Hill-based firm had enjoyed a hugely-successful year which had seen a strong increase in the number of cases and clients it handled alongside the recruitment of top specialists.

"Our growth in turnover has firmly established us as one of the most significant private client practices outside the capital, something which is underlined by the strength of some of the new appointments we have been able to make," he said.

Poundland, Willenhall

It has been yet another good year for Poundland, the Willenhall-based £1-for-everthing chain which opened its 500th store in November in Birmingham with actress Jane Asher, who has signed up in the company's first celebrity tie-in to promote her new range of bakeware.

Chief executive Jim McCarthy said: "Poundland reported a turnover of £880m for the year to March 31 and we remain confident that we will report record sales for the year to March 2014."

Looking ahead, he said: "Retailers in 2014 will have to be even more responsive to changing customer needs. er. Poundland is perfectly placed to provide amazing value every day for customers."

Westfield Sports Cars, Kingswinford

Managing director of Kingswinford kit car company Westfield Sportscars, Julian Turner, said that 2014 was going to be a big year for the 31-year-old company.

"We are going to be launching a number of new models.

"We have also just signed up a dealer in Japan which is the biggest market for our main competitor and Lotus.

"It should be a fruitful big step forward for us."

Mr Turner said that Westfield in Gibbons Industrial Park, had sold 210 units in 2013 and was looking to increase on that in 2014.

The company, which employs 22, has sold more than 12,000 cars and kits since its formation.

Following its link-up with Malaysian company DRB-HICOM two years ago the company launched its electric racing car, the iRacer.

Based on its popular Westfield Sport model, the £13,999 iRacer is considered to be the world's first do-it-yourself electric race car kit.

Boltight, Walsall

Specialist engineering firm Boltight, in Walsall, is one of a number of small manufacturing firms carving out a niche in a global market.

It is currently expanding its operations to meet the growing demand for its specialist hydraulic bolt tensioning tools from the oil and gas, power generation and industrial engineering industries.

In recent months the company has not only increased its workforce but also acquired additional workshop facilities at its base on the Junction 10 Business Park on Bentley Mill Way in Walsall. Having started with just one 135sqm unit in 2004, it now operates from four units on the business park occupying approximately 1,000sqm. Boltight says it has benefited from being able to respond quickly, achieving strong sales growth by focusing on pioneering product design and excellent customer service.

As well as manufacturing, it provides tool repair, refurbishment and upgrading services.

Boltight's director, Fred Heaton, said: "With confidence now returning to the market, all our hard work is bearing fruit. The business is in an excellent position to capitalize on the upturn and we are starting to see double-digit growth."

Birmingham Airport

Chief executive Paul Kehoe said: "There are two significant events happening in 2014 that are major deals for Birmingham Airport.

"April will see the opening of the long awaited runway extension project that will give us the capability of flying direct to the Far East and the West Coast the USA. Just 400 metres of tarmac will give an extra 2,000 nautical mile range so we are working really hard to market the airport and the Midlands region overseas to attract new airlines.

"We are already seeing fruits of this labour with the news that Biman Bangladesh will launch flights to New York and Dhaka once the extension is operational in April. For 2014, I'd like to see the passenger growth of 2013 continue and exceed the 9.5m mark, whilst continuing to provide great customer service, world class facilities and welcome new airlines."

Carillion, Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton-based international construction and services giant Carillion has already warned that its headline revenue figure for 2013 will be down on the previous year, largely because of its decision to shrink its UK building operations following the decline in the industry since the recession five years ago.

But major orders at home and abroad, including a major new hospital in Liverpool and a series of wins in the Middle East, has seen its order book holding at around £18 billion, while its pipeline of contract opportunities is still strong at around £37bn.

The company, a £4.4bn business with around 40,000 employees has enjoyed some 'significant contract successes' in recent months. In its trading update earlier this month, Carillion said: "Looking forward, we expect market conditions to remain challenging.

"However, through 2013 we have continued to win new work in line with our selective approach and maintained a strong, high-quality order book and good revenue visibility.

We believe that this, together with a healthy pipeline of contract opportunities, means that the group continues to be well-positioned for the future."

HomeServe, Walsall

Walsall-based household insurance company HomeServe says it is moving into the new year with increased confidence.

Aiming to leave behind historic challenges, the company, one of Walsall's biggest private employers with 1,100 staff in the town, believes that 2014 will see the continuation of recent positive trends – across all its key areas of focus – both in the UK and in its international businesses.

Outgoing CEO Jonathan King said: "2014 will be a critical year for HomeServe. Over the past two years, we have successfully re-focused our UK business by putting our customers at the heart of everything we do. This is being borne out by stabilising customer numbers, customer satisfaction and retention continuing to increase and complaint figures continuing to fall."

Thomas Dudley, Dudley

Martin Dudley, joint managing director of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce's business of the year, engineering firm Thomas Dudley, said the future was looking bright.

"We are definitely expecting further growth in 2014," he said.

"Thomas Dudley is linked to the construction industry with our plastic moulded products and the engineering sector through our foundry and both through the third and fourth quarters have shown some growth. Things have slowed down over Christmas, but we are optimistic that come February and March things are going to pick up." The 93-year-old family company in Birmingham New Road, Dudley, invested in a major new line 18 months ago and will continue to invest in 2014.

Mr Dudley said Thomas Dudley was also investing in existing and new staff, including apprentices and middle and senior management. "As the company continues to grow and win new work we will continue to invest in both existing people and, as and when the opportunity becomes available, take on new employees."