Black Country chief Ninder Johal gets down to business on football, education and awards

The Spanish experiment has not worked out at the Baggies where Pepe Mel was not able to show any improvement at the club unlike the Spanish economy which has shown much confidence in its economy to a point where the country is now able to borrow money at the lowest rate for many years.

The Black Country's confidence continues to grow with the corridors of power in Whitehall granting the region both the City Deal and applauding the regions strategic economic plan.

Education has been improving for a while in the region with both Sandwell Academy and the Q3 Academy leading the way. Victoria Academy from Smethwick operating at the primary level are looking to assist other schools in improving their quality standards having itself been transformed from a failing school to an outstanding school within a few years.

The Black Country's unique manufacturing heritage makes it a special place. The JLR £500 million investment reinforces their commitment to the area and their belief in the supply chain.

Dudley has ambitious plans for the visitor economy and in particular the Castlegate plans. Walsall continues to invest in skills with its emphasis on training and apprenticeships. Wolverhampton continues to invest in encouraging start up's whilst Sandwell's collaboration with the Black Country Chamber ensured that the application of Regional Growth Funds were largely very successful.

The New Square development has celebrated its first anniversary with occupancy of retail outlets increasing month by month.

We have a fantastic Chamber of Commerce, a very committed local enterprise partnership and the leaders of the four councils working increasingly together to ensure that the region speaks with one voice.

Whilst it is clear that the business community has been 'hammered' by the press and attracted opprobrium from the public – rightly so for some companies, but for 95% of the business community that is comprised of SME's – this has been unfair.

Business has had to work hard to arrest this perception and it is only business that generates both wealth and employment. We need to celebrate business achievement as it gives communities and individuals a sense of confidence and self worth.

Business achievement should be celebrated not denigrated. This is one of the reasons that I support so strongly the Black Country Asian Business Association Annual Awards which are taking place this June at the Wolverhampton Racecourse. It gives businesses the opportunity to be recognised for their contribution in getting this great country through the toughest economic period since the 1930's. We need to applaud businesses from all sectors, some of which are still in their embryonic stages to those who are more mature and have established a firm foothold in the region.

But of course, we cannot get complacent, we still have a huge productivity gap to plug ( £7.8billion)and we need to export more ( notwithstanding that the region is the best performing export regions in the UK). Portugal hitherto known as a 'basketcase' exports more than the UK and Belgium's exports to India exceeds those generated by the UK.

Looking forward - no football club in the West Midlands got relegated, we are expecting a hot summer and surely the cricket will improve. In the meantime, we will leave the matter of the Greater 'Greater Birmingham' debate to the chattering classes…..till next time….