Be ambitious - that was the over-riding message from business leaders to the nascent West Midlands Combined Authority at a recent "engaging with business" session hosted at the Chamber of Commerce.
The combined authority and "devolution deal" agendas were the topics under discussion at the meeting a little over two weeks ago, and their development is now moving at real pace.
We are on the cusp of the deadline for the submission of the initial package of proposals the region will make around the devolution deal, with a number of people having done a great deal of hard work on the details in the short period of time allowed over the summer.
A breathless timetable indeed, especially given the importance of what is at stake – the opportunity to devolve real power to the region to help drive local economic growth and social improvement, as well as being a catalyst for local public service reform.
The greatest thing to take away from the sessions was the spirit within which it was conducted. Mark Rogers, Nick Page and Mike Carr, representing Birmingham and Solihull councils and the GBSLEP respectively, deserve praise for delivering the presentation and handling a wide range of potentially challenging questions in an open and engaging style with a decent dollop of welcome humour.
The audience deserves equal credit for not only turning up in their numbers and demonstrating how important these topics are to businesses in the region, but for responding to the tone set by the panel and, while not holding back at any point, displaying a good degree of understanding for the challenges involved in the process.
There is still a long way to go, and undoubtedly a number of twists and turns, until the WMCA and devolution deals are finalised and we know exactly what we have on our hands.
Equally, if the ambitions of the region are to be met, then all parties with an interest in the outcome will do well to maintain the spirit of openness, willing engagement and collaboration that were on display that day throughout the session… as well as a good sense of our famous Midlands humour.
Paul Faulkner is chief executive of the Greater Birmingham Chamber Group
