Birmingham and the West Midlands are not in competition with Manchester and Liverpool but Berlin and Barcelona, its new mayor has said.
Conservative Andy Street brushed aside talk of the age-old rivalry and unofficial title of England's second city and said that, as mayor, he was looking to raise Birmingham's profile and ability to compete on the global stage.
"Of course, on some things we are friendly rivals with Manchester, with Liverpool, but there are things in common as well between us and we need to work together to make a success of this," he said.
"But the most important thing is that the real competition isn't Manchester or Liverpool or Glasgow, the real competition is in Berlin or Barcelona or Boston and we've got to change our psyche about this.
"We got to think more as a global city and think where the real competition comes from."
He is now getting to work setting up hot desk offices in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry - honouring his pledge to be the mayor for the whole region - as well as talking to the seven council leaders who make up his cabinet about how they will work together.
A number of task forces will also be set up to look at key policy objectives - the first on rough sleeping will be announced later this week.
One of Mr Street's first telephone calls was with London Mayor Sadiq Khan to gain an insight into the role.
"Having moved into his job 12 months ago, I wanted his advice on how he made the transition from candidate to mayor and his advice was very interesting and very clear," Mr Street said.
"He described it about demonstrating that you are above the party and are the leader for the whole region."
There is an expectation to be a "leader for all the West Midlands" and people are looking for evidence that's the case.
Mr Street said that his campaign had reflected this.
"Our thoughts were this is one person being selected for one job, it is not party political popularity contest - we wanted people to concentrate on the leadership role," he said.
And he is not expecting to take a major part in the general election campaign, he has a new job to get to grips with after all, but said he would be giving support to the Conservative candidates who had backed him during his campaign.
Mayor wants to create an economic feel good factor
"The most important thing of all is will we achieve the economic success which underpins our growth plan? That means the region with the fastest growing wages, eliminating youth unemployment.
"The way to achieve that is getting behind our fastest-growing industries automotive, aerospace, life sciences, technology, low carbon - they will create the jobs of the future.
"And join this with the infrastructure and skills investments to help drive those industries forward. If we get that right, we can address a lot of the social issues."
New West Midlands Mayor
He aims to get cracking on looking at unemployment by recruiting mentors from successful businesses this summer to help 1,000 young people.
He said that big events and announcements like the Commonwealth Games and Channel 4 relocation would play a part in generating a feel good factor and sense of pride for the region.
