Businesses air views on connectivity at Solihull Chamber transport summit

Solihull Chamber of Commerce led a roundtable discussion to engage with businesses and stakeholders on the topic of transport connectivity within the borough.

Transport connectivity issues have been a focus for the Chamber, in collaboration with Solihull Council, and business leaders since September 2023, when an initial roundtable discussion found that Solihull’s issues with public transport connectivity are having a negative impact on local residents and businesses.

The ineffective transport system between the North and the rest of Solihull has caused firms issues with employment and mobility of workers.

The issue has also impacted on the retail, hospitality and travel sectors.

The transport roundtable summit was an opportunity for members to provide evidence and data to the transport chiefs at the West Midlands Combined Authority.

The meeting, attended by the leader of the council, local MPs, stakeholders and major employers in Solihull, was chaired by Solihull Chamber president Eileen Schofield.

Eileen has driven this issue as part of her objectives during her term of office and, through her commitment and determination, has obtained a firm commitment from WMCA to provide a live desktop review for businesses provide data and options to drive change to current systems.

The engagement began with the transport roundtable in September 2023 and progressed to engaging directly with Solihull Chamber members through the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce’s Quarterly Business Report survey in Q3 2024.

Additional questions were set to gauge business sentiment on transport connectivity for businesses between the north and the south of the Borough.

The findings have since been presented to Cllr. Ian Courts, leader of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Solihull Chamber patrons, executive committee members and Jon Hayes, head of Bus at Transport for West Midlands. 

The recent roundtable discussion with Saqib Bhatti MBE, MP for Meriden and Solihull East, and Dr. Neil Shastri-Hurst, MP for Solihull West and Shirley, discussed the research findings to help understand key recommendations and priorities.

The aim of the discussion was to create a strong evidence-based case to push improved transport connectivity in Solihull to the top of the agenda for funding and policy change.

The overarching conclusions of the discussion were:

• Better transport connectivity is needed both between the north and rest of Solihull and across the whole borough
• Most Solihull commuters use their cars so any transport improvements will need to be bolstered by a modal shift to get more people to actually use the buses
• Business parks in particular are a focus for improved connectivity to support local people to get into local jobs
• The current bus situation in Solihull makes it incredibly hard for people to get to work if they do not own a car

The Chamber says all of the above are having an impact on businesses' ability to recruit from within the borough as journeys take too long and the transport is unreliable.

Eileen Schofield, president of Solihull Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is an excellent opportunity for businesses to take an active part in shaping the transport links and to improve the bus links around the region, this will support their business growth across all sectors and size of business.

"There are many people not in work and education in the North of the Borough and the improvement in the bus services will support social mobility around the region.

“Retail and hospitality businesses are also significantly affected through the timetabling of the bus services. The live desktop review managed by the Transport for West Midlands will allow Chamber members to document these issues to improve the transport investment in our region.”