:00:07. > :00:09.The Midlands could rival London for business output -
:00:10. > :00:11.that's the encouraging message from the Chancellor, Philip Hammond,
:00:12. > :00:13.on the day the Government launched its industrial strategy
:00:14. > :00:20.The Prime Minister is already committed to growing the Midlands
:00:21. > :00:23.economy by ?34 billion by 2030 and creating an extra 300,000 jobs
:00:24. > :00:33.Today she shared her plans for how to make it happen.
:00:34. > :00:35.Here's our business correspondent, Peter Plisner.
:00:36. > :00:38.With the post-Brexit warning sirens still sounding and business
:00:39. > :00:47.still cautious about the long-term impact of leaving the EU, today's
:00:48. > :00:57.industrial strategy couldn't have come at a better time.
:00:58. > :00:59.It is designed to help small businesses like this,
:01:00. > :01:01.which makes warning lights and klaxons, plan for the future.
:01:02. > :01:04.Vic, who is in charge of dispatches, is due to retire in a
:01:05. > :01:07.few years' time, but even he thinks it is the right way forward.
:01:08. > :01:10.I've only four years to go before I retire, but long-term,
:01:11. > :01:12.for my kids and grandkids, obviously it is important.
:01:13. > :01:14.Here, directly or indirectly, they supply goods to most
:01:15. > :01:17.of the sectors being supported by this new industrial strategy,
:01:18. > :01:19.and hopefully that will mean further expansion in the future
:01:20. > :01:26.The new strategy aims to encourage growth by focusing
:01:27. > :01:30.on investments in science, upgrading infrastructure and helping
:01:31. > :01:32.increase both exports and inward investments.
:01:33. > :01:38.But up in the board room, the company's commercial director
:01:39. > :01:42.What is important for us is to make sure
:01:43. > :01:46.that it has got crossbench support with Labour,
:01:47. > :01:49.and it doesn't change every four years when we get a new Government.
:01:50. > :01:51.We want investments lasting ten, 15 years.
:01:52. > :01:53.Unless we can plan for that, anything less than
:01:54. > :02:00.Elsewhere, this leading businesswomen, whose
:02:01. > :02:04.firm makes equipment for the construction
:02:05. > :02:06.industry, whilst welcoming the strategy, is worried that today
:02:07. > :02:08.there was no mention of the Midlands Engine.
:02:09. > :02:10.There is such a great industry in the Midlands.
:02:11. > :02:14.We've got huge construction projects, huge manufacturing,
:02:15. > :02:18.so let's hope they haven't forgotten about us.
:02:19. > :02:20.Nearly 10% of the UK's small and medium-sized
:02:21. > :02:22.businesses are based in the West Midlands,
:02:23. > :02:25.and the success of the new strategy will be measured in part
:02:26. > :02:29.More importantly, how many jobs they will
:02:30. > :02:38.Joan Cummins is at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry.
:02:39. > :02:48.Is the Midlands right to be nervous that it's been overlooked?
:02:49. > :02:51.Businesses are always nervous until everything
:02:52. > :02:59.is signed on the dotted line, but today the Chancellor,
:03:00. > :03:05.We will be announcing our Midlands Engine strategy in due
:03:06. > :03:07.course, and we will be setting out how we're going to
:03:08. > :03:11.approach in the Midlands that we're already working on in the
:03:12. > :03:19.In the Midlands area, there are 11 million people,
:03:20. > :03:22.and if we can get that area operating as an effective
:03:23. > :03:30.marketplace, it will rival and even exceed the power of London.
:03:31. > :03:37.I am joined by the chief executive of this centre, Clive Hickman. Are
:03:38. > :03:41.you nervous at the Midlands engine may be overlooked? I don't think it
:03:42. > :03:45.will be. It think it was clear in the Green paper that was issued
:03:46. > :03:49.today that the Midlands engine structure he will follow closely
:03:50. > :03:55.behind the Northern powerhouse strategy. What will that actually
:03:56. > :04:01.mean for us? It gives us a great opportunity, us working together to
:04:02. > :04:05.improve productivity and growth in the Midlands. What we want to know
:04:06. > :04:10.about is jobs. Will we see them or is it high in the sky? I think there
:04:11. > :04:15.will be more jobs. The improvement in productivity and economy growth
:04:16. > :04:24.will lead to more jobs. We all want to see more jobs. We understand the
:04:25. > :04:27.Government started -- strategy will be published in the next few months
:04:28. > :04:28.and we will know exactly how much will be plowed here into the
:04:29. > :04:33.Midlands. Back to you. Thank you. 100 rural communities are to benefit
:04:34. > :04:36.from life-saving medical equipment. The Four Acres Trust
:04:37. > :04:38.is offering funding to help pay for defibrillators,
:04:39. > :04:41.which can shock the heart back Ambulance crews were called to deal
:04:42. > :04:45.with 14,000 cardiac arrests in the West Midlands last year,
:04:46. > :04:48.with survival rates at just 8%. Ian Hough knows he is lucky
:04:49. > :04:54.to be alive, but there His story, dramatised
:04:55. > :05:02.in a video, has a happy ending because when he collapsed
:05:03. > :05:07.with a cardiac arrest, first-aiders were on hand,
:05:08. > :05:08.equipped with a defibrillator It means I can still carry
:05:09. > :05:13.on with life as normal. There is nothing different that I do
:05:14. > :05:16.now that I didn't do prior Yeah, they are just
:05:17. > :05:23.a fantastic bit of kit. Ambulance crews and first
:05:24. > :05:28.responders have them, too. But in remote areas,
:05:29. > :05:32.it can take a lot longer To have a distributor
:05:33. > :05:50.in the community, available 24/7, -- defibrillator, to be
:05:51. > :05:52.able to train people an awareness session of how
:05:53. > :05:55.to a defibrillator is A rural charity is putting up
:05:56. > :05:58.?50,000 and asking communities to raise the same again to pay
:05:59. > :06:03.for 100 new defibrillators. To some extent they are reliant
:06:04. > :06:06.on first responders getting to an incident first, and
:06:07. > :06:10.the ambulance arrives a little bit later, hopefully not too much later,
:06:11. > :06:13.and that is why we are backing Ian is into the sixth year
:06:14. > :06:20.of his extra lease of life, and should a crisis arise again,
:06:21. > :06:24.his boat club is now properly The Midlands Canal Network
:06:25. > :06:36.is looking for more volunteers They've been part of life on our
:06:37. > :06:40.waterways for hundreds of years. But they're in short supply,
:06:41. > :06:42.so a campaign has been launched to find people who can help keep
:06:43. > :06:45.the tradition alive. Nestled in the heart of Worcester,
:06:46. > :06:50.the canals have been an integral Jo is one of a band of volunteer
:06:51. > :07:17.lock keepers whose job it It is about helping people, talking
:07:18. > :07:22.to people and helping them find out what is happening in the area. You
:07:23. > :07:26.have people who don't know the area, where is the best curry house or the
:07:27. > :07:31.best morning, but just generally chatting to be but walking through.
:07:32. > :07:33.This is where the canal network meets the river.
:07:34. > :07:37.It is also one area where new volunteers are needed.
:07:38. > :07:40.This is the first 58 locks across the stretch of the canal.
:07:41. > :07:44.There are currently 40 volunteer lock keepers here, but
:07:45. > :07:47.they're hoping to double that number to enhance more people's journey
:07:48. > :07:55.They get a briefing, but if you're new to it
:07:56. > :07:58.Knowing there is a volunteer lock keeper
:07:59. > :08:10.there to be supportive when you need it.
:08:11. > :08:13.The days of industty might be gone, now the canaled prosperity
:08:14. > :08:14.comes from a different type of trade.
:08:15. > :08:17.This cafe relies on the canal, and the owners know what an
:08:18. > :08:23.important role the lock keepers play.
:08:24. > :08:25.The tourist industry is very important to Worcester,
:08:26. > :08:26.so they are helping with
:08:27. > :08:28.that and it helps with the economics of the area.
:08:29. > :08:35.A profession steeped in history and heritage, anyone who
:08:36. > :08:41.would like to volunteer and try their hand at
:08:42. > :08:50.Six army reservists from the Midlands have completed
:08:51. > :08:52.a 1,100 mile journey across Antarctica,
:08:53. > :08:54.a feat only ever achieved by a handful of people.
:08:55. > :08:56.The team called Spear 17, are raising money
:08:57. > :08:58.They finished their expedition in 66 days.
:08:59. > :09:02.Their journey on foot took them via the South Pole.
:09:03. > :09:10.I'll leave you with the weather forecast from Shefali Oza.
:09:11. > :09:17.Thank you very much. Good evening. Today's fog was not the only thing
:09:18. > :09:21.getting a lot of you talking. It was also this evening's fiery sunset
:09:22. > :09:25.which gradually started to fizzle out towards the end of the day. This
:09:26. > :09:30.is how the rest of the week is looking. Cold, frosty and foggy,
:09:31. > :09:35.mostly dry and then milder by the weekend. As far as the fog is
:09:36. > :09:39.concerned for tonight, we have a warning in place for that for dense
:09:40. > :09:44.freezing fog which could be quite widespread. If we look at it on the
:09:45. > :09:49.chart, it is like a big ball of cotton wool, developing very quickly
:09:50. > :09:52.and we have a widespread frost as temperatures dipped to minus four
:09:53. > :09:57.Celsius here in the Southwest. That is how you start the day, on a
:09:58. > :10:02.foggy, frosty note. Tricky driving conditions around, take care. That
:10:03. > :10:08.will gradually lift, we will see pleasant spells of sunshine in the
:10:09. > :10:12.afternoon. Temperatures ranging from 5-7 C. Tomorrow night we do not have
:10:13. > :10:16.as much fog because we have more cloud. That is going to keep
:10:17. > :10:20.temperatures above freezing, so we do not have frost either, working
:10:21. > :10:24.both ways. It will be a mild night, not as cold as today, temperatures
:10:25. > :10:29.for most listeners down to around one or two Celsius, but as we head
:10:30. > :10:33.into Wednesday, it means it will be a cloudy start to the day and that
:10:34. > :10:36.cloud starts to break up, revealing some decent spells of sunshine by
:10:37. > :10:40.the time we get to the afternoon. Temperatures ranging from around six
:10:41. > :10:46.- seven agree Celsius. Looking ahead, it is the southerly
:10:47. > :10:49.southeasterly breeze that will introduce colder air by the time we
:10:50. > :10:52.get to Thursday. It looks as though it will be a westerly on the
:10:53. > :10:56.surface, but it's originating from the South East and it means we will
:10:57. > :11:00.see more in the way of the sunshine, so Thursday is the best day for
:11:01. > :11:02.sunshine, cloudy or on Friday with spots of rain.
:11:03. > :11:05.For the weekend we will have dry weather with sunny spells and it
:11:06. > :11:15.will be a little bit milder. Good evening. We are continuing to
:11:16. > :11:23.see huge righty in the weather. Getting the detail right is proving
:11:24. > :11:28.to be a challenge. This was in Pembrokeshire and other parts of the
:11:29. > :11:33.UK were gloomy throughout the day. The fog is thickening up right now.
:11:34. > :11:41.Particularly pool on the M5 in south-west England. Very foggy
:11:42. > :11:44.across parts of the West Country. This fog is tending to spread its
:11:45. > :11:45.way further