Economic Development News Brief: Inward investment in the West Midlands ...

Inward investment in the West Midlands has rocketed in the first half of the financial year, regional development agency Advantage West Midlands (AWM) announced last week. Jobs and investment in the region have surpassed last year's figures - 1,525 jobs have been created in the first half of 2004/05 compared with 2,316 in the whole of 2003/04, the agency said. AWM chief executive John Edwards said the figures were encouraging.