West Midlands MEP, Daniel Dalton hosted the successful launch of the West Midlands Brussels Network. The network is aiming to bring together a coherent set of voices from across the spectrum with over 40 people in attendance from the region’s leading businesses, stakeholders and international universities. It aims to emulate the German model, which has been very successful in co-ordinating different cultural and economic sectors to promote individual regions both in Europe and across the world.

The event and network is strictly non-partisan, and was organised jointly with Labour MEP Sion Simon and UKIP MEP James Carver, with more events set to follow in the coming months.

Daniel said: “The West Midlands is a growing and vibrant region which is going places. I was very pleased to launch this network which aims to promote the West Midlands both in Brussels and across the world. Putting party politics aside shows the desire of all of us to work together for what is in the region's interest, with the aim to promote the excellent work our region does in a range of different sectors, from our world-class universities, to the region's cutting edge technology businesses alongside our rich cultural heritage, with this weekend being the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death."

The guest speaker at the inaugural event was David Winstanley, Chief Operating Officer at Birmingham Airport who spoke about the success of the region in China and the ambitious approach the West Midlands to continue to grow and succeed. He said:

"I was delighted to speak at the inaugural West Midlands Brussels Network. The West Midlands is a powerful economic engine at the centre of the country and, at Birmingham Airport, we are proud to be boosting the economy by enabling new connections around the world. The launch was a fantastic opportunity to engage with representatives of the region's businesses and universities over the opportunities before us, and how we can work together to seize them."