Jon leads the Inward Investment division at the West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC), the appointed economic development and investment promotion agency for the West Midlands Combined Authority. His team promote the region domestically and internationally, and facilitate inward investment aligned to WMCA priority sectors. Jon led the Inward Investment workstream of the Birmingham 2022 Business and Tourism Programme – a £23.4m two-year programme delivered in partnership with UK Government to drive an economic legacy from the B2022 Commonwealth Games. The programme’s success has fuelled a record level of FDI investment into the West Midlands; in FY22/23, UK Government figures placed the West Midlands as second only to London in terms of FDI projects and jobs attracted per annum. Jon joined the Growth Company in 2018, initially as Sector Lead for Business, Professional and Financial Services. In his time with WMGC, Jon has led on the Growth Company’s successful bid to secure a major investment into Birmingham from Goldman Sachs and overseen the region’s engagement with the UK Government’s Places for Growth programme, delivering major regional investments from DfT, DLUHC, Visit Britain and a number of other agencies and arms-length bodies across the breadth of the WMCA geography. Prior to joining WMGC, Jon held a number of business development and consultancy roles at Gateley Plc, Grant Thornton and Barclaycard. Jon earned an MBA in Global Banking and Finance with distinction honours from University of Birmingham, and an BA from Durham University.