BUSINESSES across the Black Country can find out how to get involved with the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill tram extension project at a breakfast meeting next month.
FinditintheBlackCountry is holding a ‘meet the buyer’ event with Midland Metro Alliance, where companies can find out about the various work opportunities on offer - from engineering to landscaping, cleaning and lighting.
The event at the Copthorne Hotel in Brierley Hill is part of the organisation’s mission to get 80 per cent of the work done by local firms so that the economic benefit of the congestion-busting scheme is felt before the line has carried its first passengers.
Paula Gray, from the Midland Metro Alliance, said: “This is the chance for a one-to-one meeting with the buyers involved in one of the biggest infrastructure schemes ever seen in the Black Country.
"We want to see the local supply chain involved as much as possible in everything from demolition to bridgework, labour to plant hire, drainage to lighting and more.
"This is a fantastic opportunity for Black Country businesses who want to be a part of this transformative project.”
The event, which starts at 7.30am on Tuesday, April 17, will reveal more about the plans and benefits of the 11.5km tram route, the support and training on offer for local small and medium enterprises, plus the various funding streams.
West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, said: “It has taken several frustrating decades to get the funding for this project and I am pleased to say that finally it will be creating jobs, driving investment and, even sooner, benefiting local businesses.
“Given the strength of manufacturing and civil engineering in the West Midlands, I would expect local companies to be leading the charge for the contracts that will come from the extension of the Midland Metro.
“I hope local firms will be queuing up to find out more about the contracts and opportunities of the Midland Metro.”
Construction of route is expected to begin in 2019 with the first passenger services running from 2022 to Dudley town centre and services to Brierley Hill commencing the following year.
Part of the route will go along the old South Staffordshire railway line with trams stopping at 17 locations (pictured below), including intu Merry Hill and Dudley Bus Station.
The line complements the existing Wolverhampton to Birmingham service, which opened in 1999, and four other extension projects are either in construction or design stages across Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country.
Spaces for the breakfast meeting cost £15 plus VAT per person.
To book a place, email info@finditin.co.uk or call 01384 563050.
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