Former HS2 Strategist joins growing Midlands Connect team as new Head of Communications and Public Relations

Published: Wednesday 04 April 2018

David brings with him over 10 years’ experience as a journalist, marketeer and communications professional across the media, financial services and transport industries. He joins Midlands Connect from High Speed Two Ltd where he was an integral member of the Corporate Communications and Corporate Affairs functions.

In 2017, David received a distinction for an Executive MBA at Cass Business School in London, adding to a Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism from City University of London and a BSc in Social Policy and Politics from the University of Bristol.

David will be responsible for driving Midlands Connect’s communications and stakeholder activity, enabling the partnership to be influential at local and national levels of government, while achieving high levels of positive recognition at the right times, through the right channels and with the right people. 

David’s appointment comes as Midlands Connect is recruiting for a number of new senior roles on its technical team, including Head of Roads & Freight, Head of Rail & HS2 and senior programme managers. The new roles will help to shape the regional transport priorities set out in Midlands Connect’s landmark 25 year strategy, published in 2017 with the aim of growing the region’s economy.

Details of the current vacancies and how to apply can be found here: https://jobs.wmca.org.uk/Vacancies/  

Commenting on David Blackadder-Weinstein’s appointment, Midlands Connect Director Maria Machancoses said:

“We’re genuinely excited to be adding David to our growing team at Midlands Connect. It’s so important that our various stakeholders really understand not only what transport interventions we’re planning, but also why we think they’re the right choices for fostering economic growth and prosperity across the Midlands. David and his team will be essential to spreading those messages amongst our partners and other audiences as we navigate the path to becoming the UK’s second Sub-national Transport Body”.

David said:

“Having made the move from London to the Midlands in the last couple of years, I’m very grateful for the opportunity to make a positive difference to the community I now call home. The arrival of HS2 is a game changer for connectivity and travel behaviour in this region and across the country. Our job now is to make sure that the widest possible audience understands what needs to be done to make the Midlands HS2-ready and what other transport investments can bring the biggest possible benefit to everyone that lives in Herefordshire, Lincolnshire and all the places in between”.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

Midlands Connect, in collaboration with central Government, is a pan-regional partnership of 22 local authorities, 9 Local Enterprise Partnerships, chambers of commerce and our main airports, alongside Highways England, Network Rail andHS2 Ltd. The partnership covers an area from the Welsh border to the Lincolnshire coast, serving a population of more than 10 million people. Together, the Midlands Connect Partnership and the Department for Transport have developed a landmark, 25 year transport strategy that identifies the major infrastructure projects needed to improve the connectivity of our region’s key locations so we can help drive economic growth and power the Midlands Engine.

The Midlands Connect Strategy can be downloaded here: https://www.midlandsconnect.uk/publications/

As the transport pillar of Midlands Engine, Midlands Connect is contributing to achieving our ambition to add £54 billion to the Midlands and UK economies by 2030, powering post-Brexit growth, not just for the benefit of the Midlands but for the whole UK.

The Midlands Engine Vision for Growth can be downloaded here:https://www.midlandsengine.org/wp-content/uploads/Midlands-Engine-Vision-for-Growth.pdf