By Tim Stringer, director, Integral Build.
After Brexit, the West of England business community focus must surely be on the proposed devolution across the three local authorities: Bristol City, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset.
The deadline for contributing to the consultation is August 16 and it is imperative that we all have a say in this opportunity if it is to realise its full potential. 
Devolution should mean we can better meet the needs and aspirations of those living and working in the area. From the perspective of building and construction, a more joined-up approach to infrastructure projects and local decision making should, in theory, mean more opportunity to get public and private sector projects off the drawing board more quickly.
We can also encourage more inward investment, looking to markets such as China which has already pumped significant amounts of money into the Northern Powerhouse, side-stepping national restrictions and negotiating direct with a devolved authority.
Heading this, the metro mayor will be a critical appointment: it should be someone who not only understands the geography and the local politics, but who can ‘sell’ the region to investors and business, as well as acting as a central point for Whitehall.
That is particularly important to address the ongoing issue of housing delivery which is a key priority for business growth. If there is nowhere affordable for people to live close to where they work, we are going to soon be dead in the starting blocks.
A recent study by Centre for Cities, that included input from this region, concluded that there is definitely an appetite within the private sector across UK cities to see devolution happen and to become more engaged in it.
As we move from discussing deals to delivering on them, now is the time for business to play a bigger role in helping to shape what devolution means for them.
